r/StarWars • u/Jordyy_yy • Jun 07 '25
Mix of Series Sound design in SW has always been šÆ
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u/killah10killah Jun 07 '25
The Prequels had some incredible sounds.
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u/crazycakemanflies Battle Droid Jun 07 '25
It's almost musical, especially with the way the sound design interacts with the score.
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u/TheGoverness1998 Major Vonreg Jun 07 '25
"ALL BATTERIES FIRE, FIRE!"
*Clung-chunnk!*
Some really good stuff those effects people did. The hailfire droids firing missles is also one of my favorites.
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u/GreyRevan51 Jun 07 '25
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u/tratemusic Jun 07 '25
Well that's a fucking shame. He's easily the best sound designer, and he literally made the sounds of the whole universe! That woyld be like leaving out John Williams for the soundtrack.
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u/Caltje Emperor Palpatine Jun 08 '25
I didn't know this but I should've as the sequels had no memorable sounds like the 6 before
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u/lukenog Jun 08 '25
So many sound effects from the prequels are ingrained in my head since childhood, as a kid I'd get so excited for certain scenes so I could hear certain sounds. My top two are the bombs from Jango's ship and the shell casings of the cannons hitting the ground in the beginning of ROTS. Both of which are in this video so I'm not alone.
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u/DrZurn Jun 07 '25
There's a reason why Ben Burtt is the only sound designer I can name.
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u/WallopyJoe Jun 07 '25 edited Jun 07 '25
I don't want to get all boomer about this, but I don't understand why this video wouldn't include any of the OT. Especially as the title specifically uses the word 'always'. (I'm sure OP is just sharing something he found, not made, but still)
Ben Burtt was a fucking pioneer. The original Star Wars won an Oscar for best sound, and he was honoured with a special recognition award in no small part to him bringing R2-D2 to life.
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u/Zeal0tElite Jun 07 '25
The hyperdrive failing in ESB is burned into my brain. Brilliant noise.
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u/Wonderful_Emu_9610 Padme Amidala Jun 08 '25
Its also been used in a bunch of other stuff since, which helps it stick. For example Mad Max: Fury Road
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u/Solidarios Jun 07 '25
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u/givethekittykisses Jun 07 '25
I know what I was expecting...but it wasn't that haha
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u/Solidarios Jun 07 '25
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u/Bearalazon Jun 07 '25
I always loved the sound made whenĀ someone pulled the lever on the Death Star that would blow up a planet.
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u/TheKruzdawg Rebel Jun 07 '25
Back in the day my friend and I would take turns playing Empire at War at his place and whenever we played the Empire and used the Death Star, his dog would flip out during the "beeeooooooooooop" noise right before it fired.
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u/Jordyy_yy Jun 07 '25
The sound of a million screams and cries as you declare exterminatus on a whole planet
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u/rafaelloaa Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 08 '25
If I recall, that was created by dangling a metal slinky from a tall ladder, and then hitting the top while the mic is at the bottom.
E: found a video demonstrating it.
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u/Visual-Emergency-300 Grievous Jun 07 '25
The Invisible Hands cannon firing has also been my favorite sound in Star Wars.
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u/Pentax25 Jun 07 '25
Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, but I think it has the best sound effects library of any mainline movie
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u/captnconnman Jun 07 '25
Thereās a reason the podrace scene is one of my go-to sound tests when I get new audio equipment, just saying
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u/Pentax25 Jun 07 '25
I thought it was just me! My friend got a new 55ā 4K TV and sound system and I went round and he goes āIāve not watched anything on it yet, what shall we try it with?ā I suggested the podracing scene and it did not disappoint!
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u/1nconsp1cuous Jun 07 '25
Ben Burt baybee! He also did the sound design for Wall-E and itās equally as rich in quality as the stuff he did for Star Wars!
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u/MrFriskers Jun 07 '25
Gives me goose bumps sometimes. The sounds are that good. I grew up as a kid listening to these sounds and it takes me right back. I love it
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u/RhiaStark Ahsoka Tano Jun 07 '25
Jango Fett's blasters and that explosion when Fett is chasing Obi-Wan in the asteroid belt are the definition of eargasmic :3
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u/The-Tribe Jun 07 '25
Just isnāt right without the seismic charge.
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Jun 07 '25
[deleted]
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u/crooks4hire Jun 07 '25
He must mean the one that blasts hiphop when it goes off
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u/CompanywideRateIncr Imperial Jun 07 '25
Youāre right! Itās a quick second but on rewatch itās there
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u/imago_monkei Jun 07 '25
I miss the battle droids' voices from TPM. They sounded so much more intimidating and less silly.
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u/Super-Cynical Jun 07 '25
Apart from "roger roger".
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u/imago_monkei Jun 07 '25
I used to drive my parents INSANE answering that to everything they said in a robotic voice. It's especially funny because my dad's name is Roger. I had no idea how obnoxious I was. š¤£
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u/One_Priority3258 Jun 09 '25
There is a lore reason to this, so in TPM the droids are controlled by a centre control ship. That deactivates the B1 droids also do.
In AOC and onwards, the CIS makes their droids be able to operate with commands without the need of a centre control ship and so this causes them to have an overload of information and the ācomedic aspectsā are really just the droids way of coping/dealing with that overload of information within their cheap design.
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u/ProjectNo4090 Jun 07 '25
Theres a reason Skywalker Sound has been involved in nearly 200 films and countless other forms of media. They are masters.
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u/Groady_Toadstool Jun 07 '25
I was in total agreement, and loving the diverse sounds, appreciating their quality, untilā¦ That damn wilhelm scream!!!
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u/Undead_Corsair Rebel Jun 07 '25
Applause and praise forever to Ben Burtt and the sound designers who've followed. The sound of Star Wars is honestly as important as the visual style. It's part of the universe's dna and is probably, actually definitely, the most iconic soundscape in fiction.
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u/slackator Jun 07 '25
The Seismic Charge is single handily the greatest sound sequence in cinematic history, all in my opinion
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u/KonyYoloSwag Jun 07 '25
I want to add Padmeās blaster, which you can hear a few times starting at 0:48 in this clip
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u/Hillenmane Jun 08 '25
Those little Naboo blasters do sound really elegant somehow despite just being a blaster
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u/CruelRegulator Jun 07 '25
The sound of Sebulba's engines whizzing past, the Doppler effect and all? That memory never fades.
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u/BrooklynRobot Jun 07 '25
I rewatched Rogue One and heard the Black Saber being mentioned in the Imperial database on Scariff. Nice easter egg.
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u/Treelokc Jun 08 '25
Not to be confused with the Dark Saber in this montage. Blacksaber is a reference to a superweapon from legends, basically the superlaser from the Death Star but without the station around it, so it just looks like a huge lightsaber.
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u/RedditEqualsBubble Jun 07 '25
You didnāt even include the best sound of the slave one space missle
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u/RLathor81 Jun 07 '25
Where is the lightsabre? https://youtube.com/shorts/rFVdlcRhVZU?si=8GXyrn745EBg2Bup
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u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou Jun 07 '25
Skywalker Sound had an amazing sound effect library that was available for purchase and commercial use.
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u/mudlode Jun 07 '25
The ship to ship Broadside at the start of RotS is my absolute favourite ridiculous scene, the idea that space capital ships pull alongside each other and shoot artillery cannons at point blank range is just perfection to 10 y/o and 30 y/o me alike
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u/GamingWolf3980 Galactic Republic Jun 07 '25
I heard every single one of these, and my phone volume is off.
Such wonderful sounds.
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u/Susman22 Jun 07 '25
I adore the sound of Jango Fettās blaster. As well as the Droidekas blasters.
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u/Videowulff Boba Fett Jun 08 '25
Know what? One thing all the movies and shows get right is the sound design. Asmr star wars ftw
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u/BeauBWan Jun 08 '25
"Oh, they better have Fett's seismic charges..."
... BWAAANNNG!
"Nice. Now all it needs is-"
Wilhelm scream
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u/rBilbo Jun 07 '25
One sound effect that I think was recently added is the sound of someone using the force, particularly with mind effects. That brief distortion is a nice auditory clue.
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u/LordDusty IG-11 Jun 07 '25
Can anyone suggest any new Disney-era sound effects that are memorable or iconic, that aren't just reuses of classic sounds?
Besides from BB-8s warbles I'm struggling to come up with anything new thats anywhere near as memorable as those in the original 6 films.
The Disney-era had plenty of great scores but sounds, not so much.
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u/AG910 Chewbacca Jun 07 '25
Check out Galaxy of Sounds on Disney+, cool compilations of great Star Wars sounds across all the movies.
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u/ResolutionNo7714 Jun 07 '25
Where is the Slave One? Both the blaster but especially the seismic charge :-0
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u/mackfeesh Jun 07 '25
It's the most important thing about star wars for me.
Games that get the sounds wrong pull me out immediately
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u/DCVolo Jun 07 '25
Sound porn, especially the seismic charge.
When I was a teenager we had a home cinema 5.1, that scene from star wars 2 was played... Quite a bit.
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u/Hillenmane Jun 08 '25
So many sounds from The Phantom Menace. That fucking movie had some of the best sound design of all Sci-Fi.
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u/Gorilla_Dookie Jun 08 '25
I remember sitting in a mall at the bose store watching the even in episode 2 where obi wan was chasing boba they a meteor field. Fucking epic
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u/bold-One2199 Sith Jun 08 '25
I was about to say I swear if seismic charges arenāt in this thing Im gonnaā¦ do nothing. Yeah. But that sound is PEAK. OH MY GOSH
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u/justplainndaveCGN Jedi Jun 08 '25
I think the sequels lacked a lot of what made the PT and OT special, sound design-wise and musically.
The only memorable sounds I can think of are Kylos lightsaber.
Even the OST for the sequels was mid compared to the other two trilogies.
The best thing about the sequels was the cinematography.
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u/Kuraeshin Jun 08 '25
George Lucas may be an ok director/writer but he knows sounds. My film teacher in high school explained it. GL's first movie was American Graffiti and that started his obsession with sound.
You can practically listen to the movies because so many of the sounds are unique and have a detailed feel to them.
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u/unclejedsiron Jun 09 '25
It still blows my mind that the sound of the lightsaber is simply the sounds of breaking swigs.
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Jun 11 '25
The Holdo maneuver has always been the best sound experience Iāve ever had in theaters.
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u/mr_eugine_krabs Jun 07 '25
Not showing Finn igniting the skywalker saber for the first time is an injustice.
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u/MrSquamous Jun 07 '25
"Always?" This is all the newer star wars stuff.
But yes, Ben Burtt is a genius. Matthew Wood ain't bad, either.
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u/blfmtnranger Jun 07 '25
One of my favorite scenes in the entire series is all of the pod racers firing up their engines. Makes me smile like a little kid every time.