The “Secret Sauce” In Modern Sound Design

I'll stay up listening to explosion sounds as many nights as it takes to get better at making this stuff.
All clips in this video are protected from copyright law under fair use for educational purposes.

Gameplay Footage from:
Dave The Diver
Mortal Kombat 1
Hogwarts Legacy
Uncharted 4
The Ascent
Jedi Survivor
God Of War Ragnarök

Videos Used:

[MarshallMcGee]

If you're on the fence about the lesson videos in Patreon, this one might be a good one to join for! Lots of tips on making crazy effects using Ableton stock plugins.

[Jofoyo]

Yep, my first thought was, this needs to be used in moderation. The real weight in this effect comes not from the effect itself, but the contrast of it between the rest of the sounds going on. That's what gives it the feeling of power.

[Sykroid]

"More like hot sauce than salt" is the perfect way to phrase it. I noticed a strong rumble effect for the first time 4 years ago in an anime, and it made everything sound _so_ good. But recently, I've noticed it being used as a crutch in a lot of media. It gets turned up to 11 and used on everything. I think a lot of people say "well EVERYTHING has this weight, so every thing should have the same, consistent sound effect to show it all has the same effect on the environment." Which has merit, but after awhile it becomes too samey.

However, I'm saying all of this as a consumer of media, not a sound designer. This is a great video and it's wonderful to hear the thoughts of a professional on something not talked about too often.

[zeusidon]

Dude, so happy that you are back making videos again. I'm one of the majority of watchers you mention who isn't a sound designer but have always found your videos super eye opening.

[connor]

Love that you included a critique of the sound you made. Gives us a frame of reference for what professionals expect.

[Mokeysniper]

I consume a lot of Game dev content even tho i never intend to become a Game dev. And you fit a niche within that spectrum barely anyone covers. And then you always do it in such an engaging way. I Truly get exited any time i see that Marshall McGee Notification. Love your stuff 💙

[kradgger]

7:15 "But I also hope that we don't start to hear it so frequently in games and movies that it loses its power and novelty"

Oops, too late. Everything everywhere sounds like swallowing food underwater now.

[ChristopherYabsley]

Soundtoys Crystalizer is fantastic for this stuff.

I spotted it in the effects chain of that Mortal Kombat sound design Vice documentary and started using it the same way myself.

[RonaldFinger]

I hadn’t played a Halo game since Reach from 2010 until I played Halo Infinite a year or so ago. It was fun and played like a Halo game, but at the same time felt very separate from what I remember them being like. Now I realize that it’s the rumbly, worbly undertones that almost all the sound effects have!

[nvk]

0:34 I love this sound and imagine it was made by someone nice and very cool

[Solcius]

Lot of designed banks from Boom Library recently has been designed with this punchy intense crunch in mind. Sometimes it's too much indeed, where everything is pushed to the max already, leaving not much room for the rest. But when well executed it does sound great of course.

[kironikolov]

As a part of the non-sound designer majority, this has shed light on the fact that I've really enjoyed scenes with this rumbling effect but I never knew what it was I liked about them until now.

[made.online]

After all of the sound design processes you mentioned, try putting Max4Live Conflator (free ableton version of Oxford Inflator) at the very end of your chain. Full dry/wet if you don't want to clip; play with the input gain to change the flavor. The Curve values have very specific sweet spots so hold down shift while adjusting it; left for more low emphasis, right for crisp highs.

It really brings out every detail of a sound & is potentially the step that will bridge the gap between your example and the examples you cited.

[Crowbar]

I just applied for my first real Game Sound Design job yesterday and immediately thought about your channel! Glad to see you're making new videos!!

[domdown]

I call it the 'Disperser' sound from the kilohearts plugin! I hear it everywhere hahaha

[seedmole]

Sound designer (nonprofessional) here, and yeah the main thing that came to mind was that it's a very full-spectrum thing. Matches with the Gearbox guy's comments on how audio needs to be functional across all output systems. And yeah, that of course is not the entirety of the factors.. something needs to sound good in the first place for the task of making it sound good across all audio systems to be worth doing.

Also yeah, bouncing audio and re-processing it is so key, for so many different techniques.

[szihu]

And he's back! As a beginner sound designer - please come back more frequently with those uploads, been a dry season for a while =)

[RossStack]

Great video Marshall! This is a topic that I've been thinking a lot about since I started hearing this sonic style cropping up more often over the last number of years. As a sound designer for games myself, I'm very cautious about when and where I use these techniques because honestly, I'm starting to feel like this style of sound design is already becoming overused, especially in games. I hear it so often when reviewing show reels on job applications that my ears have become tired of it. The pitfall I see many aspiring sound designers falling into is leaning much too heavily on this technique to define the character of a sound and not exploring other parts of the frequency spectrum. As a result, sound designers are probably not showcasing their own unique voice/style as much as they could. The plugin I see most often associated with these types of sounds is Disperser by Kilohearts. It's kind of a one stop shop, and usually if you put it on any sounds with rich transient detail and lots of low mid range frequency content like rock falls or explosions it'll get you very close. Your point of treating this less like salt and more like hot sauce is so good! A little goes a long way :)

[CHMgamemedic]

Good job on creating that rumble sound! To think that you didn't even need a synth was quite cool. Just a sample, a heavy fx chain, and modulation!

[kamari]

Hey man, Met you many moons ago! Glad you're still at it! Hope you've been well!!!