From Awooga to Whistling Wind

August 31, 2024 4:50 PM

USC Optical Sound Effects Library Classic movie sound effects on optical and magnetic tape from the 30's to the 80's, all carefully restored, catalogued and posted on the Internet Archive

The Library consists of three collections,
Gold Library, clean masters of vintage optical recordings from the 1930's - 50's.
Red Library a workbench collection of Hollywood leftovers.
And The Sunset Editorial Library, the company archives of a sound effects firm mainly working on episodic tv from 1964-1987.

The collections were digitized by Craig Smith, a sound recorder and manipulator since 1964.

The collections were previously part of the USC Hugh M. Hefner Foundation Moving Image Archive

And yes, they do have the perennial favorite, man getting eaten by an alligator, now known as the Wilhelm Scream

Wilhelm previously mentioned here - but I figured the whole collection was worth a link

posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny (15 comments total)

I'm so glad this exists.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:18 PM on August 31 [2 favorites]

From the Gold Library Link:

Until the mid 1950s, there were two ways to record sounds: on a phonograph disk, or on a 35mm optical film track. Since you can’t edit a record, film sound was nearly always recorded onto film. The recorders looked like motion picture camera without lenses. The signal from the microphone was used to modulate a light beam which was then was exposed on the edge of the film. The film was then developed at the lab, and copies of it were made for the sound editors. These sounds were hand edited into several “tracks” that would be used for the final mix.

I had no idea. Thanks.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 5:54 PM on August 31 [7 favorites]

So, would these sounds be in the public domain now?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:59 PM on August 31 [4 favorites]

ohshi who else is thinking GAME JAM
posted by taquito sunrise at 6:06 PM on August 31 [2 favorites]

On a hot summer day, some of those wind noises were a breath of fresh air!
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:34 PM on August 31

@Ursula Hitler - I found this detailed comment by Craig

TL;DR: There should be no problem with the public domain issues.
posted by stevil at 7:07 PM on August 31 [5 favorites]

Sweet. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:37 PM on August 31

Mod note: [This is a great post, and we're making sounds of admiration and adding it to the sidebar and Best Of blog!]
posted by taz (staff) at 11:04 PM on August 31 [3 favorites]

I am choosing to envision this as being something like the Soundkeeper's Fortress from The Phantom Tollbooth.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:05 PM on August 31 [3 favorites]

Wilhelm, yes, but no Hulk Screaming.
posted by kgander at 11:16 PM on August 31

aw yiss time to add some [GOLD_TAPE_27_Creaks] to my awful little songs
posted by Hermione Dies at 12:44 AM on September 1

This made my kid's day. Thanks so much!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:34 AM on September 1

There will be new custom ring-tones and alarms on my devices, oh yes
posted by conscious matter at 11:57 AM on September 1

I downloaded the Star Trek transporter ringtone from iTunes years ago but lost it in a phone update. I tell you, hearing it late at night from across the room? took a bit of getting used to.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:46 PM on September 1

Star Trek sounds.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:37 AM on September 4 [1 favorite]