The mystery behind the sounds of Star Wars finally revealed in a new book
Sound designers, editors, mixers, geeks and Star Wars fans. Our day has come! Ben Burt has presented “The Sounds of Star Wars“, a new book written with J. W. Rinzler. Inside the book you’ll find all the secrets behind the making of the sound effects of Star Wars, and also includes a sound module with speaker and out connection for playback of 250 different sounds.
Guests at Celebration V in Orlando were honored with a rare appearance by legendary sound designer Ben Burtt. Burtt should be a familiar name to fans from his iconic work on all of the live-action Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. His accolades include academy awards for A New Hope, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and nominations for many more. As panel moderator Pablo Hidalgo puts it, “He’s the reason so many of us have high-end surround sound systems in our home theaters.”
Burtt came to discuss his latest book project, The Sounds of Star Wars. Written with New York Times best-selling author J. W. Rinzler, Sounds tells the intimate details behind your favorite Star Wars sound effects. From the majestic hum of a lightsaber to the lowly chitter of a Jawa, every effect has a story. This lavishly illustrated tome is more than just a book, it includes a sound module that lets you listen to over 250 original sounds from the Star Wars series in high-quality stereo as you read along.
This book has more than just sounds from the films; it also includes sounds taken from the original recordings that are only available here. It includes all of the growling and snarling recorded for the reptilian bounty hunter, Bossk, most of which was not used in The Empire Strikes Back. Burtt mixed recordings of himself growling into a microphone for most of the effects. “Paul Hirsch, editor on the film, was up to that scene where the bounty hunters are briefed by Vader. He just needed something quickly so I just went down and made that sort of snarly, vomit-producing [growl].”
It’s not just the sound designers themselves being recorded, often it’s the sound designer’s friends and family. After playing a booming, growling sound that reverberated through the auditorium, Hidalgo explained, “That is the sando aqua monster, one of the largest creatures in the Star Wars movies. Where did that sound come from?”
“That’s my lovely daughter, Emma,” Burtt beamed. “When she was about three months old, she had a growly, little cry. Of course, I recorded it because it was interesting. I thought, ‘I have to use this for a monster,’ so I slowed it way down to match the size, the mass of the creature. It’s a performance, it’s her wanting milk… or maybe a diaper change.”
Well, more than a must-have for me. What about you? Do you want to get it? If so, It’s only $60 and it’s available to buy right now at Chronicle Books.
R2D2 PHRASES
Initially, the idea was to record babies and then somehow alter their sounds. But it was hard to persuade babies to perform properly. “Once you put a microphone on a baby, they usually cry, go silent, or fall asleep,” says Burtt. “So, out of necessity, I started making the sounds myself. I started imitating babies and babylike noises, and then combining those sounds with the electronic noises that I’d been making.”
Burtt spent many lonely days isolated in the sound design basement of Park Way huddled over a warm Movieola, endlessly chopping and splicing 35mm magnetic film into R2-D2 phrases.
“I would close my editing room door and curl up in a quiet corner with the tape recorder and mic and generate baby talk,” Burtt says. “I put myself into the mind of an infant and acted out a scene with a droid’s intentions. I’d whistle and coo, I would sigh and groan, and at the same time I’d move the oscillators of the synthesizer. But I was periodically interrupted by noisy footsteps on the kitchen floor above my room. In fact, many of the sounds in Star Wars contain low-level footsteps if you listen closely—the refrigerator door opening and closing, plates of cheese puffs being carried off…”
Time for BIMFEST 2010
BIMFEST 2010 welcomes Laibach and DAF
For its 9th edition of the BIMFEST (taking place on December 18), BodyBeats Productions finally got hold of Laibach who canceled the last time, and of DAF, who returned with one of the most expensive songs in history of electronic music. As far as Laibach is concerned, the band will be bringing a ‘best of’ set.
Also invited to this usually very family friendly festival are the Belgian punk legends ‘There will be no next time’ The Kids, cold-wavers De Brassers and the rebooted minimal electro heads Emotional Violence. Next to them, you may expect the British punkrock/new-wave band The Bollock Brothers, Swedish old school EBM acts Autodafeh and Sturm Café and the Berliner electro-rockers Din[a]tod.
Tickets are €30 (before October 1st) / € 35 (from October 1st on) or €40 at the doors. Tickets and more info can be found at www.bimfest.be .
Songwriters Drumpack 2 – Out Now!
Toontrack delivers new stuff, here’s what they have to say about it:
Does it ever get easier than dragging and dropping a few files and have a full, pro-played drum track to an entire song laid down in virtually a minute? For any songwriter or musician, be it the professional or the enthusiast, the answer is of course no!
After the success of the first two packs in the Songwriters Drumpack series, Songwriters Drumpack and Songwriters Fillpack, Toontrack is back with another highly useful library of complete song-structure MIDI, organized as separate songs featuring several full intros, verses, pre-choruses, choruses, bridges and fills! With its undeniable ease of use and musical diversity, Songwriters Drumpack 2 is sure to lend a helping and creativity-boosting hand to your songwriting and production.
· Played by studio drummer and Toontrack veteran Peter Fredlander (who performed on Toontrack’s Monster MIDI Pack series)
· More than 450 individually played files
· Categorized in different songs
· Ballad / midtempo / uptempo / shuffle songs
· Full 4-8 bar intro / verse / pre-chorus / chorus / bridge / fill sections & variations in each song
· Different meters in swing and/or straight feel
Works with EZdrummer®, Superior Drummer® (optimized for 1 kick, 1 snare, 2 toms,
1 floor-tom, 2 crash-cymbals, 1 ride-cymbal)
More 8-bit stuff coming your way
Plogue has released version 1.5 of Chipsounds, a virtual synthesizer which authentically emulates vintage 8bit-era sound chips.
The most advanced 8-bit sound chip emulator is doing even more to save endangered sound chip species!
In addition to having a totally new Interface and improved sound authenticity, Plogue is saving 3 new sound chips from extinction and adds many additional features.
Changes in Chipsounds v1.5
- Totally different skin (fits on all monitors and ebooks).
- Current mixer strip is always available.
- You can now enter some values using keyboard.
- New Amplitude LFO added.
- Two asignable drawable user LFOS.
- New: uPD1771C (as used in the Super Cassette Vision).
- New: uPD65010G (as used in the PV-1000).
- New: M5232 (as used in the Poly-800).
- DMG-01′s wave channel now has extra phase modulation (Pmode) and vertical offset (VPOS) settings.
- Added new MIDI Delay Module.
- Added Swing to Arpeggiator.
Chipsounds is available to purchase an instrument plug-in for PC and Mac (VST/AU/RTAS) for $95 USD.
More information: Plogue / Chipsounds
Exploring the Cappucino synth
The sound isn’t much raw, though with some processing it could go in any direction you might imagine, and there’s something sculptural and inspiring about watching metal spin. The basic technique is really as much about the pickup, the amplification of the source, as anything. And that means any number of household items could take on new meaning.
As it happens, Gijs has shared a tutorial on how he makes his pickups, among other electronics how-to notes. Or make that a “puckup” (I’ve made a few of those, on CDM and elsewhere):
inductor-puckup
Pretending the Perfourmer is a drum machine
Vermona Perfourmer as a drum machine.
Although I’ve seen many clips and demos of Vermona’s DRM1 MK3 out there, I don’t personally have access to one. So I thought I’d crank out 3 quick drum loops pretending the Perfourmer is a drum machine. From the Soundcloud player, grab the downloadable WAV with no rights reserved as usual.
Perfourmer as a Drum Machine by Calvin Cardioid
Thanks to cl516
DREAM THEATER DARK ETERNAL NIGHT
Time to rock 
Haken Continuum + Korg Oasys intro + Vsynth Keyboard Solo ( space4keys patches )
Vsynth Jordan Rudess Custom Lead — S4K New Wah Lead on TRINITY
DREAM THEATER DARK ETERNAL NIGHT
performed by Sion
http://www.space4keys.com
via Space4Keys:
8-bit sounds of the classic Commodore 64
The 8-bit synth below has been one of the most downloaded items from Stereoklang so here is a small recap and video
Basic 64 is a free software synth inspired by the 8-bit sounds of the classic Commodore 64.
According to creator De La Mancha, “It’s not a straight emulation but is based around the SID chip with some extras for that 8-bit retro game sound, lofi gritty noises or just plain oddness.”
Features:
- 16, 8 or 6 bit sound quality.
- 3 oscs, each with their own ADSR envelope.
- Oscillators can be sync’d and ring modulated by each other.
- Pitch envelope modulation.
- Pitch wobble option, for subtle instability.
- 2 tempo-sync LFOs to modulate pitch, cut-off and pulse width.
- LFOs have attack/release curves.
- Tempo-sync arpeggiator.
- Flexible routing to state variable filter (LP, HP & BP).
- Envelopes can be reset or continuous at retrigger.
- Monophonic or polyphonic option.
- MIDI learn / MIDI CC support.
- 128 presets by sinkmusic & WhiskeyPriest.
Brian Eno is back with a new album
After an official confirmation from Warp, Brian Eno has unveiled his next album, “Small Craft On a Small Sea.”
The launch page reveals far more about the packaging than the actual music (though I must say, the packaging is very pretty). But the album does focus on collaboration, working with returning artists Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams. Hopkins and Eno have worked together regularly, and that trio produced some wonderful sounds, recording with Peter Chilvers, for the soundtrack for “The Lovely Bones.” Abrahams’ original mention on his Web diary also described some of what’s to come:
It contains the fruits of several years of jams between the three of us. I’ve not heard anything quite like it — it sounds ‘live’ and ‘alien’ at the same time. Some things have been permitted to survive, which only Brian would have had the courage to let go, and it’s so much the better for it.
The release also comes wrapped in some evocative artworks by Eno himself, including the dune image seen on the cover.
All in all, that seems there’s reason to look forward to the November 2 (November 15 UK) release date, as we get to hear the product of these three musical imaginations. Preorders, from digital to various collectors’ editions, start Wednesday of this week.
Details:
http://brian-eno.net/#headlines
Station X and Y and (Z) Tereshkova
Analogue Solutions has unveiled three new (semi) Modular synhtesizers. First is the Station X minimodular Synthesizer fully patchable modular synth, second the Station Y minimodular Expander fully patchable modular synth and last the Tereshkova suitcase modular analogue synthesiser
Station X is a compact “mini-modular” synthesiser. It contains all the essential ingredients to form complete synth patches. Think of it as a mini Red Square or Tereshkova (two other, larger modular synths we produce). In fact, a mini Red Square is a good analogy. If has the same filter and similar key features (though Red Square is 2 VCO). Station X is ideal for beginners who want to dip their toes into the world of modular synths, the travelling producer who wants to take a true analogue modular synth around to different sessions, or home musician who perhaps is limited for space.
Station Y is a compact “mini-modular” synthesiser expander, ideal partner for the Station X. The Station series of minimodulars are ideal for beginners who want to dip their toes into the world of modular synths, the travelling producer who wants to take a true analogue modular synth around to different sessions, or home musician who perhaps is limited for space.
DATAMASKIN
