Freesound Forums

I'd like to make a faq/sticky that helps new users get advice on using the sample search. We can point newbies here to help them better find what they are looking for.

I'll give my advice to start off:
I usually start with the obvious, and also try to "search around" the exact term with synonyms. An obvious one would be swoosh, woosh, swish, swipe, etc.
Once I've found sounds that are sort of what I was looking for, I look at the tags and see what they have in common. I then display the tags I think are most relevant, and browse through those results. If I find something close to what I was looking for, rinse and repeat.

I also watch the bottom space for similar sounds, although I don't use the "find similar sounds" link (maybe I should.)

For me, a deep search can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour, but I often find what I'm looking for. And if I don't, I request it or try to make it myself!

So, how do you find samples?

EDIT: The more final version of this is now a sticky.

I agree that some kind of faq for new searchers would be good. And some examples of search strategies would also be cool - I think I already learned something from your post

However, I think at times the old-timers are a little harsh on newbs that ask. I agree you'd like to see at least a day between when they joined and asked to feel that some attempt was made to find out for themselves.

However, the main problem is that it is the devil's own job to describe a sound - and that's even if I've recorded it! Searching for a sound is even harder. Our word descriptions tend to be much more about the object that made the sound or the situation ist was made in, and these have very little correlation with what the recording sounds like. And the guys that tend to do better sonic descriptions tend to be the short-sound synth guys among us - maybe they are more tuned to the sonic abstract world. As a field recordists my descriptions are much more in the who or what, less of the tone colour.

Indeed, it is a tough problem. I'm glad you also see the value in this...
In terms of being harsh, I think having a FAQ to point newbies to would actually help with said frustration. If all you have to do is link to an article, you'll have an easier time than if you try to describe it all over again... my past experiences (with the flac article, and on writing developer documentation on another project) confirm this.