/ David K. Israel / 8:52 am Sun Apr 4, 2010

Star Wars Sound Effects Quiz!

starwarsstormtroopersstefan.jpg Photo: Stéfan Le Dû We've isolated some distinctive--and not-so-distinctive!--audio snippets from the Star Wars flicks. Think you can identify them all? After you take the quiz, come on back and let us know how well you did. And if you have an idea for a future quiz, tell us your suggestion!

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  1. Wow, I only made 60%! I thought I was more of a Star Wars geek. Looks like most of the ones I missed were from the prequels, though, so I don’t feel all that bad about it. :^D

    1. 70% here. I was thrown off by a couple of the prequel related questions. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I’ve watched the Original Trilogy way more times than the Prequel Trilogy, 10:1. Great quiz

  4. 90% – Missed that gd techno union guy, good thing the prequels aren’t part of star wars.

  7. I did OK on questions from the original trilogy. I failed at recognizing anything from the filthy abortions which comprise the latest three.

  9. 70% – better than I expected since I did have to guess once or twice ;) This was fun!!

  11. 80%. Except for the prequel ones, I thought that quiz was actually pretty easy. Granted, pretty much any sound effect from Star Wars is rather distinct.

  12. Wife and I made a 90%– couldn’t recognize the dewback– thought it might be a bantha. Yes, this is terribly sad.

    1. I also thought the dewback was a bantha. And I missed one of the prequel ones that I guessed on. 80%

  18. Aw. I thought I was a bit more geeky than 50%. And one of those correct answers I just totally guessed at. I need to stay in more.

  21. 100%! My personal preference would be for more obscure things from the original trilogy. More please!

  23. 100%! Awesome. Suppose that comes as being a 20something child of both the prequels and originals.

  26. YEAH! I got a 90%!

    After two run-throughs scoring a 30% and a 70%.

    Poggle the Lesser? WTF!

    WORST Quiz EVER!

  27. Husband and I got 80%, missed an obscure character and got confused by the Bantha/dewback question.

    One good thing about the prequel sounds: the seismic charge detonation is a GREAT sound.

    1. I totally agree about the seismic charge. I tried to replicate it without electronics, and came up with dropping a laundry basket from a few feet up in a reverberant space, which was as close to the original as I could get. I remember being absolutely amazed with that sound when I first heard it in the movie. Great stuff!

  28. Boo on questions from the prequels. I got question 9 wrong, but I thought it was fair. More questions like that one next time, please.

  30. Ohhhhh! I got an idea for a GREAT Quiz… how about 15 random samples of Frodo (Elijah Woods) being a a complete and utter whiny git… “I can’t do this, Sam.” or “Gan-DAAAAAALLLLFFFFF” and then we get to match that to the appropriate place in the Movie.

    1. Haha! Great one. He WAS really whiny in the movies. Probably why I thought the action following Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship were more interesting in Twin Towers and Return of the King were far more interesting.

  31. say what you will about the prequels, the seismic charge noise ranks amongst my favorite star wars sound effects.

  34. Still not convinced on the first one, as TIE fighters never went atmospheric (second half sounded like an effect from the ship in Yavin’s atmo).

    Oh well!

  36. Meta note: I like these bits of non-standard BB content. Different graphical style, alternate presentation of information, etc.

  39. I stopped as soon as I heard sound FX from the prequels. Those are *not* Star Wars. Boing Boing should have higher standards.

    Amen.

  42. I thought the first 7 were the sound of the prequel haters wiping their cheeto-stained fingers on their Hellboy t-shirts, but I was wrong.

    The seismic charge sound is basically a short flange with a ton of feedback and a huge reverb.

    1. Re: the Seismic Charge..

      I too was amazed when I first heard that sound, I think it’s the brief silence before it hits that does it, and then boom!

      I had had a few ideas about how to replicate it, but the conversation here spurred me to try. I don’t think it’s a flange at all. I layered a quarter bar of staccato 1/64th snares, over a low tenor-sax note.

      The staccato snares gives the tearing-space sound, and creates the initial note (the closeness of the hits creating it’s own tone) and the tenor-sax makes it a bit more definite.
      Then wack the lot through a massive reverb..

      Took about 5 minutes and is pretty close:
      http://www.toofiles.com/en/oip/audios/wav/1531_seismiccharge.html

          1. De nada! I’d never heard of it until I read the liner notes of the Star Trek TMP soundtrack. I’m surprised it’s so obscure. I mean, it’s basically a 15 to 18-foot long electric guitar!

        2. back when the star trek movie came out, i discovered i could mimic the blaster beam instrument with my task lamp (it had a couple of 4″ springs which, when plucked while extended, made a sound similar to the blaster beam instrument as found in the klingon battle music during the first scene).

          1. Heh! Hmmm. That makes me want to check all the offices on this floor to see who might have a suitable task lamp I can play with. :-D

      2. re: Seismic Charge sound

        You’ve done a really good job recreating the sound. But it still sounds like a short flange with a lot of feedback! Maybe when I say ‘flange’, you’re thinking of the stereotypical slow sweeping flange that we’re all used to hearing on our favorite 70s recordings.
        Stacking multiple copies of the same sound with minor timing differences between each is the practical way to create a ‘flange’ effect if one doesn’t have access to an actual flanger pedal or similar software. Try it… take that snare sample and run it through the flanger in whatever software you’re using. Turn the feedback all the way up and experiment with the other controls (they vary depending on what flanger you’re using) until you get it.

        1. I know that super-tight flange-effect, well :)

          But you’re totally right, my staccato snares are essentially your stacked set of sounds.

          In this case though, I gated the shit out of the snares, so there is no overlap to give the characteristic interference pattern. But with the reverb and compression, the end result is probably identical.

          Nice chatting audio, I get to do it so rarely!

          1. I dig your seismic charge noise– now try to do it without electronics, like I mentioned! I love doing things like this, it’s a lot of fun, and great ear training. Obviously, you can’t replicate the original, but it’s the puzzle of getting close that makes it fun.

  43. OK fanboy OCD kicking in:
    #1 has an X-Wing mixed in at the end with the TIE fighters, and Millennium Falcon is misspelled.

  44. 70%. I’m totally fine with that as the ones I missed were all from the *shudder* prequels.

  47. how was i to know a twin ion engine fighter was a tie wing fighter?

    and i always thought r2d2 was a protocol droid. i even suck at being a geek. this is yet another disappointing day. at least this gently rocking earthquake happening as i type will soothe my wearied bones. oh the pain, the pain of it all.

  48. C3PO is a protocol droid.. that’s correct, I got at least ONE answer right* :)

    *or, as evidenced by the info above, at least one answer 3/4s not wrong.

  49. Original trilogy sounds: 100%
    Those Other Ones: 0%.

    I liked that some of the answers were appropriately geeky. The movies never mention that TIE fighters are Twin Ion Engine fighters or what a dewback is, and R2D2’s astromech-ness is only mentioned in a throwaway line. Knowing those tidbits of geekery certainly helped out.

    1. Thanks man! I tried to geek it up extra special for you guys. Glad some people got that!

  51. 100%. Too easy David. We over-zealous nerds required a challenge, and you let us down. As for the others complaining about the references to the prequels, relax. I completely agree; the later films are like kidney stones compared to the originals, but like it or not, they’re part of the canon.

    1. like it or not, they’re part of the canon

      True, and if there’s one thing they (the prequels) did have to offer, it was plenty of eye/ear candy, and this quiz is about the ear candy.

    2. if the prequels are like kidney stones, then how would you rate the phantom edit?

      and might i add, that’s a pretty cool seismic sound from arkizzle.

  53. 90% screw the prequels. Missed Tteel Kkak. Anyone seen the Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones by redlettermedia on youtube?

  56. 70. Meh. I only got the Carbonite freezer because I heard Vader begin to speak at the end of the clip.

  57. I’m ashamed to say that wasnt too dificult, 80% because i got the dewback sound muddled with the bantha, and the last question I did not recognise the characters name.

  62. Got 80%. As always, the prequels are my Kryptonite.

    I did get the dewback one, but I had to listen twice.

  63. I did 50%. Not bad for my expectations, I’m a fan, but I’m no expert -haven’t read any books, or guides, etc. about the whole Star Wars universe.

    I’ll give it another try.

  65. I got 70% but in my defense I don’t acknowledge anything but the original trilogy…and they are the ones I got right. so 100% for me!

  69. 100% and I found it way too easy. I guess that makes me a super geek. I’m going to try my son on it tomorrow when he gets home from school.

  70. I got 90%! After all these years, and not being a prequel fan! Wow! I still got it! :does happydance with Cinnabuns attached to head:

  71. Ooh! Ooh! :raises hand, bouncing in chair: I have a quiz suggestion! How about Door Chimes of Science Fiction! Victims would have to identify this or that door chime from various sci-fi entities (Star Trek TNG, Babylon 5, etc). Maybe lame; don’t know if there are 10 that are distinct enough, but I know a few are, and that inspired me. So there you go.

  72. An awesome idea but come on, it was too easy! 100%, and the only one I had to think about for a moment was the dewback.

  75. I’m glad to say the only ones I didn’t know right off the bat were ones from the newer movies.

  76. No wonder I only got 60%: It seems as though these are mostly from the re-release versions, that Georgie boy ruined^Wimproved with new scenes and effects.

  77. 100 % was really not that hard to attain. If you got less than 90 % I would say that you’re not really watching the movies enough. Christ, I AM A GEEK !

  79. I think the geek factor really came in when you had to identify the technical model/type of mechanism rather than the particular ‘name’

  80. 80% Most of them were easy for me, but the last one was way too obscure. Also I apparently don’t know a Bantha call from a Dewback call. *shrug* Tatooine isn’t my first choice for a vacation spot anyways. :)

  81. Question #1 is a trick question. You actually have the sound of an X-Wing in there as well with the Tie Fighters.

  84. I agree, prequels and ‘special editions’ should not be in this quiz!
    LONG LIVE THE ORIGINAL 3!

  89. I want to say that was fun But some were tough And I got 70% which is better than some here.

  90. Oh my gosh I got a 100%. I am embarassed at how much of a geek I am. Good quiz! I see this took a lot of work to put together and I am glad it wasn’t too tough or too easy.

  91. Easy ones from the old movies. Anything from the new movies can kiss my grits. As far as I’m concerned, I got 100%.

  92. damn. only 80% for me… and thats because question #7 didn’t stream properly! “shinanigans!!!”

  94. I posted as #86. My 9-year old son just tried it and got 80%. He missed the tractor beam, and the dewback he thought was the bantha.

  97. Got 90%. Would have gotten 100% but question #9 is sort of a trick question. That sound effect is used for both Banthas AND Dewbacks in the movies. You might want to check into it and revise the question. Other than that, great idea for a quiz.

  99. i got 3 wrong but 2 of them i had the right thing in my head just didnt know the name and had to guess

  100. Scored 90%, damn those dewbacks for sounding like banthas… Think I only did so well because I watched the Family Guy Episode IV last night…

  103. Got 80%! Not bad considering I haven’t seen all the movies in a while. Oughta rewatch ESB tho…missed the carbonite sounds.

  105. (Mack2d2) I got 90%, somehow I missed the Carbonite freeze chamber one… it just didn’t sound right to me. I knew dewback just because for some reason the Bantha sound is stuck in my head and the dewback is definitely more reptilian sounding somehow… quiz really should have been based more on the original trilogy, the abundance of 2nd gen based questions kinda made me lose interest partway through it.

  106. Happy to say this 49 y/o housewife is only geeky enough to score 30%. Wondering if I’d do better w/ Star Trek sounds?

  110. 10 for 10. But then, as a life-long Star Wars fanatic with the tattoo to prove it, I’m not shocked by this. :)

  112. Almost none of these were from Star Wars. Most were from Episode V, VI, I, II, and III. So many good sound effects from the original were skipped – the sound Ben makes to scare off the sandpeople, the sound of the Death Star laser powering up, etc.

  116. Anyone who put Bantha for question 9, you guys are correct. I watched Return of the Jedi and I heard that sound in the scene where the Banthas were walking along the Dune Sea. The Dewback sound in A New Hope is a different sound.

  117. 90%; I missed the dewback question.

    I realize how hard it is to find good sound effects, but a few of these questions are a tad confusing.

    1: While the first half is obviously a TIE, the second half of the clip overlays a TIE and an X-wing. It could be a bit confusing to some people.

    4: the seismic charge goes off inside an asteroid belt and makes quite a shower of pebbles; I wouldn’t be surprised if some people get turned around by that.

  118. I got all 10, but I was really only sure of nine of them. I guessed on the Dewback one. And the first one, TIE Fighter or X-wing would’ve both been correct.

  119. I got 80%, I love the sounds of Star Wars, but I do have a comment.
    The very first question is WRONG!! (kinda) Yes it starts out as TIE Fighters, BUT the sound of the Millenium Falcon is also in it as well.
    Good test, and as far as I’m concerned, the original trilogy should only be counted.

    If you make up another here’s a question only a REAL Star Wars fan should know:
    When Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewy jumped in the garbage bin on the Death Star, what was the number location Luke told C3P0 to open the door?
    (sorry but if I give you the answer, everyone will know it)

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