Sound Effects & Voice Changers in Zella

Quick answer: 43 royalty-free sound effects ship on the Mac and iPhone alike, grouped into the same four categories (Transitions, UI & Punch, Impact, Fun), with the same 16 voice changers on both. On the Mac, open the Sounds tab in the editor - preview a sound with a tap, then click ⊕ to drop it at the playhead or drag it onto the timeline, and tap a voice changer to transform your mic voice. On iPhone, they live behind the Audio button in the timeline toolbar, and Auto sound at cuts places a matched effect under every transition in one tap. Both let you add your own music file, and the free AI Assistant can drop a sound effect by name.

On this page: why sounds matter · open the tab · add SFX · categories · voice changers · music · assistant · on iPhone · impact · FAQ

Why add sound effects?

A well-placed whoosh on a transition or a pop on a callout makes an edit feel finished - the same trick short-form videos use to keep you watching. Zella builds every sound right on your device (they’re synthesized, meaning generated by the app, not clips you have to license), so they’re royalty-free (free to use with no copyright worries). Voice changers do the same thing for your narration: one tap turns your voice into a robot, a chipmunk, or a booming monster. You don’t need a separate sound-effects pack or an audio app.

How to open the Sounds tab

On the Mac:

Open a project in the editor (see chapter 7).
In the left sidebar, click the Sounds tab.

The panel has two parts: a sound-effects library on top and voice changers below. On iPhone the same library sits behind the Audio button in the timeline toolbar - see Where they live below.

How to add a sound effect

In the Sounds tab, scroll the effect library.
Tap a card to hear a quick preview.
To place it, either click the ⊕ (plus) button on the card - it drops the sound at the playhead (the vertical line marking the current time) - or drag the card straight onto the timeline where you want it.

Each sound lands as a short audio overlay (an extra sound clip that plays on top of your video), so you can slide it to the exact frame afterward.

The sound-effect categories

The built-in effects - all 43 of them, on the Mac and iPhone alike - are grouped into four categories so you can find the right feel fast:

Category	What’s inside	Best for
Transitions	Whoosh, Swoosh, Riser, Boom, Vine Boom, Laser, Record Scratch	Scene changes and swipes
UI & Punch	Pop, Click, Tap, Ding, Notification, Error, Punch, Keyboard, Camera Shutter	Callouts, clicks, on-screen actions
Impact	Bass Drop, Explosion, Suspense, Cymbal Crash, Drum Roll, Heartbeat, Glitch	Drama and big reveals
Fun	Sparkle, Coin, Air Horn, Boing, Level Up, Ta-Da, Slide Whistle	Playful, meme-style moments

Pick the category that matches the moment, then preview a few to find the one that fits. The Mac’s 13 extra effects (added 2026-08, synthesized on-device like the rest) spread across the same four categories: Reverse Whoosh, Tape Stop, Rewind, Page Turn, Censor Beep, Bubble Pop, Typewriter, Success, Reverse Cymbal, Fail, Cash Register, Applause and Crickets.

How to apply a voice changer

The 16 voice changers transform your mic track (the voice you recorded) - the whole voice, not just a clip you select:

In the Sounds tab, scroll to the Voice Changer section.
Tap a voice - for example Robot, Chipmunk, Deep, Echo, Reverb, Megaphone, Telephone, Underwater, Monster, Helium, Alien, Ghost, 8-Bit, Duck, Cartoon, or Ogre.
Zella processes the voice on your device and swaps it in.
Tap the same voice again to turn it off and go back to your normal voice.

Only one voice changer is active at a time - tapping a different one replaces it.

How to add a music file

The Sounds tab also has an Add Music File… button:

Click Add Music File….
Pick an audio file (.mp3, .m4a, .wav).
It attaches as an audio overlay you can position and set the volume for.

To make music sit nicely under your voice, use Auto-Duck - see Audio.

Adding sounds by chat

If you use the AI Assistant (chapter 10.5), you can just ask for a sound by name - for example, “add a vine boom here” or “put a whoosh on that cut.” The Assistant drops the matching built-in effect at the time you mean, so you don’t have to hunt for the card. It’s free on every tier, on both platforms, so this works on the phone too.

On iPhone

The phone carries the same 43 sound effects as the Mac, with the same 16 voice changers and the same royalty-free deal - just one button away instead of a sidebar tab.

Where they live

Tap Audio in the timeline toolbar. Everything you can hear is in there: the selected clip’s volume (0-200%, with a mute), a row for every video overlay with its own level and mute, and the sound library below - effects, voice changers, music with Auto-Duck and the voice tones. Sounds used to sit inside Studio next to titles and captions, which buried them; they’re now where you’d actually look.

Placing an effect

Drop a whoosh on a cut, a pop on a callout, a riser before a reveal - then drag the sound along the timeline to snap it under any cut or transition.

Auto sound at cuts

Don’t want to place them one at a time? Auto sound at cuts puts one matched whoosh, impact or riser under every transition in a single tap. The effect is chosen to fit the transition type: impacts land on the cut, whooshes straddle it, risers build in. Tap again to remove the auto-placed set - sounds you placed yourself stay. Auto-Polish runs this same pass automatically.

Voice changers, with one difference

The 16 voices are identical, but the scope isn’t: on the Mac a voice changer transforms your whole mic track, while on iPhone you apply one to a clip’s audio. If a voice changer is active and you switch your voice tone, the changer re-renders from the fresh polish.

Music

Add a bed and turn on Auto-Duck so it dips under your voice and swells back in the gaps. Music beds are timeline citizens on the phone: drag either end of the bed to trim how long it plays, drag its middle to move it, and set volume per bed. The phone’s library holds 16 beds composed for Zella, so they are royalty-free with no attribution line and they render with no network. When Auto-Polish adds music it also mood-matches the pick to your speaking pace, snaps the start to the take’s first beat, and shapes an arc.

Full detail: sound on iPhone.

What impact sounds have

For creators and editors, sound design is a small effort with an outsized payoff:

Edits feel professional - a whoosh on a transition or a pop on a click reads as “made by an editor,” not “recorded in one take.”
Attention holds - punchy impact sounds and playful hits are exactly what short-form video uses to stop the scroll.
Personality on tap - a voice changer turns a plain narration into a character in one tap, with no extra recording.
One app - royalty-free effects and voice changers usually live in a separate sound library or audio editor, but here they’re each one tap.

Sounds FAQ

Where are the sound effects in Zella? In the editor’s Sounds tab (left sidebar). The top half is the effect library; the bottom half is the voice changers.

How many sound effects and voice changers are there? 43 sound effects on the Mac and iPhone alike, across the same four categories, plus 16 voice changers on both.

Are the sounds free to use? Yes. They’re generated on your device, so they’re royalty-free - no licensing to worry about.

How do I put a sound at an exact spot? Drag the card onto the timeline, or use ⊕ to drop it at the playhead, then nudge it into place.

How do I make my voice sound like a robot (or chipmunk)? On the Mac, tap the voice you want in the Sounds tab’s Voice Changer section; tap it again to remove it. On iPhone, open Audio in the timeline toolbar and pick the voice there.

Where are the sound effects on iPhone? Behind the Audio button in the timeline toolbar, along with per-clip volume, overlay levels, music and the voice tones. The same 43 effects and 16 voice changers as the Mac.

Can I put a sound under every cut at once? Yes - Auto sound at cuts on iPhone does it in one tap, and tapping again removes only the auto-placed set. Auto-Polish runs the same pass for you.

Pro tips & gotchas

Tap to preview before you place - each card plays a quick sample so you can pick the right one.
Use ⊕ to drop a sound at the playhead, or drag the card for frame-exact placement.
The voice changer transforms your whole mic track, and only one is active at a time - tapping again removes it.
For background music, use Add Music File…, then Auto-Duck it under your voice (see Audio).
On the phone, everything audible is behind one button - tap Audio in the timeline toolbar, and reach for Auto sound at cuts before placing whooshes by hand.