The BBC has opened up its vast sound archive to the public. Thanks to the new BBC Sound Effects website, you can freely download over 16,000 sound effects in WAV format for “personal, educational or research purposes”.
The database is tagged and searchable, so you can easily find everything from animal sounds and talking dolls to the sound of furnace glass burners and rattling window frames. It appears to cover most of the BBC’s lifespan, with effects from the 1920s onwards.
Is there a way to download them all at once?
curl -O -f http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/assets/[00000000-99999999].wav
How do we use this?
Copy and paste the command into command prompt and hit enter
@highon2str: Yeah cause the person was lazy.
Seems to start from 8000 - 7076051 so try:
curl -O -f http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/assets/[00008000-07076051].wav
@Hahuh: There's no need to panic-download sound samples. Just choose the ones you want rather than trying to scrape the website.
@cerealJay: Who said I'm panic doing anything?
I'm just answering a question.
Don't worry your "farting in the wind" soundbite is safe and awaiting you.
If it's going to buckle from a few people downloading files then they shouldn't have made it public
@Hahuh: Is there anyway of choosing a destination folder or which folder do these wave files go into?
@highon2str: Easiest way is to open an elevated command prompt (right-click start button > Command prompt Admin)
then cd into the directory you want ( cd C:\Users\<user>\<some folder> )
then initiate the command.
I would've preferred making a folder then shift + right-clicking > command prompt but they have stupid PowerShell there instead and I don't feel like messing with the registry.
@highon2str: LOL because there's not 100 million sound files to download. Even if there were, do you really want to initiate a download of 100 million files? I think not.
If you have installed curl already, use this script to get the 16000 files individually
I scanned the asset file http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/assets/BBCSoundEffects.csv and created the above script based on that CSV file
Still will take a long time, but faster than scanning 100 million links when there are in fact only 16 thousand files.
Maybe a download manager like free download manager might work.
Found this. There's a torrent link at the bottom of the page which seems like the obvious choice.
https://github.com/FThompson/BBCSoundDownloader
coughing and sneezing on loop
me too. Then I went to this site.
someone please confirm a good variety of fart sound effects, will upvote if confirmed.
No farts. No flatulence. No deal.
rattling window frames
Means the same thing in my house.
Only body noise is a "digestion and heart beat" clip.
No farts.
I should contact BBC, boy I'd have some sounds for them to record at my house!
Username checks out: Ugly Fart Output.
Filter "animals", and click on 10 at once…. I think I've found my new ring tone!!!!!
Man all this isolation and free Pornhub has destroyed my innocence. I say this thread and immediately thought, I do not want to hear sound effects of BBC.
My morbid curiosity made me click that link………..and that's pretty much what I expected.
Well done.
A milling machine switched on, operates with occasional pauses.
It doesn't get more rivetting than this.
You obviously have not listened to
Tank riveter - 1970 (7J, reprocessed)
No Tardis !
Apparently you could record the sound yourself if you have a piano and a front door key…
https://youtu.be/C1Pl83oqGhg?t=371
I had to see if they had Goon Show sound effects - no - but you do get Rangoon Airport announcements that hark back to a gentler time.
Winds light to variable!
Great options for electric cars. Most of them will keep pedestrians at a safe distance.
Confuse them. Make it sound like a steam train.
"One man screaming 3"; one man screaming twice 7"- 1980" found my new ringtone
The Corliss steam engines sound pretty creepy.
Great find OP
Finally, the sound of Seychelles turtles mating. I was beginning to think it might be rare.
Ringtones sorted for the next thousand years!
F1 cars only decent one I have found.
Great to hear of this bargain OP
Is there a sound effect for that?😉
cha-ching.wav
Good share, got this 2 years ago. Google it and as someone already download the whole thing already using python script.
Total size: 283gb
Ironically, I came across this sound in the "Bicycles" category:
Wuhan: Busy street atmosphere with crowds & bicycles.
Any good ones to use during online gaming like CSGO? :p
Is JV on holidays? I was sure to see a post "what's the usual price".
But seriously, do I need to download these or are they permanently available?
Very cool. Should be a bit of fun during isolation (although WAV format will eat up the bandwidth). :)