Origin of Sciency Sound Effect

[Maquise]

There's a certain sound effect that is associated with science/math/smart people doing smart things, and I was wondering if anyone knew what the origin of it was.

To be specific, it is heard at 3:10 of the following video:


https://youtu.be/1WFgMOXl4v0?t=190

[druid91]

Computers IIRC.

[Ramza00]

TV and Radio Serials to my understanding / intuition, it was the sound associated with computers / mad science labs.

No I can't point to a specific one in saying in this Radio Serial that occurred in 1953 this sound was created, and then in another Serial on TV a similar sound was created and so on. Sorry I wish I was that helpful / useful, but I do not have a perfect memory / knowledge and I have since learn to subcontract this part of my brain to the internet :smallbiggrin: :smalltongue:

[endoperez]

It sounds like a basic computer-generated beep going higher and lower in pitch. It's easy to do. It also happens to be similar to what it sounded like to listen to the first satellites. Satellites also had the Doppler effect modulating their pitch higher and lower. I'm guessing satellites could've been at least one of the inspirations for it.

[Olinser]

It wasn't a specific sound like it was something a real machine actually made when it was working, but it was a simulated sound meant to represent a computer 'calculating', and each beep is supposed to represent a calculation.

[JoshL]

specifically, the sound is created with a sample and hold LFO on the pitch a simple waveform. I'm not sure when synthesizers were first used in creating movie sound effects, rather than traditional foley (not that the tradition has been around all that long, relatively speaking, but going back to radio drama). I'd guess that would put it in the 50s at the earliest.