How do you use sound in SL?

[Tary Allen]

Always, if I don't have some sounds in a parcel it feels odd to me.

I love crickets and cicadas, crickets at night and cicadas during the day, so I use those a lot. Birds also. If I have a stream near by I'll put a stream sound also.

In Belli I also add sounds like sea waves in my stilt, 

I'm decorating a winter themed house now and I'm a bit at odds with what sounds to put there, I have some crickets out just because all the quiet was getting on my nerves, but besides the owl timed sound I don't know what to use. 

I also have radios in all my houses but they aren't always on, only when I want to hear some music.

[archangel969]

14 hours ago, Stephanie Lovely said:

I usually play SL with sound off because I am always listening to YouTube Music. But on my parcel I do have a really lovely windchime and a nice sounding fountain. I don't have a music stream. I hate sounds outside of my parcel, those damn spankers and people who have sex huds that play porno sounds while you are shopping, what the hell.

After I bought my own land, I learned very quickly indeed that it is better to block sound outside your parcel. And not even because the sound of the neighbours was so terrible as in your experience. But it's more because I have a Dutch theme and then a loud waterfall is not quite appropriate, I mean, how many waterfalls do we actually have in that flat Netherlands? 😂

Edited November 8, 2022 by archangel969

[archangel969]

11 hours ago, Tary Allen said:

I'm decorating a winter themed house now and I'm a bit at odds with what sounds to put there, I have some crickets out just because all the quiet was getting on my nerves, but besides the owl timed sound I don't know what to use.

Yes, I'm thinking about winter too although I'll wait a few more weeks. it's quite a hassle to change everything to winter, although it does give a nice feeling again, all that snow. I also have an owl with sound. Last winter I had mostly icy wind sounds. And crows. And the owl of course. It strikes me that there are few 'cosy' winter sounds, except for the bells of the sleigh at Christmas.

[animats]

5 hours ago, archangel969 said:

And the owl of course.

Would someone please find some new owl sounds? The standard SL owl sound (you know which one) is way overused.

[Tary Allen]

2 hours ago, animats said:

Would someone please find some new owl sounds? The standard SL owl sound (you know which one) is way overused.

I like the old sounds, use them a lot, not all of them, but those I need on a parcel. But yes, we heard those everywhere. 

[Tary Allen]

7 hours ago, archangel969 said:

Yes, I'm thinking about winter too although I'll wait a few more weeks. it's quite a hassle to change everything to winter, although it does give a nice feeling again, all that snow. I also have an owl with sound. Last winter I had mostly icy wind sounds. And crows. And the owl of course. It strikes me that there are few 'cosy' winter sounds, except for the bells of the sleigh at Christmas.

Crows and wind is a nice touch, 

[archangel969]

My land is still autumn but in my mind I am preparing for winter and that also counts for sounds. We had a discussion here a few days ago about what to do as winter sounds. At the time, we didn't get much further than an owl, a crow and wind. But I live in a 'rural environment' and so I went looking for the birds that stay in the Netherlands in winter. there are quite a few. We also have many winter visitors who migrate to the Dutch forests and lakes from more northerly regions such as Scandinavia and Siberia. For the park/forest I now have: pheasant, tawny owl, crow, woodpecker, magpie, nuthatch, and for the water I now have: sandpiper, wigeon, tundra swan, brent goose. I put those sounds into a soundlooper. For your land, there will also be many more options that fit your theme when you switch to winter! Try it out!

Edited November 16, 2022 by archangel969

[Maitimo]

I rarely use or even notice sound effects because I always, constantly have music on. If I'm not listening to the parcel stream I'm listening to Spotify. So the music pretty much drowns out everything else.

[Lewis Luminos]

I don't usually go out of my way to add sounds to my parcel, but I'm on the shore so I like to have wave/surf sounds.

One that annoys the you-know-what out of me is a particular fireplace I have which I love for its looks but I hate the overly-loud crackling sound it makes, so whenever I use it I tear that out and make it silent.

[animats]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:43 PM, Tary Allen said:

I like the old sounds, use them a lot, not all of them, but those I need on a parcel. But yes, we heard those everywhere. 

Here's a good source of sounds: the BBC's old sound effects library. 184 different owl sounds. All downloadable for free.

[Tary Allen]

4 hours ago, animats said:

Here's a good source of sounds: the BBC's old sound effects library. 184 different owl sounds. All downloadable for free.

Thank you. Lots of great sounds there. 

[archangel969]

21 hours ago, Lewis Luminos said:

I don't usually go out of my way to add sounds to my parcel, but I'm on the shore so I like to have wave/surf sounds.

One that annoys the you-know-what out of me is a particular fireplace I have which I love for its looks but I hate the overly-loud crackling sound it makes, so whenever I use it I tear that out and make it silent.

I did that with the dog. I took the sound out and made a sound clip with a low noise level of the same type of dog and put it in a loop with lots of silent clips so the dog barks alright but not verging on annoying. You can also do that with a fireplace dound: take the original sound out and make a loop with a fire place sound of a low noise level. 

[LibGwen]

If there's snow, the winter breeze occasionally makes a drawn out hiss.

In winter if there are trees nearby, there's a creaking sound, especially when it's breezy.

Wind in winter branches sounds like autumn's rattling leaves to me.

 

[archangel969]

On 11/17/2022 at 4:19 PM, Maitimo said:

I rarely use or even notice sound effects because I always, constantly have music on. If I'm not listening to the parcel stream I'm listening to Spotify. So the music pretty much drowns out everything else.

How everyone deals with sound is up to everyone, of course! For me, sound for a parcel is as important as the visual. The visual and the audio is one experience. I even figured out for winter which birds are left in the Netherlands in winter (I have a sim with a Dutch theme), the water birds by the waterfront and the birds that occur in the forest in the woods. I get pretty far into it :-).
But if you always have music on (I get that, I play a lot of music too), that's fine too. It's like visiting a city or walking through a forest with earphones on. You always have your own soundtrack with you.
I suddenly must think of a song by a French singer who plays an angel in the clip and then has to come to God, who talks to her but she doesn't understand because she has her headphones on :-). Let's see which one it is...

Found it! Well, it's an old one from the time of the walkman LOL

 

[Marianne Little]

I have bought several birds because |T|L|C| has had a end of business sale. 

I do not have sound on, but I think they are so pretty. Maybe I need to turn sound on, just to hear them.

It has been said that sound makes SL run slower. And performance is important to me. Is it true, or is it voice that can make SL run slower?

I had small kids when I started SL, and I could not have sound on, or a headset. I needed to hear them in RL. I usually turned on SL when they took a nap. And when they started to walk around, a game was very, very intresting. If they thought I was just reading something boring, they paid no attention.

Not that I did adult stuff with them in the room, but if they saw it was a game, they started whining about wanting to play, and that is strictly forbidden. Or  my daughter for instance, demanded that I changed clothes (to pink gowns) or should ride a horse. 😆 After years of this silent game ( they are 16 and 19 now) sound on feels strange, and not natural.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Marianne Little
typo and adding a few words

[PheebyKatz]

A silent harbor would be just a little too eerie, so we have ocean sounds on the water on my home sim. The trolley makes noise, machinery of any sort usually makes some sounds, but the lack of sound everywhere else just makes it all a little weird for me sometimes, so I just keep my earbuds out or listen to the on-theme stream on low to blend it all together.

Sometimes I just turn it all off, and go silent mode, or listen to Youtube music instead, depends on my mood. My whole first year in SL was silent, because I was using a thumb drive Linux of my own creation on a netbook that wasn't even close to being considered acceptable for SL, and sound just never worked.

It got me used to being okay with a silent SL. I usually don't even notice I'm not hearing anything unless someone mentions the song on the stream, or I see all the gesture spam in local. Only exception is if I'm at a party. I feel it would be rude not to listen to the DJ's music, especially if I'm going to stand there dancing and all.

LOL, I even made my machinegun in a sound-suppressed version, so I can slay zombies more quietly. The neighbors appreciate it, I can tell. So yeah, sound, I can usually take it or leave it. I don't even know how to get voice working, lol. LL doesn't even make a viewer for 64-bit Linux.

Edited November 21, 2022 by PheebyKatz

[Cate Foulsbane]

On 11/7/2022 at 7:37 AM, Tary Allen said:

I'm decorating a winter themed house now and I'm a bit at odds with what sounds to put there, I have some crickets out just because all the quiet was getting on my nerves, but besides the owl timed sound I don't know what to use. 

If it's a Belli home, use winter birds and maybe have squirrels around. If it's a bigger parcel, whatever critters come out in winter..foxes? squirrels? bears? crows?

 

[Tary Allen]

5 hours ago, Cate Foulsbane said:

If it's a Belli home, use winter birds and maybe have squirrels around. If it's a bigger parcel, whatever critters come out in winter..foxes? squirrels? bears? crows?

 

not Belli, I have wind, crows and some birds. Foxes I think are very quiet, but maybe I'm wrong. 

[Polenth Yue]

8 hours ago, Tary Allen said:

not Belli, I have wind, crows and some birds. Foxes I think are very quiet, but maybe I'm wrong. 

Foxes are not quiet. They make a wide variety of sounds, including otherworldly screams. That's the joke of the what does the fox say song, because they don't have a single simple call.

[Nick0678]

On 11/5/2022 at 6:32 PM, archangel969 said:

what is your favourite sound, on your land or parcel or in your home? Do you consciously use sounds and why?

No, i mute all sounds. Only get a voice read of instant messages and voice chat.

[archangel969]

10 hours ago, Nick0678 said:

No, i mute all sounds. Only get a voice read of instant messages and voice chat.

Haha, good for you! I mute all voice chat and turn the speakers on for environment sound 😂

[Cate Foulsbane]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:16 PM, Tary Allen said:

Foxes I think are very quiet, but maybe I'm wrong. 

Find a video of a fox's tummy being rubbed. They are anything but quiet!

 

[Cate Foulsbane]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:16 PM, Tary Allen said:

Foxes I think are very quie

 

[Cougar Sangria]

I have sounds on my region.  A vineyard takes up over half the region and then there are trees scattered throughout.  I have bird song, along with wolf, owl, eagles, and coyote which are common in my area of the USA.  Yes, I provide a stream of romantic music for those who would prefer that, but there is something to be said for sitting in a swing, overlooking a lake, listening to nature.  I find that very relaxing.  Anyone who visits are free to turn the nature sounds off

[archangel969]

7 hours ago, Cougar Sangria said:

I have sounds on my region.  A vineyard takes up over half the region and then there are trees scattered throughout.  I have bird song, along with wolf, owl, eagles, and coyote which are common in my area of the USA.  Yes, I provide a stream of romantic music for those who would prefer that, but there is something to be said for sitting in a swing, overlooking a lake, listening to nature.  I find that very relaxing.  Anyone who visits are free to turn the nature sounds off

I immediately feel like sitting on that swing, gazing at the lake, listening to the coyote and the other wild animals. We don't have many coyotes in the Netherlands, in fact none. A few years the wolf returned, but immediate action groups were set up because it kills sheep and other animals and in Friesland they want to put a wolf-proof fence around the county. So much for wildlife in the Netherlands LOL. Anyways, your land sounds to me like one of the most romantic places.