Question: Hi guys,

I'm working on the sound design for an animation and I need to create the sound of fairy dust. Visually think magic wand, or the sparkles that surround Tinkerbell. Light and magical and darting around.

I'm thinking the sounds needs to be light, high frequency and glistening, maybe chime like but not too musical. I have been recording bells and Glockenspiel with various processing but its not quite getting there.

Have any of you had any experience creating sounds for fairy dust or magical sparkles? Would be great to hear some techniques on how you have achieved this abstract sound.

Many thanks,

Tom

Answer: 
Crystallizer does a great job. I would start by processing ice in a glass, glass debris, or a bell tree and then chop off the attack and doppler it or futz with the spacial feeling in Enigma. You can then layer and blend it with some sand blowing in the wind or wind buffets. 

I did something similar for Science Channel's cube logo animation when the cube breaks into a bunch of little cubes and then sucks back into the big orange cube. I used ice cubes and wood blocks through the same process. I also put in some blocks that were graphic specific and threw them through the doppler anomaly setting and reversed them when needed. It was kind of a washy high end sound. I bet using glass debris or a bell tree as the source material would result in fairy dust.
I like Mark's answer, seconded. Done this sound numerous times. There's a lot of freedom but I've found most people like something sparkly, often some processed bell tree works.