The BBC’s sound effect archive offers 33,000 samples for free

The BBC’s sound effect library has been expanded to contain over 33,000 samples, which are available to download for free as WAV files or MP3s.

While the archive has been open since 2018, it has recently doubled in size and is now completely free to access.

The extensive library dates back to the 1920s and includes both sound bites recorded at the BBC’s dedicated studio and those taken in the field, all over the world.

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Users can filter the sound effects based on where they were recorded, how long they are and what category they fit under. Categories include ‘Footsteps’, ‘Machines’, ‘Events’, ‘Animals’, ‘Atmosphere’, ‘Comedy’, ‘Daily Life’, ‘Aircraft’, ‘Fire’ and more.

Ranging from reindeer grunts to camel markets to crowds at the 1989 FA Cup Final, the sound effects have been released under a RemArc License, which means they can only be used for research educational or personal projects. This means they cannot be sampled in music that is going to be sold.

There is however, an option to buy the sound, should you want to use it for commercial use.

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The BBC has been using sound effects for its radio programmes since the early 20th century. But before it was possible to create them digitally, sound engineers had to come up with inventive and imaginative ways to produce the sounds they wanted, such as using showers to replicate the sound of rain, cutting film tape instead of grass and using a miniature water tank and sirens to make the sound of a steamboat.

Andrew Partingon, a studio manager at the BBC, said: “It is very easy to underestimate the importance of the sound effects because very often they’re going on at an almost subconscious level behind a scene where someone’s making a cup of tea. But take them away and you realise how important they were.”

The full BBC archive is available to browse here.

Meena Sears is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram