Video: Impressive 60-minute Feature On The Sound Design For The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy:

Posted November 14, 2019 by Asbjoern Andersen in Film sound

The INDEPTH Sound Design channel returns with another impressive, educational sound design deep-dive - this time on the sound for the Lord of The Rings trilogy, with commentary by David Farmer, Ethan Van Der Ryn, and the late Mike Hopkins (RIP):

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MASSIVE sound design breakdown of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Sound topics covered in the video:

The Fellowship of The Ring:
The Watchers In The Water • Wizard Fight • Moria Orcs • Cave-Troll • Balrog • Moria Worldizing • Nazgûl / Ringwraiths • The One Ring • Galadriel

The Two Towers:
Gríma Wormtongue • Gollum • Uruk-Hai Crowds • Fangorn Forest • Gandalf The White • Ambush of the Wargs • Fellbeast • The One Ring • Battle of Helm’s Deep

Return of the King:
Siege of Minas Tirith • Minas Morgul • Paths of The Dead • Shelob • Palantír • Battle of the Pelennor Fields • Mûmakil • Tower of Cirith Ungol • Wind • The One Ring • Collapse of Barad-Dûr

Playing times can be seen in the video itself

Shared by INDEPTH Sound Design. The video features the voice of Oscar-winning supervising sound editor Mike Hopkins, who sadly passed away in 2012. Designing Sound posted these words in his memory at the time.

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A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

City Life Sound Effects British Sirens Play Track 48 sounds included, 12 mins total $25

This library consists of sounds of authentic British sirens recorded during a 3 month period in London including while in Covid-19 lockdown. The sirens’ source vehicles include ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks. Recoding techniques include recording with a spaced pair of 2 DPA 4060’s in DPA BLM6000 Boundary Layer Mount with wind protection as well as following the source with Sennheiser 8060 shotgun when opportunity allowed. As a result, the library offers 48 sounds recorded in 24bit/96kHz format delivered in 64 files with a total runtime of approximately 12 minutes. The sound was edited in RX7 to remove the occasional sounds of birds.

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Roomtones Hospital Ambiance Play Track 24 sounds included, 59 mins total $33

Hospital Ambiance is 59 minutes/1.80 Gb of ambiance recordings from an old hospital. 24 separate files – recorded in 24bit/96kHz A-B stereo. All sounds are UCS-compatible.

Hospital Ambiance was recorded in the rooms and corridors of the old (now defunct) Aarhus County Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. A prominent feature is the lack of acoustical treatment in corridors and hallways, giving a rather hard and reverberant sound, which is typical of Danish public building styles of the 1930’s and 40’s.

Elevators and automatic doors are heavy and noisy; humming and clanking as patients and staff pass through them. Electric vehicles used to move patients and supplies around inside the complex are old and not exactly noiseless either. Finally, while I did not have access to operating rooms or the like, I did get into a couple of basement corridors, where there were less people and more Hvac noise (yay!).

In some of the recordings, faint, muffled or smeared voices can be heard. While I have removed passages with distinctly Danish words (which might also be connected with specific, recognizable persons), there is still a certain tone and pitch to the Danish language, which may come through on occasion.
All in all, this is the sound of a place that is no more, as this old hospital is being turned into expensive apartments or something to that effect.

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Door Sound Effects Locker Doors Play Track 104 sounds included, 4+ mins total $12

This is a collection of 5 different metal lockers, opened, closed, banged and handled for all of those school hallway situations you’ll come across. They are super clean and were recorded with close and “roomy” perspectives for all but one.
Multi-channel, mono close, stereo room.

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Hand Combat Sound Effects Massive Punches Play Track 505 sounds included, 1 mins total $29.99

MASSIVE PUNCHES – 505 files of punch sound effects, from several sparring sessions. From quiet taps and hits to thudding and cracking impacts. Massive Punches comes in at over 1 minute, of real skin on skin body and head shots. Bring the power of bare knuckle to your next project. Recorded at 192kHz and 32bit, using microphones capable of recording ultrasonic frequencies. Massive Punches filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.

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Hand Combat Sound Effects Mini Punches Play Track 60 sounds included $6.99

MINI PUNCHES – 60 files of punch sound effects, from several sparring sessions. From quiet taps and hits to thudding and cracking impacts. Mini Punches comes in at over 15 seconds, of real skin on skin body and head shots. Bring the power of bare knuckle to your next project. Recorded at 192kHz and 32bit, using microphones capable of recording ultrasonic frequencies. Mini Punches filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.
Looking for a Massive amount of Punch sound effects? We offer ‘Massive’ sound effect libraries as companions for all of our ‘Mini’ sound effect libraries. All recordings are unique to each library with no overlap. Go Mini today, and upgrade to the corresponding Massive library later, when you need more of that particular sound effect.

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Environments & Ambiences Textured Rain Play Track 116 sounds included, 135 mins total $41.30

Textured Rain features meticulously recorded rainfall on a wide variety of surfaces and objects. Each sound is delivered as a seamless loop, with three distinct intensities per surface for maximum flexibility.

Captured in a controlled environment using mainly a DIY rain machine, this collection was recorded in both stereo and mono, ranging from light drizzles to heavy downpours and offering consistent, adaptable textures without unwanted background noise.

The library includes performances on car interiors, metal and plastic props, umbrellas, vegetation, fabric, debris and more. Perfect for layering in film, games, or other audio projects, these rain loops are ideal for crafting atmospheres, enhancing ambiences, and adding realistic environmental detail.

‍Loops in mono and stereo

This sound pack have been recorded using multiple mono and stereo microphone configurations and exported as seamless loops for easy drag and drop in your project.

‍Props and textures recorded

Aluminium plate • Car interior • Fabric • Galvanized container • Galvanized tub • Glass plate • Green and dead leaves • Metal barrel • Metal roof • Metal sheets and plates • Metal scrap • Mud puddle • Newspapers • Plastic container • Plastic roof • Plastic sheet • Plastic tarps • Reed screen • Roof tiles • Shopping bags • Stainless steel sheet • Steel box • Tent • Trash bags • Trash can • Umbrellas • Water • Wheelie bin • Window skylight • Wood floor • Wood planks

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MixPre-6 II • F6 • MKH8040 • MKH30 • C411 • MKH416 • LOM Usi Pro • Oktava MK012

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This sound library is UCS compliant and comes with fully embedded metadata compatible with Soundly, Soundminer and Basehead.

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Destruction & Impact Sounds Extra Crunches Play Track 74 sounds included, 27 mins total $9.99

EXTRA CRUNCHES – is an auxiliary sound library containing 74 unique sound effect files of crunches. From close up scratching and popping to loud and rough breaking and chomping. Whether it’s crunches or crumbs you’re looking for; This Extra sound effects library will help supplement the snacks and cracker needs, of your next project. Extra Crunches comes in at over 27 minutes and was recorded at 192kHz / 32bit using an ultrasonic microphone. All of our libraries comply with the Universal Category System naming convention standard, allowing for accurate and easy granular searches.

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Industrial Ambiences Airflow Collection Play Track 36+ sounds included, 157 mins total $48

Moody wind drafts for game & cinematic sound design can always give depth and realism to your production. This collection of airflow sounds covers structural air pressure, howling and whistling wind through doors, rattling frames and cracking stuff. Perfect for creating bunker-like atmospheres, tense survival settings, or immersive environmental layers, these sounds bring authenticity and emotion to your projects. Whether you need subtle drafts creeping through an abandoned shelter or violent gusts shaking a refuge, this library delivers a versatile toolkit ready for games, trailers, and film sound design.
Only acoustic recordings are used, no designed sounds. UCS compatible file names and embedded file descriptions for your comfort.

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