Sound Effects

[CBPuppets]

I'm Just Curious , How did Jim Henson managed to use sound effects in his sketches? I know it could be done by a record but is there more then that?

 

[Jinx]

I am surmising here, but I'd bet that while some of them were done live, others were prerecorded, and yet others were added in post-production. Of course a lot of it has to do with what "era" of Henson you're referring to.

Also bear in mind that there is a world of difference in sound design for live performance vs. sound design for film/video.

Last night I bought the Wall•E DVD and there is a GREAT section with Ben Burtt, arguably the greatest sound designer of all time. For my money he and Gary Rydstrom are the absolute tops!

Ben talks about how sound effects are made/gathered, with a strong emphasis on how they were done in the early Disney cartoons. They show quite a few of the mechanical rigs that were used for various effects. It's definitely worth having a look! All of the "old school" effect are as viable today as ever.

 

[CBPuppets]

By The Henson Era I mean in the 50's or 60's.

 

[jcnegron]

I´m sure that all those sound effects were inhereted from the early days of radio soap operas, that probably predated sound in films.
In those early days they have collections of bells, whistles, instruments, cocconuts shells, and stuff to make all kinds of sounds, from people walking to thunderstorms.
Talking about the 60's there were a number of trademark sounds on TV, like Genie's wink in I dream of Genie, Samantha's nose in Bewitched and anything on Hanna Barbera Cartoons. On the 70's most memorable were the sounds of Bionic moves on 6MDM and BW, and of course all the groundbreaking effects that appeared after the Star Wars movies. And although movies like the exorcist received academy awards for their sound effects, I don't find particular excitement in the sound of vomit.

 

[mummytomb]

He worked in a TV studio. He had sound at his disposal.

 

[CBPuppets]

Oh I see...