Light breeze sound

[Jagwah]

I'm trying to get the sound of a calm relaxing breeze using white noise and some filters, but I just can't get it to sound calm like I want. It keeps sounding like a big aggressive gust of wind.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!



Cheers

[Oquasec]

The waveform will have to slow down then

[selig]

Start with some pretty aggressive (but low Q) high pass filtering. A soft breeze occupies the upper few octaves, has semi-random sweeps, and is most likely the sound of rustling leaves in trees - so it is not a mono sound, and is actually complex. Depending on the complexity desired, more than one filter and pan position would be ideal. Modulate filter frequency and volume, going lower on the frequency (no more than an octave or two) with increased volume.

Finally, listen to samples of the sound, load it into Reason, look at the spectrum, measure the timing of the sweeps, listen for the stereo spread/movement, etc.

[boingy]

If I was feeling cheeky I think I'd be looking to just nick an "almost correct" sound off a movie or TV programme and then process it to suit.

If I was being more sensible I'd probably wade through the gigabytes of royalty-free FX samples that Sonniss give away annually (they are linked on this forum I think).

[MrFigg]

Isn’t there a wind thing in Grain? Some memory that there is in any case.

[aeox]

I tried using 4 instances of Thor's pink noise




Is this close to what you're after, or not calm enough?

[selig]

I just listened to a wind recording I made years ago as a reference. One thing that seems important is the stereo field, and the sound of the leaves.
Just like with photography being not about capturing the object but the LIGHT, some field recording is about capturing the reaction of things rather than the thing itself. For example, wind doesn't have a sound, but leaves in trees moving against each other does have a sound, and sometimes you'll get the resonance of an object sounding like "whistling" in high winds.

So imagine a thousand leaves over head all making a tiny sound. You get something like white noise with the bottom 4 octaves removed, but it also has depth and dimension to it.
Here's a short clip, where the wind picks up but is still not gusting or blowing hard - sorry about the crickets, they were rocking hard that night…
Recording: two PZM mics on the ground about 20' apart, into SSL and then DAT, around 1991.


Listen especially to the wide stereo image, and the sound of the leaves too.

[Jagwah]

Thanks everyone!!

If I was feeling cheeky I think I'd be looking to just nick an "almost correct" sound off a movie or TV programme and then process it to suit.

Thanks Boingy, I actually go to YouTube all the time for stuff like this, you can find things heard by about five people in the whole world and then modify it slightly and no one would ever know In this instance though I really want to design everything in the track.

I tried using 4 instances of Thor's pink noise
Is this close to what you're after, or not calm enough?

I think I will try this. Even though it sounds about right, it's hard to distinguish the strength it is portraying. You can hear it as an aggressive wind if you listen the right way. I think your idea along with Selig's will get me there, many thanks!!

I just listened to a wind recording I made years ago as a reference. One thing that seems important is the stereo field, and the sound of the leaves.
Just like with photography being not about capturing the object but the LIGHT, some field recording is about capturing the reaction of things rather than the thing itself. For example, wind doesn't have a sound, but leaves in trees moving against each other does have a sound, and sometimes you'll get the resonance of an object sounding like "whistling" in high winds.

So imagine a thousand leaves over head all making a tiny sound. You get something like white noise with the bottom 4 octaves removed, but it also has depth and dimension to it.

Funny you mention leaves I was considering going outside with my field recorder and recording some leaves blowing along the pavement. They will definitely allow a sense of the speed of the movement. Makes sense to also capture the reaction of things rather than the thing itself, great insight there. I think for now I will try Aeox's pink noise idea along with your suggestions on filters and panning and volume, and try the leaves out if it's still lacking. Thanks dude!!

[selig]

The recordings I’ve made all look like white noise on the spectrum display. Pink noise would feel bigger and more intense due to the higher energy in the low end IMO.

[Jagwah]

The recordings I’ve made all look like white noise on the spectrum display. Pink noise would feel bigger and more intense due to the higher energy in the low end IMO.

OK, Aeox has shared his patch with me so I will check it out and you may be right in which case I'll stick to the white, just a matter of trying them both out, thanks again