Dune sound test
2026-10-31 · the 3 tools from the reel, tested on the disaster video
Short answer. All three are useful, each for a different job. Openverse finds the real sounds, Earshot screens every sound by ear and makes the deep low end, and Real SFX finds the moments and places sounds by itself in about 3 minutes (your call). The Dune version below is built with Earshot + Openverse and placed by hand. Nobody has listened yet: every call here is a measurement or Earshot's model, so your ears decide.
See every sound on a timeline
1. Hear it on the flood cutaway
Same picture, same voice, same water. Only the designed sounds change. Switch while it plays: it keeps its place.
What you have on v5: Epidemic boom, metallic riser, distant thump. The riser runs right into the slam, so on laptop and phone speakers the dam hit never jumps out (+0.0 dB).
Dam drop 0:03 · into the 3D 0:08 · steps 0:09, 0:11, 0:12, 0:16 · back to real 0:19
See every sound on a timeline
2. The three tools
Earshot
Use
Makes sound effects in code, and listens to any sound and says what it sounds like.
- Its ears are the best part. They described my failures in words (my throat drone 'sounds like an error buzz', my wind 'sounds like ocean waves') and heard 'whoosh' in three candidate risers, which I dropped.
- Code-made sounds work for booms, the horn and the heartbeat. Anything natural (thunder, wind, chanting) failed.
- Its built-in bank is made for app launch videos (clicks and pops). For Dune I had to write new recipes.
- Free, runs on the Mac, no API key. Code checked: it downloads two public listening models (1.1 GB). An optional Gemini step exists and needs your key plus a yes.
Openverse
Use
A free search over millions of openly licensed sounds. No key, nothing to install.
- One run found 186 real sounds and downloaded 184: 109 need no credit, 75 need one credit line.
- By Earshot's scores, real recordings beat the code-made ones on every natural sound: throat singing, thunder, rumble, metal hits.
- Slow and flaky: about 45 s per search, and my first test calls hit server errors (500 and 504), so the client retries. Files are 128 kbps previews, and the full-quality originals need a free Freesound login. One 'hail' result was a MIDI file.
Real SFX
Useful (your call)
A Claude skill that finds the moments in a video and puts sounds on the exact frame.
- Given the same short brief as plain Claude (a big boom on the dam, a riser into a low boom on each step, no whooshes), it found the same 4 step moments I placed by hand (within about 2 frames) in 3 minutes, and added one more on 'protect your limbs'. It stayed inside the test sandbox (0 blocked actions).
- It hands back a cue sheet (every sound, time and level), the sound effects as their own WAV, and a self-check that flagged its own bass pile-up on the dam.
- To fix before relying on it: its dam hit lands 0.15 s early and doesn't jump out on laptop and phone speakers, and it skipped the 3D entry and the cut back (my request didn't name them).
- Plain Claude found the same moments without it, but slower (4.5 min) and with no cue sheet or self-check.
3. The Dune kit
13 sounds for the whole video. Each one was screened with Earshot: none reads as a whoosh first, and the riser is tonal (Earshot hears a dark riser, not a whoosh). 12 of 13 score strong for their job. Play them here, or download the zip for Blendi.
Download the whole kit (zip, 25 MB)
Hits
Dune BoomEarshot hit + Openverse boom
Dam drop, the biggest disaster hits. Hits on the frame, blooms for 0.3 s.
Dune Hornmade in code (Earshot)
Segment openers and title cards, under a boom. Never under speech.
ThumperOpenverse metal hit + an Earshot thump
ROUND cards, each survival step, level map pads.
Lightning StrikeOpenverse (CC0)
Lightning segment: crack + rolling thunder.
Taiko HitOpenverse
A drum alternative to the thumper for countdowns.
Deep Sub HitEarshot bank
Felt more than heard: under a cut to black or a big reveal.
Build-ups
Dune Risermade in code (Earshot), tonal
Into an action hit; ends on its peak, put the hit on that frame. Tonal (no noise sweep): Earshot hears a dark riser, not a whoosh.
Earth Rumble SwellOpenverse rumble (CC0), shaped
The wave or the water coming; stop it 0.1 s before the hit.
Heartbeatmade in code (Earshot)
'Hold your breath' moments, low under the voice.
Beds (gaps and openers, never under speech)
Throat SingingOpenverse (CC0)
The Dune chant colour: segment openers, slow-mo with no talking.
Desert WindOpenverse
Typhoon: wind under the wide shots.
Flood Water RoarOpenverse (CC0)
Flash flood and basement: a big water bed.
Hail on RoofOpenverse (CC0)
Hail segment, inside the car.
4. Your call
- Does the Dune version sound like Dune to you, or should it go darker and bigger (more horn, more sub)?
- Should I do the whole video this way: Dune hits on all 7 cutaways, the segment openers and the round cards? Blendi owns the cut, so the options are sending him this kit plus a cue list, or building it on his cut 4.
- Install Earshot and Real SFX for good? Both stay test-only until you say so.
- Music is the other half of the Dune sound. This test is effects only, and the music stays as Blendi has it.