Fish(er) Tales

I caught a trailer for a new TV show and heard a familiar sound effect. It’s called Flash Rush and it’s from one of the fine SFX libraries at The Hollywood Edge. It’s actually one of over 100 free sounds they distributed as a promotion several years ago on a CD (remember those?). Most of the sounds they gave away were solid entries, but nothing fancy. That is except for the real standout: flash rush.

I’ve heard this particular effect used many times in many different situations. For example, it’s appeared during Buffy the Vampire Slayer, countless film trailers, and quite predominantly in TV’s Heroes (it’s part of Hiro’s time/teleportation sound effect).

Here’s the actual sound:

While many people are familiar with the Wilhelm Scream, few know about other over-used sound effects such as this example.

Other sounds that seem to stick around a lot include the use of a lone cricket when somebody tells a bad joke or makes some other faux pas. You often hear the red-tailed hawk sound accompanying wide-open vistas (or whenever there’s a shot of an eagle or other bird of prey).

The list goes on. Check out FilmSound on the web for more sound cliches and Hollywood Lost and Found for the complete history of the Wilhelm Scream.

Personally, I have my own Wilhelm Scream that I try to use on every project. It’s a sound effect called Suburban Neighborhood, a mono recording of the typical ambience one might find in such a place, complete with dogs barking and birds chirping. I try to sneak this sound into every project I can. Much like Hitchcock and his well-known cameos, a sound dude or dudette needs a sonic cameo, too.

Are there any sounds or sound effects that you reuse in your work? Share your ideas using the comments below.