A Wavetable Effect: A Lightsaber
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (Hollywood), a sound designer named Ben Burtt created the iconic sound of the lightsaber for the first Star Wars film.[14] That humming, buzzing sound is instantly recognizable, and the electric crackle of two lightsabers in close contact lent an extreme, visceral tension to those saber battle scenes.
Lightsabers don’t exist, but onscreen they sounded exactly as you’d think they should, which made them completely believable. That’s excellent sound design. No one could accuse us of setting our sights low by taking on the sound of the lightsaber; it’s our last stand-alone sound effect before we turn to creating effects for specific platforms.
There’s a lot going on with ...
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