Creating SFX for apps

Posted by GeorgeVelvet on August 9th, 2013

Sound effects are sounds created by a sound designer. They are required in movies, games, TV, radio and online commercials, and do not make use of dialogue. Sound effects are also separated from the soundtrack of a movie or game, being present only to convince the audience about the realism of the things that happen on the screen of their computer.

To create sound effects or SFX for apps, sound engineers use specific software. Gone are the days when sound effects were made by using actual items. Nowadays, almost anything is computer generated. Still, nostalgic sound designers can use cellophane to recreate the sound of a fire, rice grains to generate the sound of raindrops and coconut shells for walking horses.

But there is no need to use actual items to create sounds, because there are numerous software programs that include the sounds of anything you can imagine, from thunders, falling leaves and football stadiums full of people, to living animals, blizzard and shotguns. These sounds are carefully recorded when the real deal happens and then, they are edited in a studio by sound editors, for an improved realism.

So there is no need to generate SFX for apps by using actual items to create a sound that may or not be similar to the sound you want to create. Purchase a software that allows to generate sound effects and you will have all the primary sound effects you want, stored on your very own computer. Then, all that you have to do is to take the sound that you need and place it inside a sequence of sounds, for your convenience.

But as far as video games are concerned, things are not that simple. In games, there are monsters, fairies, alien spaceships, trolls, leprechauns and other characters or things that do not exist in reality or exist only in urban legends. So how can you create such creatures and things? It is obvious that you cannot make use of some already existing sound effects.

In the situation when using pre-existing sound effects does not work, use your creativity and the knowledge that recommends you as a sound designer who. Most likely you have taken movie, game, and app sound design classes, so you know that, when fictional things, situations, or characters need to be invented, you have to use your microphone and play with the effects that you have, and also create new ones that will blend perfectly into the app whose sound you have to create.

Be creative and use app sound design to your advantage; do not copy sound from other apps, be unique, because sounds and music should be original elements meant to attract users to the application, just like the gameplay itself. After creating the sounds for the app, export them to a folder and then burn the folder to a DVD. Then, present the DVD to the app developer that has hired you to create engaging sound effects.

Creating an app require specialists from a number of disciplines, like software development and design, app sound design, marketing, and also engineering, psychology, or physics, depending on the subject of the game. If you are in need of sound designers, music composers and audio editors, generating sounds, music and SFX for apps, do not hesitate to contact us.