Whether it's a presenter sounding a klaxon after playing a banger or it's that little jingle you'll never, ever get out of your head - sound effects are a big part of radio.

They make what’s generally called radio imaging, and include jingles, sweepers and idents. They have different functions but all serve one purpose: to enrich the listener's experience and get them to listen again. Radio personalities like Shaun Keaveny, have built their brand on using sound effects creatively:

I've made an entire career out of the cart-wall.

Key Takeaways

• What sound effects do: Jingles, sweepers, and idents (collectively "radio imaging") build a station's sonic brand and keep listeners engaged between songs.
• Where to get them: The Radio.co Marketplace features offers packages with Sound FX from as little as $2.60. You can also create your own yourself in a DAW, or commission them from an imaging company.
• How to automate them: Use Radio.co's automation and tagging tools to label your sound effects, jingles, idents, and other production audio. Then build playlists or repeating rotations that trigger them automatically, e.g. playing a jingle every fourth song.
• How to trigger them live: Radio.co's Playout.co lets you use your existing Radio.co media library to build a running order and load sound affects, jingles, and station IDs onto its 20-tile cart wall. Drag-and-drop audio onto the cart wall and trigger them as and when needed.

Why Radio Shows Use Sound Effects

Radio stations distinguish themselves from their competitors in two ways: with their shows and with their branding. But, obviously radio is an auditory experience. So radio stations focus on branding you can hear, i.e. their sonic branding.

A key part of sonic branding is radio imaging. Radio imaging is a fancy term for all sound effects you hear peppered through broadcasts.

There are a fair few, but here's a breakdown of the main ones:

• Jingles
  Typically a catchy, short and memorable audio, that states the station/show details (like name, frequency, broadcast time) and they are designed to be memorable.

• Promos
  Typically speech that teases details about an upcoming show along with details of when the show will be broadcast.

• Sweepers (aka idents, IDs, shotguns)
  Voice only announcement that typically details what the listener is hearing, ie station/show name & frequency.

• Music Beds
  Music without vocals that the presenter talks over.

• Intros & Outros
  Audio that bookend shows and are composed of many elements, including music, sound effects, upcoming features, the show and station names.

Good radio imaging speaks volumes about your brand. It shows your brand has a clear identity, knows its audience and knows its competitors.

Where to Find Sound Effects for Radio

You can get sound effects from:

1. Digital mixers with pre-loaded sound effects.
2. Downloading from sound FX libraries.
3. Creating your own with a DAW and a mic.
4. Paying a company like ReelWorld, Noise Fusion or TM Studios to create them for you.

Digital Mixers

Digital Mixers like the RODECaster Pro come with pre-loaded sound effects in the mixer, including laughter, a drum rimshot and a trombone.

Sound FX Libraries

Some websites offer royalty-free sound effects. Typically you pay a one off-fee and can download and use the sound-effect as many times as you like.

If you have a subscription to a royalty-free music site, then it’s worth checking if they have sound effects too.

Pixabay doesn't require a subscription and lets you browse through categories such as nature, technology and city. Find a sound effect you like and download it directly to your computer for free.

If you’re going to be using a lot of sound effects, it's worth signing up to a subscription-based website like Storyblocks and downloading to your heart's content.

If you just need one or two sound effects, it's often cheaper to pay for them individually from a site like Audio Jungle.

The Radio.co Marketplace offers its own Sound FX Library, with multiple radio imaging and sound effects packages available for a one-off fee. The cheapest package offers up to 30 sounds and costs just $2.60. Packages aren't just a typical airhorn or Wilhelm Scream, but professional, high-quality radio imaging created by Little Monster Media - the same team behind the sonic branding of KISS and BBC Radio 1. 

Other packages available include seasonal sounds, or sounds specific to particular years and quarters. 

And if none of our available packages or sounds suit your station's style, Radio.co's Voice Studio also has some sound effects to make your own radio imaging.

Making Sound Effects and Radio Imaging Yourself

Everyday sounds and instrument sounds can be recorded yourself, but it's probably easier to use a free website like Pixabay or BBC Sounds Library / Sound Effect Archive.

To create your own radio imaging, users can mix together different audio clips in a digital audio workstation (DAW). You can use a voiceover for your station's intros, outros, call IDs, and identifiers. 

Radio.co has a built-in mini DAW, Voice Studio, where you can create your own radio imaging. We provide a range of pre-loaded Sound FX, and you can record your own voice for jingles or generate an AI voice to switch it up or if no presenters are available. You can then add these to your Radio.co Library.

Create your own radio imaging in Voice Studio, add them to your media library, and you can then play these using Radio.co's Playout on the cart wall.

Radio Imaging Companies

Companies like ReelWorld, Noise Fusion or TM Studios will create all of your radio imaging for a fee.

How to Play Sound Effects On Your Radio Show

For the sound effects that make up your radio imaging, you have a choice of automating these and playing them manually.

Automating Sound Effects

Automating your radio imaging is perhaps the simplest way to play sound effects on your radio show.

In your automation software, upload your jingles, idents, promos etc and label them within the software as such. Once labelled, you can set automation rules for your radio station.

Within Radio.co, label sound effects with corresponding tags in the dashboard. Once you’ve done this, you can create playlists that rotate through tagged media. So, you can create rules like every fourth song, play a jingle.

Option 2) An Audio Mixer - A Hardware Solution for All Users

Mixing consoles like the RODECaster Pro, the RODECaster Pro II, Tascam Mixcast-4 and the TC Helicon GoXLR all have a soundboard feature. That is to say, they have physical buttons that can be uploaded with audio like sound effects. Ready to be played once pressed.

By loading these buttons with sound effects and connecting your mixer to your radio station, you can play sound effects quite literally at the touch of a button.

Want the Simple Way To Play Sound Effects on Your Radio Show?

Thanks to Radio.co, playing sound effects and radio imaging on your radio show doesn't have to involve complicated audio routing anymore. Radio.co's features offers broadcasters easy ways to fire off sound effects, whether broadcasting live or automating shows. Crafting your station's unique sonic branding has never been simpler! 

If you're new to Radio.co, try Playout and our other features with a 14-day free trial. On Lite? You can upgrade your plan to include Playout here.