Absolutely unbelievable. Watching a master at work. I know digital is the new standard, but I hope that analog equipment always stays in working order so that if somebody wanted to make sounds in the old way, they could.
@@antigen4 I have seen this argument a lot, but think of the sheer number of synthesizer enthusiasts who spend thousands of dollars on modules and huge eurorack systems that not only don't create music on a regular basis (or even record in any capacity) but couldn't replicate many of the sounds recorded for the movie. You can hand someone a sophisticated subtractive synth with no keyboard and just a droning note and you will get wildly different results with each person. It's not even about technical skill at that level, it's having the right taste to know what sounds to pursue and what to emphasize over others. There are small inflections that each sound designer imparts on their work. I think if "everyone could do it," electronic music would be decades farther than it is. I love seeing people tinkering, but too many spend time lusting after new modules instead of sitting down and pushing what little equipment they have to its ultimate limits.
@@JacobVBurg yes i wasnt' trying to be 'negative' about tape - i have a very elaborate tape studio myself - i studied electroacoustic music and am a HUGE tape fan. That's why i say 'anyone can do it' - it's relatively easy and you can do amazing things but i don't understand why everyone is so averse to it or scared of it somehow. i wish more people would ... similar in a way to what you can do in the digital world but the result is multidimensional !
@@JacobVBurg people seem to confuse acquisition of hardware/toys for the end goal of making music ... which it obviously is not. you see it in the photography community too - everyone is crazy about hardware but terrified of critique or actually TALKING about the end product of their creative efforts etc etc
Why is it that these childhood "sounds" that sparked our early imaginings...are so vivid and comforting. Now to see the mechanics of those memories brought to bear...gives me even more admiration and awe of imaginative pioneers of the past. Oddly enough, these sounds are soooo cool...even in this era. Thanks so much for a look behind the wizards curtain...the kid in me was greatly satisfied.....More please!!!
I remember when I was at school back in 2006 we were watching something Star Wars related and my teacher wanted the volume turned down and he told us his friend knew Ben Burtt and spoke to him and explained to us how lightsaber sound was created and laser blast sound. I’ll never forget the way he explained it to us he said something about waving something against a microphone and hitting something to create laser sound stays with me to this very day.
This is a simplified demonstration; a worthy one, to show how much was possible with "primitive" equipment. It's ironic though that this was uploaded by the Oscars channel, since the Barrons were refused an Oscar for best musical score since they weren't members of the Musicians Guild: They were credited for "Electronic Tonalities" in the movie.
Thank you guys so much for uploading this. For the longest time, Ben's demonstration was only available through your website. Now I can share it with everyone. Very happy here :) . I've added this video to the top slot on my "Forbidden Planet, Bebe and Louis Barron", playlist so others, like me, can eventually find your video as well. Again, thank you for uploading it. /playlist?list=PLe1EtUCUPAJajTeJsdUfGcBOR4R4Zod9c
Infinite thumbs up. So cool to document the sorts of things people could do with early electronic studios. Some of us synth geeks still have hardware synthesizers and don't use computers ( but admittedly my hardware is mostly digital oscillator based, except for my Moog :)
So this is the guy that created the lightsaber and blaster effect, the sounds used in countless video games from the 80s to the 2000s and sometimes even today.
Amazing. I’ve been a professional drummer all my adult life so naturally I’m interested in this. And there was a point when I really tried to break into sound design and foley art. But it’s such a closed niche community in Hollywood so I couldn’t break into that circle. There are a LOT of film companies and crews but sound design is still a small industry. Besides, Ben Burtt set the bar and I would never have come close to him. Lol.
Yes, it is 2 sine waves slightly detuned from each other. You can easily create it on any 2 oscillator synth, as long as it has sine waveforms. Start with identical sine waves and then detune only one oscillator just a tiny amount. You'll find you can get the same interference pattern as the tape recording in this video as frequencies start beating against each other. This was the sound of the transporter room background ambience in the original Star Trek, by the way.
no. It is simply one tape playing normally and the other tape (a short length one) is looping the sound from the other. Then he changes levels of each in main output causing the *interference* (feedback/modulation/folding etc). Speed of the two tapes is manipulated to affect pitch. It sounds so "good" because it is on tapes. The mixer is nice but ordinary. The amp also nice but ordinary. You can do similar things with filters/amps and just multi tap delays and any signal but it will not sound the same. What you are hearing in this video is more or less just SOUNDS/FREQUENCIES BEING COMBINED. Filters REMOVE SOUNDS/FREQUNCIES so would not assist in the PARTICULAR process being shown here (although they could be used AFTER if you REALLY wanted). Hope this helped :)
@@TheStuF Yep. Speaking from an electronics standpoint, filters will not be able to reproduce those sounds because they are made by allowing natural sine wave feedback & interference patterns to develop, something that simply isn't possible to reproduce - or even accurately simulate - with digital signal processors, that have all kinds of built-in constraining circuits. It's literally creating new complex sounds from simple ones using the physics of electricity and waves.
It sounds much better than anything digital can produce. The nature of sound is analogue. It seems asinine to digitize sound when it is naturally analogue.
He should have proposed these sounds to Lucas for the first "Star Wars" movie. Lucas would have died laughing, or it would have nipped Burtt's career in the bud.
Philip Travisano You’re assuming that some of these techniques weren’t used in the creating of certain sounds for the original Star Wars, I’d bet you’d be wrong.
Radio Shack "Disco" mixer, made for DJing. I had one in the 80s - don't remember the model number. It has 3 microphone inputs with stereo pan pots (to position within the stereo field) and 2 stereo inputs (selectable between phono and line level) with a cross fader to mix between them. The small reel-to-reel with the source material is fed into one of the stereo inputs and one of the outputs from the mixer is sent to the larger reel-to-reel which is acting as an echo machine and its output is fed into the other stereo input on the mixer causing an infinite loop.
The reel-to-reel on the right is recording on one head and playing back on another, creating a short delay. The delayed signal runs through the mixer and can feed back into itself to create multiple echoes or get very distorted if the signal is strong enough. The one on the left has the source signal. The one on the right can play back the whole thing later since it is recorded onto that tape. I played around with a similar setup when I was a kid. Happy times. Now I have pedals. :)
@@brownobservablephenomena No, not exactly. I watched the movie 'making of' documentary, and I think he scaled down his demonstration concept to 3 pieces of equipment, because what the Barrons did involved individual electronic circuits, which would go right over most audioheads.
@@theboofin it's also completely wrong. Please watch the interview footage and read anything else you can find, and you'll see no resemblance to the tape delay oscillations.
Fabulous. The Barrons were true pioneers of sound. The forbidden Planet soundtrack is the most otherworldly creation ever. So inventive.
I love how physical and analog it all is. Chaotic. Spontaneous. We've lost something moving to digital.
Absolutely unbelievable. Watching a master at work. I know digital is the new standard, but I hope that analog equipment always stays in working order so that if somebody wanted to make sounds in the old way, they could.
anyone can do it though - i bet your mother could
@@antigen4 I have seen this argument a lot, but think of the sheer number of synthesizer enthusiasts who spend thousands of dollars on modules and huge eurorack systems that not only don't create music on a regular basis (or even record in any capacity) but couldn't replicate many of the sounds recorded for the movie. You can hand someone a sophisticated subtractive synth with no keyboard and just a droning note and you will get wildly different results with each person. It's not even about technical skill at that level, it's having the right taste to know what sounds to pursue and what to emphasize over others. There are small inflections that each sound designer imparts on their work. I think if "everyone could do it," electronic music would be decades farther than it is. I love seeing people tinkering, but too many spend time lusting after new modules instead of sitting down and pushing what little equipment they have to its ultimate limits.
@@JacobVBurg yes i wasnt' trying to be 'negative' about tape - i have a very elaborate tape studio myself - i studied electroacoustic music and am a HUGE tape fan. That's why i say 'anyone can do it' - it's relatively easy and you can do amazing things but i don't understand why everyone is so averse to it or scared of it somehow. i wish more people would ... similar in a way to what you can do in the digital world but the result is multidimensional !
@@JacobVBurg people seem to confuse acquisition of hardware/toys for the end goal of making music ... which it obviously is not. you see it in the photography community too - everyone is crazy about hardware but terrified of critique or actually TALKING about the end product of their creative efforts etc etc
@@antigen4 oh man, that's so cool. I'd love to get to try out tape someday. Digital is amazing, but tape must surely also be
i have that same model mixer sitting right next to me.he looked like he was having fun and he was playing a non traditional instrument. loved it
Amazing! I love the eerie feel of the sounds bouncing off one another and reflecting into infinity. They accomplished so much with so little.
Why is it that these childhood "sounds" that sparked our early imaginings...are so vivid and comforting. Now to see the mechanics of those memories brought to bear...gives me even more admiration and awe of imaginative pioneers of the past. Oddly enough, these sounds are soooo cool...even in this era. Thanks so much for a look behind the wizards curtain...the kid in me was greatly satisfied.....More please!!!
Simple but clever. Thank you for revealing the tricks of the trade. I'd wondered about this for decades.
I could listen to that all day...
the O.G. of all sound designers and dubstep artists
No, that would be the Barrons themselves.
I remember when I was at school back in 2006 we were watching something Star Wars related and my teacher wanted the volume turned down and he told us his friend knew Ben Burtt and spoke to him and explained to us how lightsaber sound was created and laser blast sound. I’ll never forget the way he explained it to us he said something about waving something against a microphone and hitting something to create laser sound stays with me to this very day.
The sound of ray guns firing could be created simply by hitting a guy cable of a utility pole. It would make a falling "ZHOOoooomm ... " sound.
This is a simplified demonstration; a worthy one, to show how much was possible with "primitive" equipment. It's ironic though that this was uploaded by the Oscars channel, since the Barrons were refused an Oscar for best musical score since they weren't members of the Musicians Guild: They were credited for "Electronic Tonalities" in the movie.
I’ve always been curious about that, thank you Ben.
Thank you guys so much for uploading this. For the longest time, Ben's demonstration was only available through your website. Now I can share it with everyone. Very happy here :) . I've added this video to the top slot on my "Forbidden Planet, Bebe and Louis Barron", playlist so others, like me, can eventually find your video as well. Again, thank you for uploading it.
/playlist?list=PLe1EtUCUPAJajTeJsdUfGcBOR4R4Zod9c
Ben Burtt is an absolute sound genius
not really - he didn't invent it - he just copied the work of others ... not that it's so hard to discover oneself
So much so, that his performance as WALL•E is one of the many best Pixar/Disney performances!
Infinite thumbs up. So cool to document the sorts of things people could do with early electronic studios. Some of us synth geeks still have hardware synthesizers and don't use computers ( but admittedly my hardware is mostly digital oscillator based, except for my Moog :)
That was genius work !
We all appreciate the efforts into making that sound .
amazing. I always wondered how those sounds were created for that landmark movie. Thanks so much for posting.
So this is the guy that created the lightsaber and blaster effect, the sounds used in countless video games from the 80s to the 2000s and sometimes even today.
Wow. Thank you so much for showing this. It is one thing to read about it. But to hear it makes it so much more amazing.
Amazing demo! Thanks!!
Love it! Fantastic …Ben is the man! 👽
When audio gear had wooden siding :) [ some still does, but not much ]
dude. that is so far out and cool.
Amazing. I’ve been a professional drummer all my adult life so naturally I’m interested in this. And there was a point when I really tried to break into sound design and foley art. But it’s such a closed niche community in Hollywood so I couldn’t break into that circle. There are a LOT of film companies and crews but sound design is still a small industry. Besides, Ben Burtt set the bar and I would never have come close to him. Lol.
FANTASTIC!! Couild we get more of this music new???
Very cool. Some of that definitely got repeated for some sound effects on Star Trek TOS.
Sick set, dude
Best DJ wordwide
I don't get how that simple tone so quickly turns into that shimmering sound that the Martian tripods made in Pal's _War of the Worlds.._
i have that same mixer. cool. i thought all the sfx was done using only a thermin. i stand corrected .:)
Well the theremin was used for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" from 1951.
What Mixer? Model number?
Too cool! Love it
Great stuff.
Fabulous..I even heard a sound from war of the worlds in there somewhere. Great .
Reminds me of Robert Fripp...Frippertronics.
There's a lot of old gear available for pennies, for those who want to give it a try :-)
love it!!
Wow. Amazing stuff!
This guy is a very cool cat!!!!!! Amazing stuff!!
This was amazing!!
Fantastic!
I have to get some of this stuff
...hehehhhh....68 with quasar equipm ( + uher ) we called it mind expmt...tks super work...
Could you re-upload this with audible audio of Ben?
He's way too weak, while the sounds are LOUD.
So much fun!
This is so cool!
Very very cool!
thank you!
Video doesn't explain what equipment was used
wow ! cool !
Coolest ever!
excellent
Like a maestro.....
1.25 war of the worlds. Fab
Krell magic
Anyone know what the original sound is?
Yes, it is 2 sine waves slightly detuned from each other. You can easily create it on any 2 oscillator synth, as long as it has sine waveforms. Start with identical sine waves and then detune only one oscillator just a tiny amount. You'll find you can get the same interference pattern as the tape recording in this video as frequencies start beating against each other. This was the sound of the transporter room background ambience in the original Star Trek, by the way.
wow cool
I'd love more info on the kind of hardware he's using. Are there specific types of filters or amplifiers used to make those kind of effects?
no. It is simply one tape playing normally and the other tape (a short length one) is looping the sound from the other. Then he changes levels of each in main output causing the *interference* (feedback/modulation/folding etc). Speed of the two tapes is manipulated to affect pitch. It sounds so "good" because it is on tapes. The mixer is nice but ordinary. The amp also nice but ordinary.
You can do similar things with filters/amps and just multi tap delays and any signal but it will not sound the same. What you are hearing in this video is more or less just SOUNDS/FREQUENCIES BEING COMBINED. Filters REMOVE SOUNDS/FREQUNCIES so would not assist in the PARTICULAR process being shown here (although they could be used AFTER if you REALLY wanted). Hope this helped :)
@@TheStuF
Yep.
Speaking from an electronics standpoint, filters will not be able to reproduce those sounds because they are made by allowing natural sine wave feedback & interference patterns to develop, something that simply isn't possible to reproduce - or even accurately simulate - with digital signal processors, that have all kinds of built-in constraining circuits. It's literally creating new complex sounds from simple ones using the physics of electricity and waves.
There are synthesisers and effects that can produce these kind of sounds if you want to delve.
It sounds much better than anything digital can produce. The nature of sound is analogue. It seems asinine to digitize sound when it is naturally analogue.
There are valid reasons....
He should have proposed these sounds to Lucas for the first "Star Wars" movie. Lucas would have died laughing, or it would have nipped Burtt's career in the bud.
Philip Travisano
You’re assuming that some of these techniques weren’t used in the creating of certain sounds for the original Star Wars, I’d bet you’d be wrong.
@@KevinR1138 True. However, I am referring to these specific sounds, not more tasteful variations.
What is the black box he's using ? Somekind of a mixer ?
yes, that's a rat shack mixer I think ( rat meaning Radio Shack, it's likely branded with the name Realistic)
Radio Shack "Disco" mixer, made for DJing. I had one in the 80s - don't remember the model number. It has 3 microphone inputs with stereo pan pots (to position within the stereo field) and 2 stereo inputs (selectable between phono and line level) with a cross fader to mix between them.
The small reel-to-reel with the source material is fed into one of the stereo inputs and one of the outputs from the mixer is sent to the larger reel-to-reel which is acting as an echo machine and its output is fed into the other stereo input on the mixer causing an infinite loop.
Hi, anyone know the name of the gear he use please?
reel-to-reel tape playback and echo, and a mixer.
@@eti313 thanks ! So there is two reel to reel and a mixer and there is a source sound load on one of the reel
The reel-to-reel on the right is recording on one head and playing back on another, creating a short delay. The delayed signal runs through the mixer and can feed back into itself to create multiple echoes or get very distorted if the signal is strong enough. The one on the left has the source signal. The one on the right can play back the whole thing later since it is recorded onto that tape. I played around with a similar setup when I was a kid. Happy times. Now I have pedals. :)
That smaller box with the faders looks like a graphic EQ.
@@eti313 this is a really interesting technic. Like alchemy. Yeah I have listen one of your song, very good
lol I think thats a radio shack mixer
binaural frequency, cool
swing and a miss, Ben...you're close, but no. that's not how they did it
(well, according to them)
@@brownobservablephenomena
No, not exactly. I watched the movie 'making of' documentary, and I think he scaled down his demonstration concept to 3 pieces of equipment, because what the Barrons did involved individual electronic circuits, which would go right over most audioheads.
Jesus, it's a simplified demo...
@@theboofin it's also completely wrong. Please watch the interview footage and read anything else you can find, and you'll see no resemblance to the tape delay oscillations.
a mastr at work in ananaloge worls.... with a digital sampler sitting almost out of sight .. and .. he's faking it...sorry
Just like your English teacher faked it.