Tag: Audio Tracks

What kind of sound does a 1,500-sound-effect donation make?

Sound recorder Greg Smith catalogued his recordings as part of a master’s thesis. “It was a tedious process,” Smith says. “After I finished this project, I thought, ‘It doesn’t make sense to me to return it to a shelf. . . . A sound effect is a living thing. It runs, pops, squeaks, rumbles, roars. For it … Continue reading “What kind of sound does a 1,500-sound-effect donation make?”

Sound recorder Greg Smith catalogued his recordings as part of a master’s thesis. “It was a tedious process,” Smith says. “After I finished this project, I thought, ‘It doesn’t make sense to me to return it to a shelf. . . . A sound effect is a living thing. It runs, pops, squeaks, rumbles, roars. For it to sit on a shelf in CDs and collect dust doesn’t make sense.’ ”

The Washington Post published a great piece about Greg Smith and the donation of his sound effects collection to the American University Library. The article even includes cool sample clips of a jack hammer, panda cub, Nascar race, buffalo, and a toucan.

Here’s a taste of the Washington Post article:

Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection

A baby panda in the wild sounds like the high-pitched bark of “Paris Hilton’s Chihuahua.”

Humpback whales mating off the coast of Maui moan amidst the distinct sounds of air bubbles popping underwater.

The futuristic grunts of aliens you might have heard in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” were not created in the studio but were actually made by buffalo grazing in South Dakota.
These sound clips and more than 1,500 others were donated last week to the library at American University by sound producer Greg Smith, who spent more than 30 years traveling the world for film and radio, working for major production companies including NPR, National Geographic and Imax.

The collection includes Smith’s best hits and are immediately accessible to film students, other aspiring filmmakers and “anybody with access to the library,” says Robin Chin Roemer, communications librarian at American. “We are really happy to have this collection. Not all of us are jumping outside to record sounds around us, but Greg did.” Read more of the Washington Post article here.

Read more about the Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection and check out the

Greg Smith SFX Collection Index by category.

Sound notes taken in the field by Greg Smith who has worked for more than 30 years recording sound effects for film.

Check out some more background about Greg and his production company.

Here’s a link to Greg Smith’s personal site.

With Logic Pro X on the way, Apple works to avoid Final Cut Pro X backlash

Apple is reportedly finishing an update to Logic Pro 9, its professional digital audio and music sequencing program, taking care not to rile existing users with significant changes. The new update is reportedly called Logic Pro X to maintain the same branding as Apple’s recent Final Cut X. However, according to a report by Japanese … Continue reading “With Logic Pro X on the way, Apple works to avoid Final Cut Pro X backlash”


Apple is reportedly finishing an update to Logic Pro 9, its professional digital audio and music sequencing program, taking care not to rile existing users with significant changes.

The new update is reportedly called Logic Pro X to maintain the same branding as Apple’s recent Final Cut X. However, according to a report by Japanese blog Macotakara, Apple’s Logic team is making great efforts to stress that it will not shift toward a GarageBand interface, heading off fears that Logic Pro might lose its professional edge. Read more at AppleInsider.

Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection Presentation & Reception Thursday, September 15, 2011 – 2:35–3:15 PM in Ward 2

Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection Presentation & Reception Hosted by: University Library & School of CommunicationSeptember 15, 2011, 2:35–3:15 PMWard 2 On Thursday, September 15, the Library and SOC will come together to introduce and celebrate the Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection, a resource comprised of 1450 sound effect tracks recorded by SOC adjunct professor … Continue reading “Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection Presentation & Reception Thursday, September 15, 2011 – 2:35–3:15 PM in Ward 2”

Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection Presentation & Reception

Hosted by: University Library & School of Communication
September 15, 2011, 2:35–3:15 PM
Ward 2

On Thursday, September 15, the Library and SOC will come together to introduce and celebrate the Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection, a resource comprised of 1450 sound effect tracks recorded by SOC adjunct professor Greg Smith over the course of his career in film and television.

Greg Smith has over 25 years of experience making films, and has traveled the world extensively as a location sound recordist, among other roles. While working on set for major studios such as Lucasfilm, he eventually amassed a large private library of sound effects, which he later used as part of his thesis project as an MFA student at AU.

The Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection is derived from the highlights of this thesis project, and includes unique sound effects of wildlife, vehicles, ambiences, and a wide variety of other things that go “bump” in both the day and night.

In providing this collection to the University Library, Smith has requested that his sound effects be shared openly for the benefit of filmmakers and video and audio producers around the world.

For more information about the Greg Smith Sound Effects Collection and to access its tracks, please visit the Media Services webpage.

Join members of the SOC’s Film and Media Arts division for the formal presentation of faculty member Greg Smith’s sound effects collection to the University Library. The presentation will include a sampling of key sound effects from the collection and a short Q&A session with Professor Smith. Refreshments provided.

Here’s some more background about Greg and his production company.

Here’s a link to Greg Smith’s personal site.

This image of recording a mountain lion can be found on his website.

Todd’s Tips – Extracting Audio in iMovie

Let’s say, for example, you have to do a project about campus. You get a FlipCam from Media Services and you shoot some video. You record some voice-over and you’re ready to put your video together. But, when you look over your footage you find that the audio from the footage you shot of campus … Continue reading “Todd’s Tips – Extracting Audio in iMovie”

Let’s say, for example, you have to do a project about campus. You get a FlipCam from Media Services and you shoot some video. You record some voice-over and you’re ready to put your video together. But, when you look over your footage you find that the audio from the footage you shot of campus is filled with sirens and the other sounds of city traffic. Problem.

One way you could handle this to simply turn down the sound

on the video clip. But, you could also remove the audio from the video clip entirely (and even replace it with something else, like your voice-over or music).
To do this in iMovie HD you’ll need to be in timeline mode. On the bottom left-hand corner of the program there’s a little button with a clock icon.
Once you’ve clicked on that, the video-building interface on the bottom of iMovie will change to look like this:
Here a blue bar represents your video instead of a small box. Once you have the timeline view up, right click on the video (the blue bar) to bring up a small menu. In that menu select “Extract Audio,” as seen here:
Finally, once you select “Extract Audio” the clip will split with the blue bar (your video) above and a purple bar (when selected) with darker purple waveforms below (your audio).
The audio and video tracks may now be moved independently of each other. You can also delete one or the other by selecting one and hitting the “Delete” key. You can also cut the audio clips just like you cut video (by hitting “Apple T”)
Be mindful though, if you begin playing with your audio track you can move audio out of synch with video which can be a real problem if your video is of someone speaking.

DMS Help – Broadcast Yourself and Podcast with Audacity

Need to create a podcast for a class? Think your opinion on something (or everything) needs to be heard by the masses? Well, here’s how… This series of free videos will show you how to use Audacity to record, edit and export your podcast. It’s never been as easy as this to learn how to … Continue reading “DMS Help – Broadcast Yourself and Podcast with Audacity”


Need to create a podcast for a class? Think your opinion on something (or everything) needs to be heard by the masses? Well, here’s how…

This series of free videos will show you how to use Audacity to record, edit and export your podcast. It’s never been as easy as this to learn how to edit digital audio.
Files edited in Audacity and then exported as .wav or .mp3 can be used in iMovie or Final Cut Pro. This means you can easily create a voice-over track or custom music track for your video.

DMS Help – Record and Edit Audio with Audacity

Ever wanted to make you own podcast? Have all this amazing stuff on your computer that you’ve recorded, but have no idea how to edit it? Well, here’s your chance. Download the free audio editing software Audacity (for Mac and PC) and start broadcasting yourself. Got it already and don’t know how to use it? … Continue reading “DMS Help – Record and Edit Audio with Audacity”

Ever wanted to make you own podcast? Have all this amazing stuff on your computer that you’ve recorded, but have no idea how to edit it?

Well, here’s your chance. Download the free audio editing software Audacity (for Mac and PC) and start broadcasting yourself.
Got it already and don’t know how to use it? This easy-to-follow tutorial manual, written by the Audacity folks, can help you understand digitized sound and how you can use Audacity to edit sound.

Todd’s Tips – See Audio Waveforms in the Final Cut Pro Timeline

Often times when editing you want to see the audio waveforms in the audio tracks (as pictured to the right). This can allow an editor to more easily edit to audio and is particularly useful when creating music videos. Final Cut Pro’s default setup is NOT to show these waveforms on the audio tracks. However, … Continue reading “Todd’s Tips – See Audio Waveforms in the Final Cut Pro Timeline”

Often times when editing you want to see the audio waveforms in the audio tracks (as pictured to the right). This can allow an editor to more easily edit to audio and is particularly useful when creating music videos.

Final Cut Pro’s default setup is NOT to show these waveforms on the audio tracks. However, setting it so that it does is a very simple process, though finding the proper place to change the setting can be a bit hairy. But, if you follow these simple steps, you’ll have no problem in making this change:
**Please note that these changes will only take effect in NEW sequences of the timeline. Therefore, after you make the changes, you will need to create a new sequence from the File menu. As such, this procedure is best done BEFORE you begin editing.**
1) Once Final Cut Pro is open, go to and click on the “Final Cut Pro” menu; it’s the one to the right of the apple and to the left of the “File” menu.
2) Select the “User Preferences” menu item.
3) Select the “Timeline Options” tab.
4) On the left-hand side of the panel there is an area designated “Track Display.”
5) In the track display area, find the check-box for “Show Audio Waveforms” and check it.
6) Click the “Ok” button on the bottom right-hand side of the panel.
7) Create a new sequence from the “File” menu and when you add media that has audio you will see the waveforms displayed on the green audio tracks.