Are you a DJ looking for a realistic police siren to jazz up a mixtape? Maybe you’re a producer wanting the sound of static on an old 78 record to start your latest jam? Or you’re looking for the sounds of cicadas at dusk to add an exotic touch to your beachside promo video?
Whatever, the BBC has just made available 16,000 sound effects from its archives, in a mind-boggling array of categories. You can look through a huge list of them, play them right there in the browser, and download them as WAVs.
Seriously, you can get lost in this collection – so if you’ve ever been tempted to take a mic and hit the streets in search of audio, here’s a way of getting loads of interesting stuff, recorded all over the world, without leaving your sofa.
• The BBC sound effects library is free for personal use and available here.
Where do you get your sound effects from? Let us know in the comments.
Joey Santos
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