Sound Effects Blog

A friend of mine was going through a very low phase as she had lost her mother to cancer. Her family rallied around her but still she found it very difficult to let go of the sad memories of the final days. Then her daughter came up with a brilliant idea. She got together all the old photos of her grand – mother, of her mother when she was a baby and her growing years, along with photos of the three of them in happier times. She scanned all the photos and then began to put them together in a slide show, along with background music of bird sounds of different birds.
The bird sound effects were so expertly recorded that if the slide show had been a documentary film, it would have definitely won a prize for sound recording. Photos from her grand – mother were accompanied by the chirping and twittering sounds of birds which sounded more like a song of the birds. This was interspaced with the calling of the red tail hawk and that of the crow. The bird sounds were meant to capture the mood of the grand - mother in the photos.

Then the mother’s section started. Photos by the beach had been given the background sound of birds chirping sweetly by the sea shore, along with the sound of waves and the wind blowing. It made the photo come alive and I could see my friend re-living the entire moment. I could identify the squawking of eagles, the call of the sea gulls and many other smaller bird sounds. Their hiking trips had sounds of birds singing sweetly by a waterfall. These bird sound effects almost made us feel as if we were sitting in a cottage by the country – side with birds tweeting in the vicinity.

Beautiful bird song

This was a wonderful way of making photos do the talking. It sounded truly amazing as she had synchronized the bird sound effects beautifully. After the slide show finished, I saw my friend looking happier than before. Perhaps the memories gave her the assurance that all was not lost. The sound of birds in the background definitely lightened the atmosphere and I could feel the tension lifting from the room by the time the slide show was over. I had never listened to bird sounds with such concentration before and the experience was great.