Audio Databases


The final element to consider during your editing process is the addition of sound effects and music. I find it helpful to think of these elements like punctuation or using a different style of font for a few paragraphs. These can help give the listener a sense of place in history, where recordings of what it would have actually sounded like may not exist. Listen to this excerpt of the Tideflats project I mentioned earlier and try to identify what elements are woven into the narrative and how they might be used to orient the listener:

Photo of a row of simple houses on muddy land, connected by a series of wooden decks
Houses on the Tideflats, ca. 1938, Courtesy Tacoma Northwest Room (A7037-3).

Two people sparing with kendo masks and wooden swords in Tacoma, overlooking a hillside
Rev. Jokatsu Yukawa and an unknown person sparring in Kendo masks and wooden swords, ca. 1930s, Courtesy Tacoma Northwest Room (BOWEN G39.1-194).

In that recording, a summary of elements might be:

  • Field recording
  • Background music
  • Narration
  • Oral history recording
  • Sound clips (kendo sparring, streetcars)
  • Multiple documents, news articles and scholarly journal excerpts that I am weaving into the narration



Here are some places you can locate copyright free sound design and music to use in your projects:




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