News

Free Victory Vegas Motorcycle Collection & Website Updates

Today I’m sharing a sound effects collection I’m quite proud of. It’s a bundle of Victory Vegas motorcycle tracks I recorded a while back. I’m releasing it as a paid collection in a few weeks, but right now you can grab the pre-release free of charge, for a limited time.

I’ll talk about that in a moment, but first, some sound effects news.

Thank You

The response to the new website and the free packs has been overwhelming. Thousands of you have checkout out the packs. I appreciate you downloading the bundles, and taking the website for a spin.

Thank you for your kind words, emails, and re-Tweets. Many of you added the site to you pages or blogrolls, on Facebook, and in newsletters. Thanks for spreading the word.

Sound Effect Website News

A couple of short items about the store, and some tips:

• I’ve noticed some of you have been downloading a bundle, then returning for every pack, one at a time. There’s a quicker way:

  

  1. Click each bundle’s green button.
  2. Click the green “Checkout” button that replaces the price button or click the shopping cart button (upper right menu bar).
  3. Enter your name and email on the following page.
  4. Click the green “Free Download” button.

  That’s it. You’ll see your links on the next page, and in an email delivered to you. Click the image to the right for a visual guide.

• All download links are good for 24 hours, or three download attempts. If you get distracted and forget the links, or your Internet connection flakes out, don’t worry. Contact us. We’ll get you fresh links immediately.

• Wondering how you can use the sound effects? Want to use them in an iOS app? Read more about how you can use the clips.

• I only share high-resolution 96 kHz/24-bit sound effects on Airborne Sound. This means the packs are large. Because of this, you’ll need a constant, healthy Internet connection to download them. For how long? It depends on your connection, but 10 minutes is a good guide for North American speeds.

New Bundle Enhancements

Spec Sheets & Multimedia Now Included

I’ve started including a spec sheet with each bundle. The spec sheet includes information about why and how I recorded the sound effects. It includes details about the prop, and why it is important from a sonic perspective.

Why did I include this? Well, often sound editors need to know the context of the sounds they use. I’ve been in situations where a film director needs a precise model and make of car, appliance, or aircraft. The spec sheet helps you spot differences, and become more informed about the sound effects you’re using. My hope is that background information will help you cut the sounds wisely.

I’ve included links to trade websites. I’ve also included photos. Have a motorcycle in your television show, but aren’t sure what it is? The photos will help you narrow down your search and decide if the Victory Vegas is the right sound for your project. There are also some shots of the microphone layout so you can visualize how the takes were captured. I’d like to include movies at some point, as well.

All of this is included free of charge. Upcoming vehicles bundles will also include spec sheets. Here’s the Victory Vegas spec sheet (ZIP file), and some of the photos.

Stronger Downloads

I mentioned above that the bundles are large. The full Victory Vegas version totals over 2.2 gigabytes. That puts a strain on some of you with slower connections. To help with this I’m splitting the packs into chunks. Now, instead of a single link, there will be several. For example, the Motorcycle bundle is split into an “exterior” link (373.7 megabytes), and a “onboard” link (776.6 megabytes), each containing their respective sounds. Simply unzip each pack and you’ll find all sounds inside their folders.

It’s a few extra clicks, it’s true. However, it mitigates download issues resulting from weaker connections. Thanks for readers who suggested this idea.

The Victory Vegas Motorcycle Bundle

Now, about the Victory Vegas Motorcycle collection.

I originally recorded this motorcycle because I wanted something different from the speed bike and Harley recordings out there. Harley-Davidson motorcycles are popular in sound libraries, and for good reason. They’re a distinctive American brand, with a muscular sound. Speed bikes are floating around out there too. They’re attractive to a completely different rider. They have an aggressive, nasal aspect. I wanted something different, but a cruiser like a Harley. Then I was tipped off on Victory.

Victory was founded in 1998 as a direct competitor to Harley-Davidson. The appeal of the bikes comes from their notable swooping, slick aesthetic, as well as their power and sound.

The Vegas model is a cruiser, and features a 96 cubic inch, 1507 CC V-Twin four-stroke engine. This produces a pretty cool sound. It’s a combination of a whine and a deep grumble.

I recorded exterior starts, passes, and approaches at a variety of speeds. I mounted microphones on its body and captured onboard ride sounds focusing on the transmission and muffler.

The Victory Vegas Motorcycle bundle includes:

• 67 sound clips.
• 96 kHz/24-bit stereo WAV files.
• 1.32 gigabytes.
• Soundminer metadata included with every clip.
• Spec sheet, photos, and Excel list of files.

This pack is a free pre-release, available only for a limited time. It’s an early version of a full, paid bundle I’ll release in a few weeks. The full collection will include additional versions of the onboard files, split by perspective for film and game editors.

Check out the Victory Vegas Motorcycle bundle.

Learn More

If that snippet about recording the Vegas interested you, you may like reading my field recording blog. Learn more about field recording technique, sound effects, sharing sound, and creativity at Creative Field Recording.

I post more commonly on Twitter than I do here, usually about library specials, other sound collections, and so on. Join me at @airbornesound.com.

Stock motorcycle images courtesy of Victory Motorcycles.

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