Porter's World

Sources For Sounds

Whenever audio is brought up pertaining to game design, most people seem to jump straight into the thought of music. Even I thought of game music first, and proceeded with writing an article on the importance of game music before even touching the thought of sound effects. Where is the importance of game sound effects? It’s definitely there, and just as important to games as music is. Not too long ago I made a list of music for games, now we’ll take a look at some sources at which you can acquire game sound effects.

If you’ve ever found yourself looking for sounds for a retro styled game, look no more. SFXR is a free program that will meet your every need as far as retro sounds go. I came across this wonderful program earlier this year when working on Tower of Greed; never again will I have troubles with finding retro sounds for my games. If you want a more in depth description, follow the above SFXR link to my more in depth review. Be sure to check out Tower of Greed as well, every sound in the game was created using SFXR, so it’s a perfect example of what it’s capable of.

Freesound.org is an excellent source for all sorts of sounds. With a large database of user submitted sounds, you won’t have trouble finding anything, menu bleeps, thunderstorms, you name it, it’s likely here. The search system is great, allowing you to search by file name, description, duration, and so on. Even though you should be good to go with anything you find, always be sure to check the licenses before actually downloading and using any sounds.

Another free source, and rather well known, is Flash Kit. Flash Kit offers numerous free sound effects for all to use. There are multiple categories, sub categories, and plenty of variety. The organization is unfortunately a bit lacking, and there is no way to organize sounds by duration, but they’re all there, and with enough time you’ll definitely find sounds that are of use to you. The licenses vary from sound file to sound file, so be sure to check closely before downloading and using any. Overall, the net is short of free sound sources, and this is one of the best.

PacDV is another great source for free sounds. They offer a medium sized collection of sounds, all entirely free. You won’t find every sound in the world here, but there are definitely enough to fill the basics and get some good background sounds, whether it be a crowd, or rainfall. The sounds are organized in a number of main categories, all rather self explanatory. Overall, it’s a nice collection of sounds; if your desired sound is rather common, chances are you’ll be able to find it here, and for free.

SoundJay is yet another free source for sound effects. This is yet another medium sized selection, but it’s definitely got it’s use. Much like the other free sound sources, they offer a variety of sounds, again all free. The sounds found here are unique to the site, so you don’t have to worry about finding duplicate sounds from previous sites and similar categories. In addition, there are a few short music tracks that are available for free use as well; I found them to be of great quality, so if you’re in search for music as well, give them a listen.

If you’re looking for more variety, as well as higher quality, there’s always the option of buying sounds. Soundsnap is an excellent site for sound effects. The site offers a very large variety of sounds, all of which are incredibly organized. You can filter by category, duration, ratings, date added, and more. I personally find sorting by category and duration best; the 1 second sound effects are generally excellent for games in my opinion. I’ve used them in the past and have been very pleased with them. You can check out Gravibounce for examples of their sounds, I had a lot of fun working with that one and feel the sounds fit very well. The site offers various plans, so depending on your needs you’ll pay anywhere from $30 for a single month of up to 100 downloads, to $150 for a year of unlimited sound effect downloads. I’m rather certain that after my next game sells I’ll be picking up an annual subscription; if you’ve ever spent time looking for sound effects for your game, you’ll know these rates are plenty worth it.

Another great site that offers paid sound effects is PartnersInRhyme. That’s right, not only do they offer an excellent selection of music, but they also have some incredibly well put together sound effect collections. What they offer varies by collection, there’s an all purpose mix offering over 2 gigs of quality sounds, as well as specific collections that are more themed, such as ambiance or horror. All collections offer the ability to preview them, so you don’t have to take a gamble in buying a collection you’re not sure of. Regardless of which collection you purchase here, all are of superb quality and will meet your needs.

There you have it, you now have excellent sources for both game music and sound effects. You now have everything needed to supply all of your future works with high quality audio, both music and sounds. Both lists were compiled using knowledge from my previous experiences, as well as current findings while working on my newest projects. I’ve spent a lot of time narrowing down the best of the best, so be sure to utilize these lists, they’ll save you a lot of time.

Music Sources

Every great flash game needs top notch music in order to fully succeed. If you’re reading this, I’m sure at one point or another, if not now, you’ve wondered where you can go to get great music for your flash games. There are tons of sources, some free, some not. Some are widely known, while others are known only by myself and a few others, up until now. I’ve mentioned the importance of game music numerous times, by utilizing the below sources, you can take those teachings, and apply them to your games.

Let’s take a look at some of the more well known sources. Somatones Interactive Audio may be a bit on the more expensive side for audio, but there isn’t a chance in the world that you’ll walk away feeling like you didn’t get your money’s worth. These guys know what they’re doing, and they do it flawlessly. They have more experience working with music than anyone else in the flash game industry, and it shows. They’ve worked with companies such as Disney, Konami, Nickelodeon, Sony, Ubisoft, and plenty more. Keep in mind that the work they do for you is exclusive to you, meaning your game will have custom music that no other in the world has. Visit Somatones and check out their work and customer feedback, if you can afford their rates, it’s definitely worth it.

Another great source for music is ibaudio. These guys have a huge library of royalty free music for a very reasonable price. You can purchase music for any genre and feel you desire, some for as low as $10 a loop. Music is purchased using credits which you buy from the site, buying in bulk can save you up to 40%. In addition, you can purchase a 1 year subscription for a one time payment of $213.69; this allows unlimited downloads, which is definitely worth it for anyone pumping out multiple successful titles in a single year. On top of that, any music downloaded during your year subscription may be used by you in the future, even after your subscription is up. Keep in mind the music can be used by you, and only you, any abuse to this system is of course illegal. If you are somehow not finding exactly what you need throughout there massive library, you can also request custom music, they’ll work closely with you to negotiate pricing and get the exact music you’re looking for.

Another great source, despite being less catered towards game music, is Stockmusic. They have an expansive library of music, most tracks being in the $30 range. All music is of excellent sound quality and very professionally done. The site as I said doesn’t exactly target game music, but they offer an amazing search tool that will let you find exactly what you’re looking for. You can also legally alter the music in order to create loops, add echo, or any other reason you may find, so despite the music not being perfect for games right off, it shouldn’t be an issue with anyone who knows how to do basic audio editing. Stockmusic also offers custom music. If you chose to do this, you will be working closely with a composer who fits your genre best, and are supplied demos of the works as they progress, allowing you to suggest changes and customize the music to your liking. I haven’t had any direct experience with these guys, but they definitely look like they know what they’re doing.

Audiosparx is an ideal source for anyone looking to find quality game music. I suggest filtering to search for loops as they’re much more suited for games, but that’s up to you. Rates definitely vary on this site, but the quality is consistently high. Be sure to view “B” rates, these rates pertain to the license you’ll be using in order to legally put the music into your games, distribute them, and profit. These guys have experience with the big guys in the industry, with music in games by companies such as Midway, Atari, EA, and more.

MusicLoops is another great place to find royalty free loops for your game development needs. All tracks are in the form of a loop, so little to no editing will be needed on your part. With a large variety of genres, there’s not a feel you won’t be able to find. The majority of music is roughly $20-$40, which isn’t much for a fitting piece of quality music. A clean design, variety of music, and affordable rates, make this an excellent addition to any list of sites to search when looking for affordable audio for your projects.

Now we’ll take a look at another company I actually have experience with. Partners In Rhyme is an excellent source for virtually all genre’s of music, including seasonal genre’s such as Halloween and Christmas. Each package includes various tracks, each with an incredible assortment of loops, track edits, multiple duration cuts, and the occasional stingers. Some packages will even come with bonus content, including various additional loops and sound effects, some of which you may find even more useful than the original content you purchased. Packages are places at various prices, most resting between $80-$90, which is well worth what you’ll be getting from these guys.

Another site that caters directly to flash games, is Twune. The music is of decent quality, and all packages go for a flat rate of $75. The convenient part of buying from Twune, is that all the editing is entirely done for you. Each package includes multiple loops cut from the same track, allowing you to have multiple loops throughout your game, all with a similar sound. The selection is a bit smaller than some sites, but they’re still growing. Overall, the convenience of multiple loops coming in a single package is convenient, and definitely worth checking out.

In addition to many of the large companies, there is an endless source of freelance musicians just dying to have their music heard by the world. These musicians are incredibly talented, and for the most part, unknown to everyone other than their friends and family. Despite their lack of popularity, these musicians have incredible talent, and will likely be known for it in the future. For the time being however, they lack exposure and are eagerly awaiting to hop on board a project.

A well talented individual that falls into this category is Mike Taylor. I met Mike when living in the wonderful rolling hills of Moscow Idaho. After meeting him, I found out that he was incredibly talented at the piano, as well as doing his own compositions in various other genres. He can do a variety of music, such as techno, trance, ambient, classical, 8-bit, and so on. As far as the flash industry goes, his music can be heard in Dominus Void and Tower of Greed. Dominus Void features features various tracks from multiple artists, track two being Mikes, while Tower of Greed was composed entirely by Mike from scratch. As you can hear, it sounds very authentic to the days of the NES, so much in fact that it sounds as if it could have appeared in a popular title in the early 90’s. Mike is always looking for custom music work, and will listen to all of your ideas and suggestions to make sure the music fits your exact needs. He’s a huge perfectionist, so don’t be surprised when he scraps something you’re proud of and comes back the next day with something far more impressive. His rates are incredibly affordable and definitely worth what they add to your game. He’ll help decide a fair price with you depending on various factors, all of which you’ll both discuss and plan out beforehand.  If you’re interested in having Mike do some work with you, you can contact him via Newgrounds PM, or email him at miketaylorandhisimaginaryband@gmail.com; I know, it’s an awesome email address.

Another excellent, and unfortunately lesser known artist, is Yiannis Ioannides. I met Yiannis recently while browsing the forums over at Newgrounds. I listened to his music and felt a strong urge to get in contact with him and talk business, so that’s what I did. Yiannis is an incredibly skilled musician who is currently studying film scoring and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music over in Boston, MA. He’s passionate about composing game music, and specializes in music that consists of jazz, electronica, world, classical, ambient, soundscape etc. He’s looking for work and would be more than happy to compose for all sorts of games, from young, colorful, interactive games, to darker, serious, professional games. Rates vary from project to project, and will be negotiated prior to completion. Definitely give his music a listen and keep him in mind for future projects; he’s got a lot of talent just waiting to be put into your future works. You can reach Yiannis for questions and work by emailing him at yioannides@berklee.net.

If you’re looking for some music on the cheaper side of the spectrum, perhaps free, there’s always the Newgrounds Audio Portal. Contrary to popular belief, nearly all of the music on Newgrounds is free. There are a few things to keep in mind however. You must always contact the author of a piece you wish to use, let them know of your project, and always request permission. They’ll decide on the terms when responding to you, but 99% of the time artists are just looking to get some exposure, and are thrilled to hear that their music will be used in a game. They’ll generally ask that you mention them in the credits, as well as link to them on the credits page if possible, which is more than acceptable. The audio portal offers a lot of music in various genres, so you shouldn’t have any issues finding some good music. Seeing as it’s an audio portal run off of user submissions, you will have to filter through a lot of lower quality music in order to find what you’re looking for, but that’s the price you have to pay if you don’t feel like forking over some cash.

Another free source is Incompetech, a website run by Kevin MacLeod. Kevin has a large library of royalty free music that he has composed and recorded himself. You can search by genre, or by mood, giving you plenty to work with when it comes to getting the right feel for your project. Kevin doesn’t charge anything for his music under the creative commons license, but greatly appreciates donations as all artists do. The only thing actually required of you is to list his name in the credits, as well as the piece(s) used. If you like what you hear, Kevin can also compose custom music for you, rates are negotiated on a project by project basis.

As you can see, there’s plenty of sources to get amazing music out there. Until recently, I was one to just go out and get free music and do my best with it, which has never hurt, but after doing the research for this article, I can’t stress how important quality music is. I had always thought that I did a fantastic job selecting music for my games prior to this article, however looking back, I did great, but these services offer a quality that cannot be matched for free. If the above prices sound a bit high, consider the fact that the value great music will add to your game is far more than you’ll be paying. If you can’t afford exceptional music from the above services, perhaps land a sponsor, then point out some music you would like to add to the game; chances are they’ll pay you the amount needed up front (out of your sponsorship money, or in addition) to let you boost the value of the game. If you do find yourself using the above sources, or any for that matter, always check the license agreements for the music you are purchasing, this is extremely important and cannot be stressed enough. All in all, you now have an incredible list of sources to find excellent flash game music, all at varying prices that should be affordable to everyone. I definitely hope to hear an increase in the quality of music in all of your future games, don’t let me down.

Here are this week’s useful links posted by me, for you, check them out,

1.) Customization is key: We take a look at why customization is so important and why it makes games like spore so successful.
2.) Basic animation using states: Learn how to control basic animations using movieclips for states in this expansive tutorial.
3.) The secrets of shared objects: Every flash developer should know how to save and load data, weather you use it or not. Now’s the time to learn if you haven’t already.
4.) FlashGameArt: Flash game art is an amazing site to help game developers and artists alike. If you haven’t checked this out, do yourself a favor and do so now.
5.) Game Making Process: Hero Interactive takes us through their steps in creating a game, everyone can learn a thing or two from them, successful or new to the industry.

Check back with the Prince often, because I love you.