{"id":31861,"date":"2018-05-04T07:52:51","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T11:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=31861"},"modified":"2023-02-13T19:21:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T23:21:01","slug":"sound-designer-ben-burtt-reveals-radios-influence-in-star-wars-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/sound-designer-ben-burtt-reveals-radios-influence-in-star-wars-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound Designer Ben Burtt Reveals Radio&#8217;s Influence in Star Wars films"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Today is popularly known as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Star_Wars_Day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Star Wars Day\u2013\u2013<\/a>and I&#8217;m reminded of one of my favorite posts, featuring Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burtt, who to my surprise, contacted me to answer a question I published here on the <em>SWLing Post<\/em>.\u00a0 Once again, here it is. Enjoy!\u00a0 And &#8220;M<em>ay the fourth be with you!&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16538\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg\" alt=\"StarWars-Logo\" width=\"800\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo-300x117.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo-768x300.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo-500x195.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>SWLing Post<\/em> readers may remember <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/thats-time-station-chu-in-the-empire-strikes-back\/\">a post I published<\/a>\u00a0in which I believed I&#8217;d identified a familiar shortwave time signal station in the Battle of Hoth scene from <em>The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>To recap, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-Ph9z1y2XLA?t=122\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here&#8217;s the scene in The Empire Strikes back<\/a>&#8211;listen carefully:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BTP-PXeG9Fg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;start=15&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Now listen to <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CHU-Canada-14.67MHz-short.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the recording of Canadian Time Station CHU<\/a> I made recently&#8211;note the tone and duration of the data pips:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-31861-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CHU-Canada-14.67MHz-short.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CHU-Canada-14.67MHz-short.mp3\">http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/CHU-Canada-14.67MHz-short.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Upon hearing this, I went so far as to muse\u00a0that the <em>Star Wars<\/em> sound designer might be a radio listener. I asked our readers if anyone could confirm this&#8211;?<\/p>\n<p>Well, we&#8217;ve got our answer! \u00a0I&#8217;m truly indebted to an <em>SWLing Post<\/em> reader who passed my post along to his friend, Ben, who could provide<em> this<\/em> definitive response:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;This is Ben Burtt, sound designer of the<em> Star Wars<\/em> films. A friend sent me a link to this blog thinking I would like to comment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16537\" style=\"width: 708px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16537\" class=\"wp-image-16537 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Ben-and-old-recorders.jpeg\" alt=\"Ben and old recorders\" width=\"698\" height=\"942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Ben-and-old-recorders.jpeg 698w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Ben-and-old-recorders-222x300.jpeg 222w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-16537\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Burtt with his recording gear, circa 1980. The mike on the stand at Ben&#8217;s feet is one from his grandfather\u2019s ham radio station in the 1950s, or possibly earlier.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;The answer is yes, I have always been a ham radio enthusiast.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;My grandfather, Harold Burtt, operated W8CD out of his home in Columbus, Ohio 1930s-1960s. I was enthralled as a kid listening to the sounds on his receiver. I heard alien worlds and cosmic &#8216;voices.&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16536\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16536\" class=\"size-large wp-image-16536\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Harold-Burtt-1930s-710x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Harold Burtt, (Chairman of the Psychology Dept Ohio State) with his attic gear approximately 1935\" width=\"584\" height=\"842\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Harold-Burtt-1930s-710x1024.jpeg 710w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Harold-Burtt-1930s-208x300.jpeg 208w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Harold-Burtt-1930s-768x1108.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Harold-Burtt-1930s.jpeg 887w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-16536\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harold Burtt, W8CD. (Chairman of the Psychology Dept Ohio State) with his attic gear, \u00a0approximately 1935<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;So not only did I record his radio, but continued to do so on the <em>Star Wars<\/em> series and <em>Star Trek<\/em> as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>My memory of the Hoth transmission was that it was WWV but it could have been CHU since I was recording all that interested me on the dial.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Terrific! Thank you, Ben, for taking the time to respond. As I said, you&#8217;ve certainly started off this radio enthusiast&#8217;s year on the right wavelength&#8230;no doubt some of our readers will agree.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the powerful\u00a0sonic experience of the Star Wars and Star Trek films has, in my estimation, helped shape many of us into the radio\/sound enthusiasts we&#8217;ve become&#8211;myself certainly included.\u00a0<em>Thank you, Ben, for this! \u00a0You&#8217;ve sharpened my ear to a greater appreciation of sound, especially filmic sound, and your work in particular. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For readers who are less\u00a0familiar with Ben Burtt&#8217;s work, check out his <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ben_Burtt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia page<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0123785\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IMDB profile<\/a>&#8211;you&#8217;ll find he&#8217;s been the sound designer on numerous influential films including the recently released <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.starwars.com\/the-force-awakens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Star Wars: The Force Awakens<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>A special thanks to Ben Burtt for sharing these wonderful photos and kindly giving me permission to use them here on the <\/em>SWLing Post. \u00a0<em>I must say, considering my love of radio in the thirties, I especially like that\u00a0photo of\u00a0Harold Burtt (W8CD) in his shack.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today is popularly known as\u00a0Star Wars Day\u2013\u2013and I&#8217;m reminded of one of my favorite posts, featuring Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burtt, who to my surprise, contacted me to answer a question I published here on the SWLing Post.\u00a0 Once again, here it is. Enjoy!\u00a0 And &#8220;May the fourth be with you!&#8221; SWLing Post readers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,305,43],"tags":[4595,13,4560,4561,4597,4596,4551,7013,4598,4552,68,4554],"class_list":["post-31861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-shortwave-radio","tag-ben-burtt","tag-chu","tag-chu-canada","tag-chu-the-empire-strikes-back","tag-harold-burtt-w8cd","tag-star-trek","tag-star-wars","tag-star-wars-day","tag-star-wars-sound-designer","tag-the-empire-strikes-back","tag-wwv","tag-wwv-the-empire-strikes-back"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-8hT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16517,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/star-wars-sound-designer-is-indeed-a-radio-enthusiast\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":0},"title":"Star Wars sound designer is, indeed, a radio enthusiast","author":"Thomas","date":"January 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post readers may remember a post I recently published\u00a0in which I believed I'd identified a familiar shortwave time signal station in the Battle of Hoth scene from The Empire Strikes Back. If you haven't read this post, feel free to do so and listen to the embedded video\/audio clips.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"StarWars-Logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWars-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51569,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/chu-time-station-heard-in-the-book-of-boba-fett\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":1},"title":"CHU Time Station heard in &#8220;The Book of Boba Fett&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fred Waterer, who shares a link to the following video from the new series The Book of Boba Fett. Note that the quality of this video is rather poor, no doubt to keep it from being pulled off of YouTube for copyright violation: https:\/\/youtu.be\/nNdmhpHSxvs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Battle-of-Hoth-Empire-Strikes-Back-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Battle-of-Hoth-Empire-Strikes-Back-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Battle-of-Hoth-Empire-Strikes-Back-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Battle-of-Hoth-Empire-Strikes-Back-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16378,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/thats-time-station-chu-in-the-empire-strikes-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":2},"title":"Time station CHU in The Empire Strikes Back","author":"Thomas","date":"December 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier today, I published a post noting that I thought I heard the time station WWV in a scene of The Empire Strikes Back. SWLing Post reader, RadioGeek, quickly corrected me: that's Canadian time station CHU's data pips I'm hearing, not circa-1980s WWV. \u00a0Cool! Listen for yourself Here's the clip\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fullscreen capture 12202015 40448 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3942,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/the-empire-strikes-back-is-that-wwv-i-hear\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":3},"title":"The Empire Strikes Back: Is that WWV I hear?","author":"Thomas","date":"December 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With all of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens hype going on, I remembered that, as a kid, I thought I heard WWV in a scene from\u00a0The Empire Strikes Back. I looked through some video clips of the movie online and discovered it again this morning:\u00a0I heard the WWV-like sound\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fullscreen capture 12202015 40448 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Fullscreen-capture-12202015-40448-AM.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16578,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/how-bob-mcgwier-used-a-cray-2-supercomputer-to-decode-a-ham-radio-transmission-heard-in-star-trek-iv\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":4},"title":"How Bob McGwier used a Cray-2 supercomputer to decode a ham radio transmission heard in Star Trek IV","author":"Thomas","date":"January 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to our recent post with a message to us from Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, SWLing Post reader, David Guilbeault, comments: Here's a similar story that circulated on the Internet around 1990 (pre WEB!). I worked in packet switching at that time and was very impressed with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Startrek4-MoviePoster-Small","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Startrek4-MoviePoster-Small.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Startrek4-MoviePoster-Small.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Startrek4-MoviePoster-Small.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13893,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/recording-the-2015-leap-second\/","url_meta":{"origin":31861,"position":5},"title":"Recording the 2015 Leap Second","author":"Thomas","date":"July 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I posted a brief article about the leap second that occurred between 23:59:59 June 30, 2015\u00a0and 00:00:00 UTC July 01, 2015. I decided to record the leap second on as many shortwave time station frequencies as possible. The only viable options for me--based on time of day and my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fullscreen capture 6302015 115321 PM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-6302015-115321-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-6302015-115321-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-6302015-115321-PM.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-6302015-115321-PM.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55830,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31861\/revisions\/55830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}