Hi, I was wondering if you have any techniques you want to share of how to create good sound for cartoons e.g. Bouncing ball boing boing sound or a crunchy bite sound .any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Shilshoolon
How to make cartoon sounds?
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 193 posts since 5 Nov, 2005
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- KVRAF
- 3404 posts since 15 Sep, 2002
It's amazing how much of that stuff was done with an orchestra by Carl Stalling. I saw a CD of Warner Brothers cartoon sounds once and I wish I would have bought it.
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- KVRian
- 901 posts since 1 Dec, 2003
Indeed! Those guys were amazingmistertoast wrote:It's amazing how much of that stuff was done with an orchestra by Carl Stalling. I saw a CD of Warner Brothers cartoon sounds once and I wish I would have bought it.
The CD collection is still out there. Google "warner bros. sound effects" and you'll get lots of hits...some legit at a $HEFTY$ price, and some not legit.
You can be creative and make your own, but if you're looking to reproduce the classic sounds that are imbedded in our brains, you'll probably need a sound library. They're very difficult to synthesize, but then you may find some are not that hard to record with a mic and various household items.
Mutilating veggies like carrots and celery can get you the "crunchy bite" sound, or close mic yourself munching a potato chip, slow it down and compress the hell out of it. WAY back as a kid, I used to get an exellent explosion sound by putting a small cheap mic inside of a jigsaw puzzle box (with the pieces in it) and shaking it. Slap a ruler or a thin piece of metal as you press it to the edge of your desk. Hang a twisted plastic bag from the rafters and set it on fire for that great "ZILCH" sound!
I remember seeing sites that offered free cartoon FX, but I don't have any links at the moment.
Other than being inventive, I can't offer much advice for cartoon foley in the VST arena.
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- Banned
- 4073 posts since 15 Mar, 2004
Lucky I was passing by I guess... 
You're welcome to grab my collection of beeps, boops, thumps, whacks, crashes, whistles, bongs, punches, whooshes, pops, bonks, etc., used for this very purpose (royalty free).
Here's 2 preview sound samples:
chomping
boink
Here's the entire rar file of about 750 samples:
CartoonFX
Most are 8/16 bit samples (mainly for ease of downloading) but quite usable -- and those that might be a bit noisey can quickly be cleaned up in Audition/Sound Forge, etc. Also, there's a few (maybe 20 in the collection) that are zero byte files for some reason, but I can't be arsed to sort them out.
*If you just want to make your own, many of these I created with a minimoog and an Atari 1040ST.
Enjoy
Cheers,
Alex
You're welcome to grab my collection of beeps, boops, thumps, whacks, crashes, whistles, bongs, punches, whooshes, pops, bonks, etc., used for this very purpose (royalty free).
Here's 2 preview sound samples:
chomping
boink
Here's the entire rar file of about 750 samples:
CartoonFX
Most are 8/16 bit samples (mainly for ease of downloading) but quite usable -- and those that might be a bit noisey can quickly be cleaned up in Audition/Sound Forge, etc. Also, there's a few (maybe 20 in the collection) that are zero byte files for some reason, but I can't be arsed to sort them out.
*If you just want to make your own, many of these I created with a minimoog and an Atari 1040ST.
Enjoy
Cheers,
Alex
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- KVRist
- 126 posts since 1 Mar, 2006 from Montreal, canada
Take this; you hater!-
- KVRist
- 434 posts since 14 Sep, 2005
Cool thread! DIY Cartoon tips.
You can't beat the sound of a plastic ruler being twanged over the edge of a table to get that wobbly sound.
Jaw/Jews harp for Boing sounds.
Drum roll on Hi bongo for running on the spot.
Swannea whistle for Up and Down sounds or the Clangers.
Timpani hit with slight upwards pitch bend for being kicked up the arse.
Song Bird tweets for slight concussion.
You can't beat the sound of a plastic ruler being twanged over the edge of a table to get that wobbly sound.
Jaw/Jews harp for Boing sounds.
Drum roll on Hi bongo for running on the spot.
Swannea whistle for Up and Down sounds or the Clangers.
Timpani hit with slight upwards pitch bend for being kicked up the arse.
Song Bird tweets for slight concussion.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 193 posts since 5 Nov, 2005
wow thats great help 10x
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- Skunk Mod
- 21249 posts since 10 Jun, 2004 from Pony Pasture
Like sonarman, I like making sound effects from scratch. Become your own Foley artist!
One of my alternate characters is a 'toon -- but without a full set of 'toon recording gear I don't think I could make any recordings... and even then the format would be all wrong, unless you have a codec for .acme files.
One of my alternate characters is a 'toon -- but without a full set of 'toon recording gear I don't think I could make any recordings... and even then the format would be all wrong, unless you have a codec for .acme files.
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- KVRist
- 357 posts since 24 Jul, 2005 from Toronto ON
the classic cartoon sounds (Warner bros - Bugs Bunny, Merrie Melodies; MGM - Tom & Jerry; Disney) and even some of the more "meh" sounds created by Hanna-Barbera (flintstones, jetsons, Yogi bear) are mostly still available on CD libraries (sound-ideas.com), but expensive.
As noted, the old cartoons relied heavily on amazing scores (Carl Stalling - I have one of the Stalling collection CDs. Also look for "Bugs Bunny on broadway" - it's a show with a live orchestra playing to the cartoons. The show's excellent, and they have issued a CD)
Check out some modern GOOD animated films, for example, "The Triplets of Belleville", and listen to what new sound designers are doing for animation. Also, the Pixar films have great sound. These will inspire you to get really creative with sound.
As noted, the old cartoons relied heavily on amazing scores (Carl Stalling - I have one of the Stalling collection CDs. Also look for "Bugs Bunny on broadway" - it's a show with a live orchestra playing to the cartoons. The show's excellent, and they have issued a CD)
Check out some modern GOOD animated films, for example, "The Triplets of Belleville", and listen to what new sound designers are doing for animation. Also, the Pixar films have great sound. These will inspire you to get really creative with sound.
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- Banned
- 4073 posts since 15 Mar, 2004
No worriesLandphil wrote:@ xander,
Great work! Thanks for sharing those!
But I think at least 80% of the fun is making them yourself if you can -- some excellent ideas and suggestions in here.
Cheers,
Alex
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- KVRist
- 148 posts since 11 Sep, 2006 from in my own little orbit
one EXCELLENT tool is getting a "laugh stick". that was the name brand at least for the one i wish i still had. it's a tube about 2 1/2" feet long with a sliding sound generator inside. when you let the generator slide you get sounds similar to those "moo box" cans but you get funky laughing type sounds when you shake it that drive dogs nuts! LOL
i wish i could remember what that piece of metal with two strikers on flexible stems was called. i thought it was vibraphone but was mistaken. that's a standard old school SFX.
the same goes for the *whoop whhoop whoop* whistle i don't have a name for either. they're 2-3" tubes with propellers in the middle and are very common in toons.
"bird whistles" (whistles filled with water) are most commonly used to simula te the sound of someone getting bonked over the head.
you'll definately want to try and get the sound of a klaxon for those old *ahoogah* horn sounds.
speaking of old car sounds and toons in general... don't forget one of the best instruments in the world, your mouth! the standard "whooptie" car sound is made with vocal plosives and many other toon sounds like farts and pops are easily made vocally. get to know the sounds your mouth can make. use your vowel sounds to shape white noise sounds. use different types of whistles.
start with a "P" plosive and go into a fart sound for example and you've got the standard toon splat sound. you can emulate the "dive bomb" sound by just whistling and lowering pitch.
remember, in the old days, toon sounds were all acoustic eg. using fender tremelo to make the sound of telephone lines stretching in WB toons.
a juice harp is a decent tool for making *boing* type sounds and can do some variety with vowel sounds.
if you're using a synthesizer, DEFINATELY make use of pitch bends and envelopes for toon sounds eg. down & up bends for *ewwwweeee* sounds.
there really are no rules to making toon sounds unless you're trying to emulate the classics. if you experiment with sounds, you'll eventually find wacky sounds by accident eg. holding a ruler on the edge of a table and plucking it or playing around with strummed rubber bands.
a REALLY cool toon type sound can be made if you're willing to spend a couple hours in a handball court smaking balls until you finally get that rare distinctive *peeooo* sound or if you fall to the ground and get the classic charlie brown sound. when i heard that exact sound playing football once, i laughed my butt off despite the pain as i always thought the SFX was cheesy until i learned it was spot on.
pitch transposing and speeding any sound up couldn't hurt it's toonability either.
there are endless ways to make toon sounds. i imagine the pioneers just messed around with whatever they had until the came across something that sounded cool like quickly swinging a long twig to simulate a sword fight.
even the sounds you hear in a standard hollywood movie aren't always what you think they are. foley artists experiment with all sorts of techniques to get sounds that work. toon sound designers did the same thing only they tried to get more silly sounds. you'd never hear a train whistle in a serious drama, but...
i wish i could remember what that piece of metal with two strikers on flexible stems was called. i thought it was vibraphone but was mistaken. that's a standard old school SFX.
the same goes for the *whoop whhoop whoop* whistle i don't have a name for either. they're 2-3" tubes with propellers in the middle and are very common in toons.
"bird whistles" (whistles filled with water) are most commonly used to simula te the sound of someone getting bonked over the head.
you'll definately want to try and get the sound of a klaxon for those old *ahoogah* horn sounds.
speaking of old car sounds and toons in general... don't forget one of the best instruments in the world, your mouth! the standard "whooptie" car sound is made with vocal plosives and many other toon sounds like farts and pops are easily made vocally. get to know the sounds your mouth can make. use your vowel sounds to shape white noise sounds. use different types of whistles.
start with a "P" plosive and go into a fart sound for example and you've got the standard toon splat sound. you can emulate the "dive bomb" sound by just whistling and lowering pitch.
remember, in the old days, toon sounds were all acoustic eg. using fender tremelo to make the sound of telephone lines stretching in WB toons.
a juice harp is a decent tool for making *boing* type sounds and can do some variety with vowel sounds.
if you're using a synthesizer, DEFINATELY make use of pitch bends and envelopes for toon sounds eg. down & up bends for *ewwwweeee* sounds.
there really are no rules to making toon sounds unless you're trying to emulate the classics. if you experiment with sounds, you'll eventually find wacky sounds by accident eg. holding a ruler on the edge of a table and plucking it or playing around with strummed rubber bands.
a REALLY cool toon type sound can be made if you're willing to spend a couple hours in a handball court smaking balls until you finally get that rare distinctive *peeooo* sound or if you fall to the ground and get the classic charlie brown sound. when i heard that exact sound playing football once, i laughed my butt off despite the pain as i always thought the SFX was cheesy until i learned it was spot on.
pitch transposing and speeding any sound up couldn't hurt it's toonability either.
there are endless ways to make toon sounds. i imagine the pioneers just messed around with whatever they had until the came across something that sounded cool like quickly swinging a long twig to simulate a sword fight.
even the sounds you hear in a standard hollywood movie aren't always what you think they are. foley artists experiment with all sorts of techniques to get sounds that work. toon sound designers did the same thing only they tried to get more silly sounds. you'd never hear a train whistle in a serious drama, but...
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JumpingJackFlash JumpingJackFlash https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=44005
- KVRian
- 1227 posts since 10 Oct, 2004
Vibraslap maybe?gambitron wrote:i wish i could remember what that piece of metal with two strikers on flexible stems was called. i thought it was vibraphone but was mistaken. that's a standard old school SFX.
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- KVRAF
- 1898 posts since 4 Mar, 2004 from The Forests of Lombard
In xp {with subdirectories} search on *.* , sort by size, select the 0byte files and hit "delete".xander wrote:Also, there's a few (maybe 20 in the collection) that are zero byte files for some reason, but I can't be arsed to sort them out.
Takes less time than it did to type your disclaimer.
