Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars
For all the slick and sophisticated UI front‑ends that allow you to manipulate the sounds within a sample‑based library, in some sound categories there is still something to be said for the simple WAV file. That’s a case you can certainly make for sound effects, whether that’s Foley, ambience, spot effects or various types of impacts; just drag and drop a well‑chosen WAV file onto the required spot on your timeline, adjust the level, and move on to the next task. It’s not clever or complicated but it gets the job done.
If that appeals to you, and you indulge in creating trailer sound, Flame Sound’s Firestarter library might be just the thing. Available in two modestly priced versions — Standard and Deluxe — Firestarter provides a collection of trailer‑friendly sound effects all served up in a well‑organised set of categories and in a 48kHz/24‑bit WAV format.
The two versions differ in the number of core SFX samples provided (125 vs 250) while the Deluxe version also bundles an additional 1GB of field recordings (street sounds, nature ambiences, etc) and a selection of soundscape samples for additional value. The samples supplied with both versions are categorised into the same nine folders — Accents, Booms, Braams, Downers, Impacts, Loops, Tension, Textures and Transitions — and the style of the contents in each is pretty much what you might expect. And, while that means that Flame Sound are not breaking dramatically new sonic ground here, the sounds themselves are consistently impressive.
That’s particularly true of the various categories that contain sounds that offer spot effects designed to be placed as ‘hit points’ in the on‑screen action such as the Accents, Booms, Braams, Downers and Impacts. Between them, they provide a good range of options. For example, the Accents go from fairly subtle bell and pluck sounds through to more weighty metal and synth tones. For bigger tasks, the Impacts category hits (doh!) the spot; there is plenty of weighty noise but without things getting too obviously hyped. The Booms bring a darker take on the same sort of thing if you need something a little more subtle with a low‑end focus. I particularly liked the Braams. These come in three flavours — simple, impact and no impact — and sound really good.
The quality of the sounds is consistently high, and the simple WAV format makes it easy to drop and layer the sounds into any project regardless of the audio software platform in use.
If you are looking for a no‑fuss collection of trailer‑friendly sound effects to use either in a straight sound design role, or as ingredients to add into trailer‑style music cues, Flamesound’s Firestarter is a perfectly good place to start. The quality of the sounds is consistently high, and the simple WAV format makes it easy to drop and layer the sounds into any project regardless of the audio software platform in use. While similar palettes of SFX are offered by many other sample libraries, overall, Firestarter offers some very usable sounds at a very sensible price.
Standard $19, Deluxe $39.
Standard $19, Deluxe $39.