Ultimate List of Free Foley Sound Effects

Foley originated from the recording sound effects to add to television and movies after they had been shot. Everyday sounds like footsteps, breaking glass, metal scraping, knocking on wood, water running, and anything else that you can think of are all recorded by a foley artist in a studio or in the field.

One secret that music producers can take advantage of is using foley sounds in your productions to help bring them more life. This is very common in genres like lofi hip hop and other chill types of music but can be utilized effectively with any genre you want if used correctly.

Foley sound effects can be used to create unique percussion sounds that give your beats another layer on top of basic drum samples.

Layering the sound of leaves crunching with a snare can give it an extra layer of punchiness and make it unique, or pitching up a clicking sound and EQing it to use as a hi hat.

Adding real life sounds can also add depth to your mix by creating a soundscape for the listener. For example, the sound of seagulls and waves crashing could be used in a tropical house track to make the listener feel like they’re at the beach.

The possibilities are endless if you think creatively when using these kinds of samples. You can create percussive layers, transitions, and background ambient textures.

You can even create instruments with certain sounds (like a glass clinking) by loading it into a sampler like Ableton’s Simpler or Sampler and messing with the pitch and adsr envelopes to create your own melodies!

One of the best parts about foley sound effects is that you can even record them yourself! So you can create a unique collection of foley sounds that only you have. All you need to get started is a phone recorder which everyone has these days, and phones like the iPhone have surprisingly decent microphones in them.

If you’re looking for more high quality recordings though, we’ve got you covered!

Here is a list of all of Cymatics best foley recordings. Everything here was recorded with some of the highest quality foley recording gear there is either out in the field or in Drew’s studio!

And the best part is these are all FREE!