The “Secret Sauce” In Modern Sound Design

I'll stay up listening to explosion sounds as many nights as it takes to get better at making this stuff.
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All clips in this video are protected from copyright law under fair use for educational purposes.
Gameplay Footage from:
Dave The Diver
Mortal Kombat 1
Hogwarts Legacy
Uncharted 4
The Ascent
Jedi Survivor
God Of War Ragnarök
Videos Used:
• Mortal Kombat 1 - 7 Mi...
• The Ascent: 11 Minutes...
• GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK Ga...
• STAR WARS JEDI SURVIVO...
• CINEMATIC MOTION | Sou...
• UNCHARTED 4 PS5 All Cu...
• STAR WARS JEDI SURVIVO...

[@MarshallMcGee]

If you're on the fence about the lesson videos in Patreon, this one might be a good one to join for! Lots of tips on making crazy effects using Ableton stock plugins.

[@soggyturbo1262]

Listening to your voice, I think you are using the sm7b. Am I correct?

[@Bittamin]

I absolutely love that first spectrum visualizer on the video that laid over the game. That’s so sick 🎉

[@Sykotix]

Can we still sign up for the patreon and will there be more content on there?!

[@colourbasscolourbassweapon2135]

ngl i'm a Sound Designer

[@soggyturbo1262]

@@colourbasscolourbassweapon2135 I be designing sounds after Taco Bell ngl

[@Jofoyo]

Yep, my first thought was, this needs to be used in moderation. The real weight in this effect comes not from the effect itself, but the contrast of it between the rest of the sounds going on. That's what gives it the feeling of power.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

This effect absolutely gets overused nowadays. A steady wave of pops and rumbles that tickle your ears is fine for certain things, but not EVERYTHING. Compare the sound design of the latest Mortal Kombat with the latest Smash Bros for a perfect example. Smash's focus on meaty bass makes every hit feel like a huge impact, but everything in MK sounds the same -- tinny and weak, like you're bashing wafers instead of human skulls.

[@patrickmcpartland1398]

​@QuintessentialWalrus the best modern game you could think of for obnoxious poorly mixed sound effects is Mortal Kombat, a series that has been doing that since Sega Genesis

[@Sykroid]

"More like hot sauce than salt" is the perfect way to phrase it. I noticed a strong rumble effect for the first time 4 years ago in an anime, and it made everything sound _so_ good. But recently, I've noticed it being used as a crutch in a lot of media. It gets turned up to 11 and used on everything. I think a lot of people say "well EVERYTHING has this weight, so every thing should have the same, consistent sound effect to show it all has the same effect on the environment." Which has merit, but after awhile it becomes too samey. However, I'm saying all of this as a consumer of media, not a sound designer. This is a great video and it's wonderful to hear the thoughts of a professional on something not talked about too often.

[@TRK--xk7bb]

Let me guess, Fate: Unlimited Blade Works was the anime?

[@Sykroid]

@@TRK--xk7bb Suprisingly, no. It was actually Reincarnated as a Slime. You wouldn't think so, since it's just an anime adaption of an isekai manga. Low effort right? But it's really good

[@TRK--xk7bb]

@@Sykroid Hah. Never would have guessed!

[@Sykroid]

@@TRK--xk7bb I actually looked it up, and apparently the same guy who did that, also did the sound design for all of Jojo, which is absolutely insane. Pretty neat lol

[@zeusidon6007]

Dude, so happy that you are back making videos again. I'm one of the majority of watchers you mention who isn't a sound designer but have always found your videos super eye opening.

[@nvk]

0:34 I love this sound and imagine it was made by someone nice and very cool

[@MarshallMcGee]

Just wanna say if you all don't know who NVK is then you better READ UP ^^^ And buy his insane reaper workflow tools! He worked on Jedi Survivor and is a super talented and nice guy :)

[@camielpovel6290]

😂

[@nvk]

@@MarshallMcGee You are too kind 🙏thank you for blessing us with videos once again

[@ChristopherYabsley]

Soundtoys Crystalizer is fantastic for this stuff. I spotted it in the effects chain of that Mortal Kombat sound design Vice documentary and started using it the same way myself.

[@Mokeysniper]

I consume a lot of Game dev content even tho i never intend to become a Game dev. And you fit a niche within that spectrum barely anyone covers. And then you always do it in such an engaging way. I Truly get exited any time i see that Marshall McGee Notification. Love your stuff 💙

[@paxenimzi]

NO WAY MOKEYSNIPER??? i love ur apex content dude! just watched ur rev reborn movement guide

[@connor991]

Love that you included a critique of the sound you made. Gives us a frame of reference for what professionals expect.

[@RonaldFinger]

I hadn’t played a Halo game since Reach from 2010 until I played Halo Infinite a year or so ago. It was fun and played like a Halo game, but at the same time felt very separate from what I remember them being like. Now I realize that it’s the rumbly, worbly undertones that almost all the sound effects have!

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

343 Industries thankfully doesn't overuse their warbles TOO much, but it's definitely noticeable how different things sound in modern Halo versus Bungie Halo.

[@michaelfontana4689]

I think this tendency towards muddiness is also reflected in the art direction, unfortunately. The original trilogy--especially CE--had some beautiful saturated metallic colors with lots of contrast to bring out those tones. Gave it a very futuristic feel. Infinite's palette is much too dirty and looks like dull paint with too many mid tones. I really lament how the feel of the series has strayed so much from its roots

[@Solcius123123]

Lot of designed banks from Boom Library recently has been designed with this punchy intense crunch in mind. Sometimes it's too much indeed, where everything is pushed to the max already, leaving not much room for the rest. But when well executed it does sound great of course.

[@kironikolov6668]

As a part of the non-sound designer majority, this has shed light on the fact that I've really enjoyed scenes with this rumbling effect but I never knew what it was I liked about them until now.

[@kriegnes]

for me its the exact opposite. i just realised how overused this is and how stupid and unrealistic it sounds lol

[@sayeFX]

TOP 10 best sounding indie game? Yes GO for it 🤝

[@domdown]

I call it the 'Disperser' sound from the kilohearts plugin! I hear it everywhere hahaha

[@kradgger]

7:15 "But I also hope that we don't start to hear it so frequently in games and movies that it loses its power and novelty" Oops, too late. Everything everywhere sounds like swallowing food underwater now.

[@sentientblender]

absolutely nuclear vulfpeck cameo, didn’t expect you to hit me where I live like that

[@CHMgamemedic777]

Good job on creating that rumble sound! To think that you didn't even need a synth was quite cool. Just a sample, a heavy fx chain, and modulation!

[@JoshBeavers]

Yup, I'm very familiar with the low rumble. My roommates love to keep the surround sound cranked outside my door while I'm trying to sleep. All movies and games are constant rumbles now

[@SoundsMick]

Well put at the end there. I feel that this technique really pulls away from the context of the thing. I think the gratification and allure of this flashy trend is subtracting from some of the narrative thinking about what a sound could describe. Like every trend though it’s just overused at the moment and in some of the biggest games out there, given time it’ll settle down and be more tastefully used.

[@HeltonYan]

The main plugin effect a lot of the big name sound effect houses are using to achieve this sound is Kiloheartz Disperser.

[@seedmole]

Sound designer (nonprofessional) here, and yeah the main thing that came to mind was that it's a very full-spectrum thing. Matches with the Gearbox guy's comments on how audio needs to be functional across all output systems. And yeah, that of course is not the entirety of the factors.. something needs to sound good in the first place for the task of making it sound good across all audio systems to be worth doing. Also yeah, bouncing audio and re-processing it is so key, for so many different techniques.

[@zaiaku3430]

I hear a lot of this in Neurofunk / Neuro sound design. A lot of really technical drum and bass music does this and of course in other electronic genres of varying bpm.

[@RossStack]

Great video Marshall! This is a topic that I've been thinking a lot about since I started hearing this sonic style cropping up more often over the last number of years. As a sound designer for games myself, I'm very cautious about when and where I use these techniques because honestly, I'm starting to feel like this style of sound design is already becoming overused, especially in games. I hear it so often when reviewing show reels on job applications that my ears have become tired of it. The pitfall I see many aspiring sound designers falling into is leaning much too heavily on this technique to define the character of a sound and not exploring other parts of the frequency spectrum. As a result, sound designers are probably not showcasing their own unique voice/style as much as they could. The plugin I see most often associated with these types of sounds is Disperser by Kilohearts. It's kind of a one stop shop, and usually if you put it on any sounds with rich transient detail and lots of low mid range frequency content like rock falls or explosions it'll get you very close. Your point of treating this less like salt and more like hot sauce is so good! A little goes a long way :)

[@JamesGiannoni]

Dang, Joshua has some sick synths...

[@sunburner]

lord forgive me for all my synths

[@jp9403]

I knew what the sound was going to be before I even clicked on the video.

[@made.online2149]

After all of the sound design processes you mentioned, try putting Max4Live Conflator (free ableton version of Oxford Inflator) at the very end of your chain. Full dry/wet if you don't want to clip; play with the input gain to change the flavor. The Curve values have very specific sweet spots so hold down shift while adjusting it; left for more low emphasis, right for crisp highs. It really brings out every detail of a sound & is potentially the step that will bridge the gap between your example and the examples you cited.

[@benchandler6602]

So happy to see a new video, i've just finished watching every video so perfect release time. Keep doing the Audio gods work @Marshall McGee

[@Misksound]

it really reminds me of the spectral smearing that naturally occurs as the sound of thunder propagates through the atmosphere

[@ARAudio_]

Thanks for making this!! This is something I’ve noticed in a lot of spaces but didn’t know what to call it. Truth is, I struggle with it/have rarely achieved it, so thanks for sharing!

[@kamari1630]

Hey man, Met you many moons ago! Glad you're still at it! Hope you've been well!!!

[@dudeofdudez12]

absolute banger of a video, as always

[@ryan_raus]

Wow this is awesome. I’m at school for sound design, composition and audio implementation right now. I’m going to utilize this on some projects I’ve got coming up for sure

[@cjwatso]

🤚 also not a sound designer. I used to teach HS music production, though, and I wrote an entire sound design unit around the techniques I learned in your videos. So, fwiw, lots of students got interested in sound design because of you.

[@Sykroid]

This is legitimately awesome lol

[@szihu]

And he's back! As a beginner sound designer - please come back more frequently with those uploads, been a dry season for a while =)

[@Crowbar11115]

I just applied for my first real Game Sound Design job yesterday and immediately thought about your channel! Glad to see you're making new videos!!

[@AlbertBalbastreMorte]

Hey man, where did you learn and study sound design?

[@Crowbar11115]

​@@AlbertBalbastreMorte I was lucky enough to have a Sound Engineer roommate and he taught me the fundamentals of recording. From there, I started recording almost everyday. Mainly Music. I got into Voice Acting and started getting requests from Clients to add Sound FX. That was when I started doing Soud Design professionally. Most of my knowledge started from Trial and Error but I really learned the craft by listening to my Clients. The more descriptive they were with their requests the more I realized I could think way outside the box. Once I started thinking about Sound Design in "layers" things really took off and I started to do my own Field Recordings, buying plugins for Sound Design and dedicating more to the craft. I wish I could say I had a straight forward path but it all happened as a happy accident because of my roommate.

[@ytensor2196]

back to say god you really struck something with that phase rotation/shifting idea I've been getting so much good + varied stuff from sessions based around it over the last couple months, thank you !!

[@izkray]

Another awesome video! I like the envelope modulation technique! Gonna have to try this one

[@danielmcnamara_]

those sounds remind me of what you can get recording frozen lakes when you strike them hard

[@UncleNils]

I also love this style, especially in UI. It was really interesting to get some more technical insight like what frequency range these sounds are in! So happy that you've been making videos lately :)

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

This video is so vindicating -- I knew I wasn't crazy! I've noticed that "steady waves of pops and rumbles" are the Next Big Thing in sound design and I can't stand it when they're overused. My personal nicknames for these rumbles include: - Bubble wrap - Rice crispies - Wibble warbles - Earthquake ASMR

[@enderman4526]

you have no idea how great it is to see more stuff from you :D your content has made me appreciate sound design in media wayyy more than i used to, and has honestly kinda changed my perspective of the world around me a little bit... like there's been quite a few times I've heard a sound and gone "ohh... i bet that'd be a great sample for something" lol

[@cinnamon1099]

It's the best approach as a sound designer👍😍

[@twcsproductions]

Great to have you back!

[@normietwiceremoved]

This is so interesting for you to bring up, because I've noticed this too! The first time I noticed it was Doom 2016. I remember even the reloading sounds were so.... crunchy? Or something. You can also hear it in the Force Awakens when Finn ignites Lukes lightsaber.

[@IanZamojc]

Mortal Kombat 11 (and now 1) as well as the more recent Star Wars games are where I've noticed this the most and, frankly, it really impressed me. To me there are two elements; punch and crunch. Punch are fast impacts that sound a lot like the fast pitch decay sine wave transients hardstyle producers are adding to their kicks (probably because of phone listeners). While crunch sounds like they're scrubbing through grain tables of crumpling cans and paper while more slowly ramping pitch.

[@armchairaudio]

Love the video. I've literally been thinking the same thing with Mortal combat and EA Battlefront 2. It's cool to see I'm not going crazy.

[@4t7music37]

Oh man im so glad ur back. Banger video

[@phillipeulee4441]

YEEEES! I've been looking for a video like this, for sooo looong!

[@burgessound]

We're living through the, "Post-Deenan" era of sound, has been my bit 🤣

[@z31Joshyman]

Really enjoying your vids dude! As a new game composer and sound designer these are super helpful for me. Currently working on my first OST and sfx!

[@existalive]

the multiple EQ Three trick is common in EDM, particularly dubstep. mimics the Disperser fx from kiloheartz. Its cool to see this used in other ways. Also cool to see that producers like myself implement this in music.

[@WangleLine]

You're so right to say this. I've noticed this as well and sometimes it feels like it's really overdone, although it does sound insanely cool in pretty much any context.

[@CamZambie]

Finally someone else has noticed and talked about this! I feel heard. It was so cool hearing it be dissected and explained.

[@hectorsaucedo4465]

This is what I listen to on a daily. This specifically sounds like Snails. Your process reminds me of Mr Bill, Kompany, Virtual Riot. You can also try Parallel Processing and stacking lows, mids and highs to give it that crisp and well-rounded texture.

[@ohfelix_]

This is soooo interesting. Being a music producer for 4 years now and I am only now seeing that I can use my skills to make game sound effects? Sick video! Made me motivated.

[@_widas_]

Great video!!!

[@edge-of-the-internet]

i love sound design and am a gamer, but somehow i never thought to look at game sound design on youtube. great vid :)

[@PhillusionYT]

Very interesting topic! And love the classy vulfpeck reference 😎

[@BasementMinions]

Fascinating to learn about!

[@Epsidawn]

It's great to see you again!!!!!!!!!

Great video, packed with information as usual :) I feel like this area of 180 - 400 Hz is the most tricky one.. It can make or break the sound. When I started out mixing music I learned from bunch of youtube tutorials to cut a lot of the frequencies in this area resulting in flat, weak sounding mixes. It took me a loong time to make purposeful moves, reference a lot and just trust my ears.. don't do anything just because a tutorial says so. The magic truly is in the midrange!

[@dohnud]

Lol I’ve used that Ableton EQ Three side effect to achieve this sound, nice to see someone else had that idea too

[@shoebillstonk]

And Now modern warfare 3's sound design is just full of this "hot sauce"

[@AlexHeisEngholm]

I heard the sound of rumble crunch for the first time in the anime “the time I got reincarnated as a slime at the charybdis chapter” maybe it’s because the last theme for a magic sound was the chimes and sparkles were more so an odd choice for the sound of magic.

[@sounds_wellingston]

I can't bellive! You back!

[@sejohfrogi]

"You're not versatile" 😂😂😂😂

[@shrylysounds]

Great content as usual. Just subscribed. :)

[@Solcius123123]

Awesome video

[@aiRxShop]

5:16 sounds like rocks skipping on a pond of ice

[@thenot-so-smartfox4145]

Oh my god FINALLY. FINALLY I FOUND SOMEONE TALKING ABOUT THIS. I've noticed this thing a couple years ago and it's eating me alive because it got saturated so quickly and I couldn't even describe this cause I didn't know the name of this thing. It's really annoying now, thank you for speaking on this.

[@caleboackes9669]

NO MORE GOVERMENT SUBSIDIES FOR ACTIVE BASSES

[@olaudio8493]

I like to call it “Synthetic Velcro”… because there’s something satisfying about it, like Velcro

[@connorlohse4097]

I would call them "glacial rumbles."

[@christiankook9614]

Granular Synthesis is great for this kind of stuff.

[@windrunner6511]

Yes! Yes! Yes! I adore these sound design videos

[@WavesNGames]

Every time I watch one of your videos it makes me want to go design something!

[@dohnud]

I’ve been thinking about this exact thing for the past 7 years

[@zevidmusic]

I keep forgetting how powerful a sound design is with just pitching it down.

[@Vesohag]

Oooh, so that's what it's been happening. I remember noticing specially on Injustice. I was wondering how they get that type of sounds, being doing work as sound designer at times ^^ Thanks for sharing!

[@buzzhardi7633]

It's like a liquid rumble, easil obtained by using multiple vocoders along with some heavy compression.

[@EricBowman]

To me the most noticeable thing about the trend is the sound of the disperser. Was it just me, or did it sound like every sound in that Mortal Kombat trailer had a phase disperser on it? It kind of makes everything sound squishy

[@sihplak]

Just started watching and thank you for pointing out the low rumble sound. I'm weird and really hate that sound trope which is probably part of why I dislike most contemporary triple-A games. That sound trope just sucks IMO

[@Shakeno]

Yeah! I hate it myself. I just posted another comment talking about how I dislike this trope. I should've looked at other comments before posting, lol.

[@oldcowbb]

i don't hate it by itself, i hate how overused it is

[@louberdasco601]

The Vulf quote had me rolling on the floor laughing. Saw it coming when I saw Vulf looking at Darts bass. Gotta love that clip lol.

[@TheAmazingCowpig]

Not a sound designer, but you nearly inspired me to become one years ago! I regretted it for a bit too, but I was already too deep into my VFX degree, haha.

[@FlorianCalmer]

It's the "rock bouncing on a frozen lake" sound.

[@SalamiMommie]

As a guy who loves his dubstep too much, please do more on the topic

[@MarioTainaka]

He lives!

[@Topcatyo.]

I too have been noticing this happening in so much modern sound design. I feel like I really started to notice this trend when DOOM 2016 came out. But I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing this type of sound design popping up everywhere. I think it does add a lot of coolness to certain sounds, but I definitely feel like I'm already hearing it getting way overused. I feel like Shadow Warrior 3 added a layer of "low rumble" to each sound before adding yet 2 more layers. Anyways, very cool video, looking forward to checking out the rest of your channel.

[@atokenbeast3927]

love the vulfpeck reference

[@sione_etc]

I feel like this style has really been influenced by dubstep and neurofunk dnb. There's surely influence both ways (especially these days) but I think the film and game sound design trend of that particular kind of rumbling morphing bass followed the development of those sounds in bass music as it started getting really hi-fi from around the mid-late 2000s. Feels like there's a clear line between some of these modern game/film sounds and what artists like Noisia and Misanthrop were doing 10-15 years ago. 'Sinkhole' by Noisia is basically a 3.5 minute masterclass in these kinds of sounds 🤤

[@clxma]

Needed this

[@idkhahaok]

Gotta love OTT and Disperser

[@Spudurmun]

I first noticed this in Injustice 1 and now its sort of everywhere? in most triple A stuff, at least.

[@twoserpents2457]

this is EXACTLY why I admire the music of Street Fighter 6 SO much! as a producer, I originally heard it as it was, and was thinking "dude, why are these mixes so freaking THIN!?" Then I heard it in the context of the game, and it's *genius* in motion.

[@Alckemy]

Thanks for the video Marshall! Ever mess with bitwig? It doesn’t have video editing but it’s sick with a huge amount of modulators. Some tips to try would be to actually use additive eq to pull out low end of any sound and then actually saturate it. Different distortion types obv will create certain kinds of artifacts but if you get too much intermodular you can run it in parallel. If the sound has no low end then you can try frequency shifting it down first. Oh and fuzz distortions, ring modulators and bitcrushers are great for adding high end crackles back into sounds without ott. Love your channel! Would love to bring you on mine as a guest sometine

[@pawekowalski2962]

I've really been thinking that a lot of sound designers have used this style of sounds for a while. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed 😅

[@TravisFodor]

preach!!!

[@xZSHORAx]

BABE WAKE UP NEW MARSHALL MCGEE JUST DROPPED!!

[@LukeHim]

So cool to have some new videos from you. Always love the insight, the script, the editing. What game is this at 0:30 by the way? Looks (and sounds) sick

[@gab-bj9wf]

Totally irrelevant but Josh went to the same university as the one I'm going to right now! I got to meet him at a student/alumni seminar thing. So cool how I just immediately recognized him.

[@MATroiano]

Can we have a challenge at the end of the episode like your older videos? Loved the encouragement to make my own version of these sounds.

[@scapegoat079]

The earliest example of this I can think of is infamous second sun