# Creepy Forest Soundscape: Download and Critique



## Cab (Sep 13, 2009)

Wow, nice job. And 18 minutes!
If you have the sound of leaves blowing on the ground I would mix that in too.
Also, perhaps some tree and branch movement from a little wind here and there.
I liked the church bell in the background.
What do you think about a handful of low whispers in the background... just ever so faint? Only a few.

Great job... and thanks for the nod.

Cab


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## MacEricG (May 26, 2009)

Thanks Cab.

I like all your suggestions and plan to look for some leaves and branches sounds to fill-out some of the lesser-populated areas. Maybe even footsteps crunching through leaves would work. What do you think?

I had thought of whispers, too, as well as an occasional witch cackle or two.


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## quakrspecl (Aug 21, 2006)

Very subtle. Nicely done. 

Thanks for sharing this!

q


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## Cab (Sep 13, 2009)

A few footsteps scattered throughout would be good... it gives the impression that something is close and watching you.
A well placed witch cackle, in the background with a little reverb, should add a nice effect.
Also, perhaps a moan or two - off in the distance - with a little reverb.
Do you have any sounds of an animal scurrying through bushes? This could placed in the foreground for a quick attention-getter.

Hope this helps

Cab


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## quakrspecl (Aug 21, 2006)

Good ear. And your suggestions are dead-on, Cab.

q


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

SHweeeet, well done ! yes, a few rustling leaves maybe, cab's ideas. But i like your composition. 
Maybe other than those additions, a 2nd version can add in the creatures & things in the night....... Thanx, nice to have another talent add in here


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## MacEricG (May 26, 2009)

Just found a bunch of great leaves sounds on freesound, including rustling in the wind and getting crunched by feet. I may play with the speed while keeping the pitch the same to make some sound more like animals.

Creaking branches has been a pain to find. However, a search for just "creak" came back with a ton of cool sounds from shipyards. My plan is to try and use SoundSoap to remove the ocean sounds, leave the creaks and combine with leaves and wind effects.

In light of the many great suggestions, I'm thinking to reorder the composition to have more of a flow where the grouping makes more sense. *Cab: May I ask how you "scope-out" your basic plan when doing your soundscapes? Do you plug-and-play as you go, or do you develop something of a storyboard and outline a general idea in advance?*

Also — It turns out my sound editor is a 5:1 mixer (didn't know that after all this time). I may try my hand at some 3D sounds — depending on how my schedule goes.


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## Cab (Sep 13, 2009)

I hope this post works, I'm working a gig in Sonoma, California right now.

When I make a soundscape, I write a short and general outline of what I want to hear - and the "story" I want to tell.

Then, I start with a few basic drone tracks - like the sample I put up on my website. After that, I start searching and listening to effects in my library. I tweek every individual sound - from pitch shift, reverse wave, flange, chorus, distorion, reverb, or a combination of all. It makes the process take longer, but it's worth it.

Also, if an audio clip isn't "working" at a particular spot - I move it somewhere else... Some effects just don't play nicely together. As I start to move clips, that's when the project becomes organic and takes on a life of it's own. That's when you really start to create your story.

By the way... The music box sound that I used at the end of my track "Haunted Dreams"... It's Green Sleeves played in reverse with delay and reverb. I recorded it from my wife's music box.

I hope this wasn't too long-winded.

Good luck with your project.
I'm currently working on an effects idea from Dark Lord.
I hope to have it finished by next week and available for free download.

Cab


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