The Story Behind the Iconic Sounds of ‘Star Wars’
The franchise’s iconic sounds – from the pew-pew of a blaster to the whoosh of a lightsaber – started with Ben Burtt and a hammer.
This cut from the Art of Film offers a different perspective on the franchise – the sounds used across it’s 40 year history are remarkably curated thanks to Ben Burtt‘s work on the original trilogy. Take a listen to his legacy from A New Hope through Rogue One…
Burtt discussed the plan he and Lucas created for the movies’ sound with Film Sound Today:
Since we were going to design a visual world that had rust and dents and dirt, we wanted a sound that had Squeaks and motors that may not be smooth-sounding or quiet. Therefore we wanted to draw upon raw material from the real world: real motors, real squeaky door, real insects; this sort of thing. The basic thing in all films is to create something that sounds believable to everyone because it’s composed of familiar things that you can not quite recognize immediately.
Some of the sounds used to create the soundscape of Star Wars:
- TIE Fighter: an extremely altered elephant bellow
- Laser Blasts (aka pew-pews): a hammer being banged on the guy wire of a radio antenna
- Lightsaber hum: a mash up of an old TV set and a 35mm projector
- Speeders: a mix of a P-51 Mustang and a P-38 Lockheed airplanes
- Imperial Walkers: a machinist’s punch press mixed with the sound of bicycle chains being dropped on concrete
He took inspiration from Ralph McQuarrie’s work when coming up with sounds, too.
What sound do you most associate with Star Wars?
