Create an Explosion Sound Effect

 Introduction 

In this activity, we will learn to create a dynamic, interesting explosion sound effect using just household objects, a telephone and a DAW. We are going to try some Foley art. For this, we need a microphone and a lot of imagination.

Most modern telephones come with some means of recording audio. iPhone’s come with a Voice Note App pre-installed. Android phones have a Voice Recorder App. Other recording apps are available on the App store and the Google Play store.

A sound can be made up of multiple elements. The three elements of an explosion sound effect are the Impact, the body and the tail:

  • Impact: A short, sharp sound. Ie a door slam, clapping your hands or hitting a surface.
  • The body: A longer sound that has texture. Ie ripping paper or cardboard, dragging an object across a surface.
  • The tail: Sound of debris falling. Ie dropping cutlery on different surfaces, stones hitting the ground.

With this in mind, using your voice recording app on your phone, record sounds from your surroundings that will make up the impact the body and the tail of your explosion.

 Transferring Audio From Phone to Computer 

There are a few ways to transfer your audio files to your computer:

Method 1

Send the files via email from your phone to an accessible account on your computer. Open the email account and download the audio files to your computer. (Not advisable for large files over 20mb)

Method 2

Plug your phone into your computer using the relevant USB connections. You should be able to see your phone as a device. Drag the relevant audio files from the phone folder to a location on your computer. You should be able to import your recorded audio files to Audacity using the same process as Activity 1.

Note: If Apple computer users encounter problems transferring your recorded files into Audacity you will need to download this additional piece of firmware. 64-bit FFMPEG for MACOX. Which you will find on their website at: https://lame.buanzo.org/#lamewindl

Method 3

Apple users can also use Airdrop.

 Creating an Explosion Sound Effect 

 Next Step 

Try again using the same approach and techniques but this time create a ‘Magic Spell’ from household objects.

Try to incorporate natural sounds such as wind, water.

Here is some inspiration: