Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with soundeffects

Help my sister identify this outtake or live skit.

ErWenn — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 11:31:48 -0800

Help my sister identify this outtake or live skit. As my sister describes the scene, there's a man eating a sandwich and the sound effects keep getting out of synch. Eventually he turns to the camera/audience and says something along the lines of "You know, I have to eat this whole sandwich." Other details which may or may not be correct: black and white in front of a live audience. She seems to think that there's supposed to be something inedible in the sandwich like a pearl necklace.

Help me identify the clichéd sound effect used to label locations in certain films and tv shows.

col_pogo — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:56:27 -0800

Is there a real world referent for that bleeping typing noise used in some films as a text (usually a location note) appears on the screen? It's a similar thing to that chunka-chunka typing sound used in the X-Files when the location of a new scene would be announced, but it's like a very rapid, high-pitched "beedeebeedeebeedeebeep" sound played while the letters appear. I was watching the (absolutely terrible) Bollywood thriller "Game" on a plane last week and they would announce each new location with text on the screen that would appear letter-by-letter, very quickly, accompanied by a bleeping noise. As I say, the effect is similar to the typed location notes in X-Files, but the sound and appearance are different. There may have been a tone before or after the sound as well.

I'm sure I've seen this in other films, too, although I haven't the foggiest idea how to google for this without using idiotic terms like "bleeping typewriter movie", which hasn't helped much.

Anyway, is there a real world referent for a) the sound and b) the visual experience of text appearing letter-by-letter like that? Some pre-web telecommunications tech? Telex, or something? Or is this pure (H)(B)ollywood technohooey? And if anyone can give me the official terminology so I can stop describing it in such a roundabout fashion, that would be great, too.

Old Movies with New Sound Effects

koolgiy — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:43:02 -0800

Why, when remastering old movies, do they record new sound effects to dub over the original audio? I've seen it happen in a few old movies now, and I don't know why they do it. For example, if you watch the new HD version of "The Apartment" (on something like Netflix -- the blu-ray hasn't come out yet) you can tell when they are playing cards in his room that they dubbed over the original mono track with a new recording. Mainly because the audio quality is blatantly different.

Why do they feel the need to do this to old movies? I find it ruins the original feel and is distracting.

Is there a legitimate reason for doing it?

Trying to locate a Sound Effects recording

The Discredited Ape — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:12:01 -0800

I'm searching for an old BBC-style Sound Effects recording. Can you help me find it? Years ago (I'm guessing about 1990 ish) I borrowed a sound effects cassette from a library here in Toronto. It only had 4 or 5 tracks on it. Most of them were natural environment sounds, like wind, rain, waves lapping on a beach, each about 10-15 minutes long. One of the tracks though, according to the sleevenotes, was electronically created, and I am convinced was called 'Icarus with an Oil Can'. It sounded swooshy and windy and ambient. I have a feeling it would have been one of the BBC Sound Effects library cassettes (it was intended as sound effects rather than being new agey listening/relaxation), but I can't find any record of it on the internet.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

KISS KISS BANG BANG

CRM114 — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:28:05 -0800

What are your favorite royalty-free sound libraries? I need sound effects for a game I'm developing - crashes and bangs and explosions and the like.

I'd also be curious to hear from any developers if they've got any tips on making royalty-free sound libraries work for their Flash/Mobile games.

A Free (or Cheap) Library of Sound Effects Online?

herbplarfegan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:54:43 -0800

Is there a reliable sound effect library where you can download mp3s? short samples of "tea kettle", "girl coughing", "train"-- I'm picturing a creative commons kind of thing most likely. and google fails me miserably. I assume there must be interest in some corner of the web where people have bothered to commit oodles of time into sampling things live with microphones, sampling from movies, anything, and have congregated to show them off and make them accessible.

A site where you can upload your own sounds would be ideal.

Even a paid, community-based thing like Metafilter would work, but I'm interested in knowing about anything that is out there.

free sonics

philip-random — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:12:25 -0800

What sort of free online resources are there for quality audio samples? I'm looking for a reasonably well cataloged library of random conversations, sound effects, good old fashioned noise etc for application to some sound collage projects I'm working on. I realize that somebody recently asked if there was an audio Youtube out there ... but I'm hoping for something easier to search and of a generally higher audio quality.

THX 1138 sound effects

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:22:29 -0800

Basic Sound Processing: Using software, how would I process recordings of the human voice to achieve the effect heard so wonderfully throughout George Lucas' THX 1138? I'm thinking specifically of the shortwave-type chatter coming from the supervisors during the cleanroom scenes, which have some modulation going on, especially the parts where a high harmonic seems to drift into earshot. See here: the part from 0.28 onwards: Victor oh seven niner - you're making contact - at point zero zero three. And again at 0.40 onwards - that's it - slow down a little bit you're overriding.

It's not just the overall sound quality that's appealing, it's also the slow modulation, as if the signal being received is drifting in and out of focus.

Is there a standard filter that can be applied to the source waveform? A complex series of flanges and phasers and modulators? Or would I have to travel in time and space into a dystopian underground city and get a job in a control centre?

Pro Sound Effects?

lore — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:42:37 -0800

How do professionals handle sound effects? I'm wondering what a professional starting out in radio or animation would do for sound effects.

I'm aware of a number of Web sites and CD collections of sound effects. I'm not looking for help finding them, I'm looking for personal recommendations, preferably from professionals or semi-pros.

If you were starting a new, say, radio station and needed effects for ads and morning show shenanigans, where would you get them? Is there an industry standard library for sale/license?

Make writing more satisifying with sound effects!

Citizen Premier — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:32:11 -0800

Make writing more satisifying with sound effects! *Tahtikkatakkatahtakkatikkatitakkatahtitakkatitatakka-ka-CHUNG* Is there a word processing software, or online typing site, or modification for MS Word, which gives me traditional typewriter sounds when I hit the keys? Bonus if I can edit the sound. If there isn't could you make one for me? Thanks!

Programmable keychain for spontaneous Willhelms

TimeTravelSpeed — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:59:57 -0800

I want to download my own sound effects onto a multi-button keychain. If they don't already exist, how would I build one? I'm not afraid of soldering, so if you know of cheap kits or schematics, I could probably do this myself and post a how-to later.

(Inspired in part by this post. Just imagine having that sound at your disposal at all times.)

How can I make nice sound effects for a user interface?

ciocarlia — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:58:42 -0800

What software can I use to design sounds for a user interface? I'm looking for software (ideally free or open source) that can be used to design clicks, beeps, chirps, and other sounds for a graphical user interface.

I've looked at Audacity and FL Studio as potential options. FL Studio's synthesis tools are close to what I think I need, but are too music-centered rather than sound effects-centered. Any ideas?

Sounds at the touch of a button

CXImran — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:19:06 -0800

Are there any free programs that allow me to hotkey audio clips to keys on my keyboard? So I'm trying out this whole internet radio thing, but one of the key features that I've wanted is to be able to key sound clips so I can easily access them. Sort of like what a flash "sound board" would have but with the keys mapped to keyboard commands.

To illustrate it even further, let's say I had a train whistle sound that I wanted to play during a certain segment. I want to be able to just hit "F1" and have the sound play. It would be good if it didn't leave a window open as well.

Finding a particular sound effect for use as a ringtone?

Wild_Eep — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 16:02:24 -0800

Care to help me find a ringtone I heard on "The IT Crowd"? I'm looking for a sound file of the dramatic musical phrase "dun--dun--DUN!!!" to make a ringtone from. Yes, it's not an original idea, I saw it done by the character Maurice Moss on the BBC's "The IT Crowd".

I assumed someone else had already made this tone, and it appears that someone did, last year. It was picked up by BoingBoing and everything. Trouble is that the source is long gone, replaced by a link-farm.

I suspect this phrase is available on some sort of online sound effects library, but I don't know how to describe it.

What songs use the "song on the radio within the song" effect?

Iridic — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:18:10 -0800

What songs use the "song on the radio within the song" effect? Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" begins with the sound of a radio cycling through stations until it lands on a guitar tune. The guitar proceeds for a few bars--through a tinny "radio" filter--until David Gilmour starts accompanying it on a higher fidelity "live" guitar. Then, of course, the song proper begins. Eventually, the band gives out to the "radio" guitar again. (At the moment, "Wish You Were Here" can be heard here.)

Natalie Merchant's "Carnival" pulls a similar trick; after it ends, you can hear a snippet of the song playing on a radio in a busy urban soundscape.

Have other songs used this "redundant radio" effect? Who was the first to use it?

What's the music used in films to represent spiders?

hoverboards don't work on water — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:36:31 -0800

What instrument is used to make the fast, tinkly, skin-crawling picking-on-a-harp high-pitched sound effect that accompanies spiders and other insects in movies? Is it in fact a harp?

I seem to recall it being used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in the "It's not fortune cookies" scene. I know it's been used in The Simpsons many, many times. I'm struggling to come up with a definite example, but c'mon... you must know what I mean.

Also, any ideas who first used this sound effect?

How to sound like a crying baby?

Ekim Neems — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:14:00 -0800

I recently met someone (male, mid 20's) who could create sounds like a crying baby. If you close your eyes, you really can't tell it's not a baby crying. I just recently saw someone do it on Comedy Central's "Distractions". How is this done?

Looking for Halloween sound effects

donovan — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 14:32:08 -0800

Need spooky Halloween sound effects for party tonight. Help! Last year I downloaded the MP3s described here but that sound archive was shut down 'cause of Katrina. Alas, my laptop with said MP3s is in the shop. Anyone have a copy or able to point me to alternative spooky sound effects to add to the mood of our party tonight??

Can I use the "thud" sound from "Lost"?

pzarquon — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:23:20 -0800

Can sound effects be trademarked? Easy example: the gavel clunk from "Law & Order." Or, perhaps, the sound of light sabers in "Star Wars." In many of these cases, the techniques used to create the sound are well known, and easily reproducible. So can they be trademarked, or subject to copyright, or basically protected to prevent, say, using the "Law & Order" gavel clunk in your indie movie's courtroom scene? Is it's familiarity a factor, and perhaps a gray area (since you may be venturing toward "parody")?

I'm putting together a fan podcast for "Lost," and am really only looking to use the show's signature signoff "thud" sound. It sounds very much to me like a basic bang, slowed down and with bass amplified for added oomph. Is this kosher?

Does it just fall into the fuzzy area that all fan sites and other fan products do when it comes to reproducing various media - i.e. go ahead and do it unless they tell you not to?

Wookie Roar

brownpau — Wed, 18 May 2005 10:42:10 -0800

How do I do a wookie roar with only my voice?

Shaft! (Damn right)

Saucy Intruder — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:21:21 -0800

Is there a name for the synthesized "werdert" or "wiggit" sound that's overlaid, every other beat, on exceptionally cheesy disco records and incidental music of that era? It almost sounds like a precursor to hip-hop turntable spinning, but it's distinctly disco.

looking for the old "Typewriter" widget

pzarquon — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 17:11:00 -0800

AnnoyFilter? Believe it or not, I'm looking for a PC utility that should've gone the way of the MARQUEE tag and animated GIFs. I need to assign a short WAV sound effect to each and every keypress on my PC. If anyone remembers the old "Typewriter" widget on old Macs, that's what I'm looking for. Shareware sites show me stuff from 1998 that costs $19-29, but I'm hoping there's an easier way -- even, a way built into XP (maybe an Accessibility tweak)?

Ana Ng guitar tone question

dagnyscott — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:43:38 -0800

Does anybody know what guitar tone is used in certain TMBG and U2 songs? The most prevalent example is in the TMBG song "Ana Ng." During the chorus of the song, the guitar goes into this tremolo rapid-fire tone that maintains an even volume and has this nice rhythmic effect. It occurs at around 0:36 in the song. Any help would be appreciated.

Is there a way to separate music from sound effects and dialogue in a film, starting with a DVD?

scarabic — Sat, 17 Jul 2004 20:58:48 -0800

I watched Donnie Darko again recently and I thought it was a damn shame that Tortoise didn't do the soundtrack. I became ever-so-briefly obsessed with the idea of replacing some of the musical sequences with Tortoise music, but I wouldn't know how to do this without completely removing any sound effects and dialogue from those scenes. Is there a way for a non-audio-geek to separate these audio elements? Assume I'm starting with a DVD.

Is this how they made the Godzilla roar?

plinth — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 04:02:54 -0800

Godzilla roar, the making thereof. [more inside] According to at least two sites, the Godzilla roar was made by "rubbing the strings of a contrabass with a glove." First off, is a contrabass really just a double bass? Second, can anyone verify this since I don't really have access to a double bass. I've always been curious how to get that distinctive sound...