Found Sounds as IR Material
A recording does not need to be a measured room response to become useful convolution material.
The easiest way to understand this is simply to try it.
Good first recordings
Record something with a clear character:
- metal, glass or ceramic hits;
- cloth, paper or leaves;
- doors, tools and mechanical objects;
- water, gravel or footsteps;
- a clap or snap in an unusual room;
- a breath or short vocal sound;
- a short noise or texture.
Build it
- Load the recording into A.
- Click A so you are hearing it.
- Use Start/End to isolate one interesting region.
- Link Start and End if you want to scan a fixed-size window through the recording.
- Fade the edges if the cut feels too abrupt.
- Try Color or Texture.
- Use EQ only if the material needs cleanup.
- Bake several promising versions.
Listen for the small moments
A long recording may sound obviously like "a recording."
A tiny part of the same file can behave like something completely different:
- a resonant filter;
- a strange cabinet;
- a sharp transient space;
- a metallic tonal fingerprint;
- a tiny impossible room.
That is why EDIT is so useful with found sounds.
Scan instead of guessing
Create a short Start/End window and link it.
Then move the window through the recording while audio plays.
- Shift + drag = fine
- Ctrl + drag = very fine
When a position suddenly does something interesting to the track, stop and Bake it.
Push it further
Take one good fragment and:
- phase-color it with Color;
- Morph it with a normal room IR;
- Bake it and use it again;
- create several different fragments from the same recording and Morph those together.
Capturing a resonant object?
For guitars, violins, cabinets and other resonant bodies, continue with Acoustic Bodies & Comparison. It explains what a body IR can transfer, how to compare two matched captures and why one IR should not be treated as a complete physical clone of the instrument.