May The 4th: Celebrating The Iconic Sounds Of Star Wars:

Posted May 4, 2023 by Asbjoern Andersen in Film sound, Television sound

As we once again celebrate May 4th, we've gathered a huge number of stories behind the iconic sounds of the Star Wars franchise for you - feast your ears below, and Happy Star Wars Day!

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The sound of Andor:

The Andor series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.

Watch the video here:

The Sound of Andor - Season 1 with David Acord, Margit Pfeiffer and John Gilroy

Much more on the superb sound of Star Wars
– hand-picked stories and interviews:

Quick navigation:

Click below to jump straight to your desired Star Wars sound story:

Behind the sound of Obi-Wan Kenobi – told by Bonnie Wild, Julian Howarth, and Danielle Dupre
Creating the score for Obi-Wan Kenobi, with composer Natalie Holt
Behind the Sonic Magic at Skywalker Sound
The Sound Of The Mandalorian – with Bonnie Wild
How The Mandalorian Score Found The New Star Wars Sound
Behind the sound for Return of the Jedi – with Ben Burtt
Rare footage: Behind the sound of The Empire Strikes Back
Twenty Thousand Hertz special – the sound of Star Wars
ABC’s fantastic Force of Sound documentary
The Rise of Skywalker audio interviews
Shaping the satisfying sound of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Go behind the sound of Rogue One
John Williams on creating the score for Rise of Skywalker
Behind the Audio of the Heroes of Star Wars Battlefront II
More great Star Wars reads

Behind the sound of Obi-Wan Kenobi – told by Bonnie Wild, Julian Howarth, and Danielle Dupre:

Creating the score for Obi-Wan Kenobi, with composer Natalie Holt:

So thrilled to be welcoming Natalie Holt back to Soundtracking – a composer who’s doing great things, most recently in providing the score for Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney +.

Here she tells Edith about adding to the legendary musical landscape of the franchise, and meeting the man who’s behind much of it, her idol John Williams.

Hear the interview here – starts at 3:34:

Skywalker Sound: Behind The Mac

The Sound Of The Mandalorian – with Bonnie Wild:

In this great interview by the Dolby Institute and the Soundworks Collection, Bonnie Wild – sound effects editor and re-recording mixer of Disney+’s hit show The Mandalorian – takes us behind the scenes for a conversation about achieving cinematic scale and production value on a television budget, balancing the palette of new sound creation with classic Star Wars sounds we all know and love, why mixing in a home theater environment was important for the show, and how to do a Jawa loop group session:

The Sound Of The Mandalorian | Dolby Institute Podcast

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Rare footage: Behind the sound of Empire Strikes Back here:

The Empire Strikes Back: Behind the Scenes - SOUNDS OF EMPIRE (Rare Footage 1979)

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How The Mandalorian Score Found The New Star Wars Sound:

Get the story behind Ludwig Görransson’s score for The Mandalorian:

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Behind the sound for Return of the Jedi – with Ben Burtt:

Check out Mike James Gallagher’s great feature on the sound of Return of the Jedi – with Ben Burtt:

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi sound design explained by Ben Burtt

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Twenty Thousand Hertz special – the sound of Star Wars:

In this episode from Audio Podcast Alliance member Twenty Thousand Hertz, the team explores how Ben Burtt created the sonic universe of Star Wars from scratch, one sound at a time – featuring Marshall McGee:

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ABC’s fantastic Force of Sound documentary:

Go behind the sound of Star Wars in ABC’s fantastic documentary below:

May The 4th: Celebrating the iconic sounds of Star Wars:

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Audio interviews:

In this Soundworks Collection interview, supervising sound editors Matthew Wood and David Acord delve into the conceptual and sonic intricacies of evolving “force lightning,” and about working in stages from temp mixes to the final mix in a film with a legacy. They share experiences working playfully and dynamically with director J.J. Abrams, recording lines in actor Adam Driver’s closet, and working on previous Star Wars films.

Matthew Wood and David Acord, co-sound supervisors on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, have been working on the sound of the SW films for nearly two decades. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation on the audio restorations of the original films, the voice of Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian, the importance of sound to George Lucas… and even the controversy about whether Han or Greedo shot first and the notorious “Maclunkey.”

Conversations With Sound Artists: Star Wars | Podcast | Dolby

(via @Soundworks)

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Ben Burtt, on the sound of Star Wars:

Mike James Gallagher has released this brilliant educational video with commentary by legendary sound designer Ben Burtt, giving you the interesting stories behind the making of the Star Wars: A New Hope sound design:

Watch the video here:

Star Wars: A New Hope sound design explained by Ben Burtt

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Shaping the satisfying sound of ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’

How Respawn Entertainment’s sound team designed their first Star Wars game — Jedi: Fallen Order:

Read the story here

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Sound highlight - article continues below:

Popular sci-fi sound libraries:

If you're looking for sci-fi sound effects for your projects, these sound libraries are trending right now:

Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Death Space Vol.1 Play Track 110 sounds included $25

“Death Space” is a sound album about science fiction space horror. These cool sounds can be used in movie trailers, games, and online videos. The album is inspired by an old science fiction movie “Event Horizon” , “Dead Space” contains 100 sounds, 96K, 24bit high-quality WAV files, with a total duration of 11 minutes and 19 seconds. Hope you like it!

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Electricity Sound Effects Polarity Play Track 975 sounds included
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$90

Polarity delivers more than 950 sounds of electricity, science and technology – captured in several locations around the world, from electricity museums to science labs. About 50% of the library is all about electricity, with various types of Jacob’s Ladders, Tesla Coils, Ruhmkorff lamp and all sorts of impactful bursts of energy.

Then we go through welders, plasma spheres, 3D printers, starting to cover a more broad technology theme – like old phones, telegraphs, dynamo wheels, rotary dials, whirling watchers, alarm, lab centrifuges, something scientists call a roller and a rocker, servo sounds, neon lights, a wimshurst machine and sparklers.

Many sounds in this section were captured from vintage equipment, from a 1928’s tram to old telephone switchboards, high voltage levers and control surfaces.

All content was recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K, a couple of Sennheiser 8040 and a Neumann 81i, translating into final assets that have plenty of ultrasonic content, ready for the most extreme manipulation.

Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free: This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

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Sci-Fi Sound Effects SlipStream Play Track 425 sounds included, 34 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$115

Welcome to SlipStream

SlipStream is a trailblazing science fiction elements and energy SFX library from Brin Sound. Its sounds will take you out of this world and into a detailed universe of science fiction, technomancy, extraterrestrial, and cyberpunk. This designed, UCS compliant, library will ignite your creativity with cutting edge elements for your show-stopping cinematic moments, or layer with your hard FX for the ultimate flavor crystal library. Designed scenes, events, whooshes, and impacts will bring your library to the cutting edge.

My career designing sound for games, film, and television has me on the hunt for the next great sounds. But no matter how many terabytes of sfx libraries I accumulate, creative weak spots emerge. SlipStream represents a ten month journey to create the library I needed most for my arsenal – an intricately abstract set of hybrid organic/synthetic modern sounds with fluidity, edge, flow, and tonality. I can’t wait to hear what you create with SlipStream!
~Brian Johnson

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Creature Sound Effects Organic Lifeform Textures Play Track 99 sounds included $12

'Organic Lifeform Textures' by Bluezone Corporation is an inspirational sound effect library offering a selection of 99 ( 24 bit / 96 kHz / stereo ) unusual and mysterious sounds : From huge organisms to tiny insects, unexpected groans to invertebrate creatures moving through mud, this SFX library will offer you ultra high quality malleable textures for all your projects. This downloadable sample pack is very usefull for pro editors, film makers, music producers and video game sound designers.

All sounds were recorded using various sources and processed meticulously using high-end gear. These sound effects have been layered to give you ready-to-use elements. You can easily pitch, modulate, mangle and stretch these sounds to create thousands of variations. 'Organic Lifeform Textures' has been designed to enhance science fiction, mystery, suspense and fantasy video game and scoring projects. Note: The background ambience in the demo is not part of the product but is added free of charge.

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Search for more sci-fi sound libraries

Go behind the sound of Rogue One here:

Get the story behind he sound for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in this in-depth feature:

Sound Design for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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Hear the Rise of Skywalker score here:

Here’s legendary composer John Williams on creating the score for Rise of Skywalker:

John Williams on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Score

Hear the full score below, via Spotify:

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Behind the Audio of the Heroes of Star Wars Battlefront II:

EA Dice’s Philip Eriksson shows how the audio team at DICE unified the sound experiences from all eras of Star Wars into one soundscape for Star Wars Battlefront II:

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More great Star Wars reads:
Hear how Star Wars Battlefront II’s stellar sound was made here • Go behind the excellent Star Wars Battlefront trailer sound design here

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THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:

A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

Destruction & Impact Sounds Cataclysm Play Track 1482 sounds included
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$156

Cataclysm is a vast collection of recorded, synthesized and designed sounds created to support important destructive moments and add a stronger sense of extreme consequence to any sound.

The recorded section of library features elements such as flash powder explosions, propane cannon blasts and artillery cannons recorded in unique natural environments with violent transients and lush, long and varied tails. It also features falling trees, forge burners, large trebuchet wood groans, rock smashes as well as more ordinary items recorded and designed to feel like an over the top version of themselves such as vacuum cleaner suctions, metal vase holders, ground pounders and more.

The synthesized section of the library features equally rich textures in the form of explosion sweeteners, other-worldly environmental reflections, scorching energy risers and more.

Finally, recorded and synthesized content was employed to develop the designed section, where the hyperrealism of the recordings meets the clean yet aggressive textures of the synthesized section in catastrophic assets themed around the library’s title.

Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free: This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

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Firearms Sound Effects Western Black Powder Guns Play Track 496 sounds included $70

Western Black Powder Guns is a collection of 19th century firearm sounds, created by sound designer Barney Oram. It features 496 sounds in total, including 440 multichannel source sounds and 56 designed sounds, supplied in 192kHz 24bit WAV file format.

This library contains a selection of classic Wild West style weapons, including; Colt 1851 Navy Revolver, Pattern-Enfield 1853 Rifle, Snider-Enfield 1861 Artillery Carbine, Winchester Model 1887 Shotgun and more.

Recorded on a private shooting range in the UK, this library features multi-mic coverage and a range of distance positions captured on all included source content. Microphones used include; Schoeps, Sennheiser, Neumann, AKG and DPA, captured with recorders such as Sound Devices, Zoom, Sony, and more.

In addition to source recordings, Western Black Powder Guns also contains a generous designed section, lovingly crafted to be of immediate use to sound designers. The designs are an homage to the classic gun sounds of Western movies, mixed with a tight and punchy modern edge.

This library includes detailed SoundMiner metadata and utilizes the UCS system for ease of integration into your library.

Behind the Scenes Video:

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Materials & Texture Sound Effects Glacier Ice Play Track 300+ sounds included
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$40

Glacier Ice is a library containing over 300 high quality sounds of ice cracking, breaking, shattering in various sizes of blocks – recorded entirely in the Italian Alps over the course of two winters.

The library contains sounds of all dimensions, from ice cubes being dropped in a drink to a designed iceberg collapsing.

The majority of the material was recorded at 192 KHz with a Sanken CO100K and a stereo pair of Sennheiser MKH8040, making this library greatly flexible for pitch shifting and all sorts of heavy processing.

A small section recorded at 96KHz features sounds recorded exclusively with contact microphones placed directly on the surface of a frozen water stream.

Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free: This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:

Helicopter Sound Effects Sci-Fi Vehicles Vol. 3 Play Track 65 sounds included $24.80

Sci-Fi Vehicles Vol. 3 is a collection of 4 sci-fi inspired land vehicles, meticulously designed and crafted from the ground up.

Our Audio Craftsmen used a plethora of sound design techniques to create 4 unique land-based crafts, each inspired by a particular shape, size, material, or purpose;

Underwater Explorer – A small 2 person vehicle to explore the treasures below.
Segway – A small personal transporter. Capable of fast, swift movements if used by a skilled pilot.
Chopper – The helicopter technology of the future.
Train – Large public transport of a struggling future civilization

For each vehicle you will find sounds covering engine turn on, idle, speed up, slow down and turn off, alongside 12 pass by’s at various speeds and distances.

This library is a perfect addition to sci-fi Film, TV & Game trailers, or productions with a futuristic, experimental or abstract edge. Use these sounds in projects to inject larger than life, futuristic textures into your vehicle sound design.

All sounds are delivered in 24Bit 96kHz format allowing further sonic manipulation and have been meticulously edited and tagged with extensive UCS compliant metadata for ease of use.

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Foley Sound Effects Gold Coins Play Track 26 sounds included $10

The Gold Coins sound effects pack contains 26 high quality sounds of coins, with variations of coin rummaging, shaking, dropping, and more. Perfect for all things fantasy and RPG!

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Uncategorized Next door remodeling Play Track 20 sounds included $10

Next door remodeling sound library is a collection of construction and remodeling noises, meticulously recorded from an adjacent apartment. This compilation covers a diverse range of sounds of hammers, jackhammers, and drills, all amplified by the acoustics of the room in which the sounds were recorded and the concrete panel structure of the building itself.

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Destruction & Impact Sounds Glass Smashing & Breaking Play Track 20 sounds included $7

Glass Smashing & Breaking Sound Library

Unleash the chaotic symphony of destruction with our Glass Smashing & Breaking Sound Library. Immerse yourself in 20 high-quality, meticulously recorded sound effects, perfect for professionals looking to add authentic audio to their projects.

Whether it’s for a dramatic scene or to enhance an audio narrative, our Glass Smashing & Breaking Sound Library is your go-to resource for high-impact sounds.

Explore the sound of destruction like never before. Add the Glass Smashing & Breaking Sound Library to your collection today.

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Destruction & Impact Sounds Ice Cracking & Breaking Play Track 37 sounds included $10

Ice Cracking & Breaking Sound Library

Discover the captivating world of Ice Cracking & Breaking, a meticulously crafted sound library designed for professionals in film, video games, and multimedia projects. Experience the pristine and immersive quality of ice sounds in various textures and scenarios.

This library offers a diverse range of ice sounds, from gentle cracking to the intense breaking of thick layers. Each sound is captured using state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring the highest fidelity and usability in various post-production scenarios.

Perfect for sound designers and audio professionals, this library adds a layer of realism to your scenes involving ice environments. Whether it’s for a documentary set in the polar regions, a suspenseful moment in a video game, or special effects for an animation, these sounds will elevate your production’s audio experience.

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