Star Wars occupied most of my childhood. The original film was released when I was 5 years old and, after seeing that, Luke Skywalker, tie fighters and Wookies consumed the majority of my brother, Stefan, and my waking hours… during our sleeping hours, we had The Empire Strikes Back sheets!
It is a movie with very well designed and unique sounds: R2D2 beeps and boops, lightsaber hums and the terrifyingly unmistakable scream of the tie fighter are just a few of the obvious ones. We used to imitate them as we played and Stefan and I can still identify key parts of the movies blindfolded by just hearing the sound effects or music.
With this history (or misspent youth) I was super pumped to have one of my favourite podcasts, Twenty Thousand Hertz, do an episode on the backstories of many of the key sounds from the Star Wars movies. They interview Ben Burtt, the sound designer who worked with George Lucas to define these iconic sounds and it was fascinating to hear where they came from. I have known some of this history from previous nerdy pursuits, but it was great to hear it from the guy who actually created them and get to hear, from a sound design perspective, how it was done, layer by layer.
If you love Star Wars too, this is a must-listen. If you don’t, you still may like the show, but, frankly, you have bigger problems. đ
The stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.
Whether you’re a professional audio engineer with decades of experience, a fourth grader who loves sound and music, or anyone in between, Twenty Thousand Hertz will help unlock your sonic world⌠from the sound design secrets of hit movies, to the sonic craft of jingles and device sounds, to the forgotten backstories of classic theme songs, to linguistic mysteries, psychoacoustics, video game music, animal communication, and beyond. With moving human stories, immersive sound design, and the guiding voice of host Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz has grown into the worldâs leading podcast about sound.
New to the show? Start here:
⢠I’m Lovin’ It: How âBa da ba ba baâ took over the world
⢠The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life
⢠Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound
⢠The Legend of Zelda: A Beep to the Past
⢠Inside Hans Zimmerâs Remote Control Studios
⢠A sonic journey through the Solar System
⢠Mind the Gap: NYC & Londonâs iconic transit voices
One day,Ethan had an unfortunate bathroom incident. Then, he found an entire collection of songs online with his name in the title⌠and they all seemed to be about that embarrassing moment. That experience sent Ethan and his sister down a bizarre rabbit hole involving AI music, lots of poop jokes, and possibly the worldâs most prolific songwriter. This story comes from the Hyperfixed podcast.
Learn about this yearâs Listener Stories competition and submit your story at 20k.org/2026.
Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by â Defacto Soundâ .
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Subscribe on â â â â â â â â YouTubeâ â â â â â â â â  to see our video series.
If you know what this week’s mystery sound is, tell us at â â â â â â â â mystery.20k.orgâ â â â â â â â .
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Follow Hyperfixed wherever you get your podcasts.
Hear A Song About Ethan by Matt Farley, or request a custom song by him.
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