Punctuate the moment everyone finds out
The tone on the cut changes a scene instantly, and it works the same in a game as in a film that needs the world to intrude on a private moment.
Edit prompt
Emergency alert sound effects
The harsh two-tone attention signal, the rising warble, the flat data burst, and the phone buzzing on a table. Describe the urgency and Morphic builds the alert for your scene.
- Ask for harsh and unmusical, which is the quality that makes an alert impossible to ignore
- A signal generated for your production rather than a recording of a real broadcast system
- Download clean audio and drop it straight into your edit
Alert signals for film, games, and video
Two-tone attention
Two harsh tones alternating fast, flat and unmusical. Unmusical is the design: anything with a pleasant interval stops reading as an emergency.
Rising warble
One tone sliding up and down continuously. Reads as a civil signal rather than a device, and it carries further in a mix than the two-tone does.
Data burst
Dense unpitched static with hard edges. The sound of information rather than a warning, which is why it unsettles people more than the tones do.
Phone on a table
Three vibrations against wood with a rattle on each pulse. Often better than the tone itself, because it puts the alert in a real room.
Many phones at once
A room of devices going off a fraction apart. The stagger is what makes it read as everyone getting the same message.
Alert cut short
The two-tone stopping dead partway through. Cutting the signal off mid-cycle is more alarming than letting it finish.
Generate an alert signal from a prompt
Pick a starting point, edit anything you like, then generate it in Morphic.
Ways to use an emergency alert sound effect
Fill a tense pause without music
A warble running under a still shot holds the tension for four seconds, and because it has no melody it never turns into a score.
Edit prompt
Tell the audience how far this reaches
One phone buzzing is a personal problem. A room of them going off a fraction apart is a public one. The count sets the scale of the story.
Edit prompt
Imply an emergency you never show
A phone on a table and a data burst put a crisis somewhere beyond the frame, so a scene can stay small while the world outside it changes.
Edit prompt
You might also like
Cha ching sound effect
Generate cha ching sound effects with Morphic. Set the knock, the ring and the tail so a crisp confirmation cue lands exactly where you need it.
Click sound effect
Need a click sound effect for an interface or edit? Morphic generates crisp, short cues to your spec in seconds.
Coin sound effects
Coin sound effects for games, apps and animation: chiptune pickups, metal rings, drops, jingles and cascades, tuned to reward the player instantly.
Computer sound effects
Computer sound effects for beeps, startup chimes, error buzzes and keyboard clatter, generate the exact machine tone your scene needs from a text prompt.
More sound effects in UI, tech & notification
Simple pricing
Get started for free today, with the option to upgrade or cancel anytime.
Basic
$9/ month
billed as $0 per year1100 monthly credits
1 user only
All models
Workflows
Standard
$24/ month
billed as $0 per year3625 monthly credits
1 user only
All models
Workflows
Pro
$45/ month
billed as $0 per year6350 shared monthly credits
1 user
+ up to 4 more at extra cost
All models
Workflows
Max
$170/ month
billed as $0 per year24650 shared monthly credits
1 user
+ up to 9 more at extra cost
All models
Workflows
Enterprise
For higher limits
Custom
pricing and billing terms
High-volume credits
Custom seat limits
All models
Workflows
Free
For playing around
$0
forever free
Up to 20 credits
1 user only
Limited models
Workflows
FAQs
Can I put an emergency alert tone in a broadcast?
Not one that could be mistaken for a real alert. Broadcasting a genuine emergency alert signal, or a close imitation, outside an actual alert or an authorised test is restricted in the US and in most other countries. In a film, a game, or an online video that nobody would take as a live warning, a generated tone is fine.
How do I make an alert sound urgent?
Take the music out of it. Two harsh tones alternating at an interval that sounds wrong together will always read as more urgent than a louder but more pleasant sound, because the discomfort is doing the work.
What is the difference between this and a notification sound?
A notification is designed to be tolerable many times a day. An alert is designed to be intolerable once. That is why notification sounds are short and musical and these are harsh, flat, and longer.
Should I use the tone or the phone?
The phone, usually. A device buzzing on a table puts the alert in the room with your characters, where a clean tone floats outside the scene and reads as a sound effect laid over it.
How do I get a whole room of phones?
Ask for many devices each starting a fraction apart at slightly different pitches. Prompting them as one event returns a single thick buzz, and the stagger is what makes it a crowd.
Can I use these in a commercial project?
Yes. Audio generated on a paid Morphic plan is cleared for commercial use, subject to the broadcast point above, which is about the signal itself rather than about the licence.