There’s a whole library of nature sounds recorded in Yellowstone National Park now available to download for free.
Whether you’re working on a documentary, a short film, a feature film, or a vlog-type tutorial, good audio is absolutely essential. Finding good, realistic, clear sound effects can be difficult for a few different reasons. Either they’re not actually real recordings of whatever they claim to be, or they’re expensive.
Luckily for us, a project in Montana is here to help out in a big way.
Yellowstone stretches about 3,400 square miles. This means, as one might surmise, there’s a lot going on inside the park. Since 2013, the Acoustic Atlas, a nature and soundscape archive at Montana State University, has been recording the sounds of life throughout the park.
The sounds range from geyser eruptions to mountain lions to boreal chorus frogs. The collection is expansive, and it’s a good representation of a park with wondrous elements to offer filmmakers and citizens alike.
The clips are available as .mp3 files; you can download them here.
And, never forget: Yellowstone offers a video library as well. Check that out here.
More Free Sound Effects
In other foley news, our sound effect freebie from this year’s FREE WEEK includes over 40 footstep sound effects that will give your video a sense of realism in time and space. The sound effects you never really think about usually end up making the biggest impact on your final product. Whether they go unnoticed or contribute to a feeling conjured by your visuals, sounds have the power to make or break your masterpiece.
These elements are free to use in any personal or commercial projects. By downloading, you agree not to resell or redistribute these free assets.