Leaves, Raking on Grass is a collection of 20 sound effects of dry autumn leaves on grass, being raked into piles, moved, lifted, dropped, and handled in other ways.

• 20 files, 26 min 20 seconds, app. 1032 unique movements/sounds
• 96KHz 24 bit stereo wave files
• Recorded in AB-stereo configuration,
• Recorded with 2x Neumann KMR81d onto Sound Devices 788T
• Minimal processing
• Soundminer metadata-tagged, UCS Compliant

The sound effects of the Leaves, Raking on Grass Sound Pack were recorded on location with real dry leaves on grass, handled with a plastic leaf rake. The recording sessions spanned over five separate occasions between 28. October and 7. November 2019. This due to a bit of trial and error with stereo recording balancing, in conjunction with waiting for the perfect weather conditions and dryness of the leaves.

Making this product, we focused on:

Noise-free distance variations

Relevant activities/sounds are recorded both close and distant from the sound source. The close distance is 1,5 – 2.5 meters, while the distant recordings are approximately 6-7 meters away. Distance and background noise levels are a balance game in order to keep the high recording quality while not using any post-processing to remove noise. Hence the distant recordings were harder and more time-consuming to complete. Below is a simple video example, to which we’ve added takes from both the close and further away recording distances. Is the difference in sound as you’d expect?

Stereo recording with full mono capabilities

All the sound effect files in this sound pack are recorded in AB-stereo, where the two Neumann KMR81d microphones are rigged facing forward with a distance of 50 cm between them. This gives a shotgun/hyper-cardioid characteristic to the sound. Perfect mono is easily achieved by just using only one of the two channels.

Minimal processing

We always strive to make the sound effects the best quality possible. A big part of this is minimal processing of the recorded sounds while editing and preparing the final product. Hence, only a high-pass filter is added in order to remove very low frequencies. The specific filter used is FabFilter Pro-Q minimum phase/natural phase. Sound editing and product preparation is done in REAPER.

The Final Product

Leaves, Raking on Grass Sound Effects Pack is now available in our webshop

The final product, royalty-free sound effects pack (digital download only)

Sound Pack Contents:

Filename	Duration
Leaves, Lift and drop a few leaves, Leaf pile, Close.wav	01:00
Leaves, Lift and drop leaves, Leaf pile, Distant.wav	01:58
Leaves, Lift and drop leaves, Leaf pile, Slow, Close.wav	01:24
Leaves, Lift and throw down leaves, Leaf pile, Close.wav	02:28
Leaves, Raking on grass, Fast, Close.wav	01:05
Leaves, Raking on grass, Fast, Distant.wav	01:07
Leaves, Raking on grass, Hit leaf pile, Close.wav	01:03
Leaves, Raking on grass, Hit top on leaf pile, Close.wav	00:25
Leaves, Raking on grass, Medium speed, Close.wav	01:04
Leaves, Raking on grass, Medium speed, Distant.wav	01:08
Leaves, Raking on grass, Rake few leaves, Close.wav	01:04
Leaves, Raking on grass, Rake long strokes, Close.wav	01:02
Leaves, Raking on grass, Rake short strokes, Medium speed, Close.wav	01:25
Leaves, Raking on grass, Raking large leaf pile, Close.wav	01:10
Leaves, Raking on grass, Raking leaf pile, Distant.wav	01:43
Leaves, Raking on grass, Raking small leaf pile, Close.wav	01:25
Leaves, Raking on grass, Slow, Close.wav	01:43
Leaves, Raking on grass, Slow, Distant.wav	01:38
Leaves, Raking on grass, Very slow, Close.wav	01:26
Leaves, Strike down rake on leaf pile, Close.wav	01:02