Ambiance – Atmospheric sounds to build the space of a scene. Also look up: background, amb, environment
Beam – A steady synthetic sound. Also, look up: glow, ray, phaser
Beep – The tonal sound of a button press. Also, look up blip
Bork – A cartoonish sound that conveys disappointment.
Brush – The sound of leaves or foliage. Also, look up: leaves, bush, foliage, twig
By – This modifier should be added to searches for moving objects like Jet or Car, characterized by an increase and decrease in volume as the object passes by.
Chatter – A repetitive sound that conveys shaking, commonly associated with cartoonish teeth movement. Also, look up: shake, rattle
Chitter – small animal noise, repetitive and often cute sounding. Think squirrel or hamster.
Doppler – A sound that changes pitch as it passes by. Think truck horn starting from a distance and dropping in pitch as it crosses your path.
Drop – The sound of something falling to the ground.
Electricity – The sound of an electrical current, often wavering in volume and intensity. Also, look up: arc, crackle, spark
Flutter – Any sound with a very fast cycle of volume from low to high. Think of a humming bird’s wings or pod racers from Star Wars.
Ghost – Ethereal, often melodic and scary in nature. Also, look up: spirit, whisper
Hydraulic – The very distinct sound of something propelled by liquid moving in a confined space. Think forklift or fancy door hinges. Also, look up servo
Impact – The sound of a collision, be it small or large. Also, look up: hit, crash, smash
Debris – A cacophonous sound, usually starting thick and eventually settling. Can be used as the aftermath of an event as big as an explosion or as small as kicking up dirt.
Konk – A hollow hit, usually tonal in nature. Also, look up: bonk, coconut, hollow
Laser – The sound of a synthetic weapon. Also, look up: ray gun, pulse, beam
Movement – This modifier can be added to any search requiring both material and motion. Also, look up in short form: mvmt
Old – A modifier for sounds that are typically somewhat poor in quality, as though they were recorded a long time ago. This term is about looking for a specific character in your sound. Also, look up: old, classic, antique
Poink – A short, pointy sound. Also, look up: pluck, doink
Quick – Use this modifier when looking for sounds with very short duration. Also, look up: fast, short, sharp
Ratchet – A repetitive clicking sound Also, look up: crank, pulley, latch, turnstile
Ricco – This shorthand for Ricochet is the sound of a bullet bouncing. Can be used in cartoony moments when a character zips off screen very quickly.
Ruckle – The repetitive, throaty warble character of a sound. Typically emanating from the depths of a large animal or monster. Think of the T-Rex growl from Jurassic Park.
Rummage – Quickly digging through various materials. Also, look up junk
Servo – Short for servomechanism, this is the sound you would typically associate with the moments of a robot or other motorized electronics. Also, look up robot
Slide – This modifier signifies a changing in pitch; a character often associated with violin recordings or whistles to convey emotion in cartoony moments.
Splinter – The sound of small breaking or cracking wood. Also, look up: twist, stress, crack, wood break
Stinger – A musical sweetener that helps place emphasis on a dramatic moment. Also, look up: trailer hit, action
Telemetry – Rhythmic and somewhat repetitive beeps. The sound of calculating technology. Also, look up: computer, scan, beeps, tech, process
Up/Down – Add these modifiers to your search to convey the pitch motion of your sound. Slide whistle Up, for example, would start at a low pitch and end on a high pitch.
Valoop – The sound of something squeezing out of a small space.
Wobble – A repetitive, quick pitching sound used for moments of shakiness. Also, look up: warble, hypno, flutter
Zip – Any fast movement, often with some sort of musical character. Also, look up zing
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