Sometimes a source making one sound can be perceived as something else entirely, if you don't know what it is. Things are not always as they sound. What do you hear when you see a huge knife slice through a big, wet head of lettuce? What about when you see somebody's finger circling around the edge of a goblet or glass? What sound comes to mind when you see hands squeezing a balloon until it pops?

Think outside the sound effects description on your CD library. Close your eyes and listen. Use your imagination. You might hear something that sounds like cloth ripping apart, an out-of-this-world hovering entity or gunshots. These are the alternate sounds you can apply to your video productions, add to your sound effects library or personal collection of audio clips you create to use in a wide range of productions.

As you continue to read, I encourage you to think outside the source. Close your eyes and listen and you'll enjoy not only experimenting with what sounds you can create from items in your home or apartment, but discover sound effects possibilities that are otherworldly all over your physical world. Just remember, sounds don't always have to be what the source might dictate.

Experiment a Little

Take a few hours to assess your household items, even the equipment you have in your editing room. Start looking at what you have that generates or can be made to generate sounds and what those sounds might otherwise resemble. Fingernails scraping across the teeth of a pocket comb can sound like a zipper, something ripping or, well, fingernails scraping across the teeth of a comb. That spinning, whooshing sound from your CD/DVD burner - does it have to represent only that sound or could it be something else. A flying saucer spinning up to take off? Some kind of suction cup sound effect?

In preparation for this column I went around picking out all kinds of silly things to make a sound from - keys, coins in a plastic container, pills in a plastic pill bottle, a faucet dripping into a crab boiler, bank ATM receipts flapping... you get the idea. I even snorted a few times and puffed out my cheeks and popped out from my sealed lips with a finger. I tried out these and more simply using my Zoom H2 recorder with the screen and mic stand adaptor attached.

I was surprised at what I heard upon transferring these sound bytes to my audio editor. Though I tried to keep my focus on some realistic alternative sounds they might represent, I have to admit it was difficult to get my mind away from hearing keys rattle, paper flap or cheeks pop. The experiment, however, was ear-opening overall. None of the sounds generated had to be or could only be perceived as their source dictates.

This was achieved simply with stuff around the house or hidden in my cupboards. Imagine what could be acquired from everyday sources located on the rest of the planet. Or, if I took the time to organize a day for creating unique and unusual sound effects.

In the Kitchen

Let's pay another visit to the kitchen - that blender, the toaster, your coffee maker, the utensil drawer, refrigerator, oven and cabinet doors opening, closing, being slammed. What does thumping a wine goblet sound like other than thumping a wine goblet? What can scraping a glass over a ceramic tile counter represent other than the sound of that action? Does toast popping up from the toaster have to sound like what it is? Every room in your home is rich in sources for generating normal, odd, unusual and ethereal sound effects. What would it sound like if, on a dry day, you scraped across the carpet or rubbed your pet cat, or rubbed your hands over your wool or silk shirt or dress? If you safely had your mic placed nearby as you touched something that grounded and set off that static charge? Could you even capture the sound? Did you get the unanticipated "yelp" you made when you got shocked? What could that be used for?