I started Sound Effects Search in 2014 with two goals:
- To help sound library fans find cool sound effects
- To help field recordists and designers share their creations with the world
Today we’re introducing new features designed to better help people share and find sound collections.
New Features
We’ve done a lot of tinkering behind the scenes. The goal has been to add sound libraries faster and more accurately, and to share more information about these cool collections. What’s new?
More Details
At first, I wanted to get search results on the website as quickly as possible. At the time, that meant only a few sound library details were included. One of the most popular requests has been to share finer statistics about the sound libraries we add, especially the “Takes” stat. So, we upgraded the search results to display more details, including:
- Full text description.
- Sampling rate.
- Bit-depth.
- Number of channels.
- Number of takes.
- File format.
- Metadata type.
That’s a lot of information to pack into search results, of course. My main goal with Sound Effects search was to give you the raw data you need to choose the best sound library for you, without distracting graphics or extra clicks. How, then, would we share this information?
Simple, we added a turn-down menu. Simply click the green plus sign on the right of the list to show more results. Click the red minus sign to hide them.
This has been tweaked to display nicely on desktop, mobile, and tablet.
Improved Search Results
The first version of the search engine returned results based on the sound library title. That was good for a while, however there was a problem: what if the library name didn’t describe the sounds you’d find inside? Now, the search engine draws from multiple data fields to return search results: title, description, and tags.
We now have combined results. In the past, if you were searching for a library with both “thunder” and “wind”, it would return results for just one or the other. Now, you’ll find results that mention both thunder or wind.
Results are also returned for parts of words. So, searching for “wind” will also return results for “windy.”
The upshot? Search results will be more accurate.
New Libraries Form
Many publishers add their sound libraries to the search engine themselves. Sometimes a few details were forgotten, or left out because the form was confusing. That led to inaccurate search results. Those entries also took time for our staff to sort out, which meant they took longer to get up on the Web.
Now, the form checks each library added to validate that all the info is correct.
You can add sound libraries to the search engine here. Please add your sound libraries! This helps them get up on the website faster, and ensure they’re accurate.
Updating Your Libraries
Earlier in the post I mentioned that more info is now displayed in search results. That info was already in the database back-end, and now it’s available to browse as well. We have even more stats in the back-end, too. We may add that later but it’s important to find a to balance between information and clutter.
A few libraries didn’t have this information before, so we are gradually updating them.
Are your library listings missing information? Need updating? Contact us. We will get the proper info in the search engine.
What’s Next
We have big plans for the future, so please stay tuned.
To stay in touch, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and receive free updates by email newsletter or RSS feed.
Follow Us