Sound Effects

Sound effects are a descriptive form of sound that are not always used, but when they are, the viewer of the media can create a better understanding of what they are seeing. This happens because a sound effect adds a unique audio element to visual content that is concise and draws attention to the visual element in question. Not many of the media sources that I follow use sound effects, two of my sources work enough to write about.

Jesse James West, my best friend, and Youtuber has adequate use of sound effects. It is a part of youtube culture to balance your audial and visual elements in order to hold the viewer’s attention. Today more than ever viewers have the shortest attention spans and are eager to click off of a video if they cannot be stimulated. Ways to engage the audience is to include bursts of sound mixed in with the content. Times when Jesse does this is when he imposes visuals on the screen such as the like button, or the subscribe button. When the elements appear and disappear a *ding*, a *swoosh*, and a *glitch* are added in order to draw the viewer’s attention to the buttons on their screen. The sounds are subtle and the correct levels for the listener. Just loud enough to notice but not too much to overwhelm the viewer.


Jesse James West Video where five sound effects can be heard in the first 35 seconds.

Another media that is jam-packed with sound effects is Tik Tok. I talked about TT last week and I mention it again today because it truly is a good example for use of sound in media. It is not an overstatement to say that most videos have or use sound effects in a way. many trends bank on the sound effects to amplify the popularity. One specific video that I found to be completely hilarious uses collision noises to personify a walking animation. the noises are tinny and abrupt to represent metal hitting and clanging. The sound effects gave the video personality and comedic elements. The volume was perfect and fit under the music. I would not change the sound effects in any way as they do a fitting job of representing what is trying to be established.

Tik Tok Video – very funny Tik Tok for reference.