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. 😉
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 world’s leading podcast about sound.
New to the show? Start here:
• I’m Lovin’ It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over the world
• The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life
• Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound
• Super Mario Bros: Koji Kondo’s 8-Bit Masterpiece
• Inside Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios
• A sonic journey through the Solar System
• Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices
Mixing music for Late Night television means working fast, putting artists at ease, and delivering polished mixes under immense pressure. In this episode, the Music Mixers of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon swap stories from decades behind the console. They reveal performances that went sideways, why backing tracks can actually make their jobs harder, and what it’s like mixing everyone from Cynthia Erivo to Paul McCartney. Featuring Harvey Goldberg and Lawrence Manchester.
Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by Defacto Sound.
Watch Dallas’ on-set videos with Harvey (The Late Show) and Lawrence (The Tonight Show).
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Support the show and get ad-free episodes at 20k.org/plus.
If you know what this week’s mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org.
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