ElevenLabs Sound Effects Generate sound effects from text descriptions — supports looping, custom duration, and prompt adherence control. Setup: See Installation Guide . For JavaScript, use @elevenlabs/* packages only. Quick Start Python from elevenlabs . client import ElevenLabs client = ElevenLabs ( ) audio = client . text_to_sound_effects . convert ( text = "Thunder rumbling in the distance with light rain" , ) with open ( "thunder.mp3" , "wb" ) as f : for chunk in audio : f . write ( chunk ) JavaScript import { ElevenLabsClient } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js" ; import { createWriteStream } from "fs" ; const client = new ElevenLabsClient ( ) ; const audio = await client . textToSoundEffects . convert ( { text : "Thunder rumbling in the distance with light rain" , } ) ; audio . pipe ( createWriteStream ( "thunder.mp3" ) ) ; cURL curl -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/sound-generation" \ -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY " -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"text": "Thunder rumbling in the distance with light rain"}' \ --output thunder.mp3 Parameters Parameter Type Default Description text string (required) — Description of the desired sound effect model_id string eleven_text_to_sound_v2 Model to use duration_seconds number | null null (auto) Duration 0.5–30s; auto-calculated if null prompt_influence number | null 0.3 How closely to follow the prompt (0–1) loop boolean false Generate a seamlessly looping sound (v2 model only) Examples with Parameters
Looping ambient sound, 10 seconds
audio
client . text_to_sound_effects . convert ( text = "Gentle forest ambiance with birds chirping" , duration_seconds = 10.0 , prompt_influence = 0.5 , loop = True , )
Short UI sound, high prompt adherence
audio
- client
- .
- text_to_sound_effects
- .
- convert
- (
- text
- =
- "Soft notification chime"
- ,
- duration_seconds
- =
- 1.0
- ,
- prompt_influence
- =
- 0.8
- ,
- )
- Output Formats
- Pass
- output_format
- as a query parameter (cURL) or SDK parameter:
- Format
- Description
- mp3_44100_128
- MP3 44.1kHz 128kbps (default)
- pcm_44100
- Raw uncompressed CD quality
- opus_48000_128
- Opus 48kHz 128kbps — efficient compressed
- ulaw_8000
- μ-law 8kHz — telephony
- Full list:
- mp3_22050_32
- ,
- mp3_24000_48
- ,
- mp3_44100_32
- ,
- mp3_44100_64
- ,
- mp3_44100_96
- ,
- mp3_44100_128
- ,
- mp3_44100_192
- ,
- pcm_8000
- ,
- pcm_16000
- ,
- pcm_22050
- ,
- pcm_24000
- ,
- pcm_32000
- ,
- pcm_44100
- ,
- pcm_48000
- ,
- ulaw_8000
- ,
- alaw_8000
- ,
- opus_48000_32
- ,
- opus_48000_64
- ,
- opus_48000_96
- ,
- opus_48000_128
- ,
- opus_48000_192
- .
- Prompt Tips
- Be specific: "Heavy rain on a tin roof" > "Rain"
- Combine elements: "Footsteps on gravel with distant traffic"
- Specify style: "Cinematic braam, horror" or "8-bit retro jump sound"
- Mention mood/context: "Eerie wind howling through an abandoned building"
- Error Handling
- try
- :
- audio
- =
- client
- .
- text_to_sound_effects
- .
- convert
- (
- text
- =
- "Explosion"
- )
- except
- Exception
- as
- e
- :
- (
- f"API error:
- {
- e
- }
- "
- )
- Common errors:
- 401
-
- Invalid API key
- 422
-
- Invalid parameters (check duration range, prompt_influence range)
- 429
- Rate limit exceeded References Installation Guide