Free sounds

freesound_wav.jpg The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. The project exists since a year and harbours now 16000 files, which you might use for your sampling pleasure.

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could go for the random sample. You might encounter the “binaural recording of a distant jet passing by as crickets play in the background.”

An inventive section is the Freesound Google Map, where you can see a map of the earth and the sounds belonging to different places. There are quite a few blind spots left though.