6 Top Free Sound Effects Libraries
When you work with music, with video, audio editing, or, in general, for the audiovisual industry, you may have noticed the need to find a particular sound to complement your work. If you are not a Foley Artist, either because of lack of time or because that is not your main endeavor, you will need sound libraries. Some of these are expensive, others are cheaper, but there are free and very good quality libraries as well. If you are a musician or an amateur editor, this post is probably for you. Even if you are a professional, like Enhanced Media, here you will find some good material that maybe you didn’t know. So let’s take a look at some of the best free sound effects libraries that you could use today for your productions.
YouTube
Oh, yes, you don’t have to dig too deep on the internet to find what you’re looking for. There are hundreds of YouTube channels dedicated to sharing sound effects for free, as well as free music. Tons of creators use them to make and share memes, but they’re there at your disposal, in case you need them for serious quality work. In addition to how simple this is, as you only need a Gmail account to start downloading sound effects, you can use the YouTube search engine to find both free sound effects channels, in addition to thousands of videos and playlists.
SoundBible
SoundBible is a huge sound library, ruled by the Creative Commons license. This means that all the sound effects you’ll find here belong to the public domain and you won’t have to pay for them nor mention anything in the credits of your work. You will be able to download the sound effects both in .wav and .mp3 format. It is quite useful for content creators (like YouTubers or TikTokers), game developers, or video editors. You will find all kinds of ambient, party, war, gun, as well as industrial, human, and urban sounds, and more.
FreeSound
This one is not just a sound effects library, FreeSound is a growing community. On its website, you will find not only an extensive catalog of high-quality sounds, carefully organized, but also a quite precise search engine, a blog with news and updates from the world of the music industry, and an excellent forum where you can ask, answer, comment, and create new relationships with people immersed in the same world as you. You just have to register to download files and participate in the forum, and then you can use this free tool, widely used by mixers and editors. Another remarkable aspect is that you could also upload your own sound effects, and this means that many of the files you find in FreeSound have been created by this community.
ZapSplat
This library is specialized for those who develop video games. We are talking about video games of all kinds, from downloadable apps, games on social networks (such as Facebook), console games, or online RPGs. In ZapSplat, and for free, you will find effects for all kinds of situations and options: opening a menu, combat sounds, coins, nature, background music, completed level, game over, and much more. Sound is a fundamental aspect in video games (not only graphic quality and narrative), therefore, but you should also take advantage of these kinds of free options to make your video game a wonderful experience for players.
Incompetech
Incompetech is one of those libraries that are most recommended and taken into account due to the extensive catalog of sound effects available, as well as free music, under the Creative Commons license. You can download the files in different formats, and, in some cases, you can download the music scores, which could be quite useful, in case you have minimal knowledge of music and production, since, in this way, you can create, for example, a leitmotif for your movie, TV series, video game, or podcast. An interesting aspect is its Experimental Background Music Finder, which, as its name suggests, is quite unusual but particularly useful when you become familiar with it.
AudioMicro
Although this library includes all kinds of sound effects and free music, a good number of the files are background sounds. These are quite practical for all kinds of productions (audiovisual, music, podcasts, video games, etc.) because they allow you to create an immersive experience. The background sound of a street, a forest, a river, a fire in a fireplace, an amusement park, or even a hospital…, you can find it all here, and with a lot of variety. Remember that the devil is in the details! If you want to produce a sense of reality, you will need a lot of background sounds that we rarely perceive but are still there. Always. In AudioMicro, you will be able to find them, and you only need to register on the website, even using your Gmail or Facebook account.
So now you know! You got a tremendous amount of material available, and you won’t have to pay a single cent to download thousands of sound effects, music, and more!
