Downloading Sounds from the Net to use in Deck, Protools, or for various DSP programs:

This can be quite frustrating, but it is worth the effort: there are a lot of interesting and free sound effects in the net's virtual soundscape.

It is frustrating because once you find a site that you like, you may not be able to download their sounds (protected), or you finally get to do that, and your software does not recognize them.... So, you have to keep looking, and then use different sound softwares to Open them: Peak might not want to open it, but SoundEdit or Soundhack might....

Steps:

- I recommend using Netscape instead of Explorer (it seems to be easier to get sounds to dowload onto your desktop with Netscape)

- Search: try to be precise, don't just type in "sound effects", but instead try for example " .aiff + sounds + nature"

- When you hear something you like, drag the sound onto your desktop (it might say "will open with Real Audio" or something similar, just ingonre it, what you want is make sure the sound is downloaded onto your desktop.) You need to drag it at the stage when you double-click it to hear it, not from the quicktime player that lets you listen to it (confusing explanation?!!).

- Now go into Peak and see if it can open it, if not, go into SoundEdit, or Soundhack. Once open, Save As an AIFF sound file or .WAV file, so that thay can easily be handled by variou softwares. Edit/normalize/EQ/process these sounds.

- Now import you audio into your Deck or Protools Session.

Some Sites to Start with:

http://www.members.tripod.com/Thryomanes/AnimalSounds.html

SOME SOUND FORMATS, WHAT THEY MEAN (taken from the PEAK manual):

* AIFF: This is Apple's Audio Interchange File Format. (It is also Peak's default file format and is supported by many Macintosh software applications .

* Sound Designer II: This is Digidesign's audio file format for its digital audio products (Protools for instance.) Use this format if you wish to use an audio document in a Digidesign audio application.

* .au: This file format is commonly used on the WWW and in Java audio applets. It is supported by many platforms and programs.

* WAVE This is Microsoft's Windows Audio File Format. It is supported by many Window's software applications and some Macintosh applications. The WAVE format is best if you plan to use an audio document in an application that support or requires WAVE format files.

* Quicktime: This is Apple's audio file format for QuickTime-based multimedia. It is supported by all Macintosh software applications that support Quicktime. The Quicktime format is best if you plan to use an audio document in mutlimedia applications that support QuickTime, such as Adobe Premiere or Macromedia Director.

* Raw: This is the header-less raw file format that may be useful for some game platforms (this is what you get when you use Soundhack to open raw data documents.)

* RealAudio: This is the file format for RealNetworks RealAudio 5.0, 3.0 and 2.5 Encoders, used for preparing audio for streaming over the internet.

* System 7 Sounds: This is the Apple audio file format used for Macintosh Operating System Sounds

* Jam image files: This is the JAM audio image file format. JAM audio image files may be created in Peak and used in Adaptec JAM for burning Audio CDs

* Sonic AIFF: The file format used by Sonic Solutions audio workstations.

* .paf: this is the file format used by Ensoniq's Paris audio system. Note this file format favors mono and dual mono files.

* Shockwave: This is the file format used for Macromedia's Shockwave, for preparing audio for streaming over the internet (the SWA Export Xtra must be in the Peak Plug-Ins folder for this option.)

* MPEG-3 (MP3): This saves your document in MPEG-3 format (the SWA Export Xtra must be in the Peak Plug-Ins folder for this option.)