Would anyone happen to know or recommend any free sites to download sound effects, music loops and things of that nature? I used to use soundsnap.com but they only allow 4 free sounds a month

Thanks in advance!

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I don't really search for those online because I own the Sony Productions complete sound effects library to avoid violations

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Several years ago, I spent the majority of 8 hours googling free sounds fx. The ones I saved were filed away, but that's before I recorded if they were totally free or if they had some restrictions.

There were several really good free sound FX sites on the net however. I will try to find thm again, but if not, spend some time googling for Sound FX, Free only, then check out the terms.

The majority of sites have you pay a fee for use, like Sounddogs.

Also, depending on what your looking for. You can get voice recordings and the like from Libraryof Congress. Being a military guy, I found quite a few military type sounds, like aircraft, service related and the like.

Free Sound FX

Depending on what you want sounds for:

1. If you just want Sound FX to use in your own personal projects, (Not for sale or resell), most sites let you use them for that.

2. Commercial Use, (For sale or resell), of Sound FX, usually requires the purchase of a license, whether it be one time, unlimited use, etc. If you just need a few FX, they are relatively inexpensive. Some from .50 on up to 3-4 bucks or more, each.

3. Google is a terrifc tool for researching Sound FX. Like I said before, several years ago, there was a lot of free stuff, but once everyone found out they could make a buck or two, most started to charge.

4. Public Domain....Most stuff, images, sounds, voices over 75 years old have copyrights which have expired or no copyrights at all...Again, depends on want you want. You can do a search for Sounds, Sound Files, Voice Recordings, Old time Radio, etc. Make sure you use something like Sound Files, Free or Sound Files, Public Domain.

5. For military sounds I search for specific sound files. Sounds, jet aircraft; sounds, military; sounds, f-100; etc.

6. Train webistes are usally good for locating trolley or train whistles and the like. Most historic train or trolley sites, have at least a few sound files. (You only need to check the terms of use).

7. Animals, etc: sounds, eagles; sounds, whales, etc. Most government agency sound files, images are in the public domain, but some also carry copyrighted images or sounds from professional photographers, etc.

8. US Fish and Wildlife for animal sounds is excellent.

9. Could also search BLM, Forest Service or State Agencies.

10. Do a little bit of research and you will be surprised what you can find. Just be awre of copyright infirngement and check out terms of use. Most gov. stuff either requires a notice of use such as Photograh by Sgt. Mac, or please credit US Fish and Wildlife Service...(Oh..and I have gotten good results through zoo's for animal sounds... Good luck!

I found some good resource browsing through http://musicyoucanuse.com/

Not just sound effects but other background song etc. as well

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What you're looking for is probably "public domain sounds" (such that have no copyright attached to them).

You can find such a library (not too big yet). pdsounds.

This unfortunately is the only resource of such kind known to me.

Also I'd like to advertise the public domain military sound effects pack that I recently created. Links, description and preview in this thread (off-site link).

I don't think Lisa wants us to link to our own individual sites, unless approved first. It would be better I think, to email a member a link if that is OK with her.

However...since I am working on a military site, will look over the sound files.

PS: FYI or anyone else...For the past three or four years, I have conducted extensive searches for FREE sound files. (You do have to be careful though, as some people steal others copyrighted stuff and say it is theres and it is free).

If you look hard enough though, you can always find a a few here and there. Having a military site, I guess I have a leg up, as there are lots of military sounds, from aircraft, to ships, boats, trains, music.

But when your looking, don't overlook sites that you wouldn't expect sounds.For instance, I have found some terrific animal sounds from ZOO websites. Governement websites are excellent. BLM, Forest Service, NASA, Parks and Recreation, Ghost Towns, Western sites, etc.

One time I was looking for sounds of a trolley car, which was hard to find. Low and behold, I found several free ones on a trolley car museum site.

I didn't link to my site, it's a public forum I linked to.
But these sounds are owned by the institutions that post them. They are still copyrighted.
The trolley car museum site, did it state that the sound is free for royalty free use?

It's been a few years ago, since I found it. It must have been free, as it is in my Non-copyrighted folder.

Well, if that's true it's great - I so far got the impression only US Gov sites and some content sharing sites (pdsounds, openfontlibrary, openclipart, burningwell) contain public domain media and the rest would be "free" and "stuff I found on the internet" archives. :|

It's ironic that public domain material kind of requires attribution, because it's necessary to be able to check if the sources are truly copyright free.

I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression. Most government things are in the Public Domain. Also, things like the Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife are taxpayer funded and in the Public Domain. With that said, though, certain images/audio on Public Domain sites may have been taken by a professional photographer/audiographer who wants copyright credit. I have certainly found that to be the case on a lot of Public Domain sites.

A just because you find Public Domain material on a Public Domain site, doesn't mean you can follow a link from said site to another and the same rules apply. Looking at Terms of Service on any site, particularly Public Domains sites, informs one that you are be redirected to another site and to check that sites polices.

It's been several years, since I found the trolley sounds, but beleive it was the trolley museum site. It was a private entity, not public domain. Usually in those cases, I review the websites copyright or terms of service. As I use a lot of stuff off the net, I also keep emails and copies of copyright permissions. It's entriely possible I got them from a free sound site, but as I recall it was the museum.

As for images off Public Domain sites, a lot of them require some form of credit, and not a Creative Commons License. If you can find an item that is non-copyrighted, they uslally have the photographers name and date, or give you a catalog number to use as a credit such as LOC-N-1234-567 Delta Queen or Image Credit-John Doe-1865.

With that said, an itme that has lost it's copyright can be copyrighted again, but another entity. For example: say I found a non-copyrighted image off LOC and put it on my website. If you download the image from my website, you are in violation of my copyright rights.

The following is a very basic expample.

Say I wrote a book in 1850 and copyrighted it. Years passed and I renewed the copyright until 1900. The rule of thumb is that a copyright expires after 75years more or less..(You can google copyrights and check the actual wording)

If someone now copied this expired copyrighted material, there wouldn't be a problem.

But lets say you, found this book and decided to rewrite it. You now own the copyright. If someone else copies the re-written material, no matter how much it matches the original non-copyrighted work, that person would be in violation of your copyrighted material.


There are also catches to items listed as Free, Free to use, Royalty Free and on and on. We could spend hours listing all the hazards of copyrighted material. Must of this kind of stuff either has copyrights, free to use for personal use only, Non-commerical use, or charges a fee for use. In other cases, they can attach a number of Creative Commons licenses.

Anyway...I wrote too much already...Good luck with your hunt