Silenced pistol sound effect?

September 18, 2005 12:59 PM

I'm editing a low budget movie now and I need the sound of a silenced pistol shot. The only place I can find it is in extremely expensive CD collections. Where can I get this single sound, preferrably high quality and .aif format?
posted by clockworkjoe to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

this is a good resource for royalty free sounds. The quality isn't so high, but with a little massaging and cleanup, you can pull together something nice and rich.

Specifically: war sounds and Silenced shot wav.
Otherwise, I would suggest going to a gun range and asking to record.
posted by zerokey at 1:28 PM on September 18, 2005

You might also try searching for "suppressed" instead of "silenced." If you call a range, make sure you ask them if you can record a "suppressed firearm," not a "silenced pistol." This might be enough to get you in. A Class III firearm dealer might also be able to help you out with this.
posted by sled at 1:48 PM on September 18, 2005

Response by poster: I don't want a sample from a video game since that is copyrighted. Thanks for the link zerokey, that should work.
posted by clockworkjoe at 2:32 PM on September 18, 2005

Why not take a microphone over to a local gun club?

The problem is...that a realistic gunshot might not sound real.
posted by filmgeek at 3:11 PM on September 18, 2005

>Otherwise, I would suggest going to a gun range and asking to record.

>Why not take a microphone over to a local gun club?

I could be way off, but I don't believe you can use silencers, even at a shooting range.

Have you considered making the sound yourself from something totally unrelated by experimenting a little? Most "gun shots" in movies are not from real gun shots - which don't sound so real when recorded (as was mentioned by filmgeek). As an example, I once mimicked the guns from a WWII bomber plane by recording an electric typewriter at a slower speed and then augmenting the levels a bit. Came out perfect.
posted by qwip at 3:32 PM on September 18, 2005

As qwip points out, most movie sounds are manufactured rather than being the real deal. I remember that the sound of a muffled gunshot can also be produced by whacking certain vegetables (was it a large cabbage? I can't recall) with a stick. Give that a shot.
posted by madman at 3:45 PM on September 18, 2005

Shooting an air gun sounds like a silenced weapon.
posted by Marky at 3:50 PM on September 18, 2005

I love sounddogs for cheap effects. You can buy them individually and very cheaply.
posted by captainscared at 4:23 PM on September 18, 2005

No an air gun just is a poof of air. Even a 22 is going to be too soft for a subsonic shot. I would recommend setting off a small firecracker. If I remember correctly a silenced hand pistol is going to be a lot like a car door shutting.
posted by geoff. at 4:24 PM on September 18, 2005

Drop a book on a wood floor, and record the splat. Sounds similar.
posted by mono blanco at 5:21 PM on September 18, 2005

Drop a book on a wood floor, and record the fall. It is the sound of one hand clapping.
posted by Satapher at 8:21 PM on September 18, 2005

The sound of a bullet travelling through the baffles of a suppressed is kind of like using an old wooden broom on a dusty stone floor (at least a single shot). It depends how anal you want to get about it - is it a single shot or semiauto weapon? You will normally have mechanical noise of the slide or bolt cycling with most weapons that can be suppressed. The "THWIP" noise you always hear in movies is not overly realistic.

I've just taken a peek here which seems to have a very decent selection of effects culled from all over (even the awesome BBC Sound Effects Studio) but you will be looking at about $5.00 per effect.

My suggestion might also be to go to some Counterstrike mod websites and within the weapon mod sections you'll find tons of weapon related audio files. Sad as it sounds it's free and easy and should convince the average joe. The main issue with that is going to be the audio quality and format...
posted by longbaugh at 1:17 AM on September 19, 2005

I can't find anything specific on here for a silenced pistol, but my usual first port of call for sound effects is the excellent Freesound, which has loads of sounds released under the Creative Commons Sampling+ licence, which means that (with preoper attribution), you can pretty much use them everywhere.
posted by baggers at 10:54 AM on September 19, 2005

Go to the nearest college or university library and talk to the librarians there. If that doesn't work, take a walk over to the college radio station and talk to whomever is in charge of their production department; they very well might have these expensive CDs you are looking for.
posted by pwb503 at 2:41 PM on September 20, 2005