Sound design for producers: what it is and when you need it
What sound design is, how sounds are made by recording, synthesising and layering, how much I use it in my beats, and where to find effects with clear licences.
Not many people know this, but sound design is exactly what I specialised in when I trained as a sound technician. Back then there were two paths: research and development, heavily focused on science and devices for listening in difficult conditions, or sound design, centred on synthesis, integration and audio mixing. I chose the second without hesitation, because it was closest to what I wanted to do: music: composing rap instrumentals, orchestral music and underscore.
What sound design is
It's the process of creating sounds and deciding where and how they're placed. A sound designer can manipulate existing recordings, create new sounds from scratch, or transform recordings through different processes until they become something else.
The ways to do it
- Record real sounds and manipulate them afterwards in editing.
- Record new sounds designed for an effect and process them until you get it.
- Synthesise: use a synthesiser to generate and modulate the signal until a new sound appears.
- Layer and transform: combine layers, repitch, stretch, filter or reverse a sound until it no longer resembles its source.
A classic film technique: many creature voices don't come from a single animal, but from layers of different recordings — animals, human voices, objects — combined and processed until they sound believable. Tremors and collapses are similar: they're built by layering recordings and reinforcing the low end.
How much I use it today
To be honest, today it's the part I spend least time on. In the past, if an artist wanted to sing over a piano, they had to play it or work with a pianist. Now there are very high-quality libraries recorded from real instruments, and many free ones. For producing beats, synthesising from scratch is less and less essential; where sound design is still key is film, theatre and games, and those moments when you're after a texture that doesn't exist yet.
In my beats, sound design shows up mostly in the details: an ambience, a transition, an impact, a lo-fi texture that gives the track personality. Those details stand out most when the rest of the mix is clean (see less is more).
Where to find effects
Since I'm not passionate about building every sound from scratch, I often work with libraries and effect banks recorded by people who love doing it. Some sites I recommend:
- Freesound: a free, collaborative database. Each sound has its own Creative Commons licence: check whether it requires attribution or allows commercial use.
- FreeSFX: free effects; check their terms of use before releasing.
- AudioJungle (Envato): paid effects, licensed per purchase.
Whatever the source, always keep the licence for every sound you use in a track you're going to release.