So I'm recording a song about mieces and, of course, every good song about mieces ends with a mouse trap doing it's thing.

I tried recording a few snaps with a couple of mics but they all sound wimpy. They just sound like a metronome click. I tried adding some compression and reverb and I tried adding some percussion behind it but nothing seemed to help 

None of the fx banks on the soft synths that I have has the sound.

Any suggestions? If anyone has a wav file that they can send me, me mieces would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

Sometimes when you actually record an effect in real life it can be disappointing! So you might have to layer up a few things under the sound as well and use what they call poetic license in order to make it come across better.

Go here to Free Sound Org and do a search for mouse trap. There is one sound there that sounds not too bad. You might have to join to get the sound but it is all free.

http://www.freesound.org/

Type "mouse trap sound cue" into Google.

You'll find dozens to listen too.

Maybe add a springy *boi-oi-oing* cue.

Maybe add some reverb or echo delay.


best regards,
mike

I was going to say the same thing as Jeff, which is that the sound effects you hear in movies and cartoons are often not recordings of the actual item shown. 

You could start with the always-versatile board clap, which sounds like anything you want it to be, from a kung fu punch to a gunshot. A ruler or yardstick might do the trick.

Yea, realistic sound design has little to do w/ realism.  For a movie we needed a slap.  Any real slap sounded like ... well, not a slap.  I ended up dropping the NYC phonebook (this was in the 80s) on my wood floor above the basement.  Solid thunk w/ lots of reverb from below.  Laid in, it sounded like a solid slap.  Not 3 stooges, either.  Foley work is a lot of exaggeration.  Think big, in sonic terms.

@

AT


 For a movie we needed a slap.  Any real slap sounded like ... well, not a slap.  

   

Love it!! :-)

What I would try (intuition only, no experience):

Put the mouse trap in a relatively big (10 cubic feet at least) solid carton box, the trap on a hard surface, plate or such. Put two different mics in there and record the snap. Then strech the audio to (nearly?) double time, EQ, compress and add an unstretched or minimally stretched snap at the end of the audio (or at the loudest point) to maintain the top transient. You might also add an additional "clicky" sound, hitting the mouse trap (assuming it's made of metal) gently with a hammer, for example. That would give the metallic "clicky" sounds that your ears can react to.

So....only mindflow...that all can be simply ridiculous.

Sound effects for movies is it's own specialty in Hollywood. 

Punches, gunshots, explosions... all of those recorded in real time sound wimpy and actually pretty lame. 

The artists who work that specialty are geniuses at creating sounds...... I saw one team of ladies who worked in martial arts films doing the FX.... also... have a look back at some of the radio shows they used to do live on the radio....back in the 30's and 40's..... quite innovative because they also did all their sound FX live.

I would try placing something.... maybe a damp (not wet) paper towel rolled up to simulate a mouse in the trap... that would take the sound of the spring hitting wood away a bit and perhaps that will sound more realistic. You still get the snap, but not as bright and "empty" sounding. 


good luck. 

Art of Foley

I've seen tv shows about adding sound effects for movies and radio so I knew that they fake most of them. (I'd love to have that job!) I should have figured that I wouldn't get a dramatic sound with the real thing. 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try some and use my imagination with what I have lying around the house. 

Doug