change
From some modern luggage and metal tool boxes, to the 17th. Century wooden travel trunks, door latches and hinges, and bits of dust and dirt that have fallen and slipped from the lids, this library will fit into most categories of old and creepy things that need to be opened or closed.
The library even includes the sounds of old rusty nails being pulled out of the drying floor and the sounds of nails being driven into wood. Everything you could possibly need (sound wise) to build a sound design around a vampire being trapped in a coffin or being released (if you prefer).
As an added bonus, the library contains 13 carefully crafted coffin sound tracks packed with extra punch and squeak.
Not all boxes squeak the same, do they?
Looking for different objects for this project made me realize that finding boxes and chests that sound great can be quite tricky. Some of the 200+ year old travel trunks recorded for this library didn’t make very interesting sounds, some didn’t make squeaks or very powerful opening/closing sounds. Luckily, I was lucky enough to find both.
I stumbled upon a local museum that contained artifacts in various categories stored in boxes and coffins, and I was invited to go there and document a day. Many of these sounds were recorded by her, where you can smell how much time has passed.
A variety of microphones were used for recording, with the Neumann Kmr81I and Sanken CO100K being the most popular.
Storage rooms and basements
Other items from the sound effects library were found in friends’ storage rooms and basements. These instruments were kept in less stringent conditions and most of the time the sound they produced was rougher and more worn.
We need more dirt debris
Finally, I recorded a bunch of traces of dirt and dust that had slipped from the various lids, adding to the openings of those old coffins. We all know that a lot of stuff is placed on the coffin after it has been there for a while.
