Synthesizing sound effects

I usually find my sound effects on multiple websites, but it-s really hard to come across that one perfect sound for what I want, and some of the sounds in my mind feel like they would be simple to synthesize, except I have no idea of any software that can do that. So what I need is something that can make some sound effects without me needing to record anything, not sure if that even makes sense. Any suggestions?

Use a sequencer or tracker, and use VSTi's to synthesize the sounds you're after. Thats how I do it too.

Use a sequencer or tracker, and use VSTi's to synthesize the sounds you're after. Thats how I do it too.

I totally would, if I knew what any of those words mean.
Does this mean I'm not qualified for the job?

Quote from: LPChip on March 04, 2012, 14:28:29

Use a sequencer or tracker, and use VSTi's to synthesize the sounds you're after. Thats how I do it too.

I totally would, if I knew what any of those words mean.
Does this mean I'm not qualified for the job?

No, it just means you need to do a bit of research.

A sequencer or a tracker are music programs. A few examples of sequencers: EnergyXT, Fruitty Loops, Reason, Cakewalk, Sonar, Ableton, etc... A few examples of trackers: OpenMPT, Renoise, MilkyTracker, etc...

A VSTi is a little plugin that will make any sound by tweaking knobs. To get some free VSTi's, you can visit http://kvraudio.com. They have hundreds of free VSTi's.

I was hoping it would be much simpler, I guess I'll give FL a shoot again.
Thanks for the help

OK... So I know my way around FL Studio, at least enough for what I want to do I think (I used it before), but having a hard time getting the VSTi's. I tried a few but they were never what I was looking for.
For instance, I wanna make some woosh effects for weird transitions, what would you suggest?

I would first like to say that I am no expert at this sort of thing.

I think the way which it would be best to try and make the sound fx depends on what sort of sound effects you want. If you want distorted "retro" sound effects like those in cave story, it might be an idea to learn how to use some sort of synthesizer software. From here you can choose a wave form such as triangle or sine, and modify it with LFOs and the like. You can get some pretty diverse sound fx from experimenting with synthesizers!

A second option, which could be used, would be to use already existing VSTi instruments. The best example I can think of atm is the "Peach" and "Toad" VSTis, which are SNES instrument and drum emulators respectively. Especially the "Peach" VST, which I have used before, would be invaluable for making 8-bit sounding fx. There are probably many VSTs, which may be designed for making sound effects.

Finally, if you want "realistic" sounding effects, you could download or record actual sounds, then edit them with audacity. One website which is really good for this is freesound.org.

Just my 2 cents, good luck