What was your favorite sci-fi sound effect?

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crazyeddie

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Sound effects add a lot to the way we experience and enjoy our science fiction television and movies. One of my life-altering TV experiences was the classic and later classically bad CBS show "Lost in Space." Cut me a break, please, I was 7 or 8. To me it was everything a TV show should be, space ships, a boy hero my age, monsters, some fairly good special effects... did I mention space ships? I always wondered what continually drew me to watching that show, even when it got dumb and campy, and I finally realized that it was my utter fascination with the Jupiter 2. There was just something about the sound of that ship when it's engines were spooling up that gave me goose bumps, one of the coolest things I've ever heard.......that of incredible energies being unleashed. If you want to hear the best sample of it, log onto Hulu and check out the episode, The Derelict:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/162/lost-in-s ... e-derelict

After watching the obligatory commercial, fast-forward to the 47 minute, 10-second (47.10) mark, crank up your speakers, and prepare to be thrilled! This particular episode also featured the most detailed 48-inch studio "hero" model of the Jupiter 2, the only one that depicted the landing gear footpads being stowed behind sliding panels in the lower hull. This was one of the most detailed and expensive models ever constructed for any science fiction television show, according to some sources I've read.

So, that's MY favorite sci-fi sound effect. What's yours? ;)
 
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a_lost_packet_

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Hmm.. That's a tall order to fill... What's my favorite Sci-Fi sound effect?

I couldn't find a sound-box of it but, I love the sound the engines of the Enterprise makes in TOS when she's really accelerating... Sounds like a ginormous flywheel being wound up. :)

The sound of the Tripod's call in War of the Worlds has to be one of my all time favorites. Hard to find a good recording of that though. Finally found a decent one but, not the best. MP3 - Tripod Sound - Call.mp3

Here's a better sounding one but, still has some background noise: Ringtone - Tripod Sound
 
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StarRider1701

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I too like War of the Worlds, the 1950s movie. I like the sound that the alien weapons made when they fired.
Also like the sound of Star Trek phasers firing. About 6 yrs ago I heard cicadas out in force and heard that sound up close and continuous. Neato.
Also the "ka-whoosh" of the Stargate activating, although that works best when combined with the visual effect.
 
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yevaud

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A few factoids I know:

1. The sound of the USS Enterprise's Warp Drive engines revving up was the sound of Gene Roddenbury's office air conditioner, recorded and played slow in reverse.

2. The sound of a Star Wars blaster firing is the sound of a technician hitting the support cables of a 1,000 foot radio/TV tower with a wrench.

3. The sound of the hatch in the meteor opening slowly, in the 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, was John Houseman in the bathroom of the studio, recording his opening a mason jar slowly, while holding it inside a toilet.
 
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yevaud

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Leon Theremin plays...the Theremin...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o[/youtube]
 
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jim48

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I would say just about any sound effect from the original Star Trek series, which they sort of over-did in the early episodes. We were always imitating the bridge sounds at school. Any time we pressed a button we'd do a sound effect. War of the Worlds yes, the electronic eye coming out of the pit, close your eyes and listen to that scene. Theremin? Haven't heard that name in awhile. A difficult instrument to play. Bernard Hermann used one in The Day the Earth Stood Still, Johnny Williams used one in Lost in Space theme and Jerry Fielding used one in a episode of The Night Stalker as late as 1974.
 
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yevaud

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Remember the hand-held medical sensor device McCoy used in Sickbay? A little silver and brown cone shaped thingy?

Salt and pepper shakers: wood below, brushed steel above; little rubber stoppers on the bottom. My family owned a set when the series came out. Made dinnertime a bit funny for me, being a fan and all.
 
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jim48

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The photon torpedo sound effect, originally created for The War of the Worlds, was also achieved by a guy striking a very taught telephone pole guide wire. When we were kids we would take our slingshots and shoot small rocks at various overhead wires, duplicating the photon torpedo sound effect, which of course we thought was so kewel!!! :D
 
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yevaud

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Way cool. The official history of Star Wars, where my reference originated from (I got it second hand, at BAUT, years ago) er, neglected to mention they hadn't invented the technique.

Darn them to heck!

phil_princeofheck.jpg
 
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ILUVSPACCE

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How about the bleeping of the motion tracker in Aliens. Added so much tension to the movie. A real shame the franchise went to hell.
 
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JasonChapman

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Gravity_Ray":1hdbc6y4 said:
by far my favorate sci fi sound effect was the original star trek communicator chirp when Captain Kirk would open it.

http://services.tos.net/sounds/sound.html#tos

serach for "tos-comm.au"

I have that sound effect on my mobile phone, it sounds whenever I recieve a text, very cool, always causes people to turn and look, probably one of the most distinctive sounds in scifi.

Love that shreaking waubbly sound that the daleks make, but the tardis is a good one as well, quite a hard question there are so many to choose from.
 
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jim48

Guest
JasonChapman":3fi6nfq2 said:
Gravity_Ray":3fi6nfq2 said:
by far my favorate sci fi sound effect was the original star trek communicator chirp when Captain Kirk would open it.

http://services.tos.net/sounds/sound.html#tos

serach for "tos-comm.au"

I have that sound effect on my mobile phone, it sounds whenever I recieve a text, very cool, always causes people to turn and look, probably one of the most distinctive sounds in scifi.

Love that shreaking waubbly sound that the daleks make, but the tardis is a good one as well, quite a hard question there are so many to choose from.

What I would like for my phone is the boop-boop... boo-boop... sound effect, then the chirp-chirp-chirp as I answer it!
 
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crazyeddie

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jim48":1i6uj1he said:
What I would like for my phone is the boop-boop... boo-boop... sound effect, then the chirp-chirp-chirp as I answer it!

I remember reading in The Making of Star Trek that a hospital contacted Gene Roddenberry to request a recording of "that marvelous beeping sound" the communicators made. They said it was perfect for use as an alert signal for some of their medical monitoring equipment, noting that it was "very attention-getting" without being harsh or intrusive.

Does anyone here (you'd have to be an uber-geek) have one of those communicator badges they used in ST:TNG? I have one that makes the same chirping sound whenever you touch it, just like the props do on the show.
 
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OleNewt

Guest
The hum of the lightsaber sounds coolest to me. Closely behind is the hiss of the hyposyringe used by Star Trek medics.

I do kinda like the newest Star Trek's take on warp, though. Gives me mind-images of a crazy Scotty lighting the fuse of a big-ass firecracker stretched between the two nacelles and laughing maniacally.
 
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vogon13

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A NASA (or maybe JPL) animation of the MPL landing included samples of the Jupiter 2 hyperdrive spooling up sound effect. I think the Time Tunnel made a similar noise too.

The sound the Jetson's vehicle made was cool. So to the Planet Express Ship's engine noise.

So too the crackling whine engine noise from (IIRC) the Ren and Stimpy short 'Space Madness'.

The gulp sound on the early 80s Quark sitcom (when the garbage collecting spaceship snarfed the trash bag) was memorable.

The 'skittering' noise of the alien 'face hugger' tentacles on a tile floor is the best scary sci-fi sound.
 
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yevaud

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vogon13":ke5v47u5 said:
The 'skittering' noise of the alien 'face hugger' tentacles on a tile floor is the best scary sci-fi sound.

Ironically, I just tuned past "Alien Versus Predator" on FX.
 
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a_lost_packet_

Guest
Hmmm.. Interesting..

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIE_fighter:124x9gif said:
Tie Fighter Wiki[/url]":124x9gif]

"..Sound designer Ben Burtt created the distinctive TIE fighter sound effect by combining an elephant call with a car driving on wet pavement.[1][2]...

Tie Fighter Sound - Ringtone

Just where does one purchase an elephant call and.. why? :)

(I know, it's a recording.. But, the image of some guy hiding in the bushes and blowing on a duck-call that sounds like an elephant.. tickles my funnybone..)

More Star Wars sounds info here: http://filmsound.org/starwars/ (Pretty cool)
 
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vogon13

Guest
I always found the Tie fighter sound effect to be annoying. It is very, very close to the sound of an Iowa grain dryer fan running at full blast. Very low tech device to be the sound for an interstellar attack fighter craft.
 
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yevaud

Guest
a_lost_packet_":rjkkw8cb said:
Just where does one purchase an elephant call and.. why? :)

(I know, it's a recording.. But, the image of some guy hiding in the bushes and blowing on a duck-call that sounds like an elephant.. tickles my funnybone..)

Probably the reason we don't hear about this much? You go ahead and blow that thing...and then suddenly you're confronted by a love-struck Elephant...and he's probably not going to be much amused at seeing you there.
 
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