Howie scream

A stock sound effect is a prerecorded sound effect intended to be reused with an entertainment product, as opposed to creating a new, unique sound effect. It is intended to work within a sound effect library.

From at least as far back as Ancient Greece, sound effects have been used in entertainment productions. Sound effects (AKA sound FX, SFX, or simply FX) are used to enhance theatre, radio, film, television, video games and online media.

Sound effects were originally added to productions by creating the sounds needed in real time. Various sound-making devices and props (for example, coconut shells for horse hooves, a sheet of metal for thunder) were used in place of the real sounds. With the advent of radioand specifically radio dramas, the role of sound effects became more important. When cinema went from silent to "talkies", sound effects became a large part of this new medium too.

Audio recording technology continued to evolve, making recording and playing back sound easier and more accessible. As this happened, the more commonly used and harder-to-replicate sound effects were prerecorded to make them easily available when needed. Prerecording also allowed the same sound effect to be used many times.

Both producers' and listeners' sensibilities also began evolving with technology, and the need for more realistic sound effects or using the "real" sound increased. Therefore there became a more urgent need for prerecorded sound effects.

Over time, the quality of audio recording and playback increased, and so did access to a wider variety of highly specific "real" sounds. For example, rather than a replicated gunshot, a producer might select a real gunshot from a certain type of gun, shot under very specific conditions. The availability of "real" sound effects became increasingly important to producers.

These collections of prerecorded sound effects, both "real" and artificial, began to be referred to as stock sound effects, and were organized into "sound effect libraries." Stock sound effects became widely used and valuable assets of sound design artists and production companies. Some stock sound effects have been reused so many times that they have become easily recognizable and some even clichés. Examples of these include the scream of a red-tailed hawk, castle thunder, or the Wilhelm and Howie screams.

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Wikipedia