How to: Wooshing Projectile sound

Woosh sounds are a staple in sound design. They are used in a variety of ways, from projectiles flying through the air to movement sounds. In this guide, we will show you how to create a woosh sound using .esfx.

The key to a woosh sound is BrownNoise. BrownNoise sounds like air because even though there are 44100 samples per second, each sample of brown noise is similar to the previous sample, and so it replicates the way air cannot change direction quickly.

This is how you could make the sound of a projectile wooshing through the air using .esfx:

Play(duration=1.5s, cutoff=0.5s) {
    BrownNoise
    BandPass(freq=[220,330], q=[1,5])
    Envelope(attack=0.25s, release=0.5s)
}

The BrownNoise function generates a sound that is similar to the sound of air.

The BandPass function filters the sound to a particular frequency. It begins at 220 Hz and then ramps to 330 Hz over the course of the duration of the sound. This creates the effect of a sound that starts low and then rises in pitch, which makes it sound like it is increasing in energy and power. We also make the q parameter ramp from 1 to 5 over the course of the sound, so that the sound becomes more focused as it progresses.

The Envelope function applies an envelope to the sound effect, which controls how the volume of the sound ramps up and then down over time. We want to fade in and out, but not too quickly, so we set the attack to 0.25 seconds and the release to 0.5 seconds, meaning it will take 0.25 seconds to reach full volume and 0.5 seconds to fade out.