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Listener Challenge: Name That Sound!

Friday, June 27, 2008

In what movie did this sound appear?
And how did Ben Burtt make it?

Guests:

Ben Burtt

Comments [32]

Aaron from San Antonio, TX

The sound is Indiana Jones' Bull whip. I'd guess that the whipping part of the sound is made from paper being ripped starting fast, ending slow, and then played backward. Over top of that you'd put paper being ripped fast (playing forward), and the last crack probably is a whip against a loose thin plastic sheet of some kind.

Jul. 02 2008 11:21 PM
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Clint Soderstrom from Tulsa Oklahoma

That is the infamous "whhishcrack" of Indianna Jones' bull whip and I believe it was created by using a real whip.

Jul. 02 2008 02:12 PM
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Chris

Just hearing it, I'd have guessed it was made with a tape measure.

Jul. 01 2008 03:05 PM
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Max Carballo from Miami, FL

whip from Indiana Jones - he used an actual whip

Jul. 01 2008 12:18 PM
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Rebecca Suffness from Atlanta, GA

I also definitely thought it was the Indiana Jones whip. To me, it sounds like a thick cord being ripped apart and snapping, perhaps a telephone wire or something like that.

Jul. 01 2008 12:03 PM
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Jim Owston from West Virginia

I think it is obvious that it was Indiana Jones' whip. I think it was made by combining the sound of a piece of sheet metal and a rat trap.

Jun. 30 2008 11:46 PM
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Lauren from New Orleans

It's Indiana Jones's whip. I think it sounds like one of those high speed sleds.

Jun. 30 2008 02:53 PM
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Denise from Palm Springs, CA

It is definitely Indiana Jones' whip. The sound may be a combination of a flex of a guitar string reverberating and or thin metal bent and let go (flashing material?) and a real whip crack. Great interview, Bert!

Jun. 30 2008 11:15 AM
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John Damer from San Francisco Bay Area, CA

It's Indiana Jones' bull-whip, and Burtt made it by combining the sound of a bullwhip with the (sped-up) sound of a Harriet jet flying by (the 'whoosh' element of the sound).

Jun. 30 2008 01:50 AM
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Coll Anderson from NY

Harrison Ford showing the sound guys how to use a bull whip?

Jun. 29 2008 09:55 PM
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Angel from Oxnard, California 93036,

Indiana Jones, The sound of his whip. By hitting a stock of celery against a Propeller.

Jun. 29 2008 09:25 PM
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Lyssa Miller from Louisville, ky

The sound is Indian Jones whip cracking. If it is the original whip crack from Raiders of the Lost Ark, then Ben Burt made this sound by recording an actual whip cracking. But I've also heard that the other sound used for the wooshing sound of the whip is Harrier Jet.

Jun. 29 2008 08:34 PM
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Joshua from Tampa, FL

Indiana Jones and the Temple of DOOM!!!!!! The part where the guy in all red has a rock in his hand and Indiana whips his hand!!!

Still beleive it was made with a real whip in a studio with a hard floor.

Jun. 29 2008 06:45 PM
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Joshua from Tampa, FL

Ah yes. This is from the scene in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Specifically, this is the Moracco scene when Indiana is backing off two extras in a wide ally. The sound I believe, is a real whip, in a recording studio with hard wood floor or concrete floor that had a thick paint on it.

Thanks!!

Joshua

Jun. 29 2008 06:29 PM
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Stefan Fabo from Florida

The sound is definitely from Indiana Jones - the whiplash sound.; created by thin metal plates or something…

Jun. 29 2008 06:23 PM
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Dave from Helena Al

Like everyone is saying it is obviously the whip of Indiana Jones. I think it is made by whipping a branch and then cracking it.

Jun. 29 2008 10:22 AM
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Matt I from oakland, ca

Well, I was going to identify the sound as that caused by Dr. Jones, Jr.'s whip, but after seeing so many other listeners guess the same, I must now take exception. It is quite possible that the sound is in fact a field recording of the mysterious and reclusive Indian Whip Elephant. The "music" one seems to hear is in fact the distinctive trumpeting of the elephant, and the whipping sound is actually produced by the unusually long tail of the females of the species. This whipping behaviour is believed to be defensive posturing, so beware the cornered female Indian Whip Elephant. Rumor has it Mssr.s Speilburg and Lucas obtained a recording of the elephant at a bazar in Goa, but who knows?

Jun. 29 2008 12:29 AM
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Adam Kathman from Portland, OR

Indiana Jones' whip. It was made by recording a hand-clap. The tape starts out at less-than 1/2 speed (the approach of the whip) and then speeds back up to regular speed at the cresendo. (the "crack" of the whip / hand clap)

Jun. 28 2008 04:24 PM
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Steve from Massachusetts

I have to wonder if this is one of those rare occasions of reality in sound effects. Could the bull whip sound be a recording of a bull whip? I imagine the whoosh part of it would have to be amplified to be heard in relation to the crack at the end, and perhaps modified for a Doppler effect appropriate to the scene?

Jun. 28 2008 02:41 PM
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Shep from Virginia Beach, Virginia

Indiana Jones Whip.
Music is a giveaway.

Good story, by the way.

Jun. 28 2008 12:20 PM
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Rich Zollino from Ridgefield, Ct.

Well, it's definitely the famous Indiana Jones "bull whip" that's called into use whenever the situation seems hopeless.

I would guess that the sound is a composite of two sounds: the first a microphone being spun at the end of a long cord and the final "crack" seems like a slap of some kind, for example slapping your hand against your thigh. I suppose one could replay the first very quickly and add the second while recording the simulation.

Jun. 28 2008 11:07 AM
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LAD from Brooklyn

Another here for the Indy whip.

Now the hard part: How?
Is it obvious or obtuse? Oh the pressure!

I feel there are two components; First is the woosh sound so air may be involved, like a fast narrow intake of air. Second is the crack part - metal or paper --- I'm stumped!

Jun. 28 2008 10:34 AM
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Liz

It's Indy's whip, that was easy. How did he make it? I'm not sure, it sure sounds like a microphone cord that's been whipped through water.

Jun. 28 2008 10:19 AM
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Austin Haley Berman

It is Indiana Jones' bullwhip. It is from Raiders of the Lost Arc. The noise is made by a sliding down a wire under tension (like a zipline)and getting faster and faster. At the end, the thing on the wire smashes into whatever is at the end of the wire.

Jun. 28 2008 07:47 AM
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karl

the whip from Dr Jones

Jun. 28 2008 07:21 AM
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AVDJ from New York City

the bull whip. I imagine the sound was made by speeding up something metal, resembling the shape of a whip, like a metal wire.

Jun. 27 2008 05:10 PM
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J. Robertson McIlwain from Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Well, I was going to say the whip from Indiana Jones...

Jun. 27 2008 02:14 PM
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Matt Suplee from Rhode Island

That is Indiana Jones' bullwhip and it was made with a clothesline (or similar) being whipped back in forth in air and a rubber band being plucked against a surface (maybe on a notebook) and some type of random thud like a rubber mallet on heavy wood joist. Ballpark.

Jun. 27 2008 01:55 PM
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bill from united states

It is definitely the bullwhip sound from raiders of the lost ark. I think the sound could possibly have been created from an electrical arc?

Jun. 27 2008 12:02 PM
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Padraic from Albuquerque, NM

That's Indy's bullwhip. Made by release a wire or line under tension?

Jun. 27 2008 11:22 AM
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Will Findlay

I came to say the same thing as Robert in comment #1: Indiana Jones's whip. You can tell by the music.

Jun. 27 2008 12:06 AM
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Robert Opppenheimer from White Plains, NY

Name that sound: Indiana Jones - whiplash sound

Jun. 26 2008 09:43 PM
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