Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years? - Social Sound Design

Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-13T19:54:24Z

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if you could get me some hints on this topic:

Which sounds will be gone in a few years and which sounds are already gone from our planet? (Erveryday life, not films)

I know this site: http://www.savethesounds.info/ But I imagine that there are tons more.

Is it perhaps that only pretty "new sounds" are going to die, because of the fast pace of modern society and technical progress (Otto engine, Gameboy,...). Will "old sounds" stay because of their nostalgic or romantic value (horse carriage, pendulum clocks).

Answer by Rene for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-13T21:24:11Z

i'd say pre-70s technology sounds are an endangered species.

things like printing presses, tube televisions, rotary phones, dial up modems, film projectors, film cameras, etc.

Answer by Airborne Sound for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-13T22:31:42Z

Well, I'm not sure about a few years exactly, but I've always thought of this question in terms of wildlife. The first thing that comes to mind are species lost from environmental destruction.

One example: whale song is changing. One theory is that they can no longer communicate as they did because marine traffic overwhelms their language.

Bernie Krause writes about how noise pollution is making certain ambiences extinct as well. Great article about him here:

http://www.cntraveler.com/features/2012/01/The-Sound-of-Silence

Another similar one on the same topic, a great read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/magazine/is-silence-going-extinct.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I've also wondered how this applies to "heritage sounds," like traditional songs, singing, etc. As the world modernizes these sounds, and also the stories of cultures, seem to fade. Very expressive stuff and important to preserve! Even though it's not sound effects, I try to capture this stuff whenever I can so others can hear it and spread it along.

Answer by Joe Griffin for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-14T00:17:20Z

The odd other side of this is, many of those sounds are available in large quantities on commercial SFX libraries, and if you're like me and made major SFX library purchases in the late '90s that's the bulk of what you've got!

Answer by Nairn Beattie for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-14T09:51:54Z

The sound of children playing outside. Extremely endangered in many established countries.

Answer by Matt Glenn for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-14T17:27:20Z

To my great dismay: space shuttle launches. Supposedly one of the (if not THE) loudest man-made sounds. I know the Transformers 3 sound team was able to record the last launch—quite a priceless recording if you ask me. Of course NASA and private companies will be launching other forms of rockets for years. I doubt many would be able to tell the difference.

Cheers,
~Matt

Answer by laura sinnott for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-16T18:17:53Z

Fun question! True - you can find many of these sounds in sfx libraries. We have recordings of NASA space shuttle launches at Pro Sound Effects, and recently have been making 'sound a day' audio posts about sounds of endangered species.

www.prosoundeffects.com/blog/2012/09/sound-of-the-day-endangered-species-week

Answer by Shaun Farley for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-16T20:35:09Z

I miss being able to sit out in the woods and not hear any signs of human life beyond my own breathing. Can't really find that many places anymore.

Answer by David for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-24T12:37:23Z

This is probably a sound already in someone's library, but I remember my parent's old 50's era (or prior to that?) electric coffee percolator. When it is left to perc for 30 mins. to an hour (adding additional water here and there) it has quite a vocabulary.

Answer by SonicDesigns for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-25T08:03:01Z

Phone work ups. Now everyone uses a smart phone in films. flip phones, antennas, function beeps, and key clicks I can see being endangered. I feel like I haven't heard a wilhelm scream in ahwile either.

Answer by Bit Depth for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-25T09:58:43Z

On the technology front, when was the last time you heard a dot matrix printer? Same goes for a typewriter.

Answer by NoiseJockey for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-25T19:46:01Z

Some props will also become scarce over time; keeping typewriters functioning is getting challenging. I use my library of thick phone-book hits for all sorts of stuff, which also causes them to get duct-taped together and often nearly destroyed. What will I use when everyone stops publishing thick pulp softcovers? Resort to punching interns in the stomach?

Answer by christiancoriolis for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-25T21:31:57Z

Well, where I live (Denmark) I'm sure having a hard time capturing any kind of natural ambience completely free of man-made sounds. But it's a small country, densely populated, etc, so no wonder. In my part of the world, silence is definitely endangered.

Answer by georgi for Endangered Sounds: Which sounds will be gone in a few years?

2012-10-26T07:19:11Z

Vinyl crackle (replaced by smeared transients)
That sound when you change FM stations on a radio. The one when you change AM ones is so rarely heard today too..
The cascade transformer whine of CRT TVs..