Chain Sound Effects with Reformer Pro

In this how-to tutorial, Alessandro Mastroianni shows how you can use the Soundbits Just Chains library alongside Reformer Pro to create natural sounding, high-quality chain foley as if you were in your own foley studio. let’s check it out!

Watch the chain sound effects design video below

Chain Dragging Sound Effects Video Breakdown

The first scene is in a gym. Someone is training with a chain tied to a kettlebell. In the second scene, we have some shackled wrists trying to free themselves from the constraint of the chain. This gives us a range of lengths and dynamics to work with.

We have used four instances of Reformer Pro here. The first one deals with the rattling short bursts of chain movement and the second instance is a long, continuous rattling of the chain because of the hands moving together.

Chain Rattling Sound Effects

For the second scene, I’ve picked a few samples and adjusted some of the parameters to my liking by setting a position on the XY Pad.

Reformer Pro is the software equivalent of a foley studio – instead of recording materials as audio, we are recording any audio to trigger reformer to generate the materials from the library.

My workflow for this was to use the audio input and, as my own Foley artist, make some vocalisations into a microphone to copy the actions what was happening on screen.

Finishing touches for our Chain SFX

I added a touch of reverb and did some minor moving and stretching to get the sounds in sync perfectly to the video. The second track is a duplicate of the first with adjusted parameters on the Xypad to get a slower-moving sound.

As well as vocalisations, I’ve used the sound of wrapping paper and rubbed it together against the microphone to get a continued sound to reform. You can use contact microphones for this purpose or any other object that you feel could mimic the movement you see, so have some fun and experiment!

Wondering what we used in our Chain Sound Effects video? Take a look below!

If you need chain sound effects, you need Just Chains by Soundbits – perfect for automating, or performing in real-time using Reformer Pro. This sound effects library offers a vast collection of metal chain sound effects that are designed to work either out-of-the-box in Reformer Pro, or as traditional sample WAV files.

From shackle sounds, chain dragging and pulling sound effect, heavy chain sounds, chain rattling, through to drops, shakes, whips and jingles, this chain sound effect library covers all bases.

Free Chains Sound Effects Download

We have included a taster pack of sounds made using this process for you to try out yourself through traditional drag & drop sound design.

Download Free Chain Sound Effects