The Origins of Popular Sound Effects

Lori Dorn
May 26, 2026

Music essayist Synthet explained the origins of several highly popular sampled sounds as he played each of them on a synthesizer.

We all love sound effects, or more specifically, we love recognizing them, which is why so many creators love to use them. …Let’s go through the origins of some iconic sounds.

These sounds include “Fahh”, the “Sad Trombone”, “Anime Wow”, “Yea Boi”, “Shooting Stars + Tetris“, “The Spongebod Bowomp”, “Bah Bah”, and “Vine Boom”.

Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.