The Sound Effects Bible is the complete guide to recording, editing, and designing your own sound effects. If it snaps, crackles, pops, crashes, booms or bangs, it can be found somewhere in this first-ever book on the black art of Foley and sound effects. This definitive book covers microphone selection, field recorders, the ABCs of digital audio, understanding digital audio workstations, building your own Foley stage, designing your own editing studio, sound design, and much more.
Although Ric and I have spoken to each other many times over the phone, I did not get to meet Ric personally until the recent NAMM 2012 tradeshow in Anaheim. I have to confess that I was extremely impressed not only with his working knowledge, but also with his enthusiasm to share his skills and experiences with others. Too many of our industry experts are content to bask in the glory and reap the financial benefits of a unique skillset, preferring to maintain the mystery of their niche profession, lest others strive to emulate their success and threaten their standing on the top of the pyramid.
Fortunately for all of us, Ric Viers is not afraid to give us an insight into his world of sound recording, and specifically -- sound recording of sound effects.
About The Author
Ric Viers has worked in the film and television industry for over thirteen years. His location sound credits include nearly every major television network, Universal Studios, Dateline, Good Morning America, Disney, and many others. His sound design work has been used in major motion pictures, television shows, radio programs, and video games. In 2007, Viers launched his own label, Blastwave FX, to celebrate the release of his 100th sound effects library. To date, he is considered to be the world’s largest independent provider of sound effects, with nearly 200,000 sounds and more than 600 sound effects products to his credit. He has produced sound libraries for numerous publishers, including Apple, Blastwave FX, Sony, Sound Ideas, and The Hollywood Edge.
Back to the book itself
The Sound Effects Bible does a thorough job of covering the basics of sound reocording along with the specialized goal of recording sound effects for film and video production. Like any book written longer ago than yesterday, some of the technology that the author refers to is no longer current or state of the art. Never the less, the techniques that he discusses are still viable and readily adaptable to the newer models of digitial recorders currently available (and subject to change with each calendar day).
To be completely honest, there are a few explanations in his book that I personally disagree with. However, I am not going to list them, nor type out a discourse on why I hold differing opinions on those topics. The reason for that is, they are "differing opinions". In our business, it is to be expected that sound mixers will have multiple ways of doing things. To say that one person is completely right and that another is completely wrong would be childish and unprofessioal. We have grown up in different parts of the country, been trained by different mentors, and have performed to the expectations of widely diverse clients (employers).It is to be expected that we are not completely alike in our methods and choices of equipment, all of the time.
The bottom line is, whatever Ric has been doing has certainly been successful in his niche in the industry. You cannot argue with success, and you never should. I have always preached to my students, if it sounds good -- then you have done it right. And if it sounds bad, you have obviously done it wrong.
I do agree with what Ric has to say a whole lot more than I find minor points to nitpick. And I have always been taught that it is good to learn from different experts, and to be alert to where they agree and where they differ. Then, you can explore all of the truths, and go with whichever seems right for you.
So I say, go out and purchase Ric's book. Read it and learn. It is filled not only with good stuff, but with GREAT stuff. I consider it a MUST READ for anyone aspiring to join our distinguished ranks.
A footnote: Ric has sent me advance PDF's of his latest book, the Location Sound Bible. I have only read most of it so far, but I think that he has another definite winner on his hands.
Here are some comments from other names in our industry that we all respect:
“Ric’s book is an excellent introduction to techniques for producing professional sound effects for films, games, etc. It’s packed with nuts-and-bolts information that beginning and intermediate level sound designers/editors will find useful.”
— Randy Thom, director of sound design, Skywalker Sound
“Ric Viers eats, drinks, and breathes sound effects. If you’re a sound designer, editor, or filmmaker, you’ll need the Bible!”
— Tasos Frantzolas, founder of Soundsnap.com
“The Sound Effects Bible is the go-to resource for anyone serious about sound creation! Ric Viers generously shares his real-world experience in an absorbing and hard to put down guide to this fascinating corner of the entertainment industry.”
— Aaron Marks, composer/sound designer and author of The Complete Guide to Game Audio
“Fun, funny, and the most informative source I’ve seen on the what, why, and how of creating sound effects. This book’s a blessing of inspiration, common sense, and trade secrets, a must for everyone planning to get their own microphone for recording our sonic world. Thanks, Ric, for sharing your experience creating those 100,000 humongous, teeny, sloshy, brittle, honking, shimmering, etc. etc. sounds.”
— David Sonnenschein, author of Sound Design
“Ric Viers manages to not only detail the technical aspects of an underappreciated craft, but explain how a sound effects expert approaches this work from a practical perspective — offering specific examples of how one can capture and later utilize audio that will add depth and character to images.”
— David E. Williams, Editor-In-Chief, Digital Video Magazine
“If you are interested in learning about the details of sound effects for your own productions — this is the book!”
— Frank Serafine, Award Winning Sound Designer/Composer/ Multimediaist, Tron, Star Trek, Hunt For Red October, Brainstorm
“Ric has really nailed it on this one. There is no other A-to-Z book that a media maker who has limited knowledge of sound effects can use to get a great overview of how sound is matched to visuals conceptually and technically — and then with this knowledge actually make a movie soundtrack.”
— Alan Howarth, Composer/Sound Designer for Star Trek, Halloween, Poltergeist, Dracula, Stargate, The Hunt for Red October, and The Little Mermaid