Looking for a sound effects generator

[SectorSeven]

Hey everybody,

I am on a quest to find a (preferably free-) software that can generate electronic sound effects.
Specifically, I am interested in generating one-shot sounds that may be suitable for buttons and such.

I am a little tired of sifting through all sorts of sound libraries, so I thought there must be some software out there that has a few knobs and sliders that will let me generate my own.

So far, the only software I found worth mentioning in this category, is Coagula Imagesynth - but I am unsuccessful at generating good sounds with it (probably because I am a little lazy, not because it is not good...).

So if anyone can recommend such a tool, it would be appreciated.

[joiwind]

Hi,
not easy to find a one-shot sound maker but maybe you could try these :

Ambient Grains (great stuff !!!)

Ambiloop (perhaps not really what you're looking for)

ChaoSynth (does what it's called)

[SectorSeven]

Hey that was quick!

Thanks joiwind, going to check them right away.

[mouser]

i seem to remember a dc coder making a sound effect tool.. but i can't remember at the moment where..

[lanux128]

Sound Borb was mentioned here previously.

[joiwind]

SectorSeven - did you find any others ?

[SectorSeven]

Haven't found anything else, and all the ones mentioned here are either ambient generators, wav-based or just too technical.

Sounds to me like a needed tool, wonder why there aren't any.

Maybe there is a better chance finding a VST instrument that does that, and use it inside some host (I am using Renoise).

[dsettl123]

Hi,  I use    www.findsounds.com ;     nice site !!!!!

[OliverSmeld]

It's not free (but very reasonable) but have you tried "Sound Effects Generator" by Sean O'Connor? Could be just what you are looking for.

[doctorfrog]

sfxr, by DrPetter, was invented to create arcade-like sounds on the fly for contestants in Ludum Dare. I've redone my whole Windows sound scheme with this. The only thing that's missing, IMO, is a little keyboard at the bottom of the app to easily change frequency.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2007/12/13/sfxr-sound-effects-for-all/

Free and open source.

EDIT: SoundBorb is something I've been looking for, for a long time. Simply perfect.

[SectorSeven]

Would definitely test these last two.
I don't mind paying if it does what I need - assuming the price is reasonable.

Thanks for sharing - and I guess I owe thanks to dsettl123 for posting the link to the sound search site - even though it was not a particularly relevant reply, it revived the thread...

EDIT:
These are both excellent!!!

I am going to play with them and probably purchase the Sean O'connors version - it is great!

[Yahya]

@SectorSeven:  Have you tried the freeware program Audacity?  Make sure you download all the plugins.  You can then use the Generate and Effects menus to create a bewildering variety of sounds.

It's almost like painting - if you do your painting digitally with a selection of naturalistic and user-definable brushes, using, say, Painter or Paint.NET - the latter is free to download and use.  The only difference is that Generate lays down the "paint" (raw sound), then Effects messes it around, distorting, layering and modulating it.

Set aside an hour or two to play with different effects, and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.