UniqueTracks has added four brand new sound effects sets from Blastwave FX to our growing collection of royalty free Sound Effects products.
Podcaster
Podcaster has everything you need to produce a professional podcast. Add music or just a beat loop to your intro and immediately give a focus to the theme of your show. With over 500 sound effects (Animals, Cartoon Effects, Crashes, Human Effects, Vehicles, Weapons and more), this set will let you underscore the humerous, contentious and exciting moments of your podcast.
WebTones
If you design and create professional Flash productions or web sites, then you will want to add this large assortment of multimedia sounds to your production toolbox. The WebTones collection features 1000 unique buttons, clicks, rollovers, pings, beeps, hits and production elements that can easily be plugged into your next production. This collection will provide you with the tools you need to add sonic life to your virtual creations.
Spoilers - Movie Trailer Sound Beds
If you’ve ever wondered where to find those great sonic effects that Hollywood post production editors lay into movies, trailers and commercials, look no further. This incredible set by Blastwave FX will amp-up your production with the latest, most modern audio effects available on the royalty free market. This collection, on 4 DVDs, has 300 stereo movie trailers and compositions with matching 5.1 surround files, plus 200 high impact stereo imaging elements.
Drones
Using long, sustained, audio drone effects is one of the most effective ways of using sound to build drama and interest in a media production. The material contained in the 4 DVD set Drones by Blastwave FX is specially made to give your production a professional, Hollywood-caliber sheen. In total, this collection has over 10 hours of unique sound effects in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound.
Blastwave FX develops next-generation HD sound effects libraries for professional audio production. Their design and engineering team constantly pushes the sound envelope with innovative product formats, rich metadata, multi-channel libraries and the highest resolution audio that technology allows.
audio effects, beat loop, Blastwave FX, flash productions, production editors, production elements, professional audio production, professional flash, royalty free music, royalty free sound effects, sonic effects, sound effects libraries, sound effects sound, uniquetracks
I remember my first attempts to record the music I was creating back in the mid-80s. Home recording equipment was just becoming affordable to the average musician and I was slowly building up the components of a home recording studio. But, having just bought the eqipment, I was rather surprised at how bad my initial recordings sounded. Not really knowing anything about proper microphone placement and other basic elements of a recording engineers skill set, I spent a lot of time with trial and error, got lucky sometimes but ended up ruining a lot of recordings because of poor recording studio fundamentals.
With so many people creating podcasts now, the basic knowledge of what makes a good recording is gradually coming from the specialized world of the recording engineer into the mainstream. Podcasters who want to improve the quality of their productions need, at some point, to learn about microphones - there’s no question, having a good, professional-grade microphone will immediately increase the quality of your podcast production. Today there are many microphones being marketed expressly for podcasting.
Here is really smart article by Cleveland-area IT Specialist, Aaron Shaffer A Review of Seven Microphones, The Heart of All Podcasting. Aaron looks at seven different microphones including headset, lapel, wireless, and standard tabletop microphones and judges their strengths for podcast recording based on affordability and usage. He points out that a microphone should be chosen based on the recording situation in which it will be placed. For instance recording a lecture for a podcast requires a different microphone than recording a table interview between two people. Aaron gives actual recorded samples of each microphone and then offers his opinion on each mic’s strengths.
Here are his final conclusions based on the microphones he tested, but you should read the complete article because there lots of good podcasting information in it.
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“What would I recommend to you as a professor or lecturer if you want to podcast? Without a doubt the AudioTechnica wireless mic. You can connect it to any laptop or mixer and get great quality. What would I recommend to those interested in dialogue type podcasting with two or more people? The MXL-990. You can’t beat it for the price. And If you’ve got money to blow, go with the Heil PR-40 all around.”
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If you have a little more money to spend, consider these USB microphones, most created by the manufacturers to appeal to the new podcasting market.
Blue Microphones Snowball $134
Marshall Electronics MXL USB.006 $170
Rode - Podcaster $349
Samson CO1U $210
Samson Q1U $90
Aaron+Shaffer, home recording equipment, home recording studio, microphones, microphone placement, podcasters, podcasting, podcasts, recording engineers
The use of podcasting as an information tool has become very popular in our nation’s high schools. School podcasts cover everything from student-produced current events shows to teacher-produced curriculum and lecture announcements. Many schools even have iPod subscription links through the Apple iTunes store. Students can easily subscribe and receive every edition of their school’s podcast automatically downloaded to their iPod.
Now Apple Computer is promoting podcasting as a teacher development tool. They are offering a free white paper that gives ideas for using the iPod for professional development.
Here is an excerpt from the site…
“Podcasting allows administrators to update faculty—even an entire district—in just minutes. With a single click, teachers can subscribe to podcasts and have future content delivered automatically. An ever-growing collection of professional development material, both commercial and free, is available online from the iTunes Store. This is the perfect way to expand ongoing training programs, without straining district resources.
The iPod is an affordable development tool that can scale to fit almost any technology plan. And once in teachers’ hands, it can do even more: from recording notes and podcasts, to transporting digital files back and forth to school, on any Mac or PC. All this, in the palm of your hand. This is the iPod for professional development — an unexpectedly powerful tool for education.”
apple computer, digital files, ipod, itunes, podcasting, podcasts, teacher development
In his article for Podcasting News, Podcast Imaging: The Sign On Your Front Door, audio designer and producer Ed LaComb writes about creating an “audio image” for your podcast. He describes audio imaging this way…
“Simply put, audio imaging is the “fancy sign” that hangs out in front of your business. If your business is audio, then that sign is a highly (or at least creatively) produced show introduction, some “sweepers” which introduce other elements within the show, or transition from one topic to the next, and perhaps even a show outro.”
What are “sweepers”? Sweepers are little bits of audio that are used to direct attention towards what’s coming next. They are attention-getters. You hear these all the time in broadcast. Radio stations use them to transition to commercials or special announcements and your local TV news broadcast uses them to transition between stories. Sweepers and other audio imaging elements: whooshes, hits, washes, stingers, stabs (they’re named for their sound), all contribute as production tools used to guide listeners towards your next feature.
Some examples
As a podcast producer you could create connections between your topics or your guests by utilizing these small audio transitions. Choose sounds that fit with your show’s intent or “image”.
As LaComb says in his article, “Properly designed and produced, audio imaging can attract listeners to your podcast…and when used creatively throughout your podcast, it can keep them listening from beginning to end.”
UniqueTracks has a full line of audio imaging products. You can download individual sound elements or purchase the entire audio imaging CD collection.
audio+imaging, audio designer, audio image, broadcast radio stations, podcast, podcasting, production tools, stabs, stingers, sweepers
Whooshes, Washes, Crunches, Crashes, Hits, Rumbles, Pings…
Our new 1300+ Audio Imaging Sound Effects Library includes production elements geared towards Radio, Television, Multimedia and Game Design. You can download individual sound effects or choose a complete sound effects collection on CD-ROM.
High Impact Radio - Beds, Station IDs, Low Rumbles, Whooshes, Washes, Hits, Power Ups, Power Downs, Ascends, Descends, Stabs, Ramps, Start Ups and Stops
High Impact Television - Drone Beds, Promo Static, Whooshes to Hits, Low Rumbles, Laser Hits, Liquid Hits, Sweeps, Explosions, Feedback and Distortion, Transmissions
High Impact Multimedia - Clicks, Buttons, Beeps. Chimes, Pings, Start Up Screens, Musical Tones, Window Effects, Error Messages, Flash Elements, Pop-Up Elements, Shut Down Screens, Digital Readouts
High Impact Game Design - Explosions, Crashes, Crunches, Combat Weapons, Low Rumbles, Force Fields, Alien Movements, Fight Impacts, Underscores, Thunder, Fire, Static
Four Volume CD-ROM Pack - The four volume series is a great way to quickly build a substantial sound effects library with over 4 hours of royalty free production elements and sound effects.
Sound Effects Downloads - It is possible to purchase any single track from over 1300 individual sound files in our Audio Imaging Library and download it immediately to your computer as as an uncompressed WAV file (Red Book Audio 16 bit 44.1 kHz).
audio+imaging, game design, imaging sound, laser hits, production elements, radio+imaging, royalty+free+music, sound+effects, sound+fx, sound effects library, sound effects sound
One of the ways you can maximize the recordings you license from UniqueTracks is to use audio editing software to shape the music so that it works perfectly within your media project.
A simple example of this would be creating your own fade in or fade out on a portion of a track. A more complex example would be cutting an 8 measure section from the full length track and looping this segment as underscore.
Digital audio editing software lets you easily zoom in to a selection of the recording and accomplish powerful editing maneuvers.
There are a lot of digital editors available for both Windows and Mac platforms. Today I want to introduce you to a few of the lowest-priced editors available. These editors still pack a lot of editing power but at are priced at a level that will get you cutting and shaping your audio tracks for just a minimal investment.
To me, the real power of production music is attained when the end-user is free to edit the tracks. This is entirely within UniqueTracks’ standard license agreement. In fact, we really encourage you to experiment with the recordings to draw as much use from them as possible. You’ll just find that you can do much more with the tracks if you have the ability to massage and shape them, rather than just plop the whole thing in your timeline and live with it as is.
We’ve started a new Tools section on the UniqueTracks web site where we have made arrangements with various companies to offer trial versions of their audio editing software. I apologize in advance to Mac users, right now we only have Windows editors available.
So if you are a Windows user and maybe new to the whole world of digital audio editing, please browse through the various software packages we’ve included on the site. These are all try-before-you-buy programs that let you download a completely working version of the software to test for a certain period. If you find that the product is something of value and something you’ll use, you must purchase the product at the end of the trial period or the working version will expire. Prices are very reasonable for the editing power you’ll get (from $19 to $50).
Even if you already have a digital audio editor that you use, there is probably a small application here that will help you in your editing. We also have included some affordable digital video editing software and some cool little Flash apps that, if you develop for Flash, you may want to check out.
I have another reason for recommending these editors and it’s because in upcoming issues of the Underscore newsletter, I’d like to start offering some audio editing advice taking real examples from our music library. I field quite a few phone calls and emails from customers who are encountering audio editing issues and are looking for help.
A case in point, this week I was asked why MP3 files don’t seem to loop seamlessly - you can hear a bump in the loop. This is because the MP3 spec puts a sliver of silence at the beginning and ending of the audio file. You really can’t loop an MP3 file. That’s why all UniqueTracks loops are delivered in WAV format. I’d like to start talking about some of these issues. So grab yourself an digital editor and we can begin examining some cool audio editing techniques.
I’ve been watching Steve Jobs’ keynote address at the recent 2006 MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. As always, there are a lot of great new enhancements to Apple products.
Of special interest to me was the new Podcast studio, an addition to Apple’s GarageBand software .
The new GarageBand includes a built-in Speech Enhancer which optimizes sound for your gender and vocal range, improving the sound of your voice and simulating a professional microphone, even when you’re not using one. And a dynamic “ducking” effect automatically reduces music volume when you speak, so your listeners always hear the talk above the tunes. These are features common in radio stations and radio production studios so it’s quite a nice addition to the package.
If you are a PC user or if you’d like to view another similar product, check out M-Audio’s Podcast Factory. M-Audio is a company that creates professional music studio products. Though I have not used Podcast Factory, I personally use and recommend many M-Audio products.
UniqueTracks royalty free music is fully compatible with either of these products.
I’m wondering if any of you use GarageBand for podcasting. It does seem very easy to get up and running with a podcast very fast.
One thing about GarageBand that has always bothered me is its name.
A true garage band really is something that emerges spontaneously from a group of friends’ love of music - it’s not a software package - it’s a bunch of people who learn to make music together the old fashioned way, by actually rehearsing and playing it, trying things over and over, arguing, learning what works, learning to cooperate - becoming musicans in the process. There is a rawness, honesty and authenticity to the sound of a real garage band.
In fact Steve Van Zant (Springsteen E Street member) has a critically acclaimed radio show devoted solely to “garage” music. Little Steven’s Underground Garage. You can bet none of the music broadcast on this show was made using Apple’s GarageBand.
Instead of the garage, Apple should have turned to areas of the home where this product actually gets used - like the bedroom or the kitchen table or the den.
If you have experience with GarageBand, please post it here. Let me know if you have created a successful podcast or any other project.
apple, garageband software, garage band, macworld, m audio, podcast, podcasting, professional microphone, professional music, radio production, royalty free music, sound of your voice, steve jobs keynote
Bill Grady, owner of Star Communications has over 20 years of professional experience in all facets of radio broadcasting. Like other professional broadcasters, Bill has recently become intrigued with podcasting.
His podcast - You Are The Guest - is a weekly show where you can “be the guest” and tell other people what you and your friends/neighbors are saying about today’s news and the issues of the day. The show is part opinion poll, part reality show.
The music Bill chose for the podcast was the UniqueTracks 2 disc set, Top Secret Loops Vol. 1 Rock/Metal. Listen to how Bill uses the music for introductions and transitions between topics. You’ll also hear how the music helps provide an upbeat and casual mood.
Bill’s podcast is open to all guests, if you’d like to participate in his show, just drop him a line at You are the Guest . Here is the RSS link for the podcast.
bill grady, podcast, podcasting, professional broadcasters, professional experience, radio broadcasting, reality show, royalty+free+music, top secret loops, uniquetracks
As you may know, there is right now a lot of legal wrangling going on over what music is legal to use [in podcasts] and what is not. ASCAP and BMI, the major performance rights organizations in the US, want to license and in a sense, control the use of music in podcasting. They want to treat the new format like radio, where the podcaster must buy a license to use commercially available music in their podast.
If you have any experience with this, or can point to some links, please post a comment, I’d like to build up some more information regarding the use of music in podcasting.
Did you know that UniqueTracks production music can be used royalty free in your podcast? Using royalty free music relieves you of having to obtain permission or licenses from BMI or ASCAP . You become legally licensed to use the music in your podcast (in as many issues as you’d like).
One good method is to pick a tune that can become the “theme” music for your show. You can use our tracks as your theme music or as transition music between topics. With our licensing, a small one-time fee provides you with a legal-to-use track that you can use in as many of your shows as you wish.
ascap, bmi, performance rights organizations, podcast, podcaster, podcasting, podcasts, production music, radio, royalty free music, theme music, transition music, uniquetracks
I found this description and discussion of podcast music licensing very informative. If you do any type of internet broadcasting, you may be interested in how Performing Rights Organizations are looking at this latest internet broadcasting technology.
Should Podcasters have to pay a fee for the right to play copyrighted songs during a Podcast? Yes, says ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. There’s also a good discussion of how much that licensing will cost.
What is a podcast?
ascap, bmi, broadcasting technology, internet broadcasting, music licensing, performing rights, podcast, podcasters, rights organizations, sesac
