This sound was heard in a good many TOS episodes. A first variation of it appeared in The Cage and it was also very prominent in The Man Trap. I have two questions: 1) Who created it? 2) How was it created (instruments or electronics used, etc)? Thank you, bill
TOS alien planet surface sound effect questions
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Hard to say, isn't it? Make the whole affair quite alien at least.
Whatever it was, it was probably instrumental or even organic in nature as many of the effects were. A friend of mine discovered, for example, several years ago that one part of the bridge sound sounded very similar to a certain cricket species. Then of course we have the thump of Spock's sensors being an airgun in reverse I believe. So it definitely sounds like an analog or organic pattern. I get conflicting answers as to who created the alien planet effect. One source I came across said Douglas Grindstaff, but a channel on cable television (G4?) scrolled Alexander Courage across the screen while playing one of the episodes. If it was Courage, he probably would have stuck to musical instruments but I wouldn't know which ones.
It was the doors that were a reverse-firing airgun, though Spock's scanner was probably something similar.
The "planet ambience" and transporter sound effects sound to me like they might be made with some kind of chimes or bell-like instruments, perhaps being played with a bow or something similar.
As for Courage, the sound effect he was responsible for was the "whoosh" of the Enterprise flying past the camera in the main titles. That was literally just Courage making "ssssh" sounds into a microphone.
The "planet ambience" and transporter sound effects sound to me like they might be made with some kind of chimes or bell-like instruments, perhaps being played with a bow or something similar.
As for Courage, the sound effect he was responsible for was the "whoosh" of the Enterprise flying past the camera in the main titles. That was literally just Courage making "ssssh" sounds into a microphone.
That is very cool!
As for the alien planet effect, I tend to agree. I still don't know for a certainty, but some of the tonality also seems to resemble an organ to me. That's interesting about Courage. There's so little information about the sound effects available I assume because most folks are more interested in the actors, stories, etc. It's nice to run across tidbits of SFX info every now and then, which was one reason I started this thread. Here's something else I figured out over the years: the heartbeat of the sick bay scanner is easily simulated by an electric guitar and may have in fact been that; also the tone that went along with the heartbeat resembles some exotic or tropical bird calls. bill
His name was Joseph Sorokin. (Maybe still is. IMDb doesn't list a date of death, but it doesn't list any credits for him after 1988 either.)
The sound effect we're talking about originated as the Talos IV ambience in "The Cage"; it was established in-story that the chiming sound was created by indigenous plants vibrating in the wind. However, the same ambience was reused on many alien planets in later episodes. (In my first published Trek story, I postulated that the Talosians had transplanted their "windsinger" plants to many worlds during their ancient space age.)
Joseph Sorokin, yes. My understanding is that there were three main sound editors for TOS: Joseph Sorokin, Douglas Grindstaff, and Jack Finlay. Seems that Grindstaff was the only one who stayed throughout the entire three year run. The effect I'm referring to is the alien planet surface sound heard in numerous episodes. Two effects of similar nature were often used (one resembles the transporter), but the one I'm referring to is the one of lower tone, as heard in The Cage and The Man Trap. bill
Correct, that was. Not sure what instrument, but there was "treatment" used there. In other words, careful use of echo and reverb to get the desired result. I have simulated that sound before. It also appeared in Spectre of The Gun and a few others as well. And Mork & Mindy when Mork was communicating with Orsen. By Any Other Name and Amok Time used yet another planetary sound, which was most likely an electronic organ mix of several notes. Just a side note, being a sound man myself, I have always noted a definite audio fidelity increase between TOS seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 had noticeably better audio fidelity than season 1 and this could be heard in the sound effects as well. Compare The Paradise Syndrome's planetary sound with The Man Trap and you'll notice higher treble in the former. Even the music sounded better in seasons 2&3. Not sure of the reason, but perhaps they used upgraded audiovisual equpment by that time. bill
They also took the same type of sound and really amped it up for the Halkan planet during the storm. It really sounds like some sort of distorted string instrument.
I used to like to take a guitar and run my finger up and down the lower E string, sounds slightly like a warp engine in distress if you do it at different speeds, similar to the planet sound only lower.
I used to like to take a guitar and run my finger up and down the lower E string, sounds slightly like a warp engine in distress if you do it at different speeds, similar to the planet sound only lower.
Very good! Several years ago, I found that an electric bass guitar, played in a unique way, was one of the best ways to simulate the warp drive sound. A pan pipe also comes close. bill
If you mean the humming sound that slowly rises in pitch as the ship accelerates, that's always sounded like a bowed string instrument to me, with the pitch changes probably achieved by changing the playback speed of the tape (a standard sound effects technique in the day).
Yes, I believe that's another way to do it. Along with the alien planet surface, transporter, and warp drive sounds, there was another I always found interesting and that was the sound used for the android maker heard in What Are Little Girls Made Of (and also used as the sound of the neural neutralizer in Dagger Of The Mind). I believe this to be the same instrument as used for the warp drive, except that a special effect called modulation was added to give it more of a traditional motor sound.
For some of the alien planet scenes, a "wind" sound was used. City on the Edge of Forever is a good example. A bass viol bow drawn across the edge of a low vibraphone bar will make that sound. You can vary the pitch by applying more or less pressure and by adjusting the speed. It's a very eerie sound
On a related note, when I was in high school I discovered that the metal screen covering the acoustic tiles in our school auditorium made an absolutely perfect "photon torpedo" sound when struck with a coin.
On a related note, when I was in high school I discovered that the metal screen covering the acoustic tiles in our school auditorium made an absolutely perfect "photon torpedo" sound when struck with a coin.
^Yes, the torpedo sound, like other similar sound effects used in War of the Worlds, Star Wars, etc., was created by striking a taut metal cable with a metal object.
I always thought the sound of the phasers was neat as well. I wasn't sure how it was created, but I got a surprise a few years ago. I used to own a multiband shortwave radio with single sideband. While scanning one of the bands in SSB (single sideband) mode, I came across the very same phaser sound used in the series. It may have been coincidence, but I used to hear it night after night. There was something about that mode (SSB) instead of AM/FM, which most stations usually use, and the fact that there were several dead carriers that made up the sound.
The phaser sound is actually the chirping of a swarm of locusts.
A perfect example of sticking with organics. Chris, please forgive this next question, but was the swarm locusts or cicadas? Where I grew up, the terms are used interchangeably. Thanks.
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