Star Trek Sound Effects

From LoveToKnow Sci-Fi

Even if you're not a fan, chances are that some Star Trek sound effects are as familiar to you as your mother's voice calling you to dinner, maybe more so.

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Star Trek Sound Effects - The Basics

Since the mid 1960s when the original Star Trek first aired, the sounds of life on a 23rd century star ship have followed us in television series, motion pictures, Saturday morning cartoons and more. You may not recognize your dog's bark or the idle of your car's engine, but without being told, you probably do recognize the sound of a phaser blast, a transporter powering up, or a communicator flipping open. This is a small example of the power of sound effects in creating fictional worlds on screen.

For the 2009 Star Trek motion picture directed by J. J. Abrams, the talents of four time Academy Award winning sound effects wizard, Ben Burtt were pressed into service to employ some of the signature Star Trek sounds while still giving them a big screen treatment. Ben Burtt, coming off a long association with the Star Wars franchise, is an old hand at making a beep and a chortle carry a lot of weight, and it's due to the efforts of Burtt and other dedicated sound artists that we don't just enjoy Start Trek, we feel part of it.

Types of Sound Effects

Sound effects are the application of creative sound elements to enhance the content of anything from films to ringtones. Sound artists typically don't get the same publicity as actors, directors or writers in film, but they help shape the feel of a piece and make it come to life.

Lets explore some of the categories of sound effects:

Background - These are the sounds, like the clicking of cicadas on a summer evening that help establish setting and mood. The equipment chatter on the Star Trek bridge is a background sound.

Hard Sounds - These are like punctuation marks and can be anything from a gun firing to a window breaking. Phaser blasts are hard sounds.

Foley Effects - Requiring precise synchronization, these sounds correspond to on screen actions, like footsteps. The opening and closing of the turbo lift doors and the clicks and whistles of the bridge equipment as its being used are examples of Foley sound effects. They have to be carefully designed and then implemented to complement the action in a scene and not overwhelm it.

Designer Effects - These are the artistic sounds, like the ones you've come to associate with films like Star Trek or Star Wars, which represent our collective expectations for the sound of things we've never actually heard. When the T-Rex bellows in Jurassic Park, that's an interpretation of what a T-Rex sounds like because no one has ever actually heard one.

Available Star Trek Sound Effects

If all of this talk about Star Trek sounds and how they can bring the universe of the Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Vulcan home world to life have given you a new appreciation for sound effects, great. Why not add a couple to your computer, or cell phone? There are lots of sites around the web where you can download the Star Trek sounds you know and love, or stump your friends with a few they might not recognize without a little prompting. The following list will get you started:

The SoundBoard - This is a good comprehensive source. You can download Star Trek music here too.
Media College - Head over here for a list of .wav files.
Trekkieguy - This site has a good selection of sounds too.