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Hello everyone,

In the past I asked a similar question (so apologizes if the question seems a bit familiar), but as I was not able to find a solution and also have some more details, I will be very thankful for any additional advice-

I am willing to create funny/cartoon sound fx (later to be sold as stock sound fx) using a PC software only, with no external recording of any kind (no mics etc.)

There are many cartoon sound fx that can be achieved using digital sounds only(without any foley), such as: a clean tooth "ding" (a single sound), a funny sound of a Xylophone (played by digital/virtual instrument only with a mix of several tunes or even single ones) and many more.

I am looking for any advice concerning what kind of a software to use (I am a newbie so I am not familiar with the different software)-

Is it a synthesizer software?

Is it a virtual instrument software?

Or maybe something else?

The important thing to remember is that I am willing to sell those sound fx as stock sounds, so I need a software that I can use to create sounds that can be legally sold afterwards.

I will be very thankful for any advice concerning achieving the above in a straightforward way (including any resources, info, link or book that might provide any additional and relevant info)

Thank you in advanced for the help.

Kind regards.

I.

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i think you might find using your imagination combined with doing a lot of experimenting is the best approach....

(as far as actual software there are literally hundres of choices but really, if you're going to make the sounds to sell, isn't it your job to find/make the unique ideas and sounds?)

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Yes, there are hundreds of choices, so I think you just need to look around what you can get and what you can then use it for.

Be careful with sampled instruments, samples and wavetable synths. It's almost always a license or a copyright infringement to resell a sample. So you need to know what you can do and what you cannot or edit or layer the sound beyond recognition or otherwise contribute to the sound effect so much of your own that you aren't simply repackaging someone else's work.

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Thank you for the replies.

Let me ask you this-

If I am willing to go on the 100% safe side, I guess that I will need to create each and every sample and tone from scratch(even a basic instrument tone)- Am I right?

And if this is the case, which program can I use in order to do this?

Any other source (link, book etc.) for creating such is thankfully welcome.

The goal, as mentioned, is to create sound fx, samples and loops for stock sound fx selling.

Thank you.

I.

Thanks for the replies.

As I am new to this, I am not familiar with the "known" software, so I will be very thankful for any advice concerning a software that enables creating sounds from scratch, without the need to import any recordered sounds (foley) The goal is to create 100% software generated sounds, that can be later sold as stock sound fx, samples and tones.

Many thanks.

I

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  • Not necessarily. It depends on what the license agreement of the instrument or sample pack says. But there's copyright attached to everything by default. Right to use and especially the right to redistribute samples has to be specifically allowed and defined.
    – Internet Human
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 18:50
  • If you want to be 100% safe, yes create everything from scratch. But if you are willing to actually do some work & research, you can find out for yourself which software would be best & which would allow you to utilise exisiting resources. No one is going to be able to tell you that A is 100% ok or B is 100% ok, because its a legal issue - you need to read the license agreement of each & every tool, and every source element.
    – user49
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 20:09
  • As to which program: if say you want a cartoon xylophone riff, put a microphone in front of an xylophone and perform an original riff of your own and record it. Then you own it.
    – user49
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 20:11
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Thanks for the replies.

As I am new to this, I am not familiar with the "known" software, so I will be very thankful for any advice concerning a software that enables creating sounds from scratch, without the need to import any recordered sounds (foley) The goal is to create 100% software generated sounds, that can be later sold as stock sound fx, samples and tones.

Many thanks.

I

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Why do you not want to use recordings in your sound design? It's by far the easiest and most economical way (both time and money) to get started designing sounds but you seem to have written this off without considertation? A $200 portable recorder and basic audio sequencer will allow you to design a far broader range of sounds than if you restrict yourself to a synth or virtual instrument. Most sound designers use recorded sound as their primary source because it is inherently rich, complex and natural. There are some natural sfx which you can learn to synthesise but it's a lengthy process which requires more in depth knowledge. I think everyone here would agree that learning to record and manipulate audio in a DAW is the best first step into sound design.

If you haven't already, check out some of the videos at Soundworks to see some professional sound designers at work. You will notice that they talk more about recording sounds as source material than generating it from scratch. As was mentioned, if you record sounds they are yours and you can sell them 100% legally if that's your aim.

You have a very specific idea of what you want to do, but perhaps you should do some general research into sound design techniques before you start on something so specific. There are some great books listed in this post:

What sound design books have influenced you the most?

Also there is some great stuff over at designing sound:

http://designingsound.org/

Lots of ideas there for techniques and software choices.

Hope that helps,

Mark

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My personal Jesus and almighty God Max/Msp is "a software that enables creating sounds from scratch". Do everything slower but understand everything you do.

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Thank you for the amazing replies. It really helped!

Kind regards,

I.

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