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The Sounds of Star Wars
The story of the sound effects created for the Star Wars films featuring a state-of-the-art sound module with more than 250 sounds.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
J.W. Rinzler
57 books105 followersJ. W. Rinzler has authored over 20 books including two New York Times bestsellers and a #1 best-selling graphic novel. With more than 600,000 copies in print, his books have been translated into seven languages.
J. W. Rinzler grew up in Manhattan, New York City, and then in Berkeley, California. He fell in love with old monster films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as Robin Hood and other adventure movies. He was an avid comic-book and novel reader, an intrepid moviegoer, and had his mind blown by The Beatles, Star Trek, Bruce Lee, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Frank Frazetta, Michelangelo, and Mad Magazine.
Rinzler drew his own comic books (badly), then, in his 20s, moved onto figurative oil painting (okay-ly, but self-taught). He lived in France for almost 10 years, where he began writing. Back in the USA, he worked as executive editor at Lucasfilm for fifteen years, chronicling the work of George Lucas and his genial collaborators in a series of books about Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
During this time, Rinzler also directed and wrote an animated short Riddle of the Black Cat, based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, which was accepted into several festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival.
His latest book is an epic historical fiction thriller called ALL UP, an epic about the first Space Age, published in July 2020. The sequel will be out in a year or two...
Meanwhile his book on Howard Kazanjian, producer, is due in May 2021; and on Kubrick's The Shining in fall 2021.
Rinzler is married and has two daughters and one grandson. He lives on the northern California coast.
J. W. Rinzler grew up in Manhattan, New York City, and then in Berkeley, California. He fell in love with old monster films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as Robin Hood and other adventure movies. He was an avid comic-book and novel reader, an intrepid moviegoer, and had his mind blown by The Beatles, Star Trek, Bruce Lee, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Frank Frazetta, Michelangelo, and Mad Magazine.
Rinzler drew his own comic books (badly), then, in his 20s, moved onto figurative oil painting (okay-ly, but self-taught). He lived in France for almost 10 years, where he began writing. Back in the USA, he worked as executive editor at Lucasfilm for fifteen years, chronicling the work of George Lucas and his genial collaborators in a series of books about Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
During this time, Rinzler also directed and wrote an animated short Riddle of the Black Cat, based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, which was accepted into several festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival.
His latest book is an epic historical fiction thriller called ALL UP, an epic about the first Space Age, published in July 2020. The sequel will be out in a year or two...
Meanwhile his book on Howard Kazanjian, producer, is due in May 2021; and on Kubrick's The Shining in fall 2021.
Rinzler is married and has two daughters and one grandson. He lives on the northern California coast.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 12, 2011
This book is awesome. The "kiddy" press-and-play interface and sheer bulkiness might turn some readers off, but don't let the buttons fool you; this is a serious book, and it's fascinating.
The Sounds of Star Wars chronicles the work of sound designer Ben Burtt, along with other talented and hardworking people, on the Star Wars films (including the prequels, and the animated Clone Wars series). Each movie gets is own introduction, which gives a basic timetable for how the sound was produced, the circumstances surrounding each film, and how everything came together in the final product. Then, a rich representation of sound effects is presented in an order that roughly corresponds to the timeline of the movie. Each sound is marked with a number, which allows the reader to track down and play a sample of the sound through the book's audio interface (which includes a headphone jack... nicely done, Rinzler). Most of the numbers also mark passages of text that range in size from blurbs to multiple pages, explaining how the sound was conceived, recorded, and mixed.
It's a simple book, and it occasionally veers into the overly technical. But honestly, how much fun is this? Did you know that the Rancor's roar came in part from a dachshund? Or that the Ewok language is a variant of indigenous Mongolian? Even if you aren't impressed by party trivia like that, the simple ability to press a button and have a Jawa scream "Utinni!" at your wife at unexpected moments is worth the price, alone.
Seriously, this is a must-own for Star Wars fans or people interested in the art of sound effects, and definitely worth a look for anyone who has the sound of a lightsaber igniting and swinging etched into their cultural memory.
The Sounds of Star Wars chronicles the work of sound designer Ben Burtt, along with other talented and hardworking people, on the Star Wars films (including the prequels, and the animated Clone Wars series). Each movie gets is own introduction, which gives a basic timetable for how the sound was produced, the circumstances surrounding each film, and how everything came together in the final product. Then, a rich representation of sound effects is presented in an order that roughly corresponds to the timeline of the movie. Each sound is marked with a number, which allows the reader to track down and play a sample of the sound through the book's audio interface (which includes a headphone jack... nicely done, Rinzler). Most of the numbers also mark passages of text that range in size from blurbs to multiple pages, explaining how the sound was conceived, recorded, and mixed.
It's a simple book, and it occasionally veers into the overly technical. But honestly, how much fun is this? Did you know that the Rancor's roar came in part from a dachshund? Or that the Ewok language is a variant of indigenous Mongolian? Even if you aren't impressed by party trivia like that, the simple ability to press a button and have a Jawa scream "Utinni!" at your wife at unexpected moments is worth the price, alone.
Seriously, this is a must-own for Star Wars fans or people interested in the art of sound effects, and definitely worth a look for anyone who has the sound of a lightsaber igniting and swinging etched into their cultural memory.
June 28, 2024
I have nothing against these kind of books and I love Star Wars, but after a while this book gets kind of repetitive.
July 8, 2021
Let me lead with this: This is by far the best I have ever heard ;) For an auditory person like me, who has often dreamed of Foley work, it's a dream come true, giving a truly unique and never boring glimpse behind the scenes of the process of Star Wars in a way most people have probably never imagined. Bonus points for a segment on the origins of the Wilhelm screen, and enough obscure Star Wars trivia to make you truly a delight at parties and informal get-togethers!
If I'm honest, though, there is just one tiny complaint preventing me from giving it five stars: the book does not explore the films equally at all. Acknowledging that it's only logical to emphasize the Original Trilogy (where Burtt pioneered the effects and methods), and that I understand his not wanting necessarily to spill his secrets on his newer sounds -- I'm pretty disappointed that the Prequels get less than half as much attention, and a ridiculous portion of the book is spent on The Clone Wars series (Burtt's work on Droids and Ewoks and The Holiday Special are only briefly mentioned, so why waste my time on this exploration of a non-film entity?). While the Original films each receive a detailed treatment, step-by-step through each part of the film with excellent pictures and an average of 57 sounds each, the Prequels are reduced to their two or three big moments and quickly glossed over. Episode I has 33 sounds, fully 11 of which are Podrace only. E2 and E3 are given a pittance of a mere 18 and 14 sounds each . . . and one of those sounds isn't even matched to the "creation story" attached to it (the book describes Burtt using a sonic boom for Vader's heartbeat in the immolation sequence, but the sound linked to it is simply the Vader breathing/helmet squeal from ESB).
A great book, but it could have been better.
If I'm honest, though, there is just one tiny complaint preventing me from giving it five stars: the book does not explore the films equally at all. Acknowledging that it's only logical to emphasize the Original Trilogy (where Burtt pioneered the effects and methods), and that I understand his not wanting necessarily to spill his secrets on his newer sounds -- I'm pretty disappointed that the Prequels get less than half as much attention, and a ridiculous portion of the book is spent on The Clone Wars series (Burtt's work on Droids and Ewoks and The Holiday Special are only briefly mentioned, so why waste my time on this exploration of a non-film entity?). While the Original films each receive a detailed treatment, step-by-step through each part of the film with excellent pictures and an average of 57 sounds each, the Prequels are reduced to their two or three big moments and quickly glossed over. Episode I has 33 sounds, fully 11 of which are Podrace only. E2 and E3 are given a pittance of a mere 18 and 14 sounds each . . . and one of those sounds isn't even matched to the "creation story" attached to it (the book describes Burtt using a sonic boom for Vader's heartbeat in the immolation sequence, but the sound linked to it is simply the Vader breathing/helmet squeal from ESB).
A great book, but it could have been better.
June 6, 2021
Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time (second only to the Marvel universe, which isn't exactly fair, considering how it is comprised of over 30 films), and most people would probably say this is due to the incredible story writing and imaginative worlds and aliens, the special effects, the top-notch casting and great acting, and/or John Williams’ fantastic scores; but something that gets very little credit despite playing a huge, albeit largely subconscious, part in the films’ appeal is the sound design.
The Sounds of Star Wars gives these sound effects and their creator, Ben Burtt, the spotlight they deserve. The book is divided into seven main parts: one for each movie in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and then a few pages for The Clone Wars animated movie and TV series (in its second season when the book was published). Each section begins with a few pages giving historical context to the movie and its production, and the featured sounds are presented in chronological order within each movie, so the reader is walked through a nice synopsis of each film. There’s a simple playback device so you can actually hear the sounds (some raw, others edited and played in context of the film) that are being discussed too (numbered circles appear in the text and accompanying screenshots indicating track number)! There’s also a foreword at the beginning of the book written by Ben Burtt himself, and an index of where every Wilhelm Scream appears in the two trilogies!
I actually studied music and sound production in university, and Ben Burtt is an idol of sorts, but I think people not into sound recording and editing could also find this interesting and appreciate the quality of work and creativity obviously present in Burtt’s work. In the process of telling the stories behind the development of some iconic Star Wars sounds, the book also gives some intimate glances into George Lucas’ thought process behind the creation of the films and very intentional sound/music decisions he, Burtt, and John Williams made.
Readers likely won't be surprised to find out that the sounds for Chewbacca were derived largely from bears, or that the squeals of Jabba’s Gamorrean guards were derived from pigs, but there are some truly surprising and cool origins for a lot of other sounds. Some personal favorites are:
- The Star Destroyer (window AC unit + Goodyear blimp)
- The TIE Fighters (an elephant shriek)
- The Tusken Raider yell (pack mules’ brays that kept interrupting takes being shot in the Tamerza Canyon, Tunisia)
- The Rancor (an “insanely aggressive” dachshund)
- Boushh’s thermal detonator (the motors and moving parts inside the life-size Jabba puppet)
- Slave I blast off (trumpet + pass by of a car horn)
- Han Solo defrosting out of carbonite (heartbeat of Burtt’s yet-to-be-born daughter, Alice)
- The Sando Aqua Monster (Burtt’s 3-month old daughter, Emma, making a growling-cry).
- The Geonisians (mating penguins + fruit bats fighting over bananas)
There are also lots of fun facts, such as:
- Because of the low budget they had for the first film, they only had one actual life-size X-Wing, so they had to use some very creative camera angles and a matte painting to make the Rebel hangar look like it housed a whole fleet.
- The actress in the Greedo suit used a clothespin held in her mouth to control the proboscis-like mouth.
- Burtt made friends with a blind man from Indiana who was obsessed with thunderstorms and recording them, and “would send [Burtt] a compilation of the best thunder from Indiana just about every year.”
- Burtt created the lightsaber sound effect two years before he had even seen what it would look like.
- Only about 15% of the originally recorded dialogue was used in Return of the Jedi.
- The Endor ambiance track has since been used in several movies, TV series, and commercials.
- Whereas other alien languages were made up of imitation of real languages or chopped up bits of actual foreign languages, pieces of what Nien Nunb says are unaltered Hyah dialect.
- Burtt got to re-record the devices used to make the sounds for the laboratory scenes in the original Frankenstein, and he used them for the lightning that the Emperor shoots out of his hands.
- Burtt spent two years on the audio and visuals just for the pod race scene in The Phantom Menace.
The point is that sound design was more exciting, inspiring, and creative in the ’70’s and ’80’s, before studios just relied on massive libraries of sounds. Burtt approached sound for film as an art, a performance, no different from the musical score or dialogue, and just as integral; and as a result the work he did on Star Wars (and subsequently Wall-E, two of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films, and others) has no parallel as far as I am concerned… which makes it interesting to note that after The Force Awakens, Disney inexplicably didn’t hire him to contribute to any other Star Wars film. To quote Burtt in an interview with Vanity Fair, he “was just never consulted or hired to do any of them.”
A final quote from Burtt:
“Despite a whole new palette of digital audio tools at our fingertips, I still find the most successful sounds to be either real acoustic sounds from everyday life, or sounds generated in the simplest, most traditional analog means,” (p. 208).
The Sounds of Star Wars gives these sound effects and their creator, Ben Burtt, the spotlight they deserve. The book is divided into seven main parts: one for each movie in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and then a few pages for The Clone Wars animated movie and TV series (in its second season when the book was published). Each section begins with a few pages giving historical context to the movie and its production, and the featured sounds are presented in chronological order within each movie, so the reader is walked through a nice synopsis of each film. There’s a simple playback device so you can actually hear the sounds (some raw, others edited and played in context of the film) that are being discussed too (numbered circles appear in the text and accompanying screenshots indicating track number)! There’s also a foreword at the beginning of the book written by Ben Burtt himself, and an index of where every Wilhelm Scream appears in the two trilogies!
I actually studied music and sound production in university, and Ben Burtt is an idol of sorts, but I think people not into sound recording and editing could also find this interesting and appreciate the quality of work and creativity obviously present in Burtt’s work. In the process of telling the stories behind the development of some iconic Star Wars sounds, the book also gives some intimate glances into George Lucas’ thought process behind the creation of the films and very intentional sound/music decisions he, Burtt, and John Williams made.
Readers likely won't be surprised to find out that the sounds for Chewbacca were derived largely from bears, or that the squeals of Jabba’s Gamorrean guards were derived from pigs, but there are some truly surprising and cool origins for a lot of other sounds. Some personal favorites are:
- The Star Destroyer (window AC unit + Goodyear blimp)
- The TIE Fighters (an elephant shriek)
- The Tusken Raider yell (pack mules’ brays that kept interrupting takes being shot in the Tamerza Canyon, Tunisia)
- The Rancor (an “insanely aggressive” dachshund)
- Boushh’s thermal detonator (the motors and moving parts inside the life-size Jabba puppet)
- Slave I blast off (trumpet + pass by of a car horn)
- Han Solo defrosting out of carbonite (heartbeat of Burtt’s yet-to-be-born daughter, Alice)
- The Sando Aqua Monster (Burtt’s 3-month old daughter, Emma, making a growling-cry).
- The Geonisians (mating penguins + fruit bats fighting over bananas)
There are also lots of fun facts, such as:
- Because of the low budget they had for the first film, they only had one actual life-size X-Wing, so they had to use some very creative camera angles and a matte painting to make the Rebel hangar look like it housed a whole fleet.
- The actress in the Greedo suit used a clothespin held in her mouth to control the proboscis-like mouth.
- Burtt made friends with a blind man from Indiana who was obsessed with thunderstorms and recording them, and “would send [Burtt] a compilation of the best thunder from Indiana just about every year.”
- Burtt created the lightsaber sound effect two years before he had even seen what it would look like.
- Only about 15% of the originally recorded dialogue was used in Return of the Jedi.
- The Endor ambiance track has since been used in several movies, TV series, and commercials.
- Whereas other alien languages were made up of imitation of real languages or chopped up bits of actual foreign languages, pieces of what Nien Nunb says are unaltered Hyah dialect.
- Burtt got to re-record the devices used to make the sounds for the laboratory scenes in the original Frankenstein, and he used them for the lightning that the Emperor shoots out of his hands.
- Burtt spent two years on the audio and visuals just for the pod race scene in The Phantom Menace.
The point is that sound design was more exciting, inspiring, and creative in the ’70’s and ’80’s, before studios just relied on massive libraries of sounds. Burtt approached sound for film as an art, a performance, no different from the musical score or dialogue, and just as integral; and as a result the work he did on Star Wars (and subsequently Wall-E, two of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films, and others) has no parallel as far as I am concerned… which makes it interesting to note that after The Force Awakens, Disney inexplicably didn’t hire him to contribute to any other Star Wars film. To quote Burtt in an interview with Vanity Fair, he “was just never consulted or hired to do any of them.”
A final quote from Burtt:
“Despite a whole new palette of digital audio tools at our fingertips, I still find the most successful sounds to be either real acoustic sounds from everyday life, or sounds generated in the simplest, most traditional analog means,” (p. 208).
January 21, 2023
Every non-fiction book or documentary that tries to document the making of more than just one Star Wars movie always has the same flaw: they spend less time, and go into less detail, on each successive movie after the first one.
And it always annoys me.
Other than that, this book is great and has a ton of interesting information.
And it always annoys me.
Other than that, this book is great and has a ton of interesting information.
June 13, 2012
Okay, so I know many of you may be thinking, "Of course she gave it five stars. It's Star Wars!" But really, for the kind of book this is, I thought they did a fabulous job. Now, there's no plot or characters like in a typical novel. This book is completely historical in nature. So, my rating of five stars is supposed to reflect the quality of how this kind of book is put together and presented.
First of all, you might be saying, "How can a book be about sounds? Books are silent!" But, if you will notice, this book comes with an electronic panel on the right side which allows you to play sounds as you read along. Each sound in the book is numbered, and often it has it's own screen-shot form the movie so you can see where the sound came from. Next to the sound effect number is a description of what Ben Burtt (who was responsible for almost all of the sounds in Star Wars) did to create the sound.
I found it really interesting to discover what the iconic sounds from the movie actually were in real life. In Episode IV, A New Hope, in the opening scene Darth Vader crushes a man's neck. I thought it was cool to find out that the sound of the neck crushing is actually walnuts in a grapefruit rind being smashed. Who knew!
Of course, I have to admit, you need to be a real Star Wars geek to enjoy reading ONLY about the sounds behind the movie. But, if you are a Star Wars geek, then this book is really well put together, and all the background history and photos are interesting. I highly recommend it.
First of all, you might be saying, "How can a book be about sounds? Books are silent!" But, if you will notice, this book comes with an electronic panel on the right side which allows you to play sounds as you read along. Each sound in the book is numbered, and often it has it's own screen-shot form the movie so you can see where the sound came from. Next to the sound effect number is a description of what Ben Burtt (who was responsible for almost all of the sounds in Star Wars) did to create the sound.
I found it really interesting to discover what the iconic sounds from the movie actually were in real life. In Episode IV, A New Hope, in the opening scene Darth Vader crushes a man's neck. I thought it was cool to find out that the sound of the neck crushing is actually walnuts in a grapefruit rind being smashed. Who knew!
Of course, I have to admit, you need to be a real Star Wars geek to enjoy reading ONLY about the sounds behind the movie. But, if you are a Star Wars geek, then this book is really well put together, and all the background history and photos are interesting. I highly recommend it.
January 5, 2011
If you have any interest in sound design and effects for film, this is a great book. It comes with a built in speaker as well as an audio out jack for headphones/etc. (I recommend the latter). Covering all 6 Star Wars films in addition to the Clone Wars animated series, it covers Ben Burtt's designs of all of the main sound effects of the Star Wars universe, including some snippets of dialogue. Reading along and then playing the sound samples that go along with the images being discussed was a neat experience.
April 21, 2014
I bought this book for my son thinking he would enjoy it. I finally got around to reading and experiencing it. I very much enjoyed it. I have always had a passing interest in how sound is made for movies and sound effect design. This gives small hints into the sound production of the various Star Wars Movies. I found the limited biography of Ben Burt to be fascinating. (The man has skills to use his own voice, collect and catalog sound, look at a scrip and figure out how many sounds he can anticipate needed, and organizing those needs.
October 13, 2012
very interesting book on sound design. As other reviewers mentioned, it's a bulky book with a kid's-book-touch-this-button feel, but the description on how Ben Burtt and co created a galaxy of sound is very in-depth. I just feel the book is not really well balanced: the section about the prequel trilogy is much shorter than the one about the original films.
January 11, 2013
Awesome Book! I love Ben Burrt, the sound designer of all the Star Wars films, and this gives a very good account of all his groundbreaking and innovative sound design throughout the years. If your a fan of behind the scenes type of stuff, and desire to understand the process of making films, then this is for you!
January 10, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is always fun as a Star Wars fan to learn more about the movies. This is book is a history of how the famous sounds from the movie were created and developed. I would recommended this to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars or special effects.
February 2, 2011
I'm a qualified sound engineer (but not a very good one) and in another life I pursued a career in music or foley instead of writing words, so this book is an absolute dream. To be able to hear the effects while reading about them is a such a joy. I love it!
August 14, 2012
I love just playing some of the sound effects within the sound effect player included. Even better is the fact that the origins of the sounds are described. Chewbacca's grumble and grunts mostly came from bear grumbles and grunts. How cool!
March 2, 2011
Great fun! Excellent sound library and great background info.
August 11, 2012
Way fun, though the sounds and storytelling get recycled by the time you get to the prequels.
July 21, 2015
Superfun - with lots of stills from the movies and the 'kneuterige' sound system. It's kept me and our son amused for a good many hours
May 22, 2020
Once I was able to get the sound effects to actually work, I loved this book.
August 18, 2024
Read until p 12.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews