Here's a general guide to recording and submitting sound effect audio ideas.

(NOTE: Written at 3am after composing for 4 hours)

There are 3 main ways to post Effects.

1) Find a sound or a library and either link to it for us to look at, or post it in a zip file in a submission. This is bar far the easiest since it involves no audio work at all. All you have to do is find the file. There are some wonderful effect libraries out there. We don't have to create every sound from scratch.

2) Using a synthesizer to create the sound. This is the method I used for my wind effect submission. (see my submission for more details on how I made that exact effect) Using a synth is also a pretty straight forward way of doing things although the synth itself may require a bit of manual diving to figure out. For my particular situation I have my Korg MS2k hooked up to my SBLIVE! via a stereo 1/8" cable out of the headphone jack and into the Line level input of the card. Not the best setup, but it hasn't let me down yet. The important thing to do is make sure that your line level can handle the volume you're sending. Simply put: If your speakers or your headphones distort then you need to adjust the volume. Adjust it on the synth since all you'd be doing if you adjusted it on the speakers is lower your own listening volume, and not the actual signal volume. (still get distortion in the recording)

To record any effect you may come up with you will need a recorder program of course! Windows comes with a cheesy one that limits you to a minute's worht of audio. That's alright since most effects are much less than that, but you may want to invest in a simple audio editor. Why? Because the raw signal from your synth may be too strong or too well...raw! Simply click on record and play your effect.

3) Mic-ing the effect. That involves using a microphone to capture a sound in the real world. This is far more difficult then it sounds. This requires positioning the mic in the proper place to avoid unwanted noise polution of your sound. That can include anything from the noise of your CPU fan to Flutter echo in your room, or even noise produced by the Mic itself. (called coloration. That is when a device changes the sound's wav pattern by adding subtle changes in voltage and intensity. You garden variety speakers do this to no end.) You're gonna need to have a specific kind of Mic for really good sampling for effects too. The standard uni-direction Radio Shack mic might not do the job.

post production!!

Yep. The sound you get may not be at a usable level. That may require Equalization work to get rid of low end interference or distortion, or to get rid of high pops and clicks that may be due to a poor cable or a hot input. Most of this can be done by me and other audio staff so don't worry too much.

Concentrate on getting a clear crisp recording no matter what method you use. A muddy sample isn't very usuable and no ammount of EQ can fix mud. (mud: an unclear often muffled sounding recording with little high end and a crowded low end)

I'll edit this more when I am awake. lol.