Guess That Sound 2025: Youtube Channel Champs

Summary

Twenty Thousand Hertz – "Guess That Sound 2025: YouTube Channel Champs"

Release Date: December 17, 2025
Host: Dallas Taylor
Guests: Carlos Torres (Jeopardy Sound Mixer), Jake Hartsfield (Vulfpeck FOH Engineer), John Michael Hinton (Magician), Producer: Grace East

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Episode Overview

This festive edition of Twenty Thousand Hertz trades its usual deep dives into iconic sounds for the annual "Guess That Sound" mystery game show. Now renamed and in its sixth year, the holiday episode assembles three YouTube channel favorites—sound pros and a magician—to battle for the title of Maestro of Mystery Sounds. Over 18 rounds, they race to name everyday, obscure, or iconic noises, revealing stories behind them and sharing laughs, friendly trash talk, and surprising sound nerdery.

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Key Sections & Insights

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The Contestants & Format

[03:36–05:06]

• Who’s Playing:
  • Carlos Torres: Renowned production sound mixer (Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Vulfpeck shows).
  • Jake Hartsfield: Mixing engineer for live and studio music, FOH for Vulfpeck.
  • John Michael Hinton: Magician, twice fooled Penn & Teller, expert on sound in magic.
• How It Works:
  • 18 mystery sounds to guess.
  • Points: 3 (no hints), 2 (one hint), 1 (two hints), plus partials for close answers.
  • Winner gets a trophy shipped to their home.

Notable moment:
"Does that not feel... this is the first time that feels absolutely wrong that we don't have a buzzer. We literally have the production sound mixer of Jeopardy! on."
—Dallas Taylor [05:42]

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Game Highlights & Memorable Moments

Sound 1: Airplane Seatbelt Chime

[06:12–07:27]

• Answer: Two-tone airplane seatbelt chime.
• Story: Chime dates to at least 1978; frequencies and decay times were standardized.

*"The origin of these chimes is pretty murky... the earliest reference we could find was from a 1978 document listing the exact specs for how these tones should sound."
—Dallas Taylor [06:55]

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Sound 2: Spyglass Entertainment Logo

[07:48–09:39]

• Answer: Audio logo for Spyglass Entertainment (film production company for The Sixth Sense, Seabiscuit).
• Memorable riff:
  "It's the kid sitting on the moon!" – Carlos [08:10]
  "No, that's Dreamworks." – Dallas [08:13]

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Sound 3: Boomwhackers (Percussion Tubes)

[10:07–12:29]

• Discussion: Several guests recall seeing or playing them as kids.
• Fun Fact: Plastic tubes of varying sizes; name is a favorite.
• Quote:
  "Boomwhackers is an awesome name, isn't it?" —Jake [11:52]

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Sound 4: Black-footed Albatross (Bird Courtship)

[12:39–14:56]

• Answer: Courtship calls from Black-footed Albatrosses.
• Highlight:
  "I've never heard that combination of words together." – Carlos [15:00]
• Fact: These birds use brays, whistles, and bill clattering; referenced by Coleridge.

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Sound 5: Dig Dug Arcade Theme

[15:55–18:13]

• Answer: Dig Dug (Classic arcade game by Namco).
• Inside info: Melody was used in place of footsteps, due to limitations of gaming hardware.
• Contestant banter:
  "I'm curling my toes... I thought it was going to be fun." – Carlos [17:33]

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Other Notable Sounds & Stories

Game Show Wrong Answer Sound – Press Your Luck

[19:37–22:31]

• Answer: The “Whammy” sound from Press Your Luck.
• Fun story: Whammy character would dance, insult to injury when players lost money.

Appliance Melodies

[22:41–23:24]

• Answer: Instant Vortex air fryer “done” chime.
• Discussion: The popularity of upbeat appliance tunes.

Vintage Electronic Toys

[24:08–26:34]

• Answer: 1976 Mattel Auto Race (first fully electronic handheld game).
• Quote:
  "Oh, yeah, okay. Carlos, your prize if you win is us shipping you a Mattel Auto Race." —Grace [26:07]

Song Intros & Sonic Easter Eggs

• YYZ by Rush, intro in Morse code ([27:11–28:26])
• Pixar Lamp (Luxo Jr.) springs and bounce ([33:47–34:39])
• AOL Instant Messenger drop sound ([34:44–35:56])
• Flexatone percussion (as used in GTA: San Andreas theme) ([36:25–37:43])

Website Audio Logos

[39:20–40:46]

• Answer: Wikipedia’s official sonic logo (~2022 global contest).

Disneyland’s Star Tours Chime

[40:50–41:27]

• Answer: Chime plays before boarding, embedded in generations of Disney memories.

Animals & Memes

• Koala mating call:
  • Surprise: Gruff, deep bellow—completely opposite to the animal's cuddly image.
  • "Well, I wouldn't expect a koala to sound like that." – Jake [48:03]
• Australian Crosswalk signal:
  • Used in Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” ([44:47–45:19])
• Doom Imp Defeat sourced from camel vocalizations ([41:41–43:15])

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Scores & Winner

• Final Tally ([45:37–49:13]):
  • 1st: John Michael Hinton (13 points)
  • 2nd (tie): Carlos Torres & Jake Hartsfield

Winner’s Reaction:
"Oh, I cannot wait to put this next to my Fool Us trophy." – John [49:13]

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Notable Quotes

• "Does that not feel... absolutely wrong that we don’t have a buzzer? We have the production sound mixer of Jeopardy! on." – Dallas [05:42]
• "Boomwhackers is an awesome name, isn’t it?" – Jake [11:52]
• "I'm curling my toes... I thought it was going to be fun." – Carlos [17:33]
• "That’s the Whammy sound effect from the game show Press Your Luck. When a player lands on a Whammy space, this sound plays and they lose all the money they’ve earned so far." – Dallas [22:24]
• "Camels are beautiful animals, but they’re just like, meh." – Dallas [43:15]
• "Sounds like my neighbor." – Carlos, on the koala call [48:36]
• "Next time, less video game sounds and more like, cultural beat sounds." – Carlos [49:23]
• "Challenge accepted." – Dallas, when John revealed his Disney dominance [41:00]

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• [03:36] — Introduction of guests and rules
• [06:12] — Game begins (Sound 1, airplane chime)
• [10:07] — Sound 3: Boomwhackers
• [15:55] — Sound 5: Dig Dug
• [19:37] — Sound 6: Press Your Luck "Whammy"
• [24:08] — Sound 8: Mattel Auto Race game
• [27:11] — Sound 9: Rush "YYZ" intro
• [33:47] — Sound 10: Pixar Lamp
• [34:44] — Sound 11: AOL Messenger drop
• [36:25] — Sound 12: Flexatone
• [39:20] — Sound 14: Wikipedia sound logo
• [40:50] — Sound 15: Disneyland Star Tours Chime
• [43:55] — Sound 17: Australian crosswalk indicator (as sampled in Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”)
• [47:58] — Sound 18: Koala mating call
• [49:13] — Final scores and trophy awarded

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Tone & Style

The episode is playful and fast-paced, full of friendly ribbing (“Don’t disappear me, Carlos.”), deep sound trivia, and a dash of competitive spirit between audio pros. There’s frequent laughter, references to classic pop culture, and encouragement from Dallas and producer Grace as the guests struggle (and sometimes fail) to unearth obscure answers.

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Takeaways

• Even experts are often stumped by sound. The magic lies in the stories, not just correct guesses.
• Everyday noises have fascinating origins: airplane chimes, crosswalk beeps, appliance melodies, even video game “wrong answer” sounds.
• The process reveals both the science and the good humor of those who work with sound.

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See Also

• Guests’ Work:
  • Carlos Torres – Sound mixer breakdowns (YouTube/DallasTaylorMP3)
  • Jake Hartsfield – Live mixing with Vulfpeck (Red Rocks videos)
  • John Michael Hinton – Penn & Teller performances, sound in magic (johnmichaelhinton.com)

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Final Note

For sound lovers, nostalgia nerds, and casual listeners alike, this episode captures the quirky joy of sonic recognition—and the warmth of sharing it with others.

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Happy holidays from Twenty Thousand Hertz!

Transcript

[A]

Hey listeners. During the holidays, you'll hear lots of fundraising messages that try to pull on your heartstrings. It's the season of giving. We need your support. Donate to what you believe in, but supporting something you enjoy doesn't have to feel like charity. If you think about it, it's really a gift to you because it helps make sure that thing stays around so you can keep enjoying it. And that is 100% true for 20,000 Hertz I like to think of our show as a little beacon of joy in a dark world. We don't talk about politics, we're never negative or edgy. We just tell heartfelt, enlightening stories that help people appreciate the sounds around them. If you're hearing this right now, then that's probably something you really like getting. And if you want to keep getting it in 2026, the best way to make that happen is by signing up for our premium feed that supports us directly. As a bonus, you'll get the feed without any ads or promos with me asking you for money. And you will get the mystery sound. And starting in 2026, exciting news. You'll also get episodes three days early this holiday season. You deserve a present too. And that present is Ta Da. A fantastic podcast that brings you joy every time you put it on. Personally, I think that's totally worth five bucks a month, don't you? So take a moment right now to open your browser and type in 20K.org/plus. Signing up takes less than a minute and once you you'll get a link to access your ad free feed in your app of choice. If you're on Apple podcasts, you can also just pull up 20,000 Hz and tap subscribe. Give yourself the gift of more 20,000 Hz episodes. Again, that's20k.org/. Did you know that hobbits might have really existed? Well, not real hobbits, but an extinct species of small humans in Indonesia. I Learned this on CuriosityStream, the streaming service with thousands of documentaries. Did you know that Hitler planned a secret attack on New York? Or that NASA might build a base on Mars using mushrooms? It's all on CuriosityStream. Get it for yourself or as a last minute gift for a friend or relative. For 50% off. That's just $1.67 per month. To sign up, click the link in the show notes or visit curiositystream.com 20K. That's curiositystream.com 20000K. You're listening to 20000HZ. The stories behind the world's most iconic and fascinating sounds. I'm Dallas Taylor.

[B]

Hello and welcome to Guess that Sound, a sensational game show where players compete to become the maestro of the mystery sounds. The rules are simple. Each sound is worth up to three points and comes with two possible hints. If the correct answer is guessed without any hints, the player will earn three points. If one hint is given, the player will earn two points. And if two hints are given, the player will earn a single point. Now, here's your host, Dallas Taylor.

[A]

So thank you all for joining our annual mystery sound game, which we're now calling Guess that Sound. This is the sixth time we've done this. For the first four, we invited podcasters to play this game with us. Then last year we had a few audio professionals come in, and this year I thought it would be fun to invite some of the people that I followed around and recorded for the new video series that we launched over the summer. So we have Carlos Torres. He is the production sound mixer of Jeopardy. And has also worked on Wheel of Fortune, the Voice Key, and Peele Workaholics and many others. And he was the main guest on our very first YouTube video, breaking down the Sound of Jeopardy. We also have Jake Hartsfield, who is a mixing engineer of both studio and live music. He's the front of house engineer for my favorite band, Vulfpeck, and he's been on both the podcast and our YouTube channel, Breaking down how he mixes Vulfpeck shows.

[C]

Jake, I love your work, man.

[D]

Thanks, dude.

[C]

Wolfpeck is one of my favorite bands. I love him.

[D]

Oh, awesome.

[A]

And then finally we have John Michael Hinton. He is a world class magician who I just happen to become friends with. And he's one of the few magicians to fool Penn and Teller on their show, Fool Us. He's been on twice.

[D]

That's awesome.

[A]

And he and I are currently working on a video where John breaks down the role of sound in magic.

[C]

Cool.

[A]

And with that, I'll pass it over to our producer Grace to explain the rules.

[E]

Hey, everybody. We're so excited to have you here with us. So the way this is going to go down is we have 18 total mystery sounds that you'll have the chance to guess. And at the end, I'll add up everyone's score and we'll declare a winner.

[F]

And we get a trophy, right?

[E]

And you get yes. And a trophy will be.

[F]

I'm promised a trophy. That's why I'm here.

[E]

A trophy will be shipped directly to your home address.

[C]

Do we have a buzzer or a clicker? Or do we just, like, throw our answer and just go for it? And how about if we interrupt each other?

[D]

Just.

[E]

Just go for it.

[C]

Just go for it. Okay.

[E]

Yes.

[A]

Does that not feel. This is the first time that feels absolutely wrong that we don't have a buzzer. That we literally have the production sound mixer of Jeopardy. On.

[C]

Especially because John is a magician. I don't know what John is gonna do. He's gonna throw some spells on us. Like, he's gonna mute my throat. I won't be able.

[F]

We need, like, our own buzzer. Sounds like.

[E]

Beep, beep.

[B]

Sound number one.

[C]

Elevator.

[D]

Airplane.

[F]

No, you're right. Elevator.

[D]

We all sit at the same time.

[A]

We got one.

[C]

You can take off the. Take off your seat belts. You can get up on the plane.

[A]

I heard Jake say it. Jake, did I hear you say airline?

[D]

I said airline.

[A]

Oh, I think that's got to be.

[C]

But it's not as specific.

[D]

It wasn't as specific as part of.

[C]

It could be the door. It could be. I think we should give it to Jake. He did say airline.

[E]

First, here's what I propose. Carlos got it exactly right with no hint. So I feel like three points for Carlos. But, Jake, I do feel like you need an honorable one point for the genre, if you will.

[D]

Thank you. Thank you.

[A]

All right, so that is the two tone buckle your seatbelt chime that plays in most airplanes around the world. The origin of these chimes is pretty murky. The earliest reference to them we could find was from a 1978 document listing the exact specs for how these tones should sound from the frequencies of the two notes to the amount of time between the tones to the length of the decay.

[D]

Interesting.

[A]

Very proud of the airline industry on that one.

[C]

That's great.

[B]

Sound number two.

[C]

This is definitely a movie. A movie called Production Company. Sounds like a logo.

[A]

Yes.

[F]

That's what I thought, too. It's not Disney.

[C]

It's not Disney. It's not Warner Brothers.

[F]

Yeah. It's not Universal.

[D]

Is it Paramount?

[A]

No.

[C]

Is it the peacock?

[A]

It's not the peacock.

[C]

It's the kid sitting on the moon.

[D]

Dreamworks.

[A]

It is not Dreamworks.

[C]

Can we hear it one more time? I don't know, but I'm getting very nostalgic here. For some reason. It feels like something from the 80s touching a fiber. Yeah.

[F]

Or early 90s.

[A]

So I'll give you hint number one. It is a production logo for the company behind the Sixth Sense. And Shanghai Noon. And Bruce Almighty, apparently. And Seabiscuit.

[C]

Oh, God.

[F]

Sixth Sense production company.

[D]

Well, I got Google right here.

[C]

No, we cannot chat. Nobody can Google this. Or chat. Gtp, please.

[D]

Oh, no, I'm not. I'm not. Not touching my computer.

[A]

All right, we'll go to hint number two. This company is named after something that a pirate might carry.

[D]

Oh, Gold something.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Oh, wait a sec.

[F]

Doubloons.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I actually.

[E]

I'm claiming that name for my future film production company.

[D]

Doubloons.

[E]

No, Doubloons.

[D]

Oh, Doubloons.

[E]

I love it. It's too good.

[F]

That's from Jake in the Neverland Pirates.

[A]

All right, I'm gonna reveal this one. Cause this is hard.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

But this one is the audio logo for Spyglass Entertainment.

[C]

Oh, God. I would never have guessed that. Yeah.

[A]

So it's a production company that formed in 1998. The music was made by Randy Adelman, who composed the scores for movies like Ghostbusters 2, the Mask and Angels in the outfield.

[B]

Sound number three.

[C]

Sounds like the Blumen group.

[A]

Yeah.

[F]

It's PVC pipes. All Those videos on YouTube of the PVC pipes with the guy hitting it with the little smacker things.

[A]

It's very close.

[D]

Is this a trademark sound or just, like, a sound?

[A]

I'm not going to give this as a hint, Grace. So we're going to have all three still.

[E]

Okay.

[A]

But this is an instrument, specifically. That's what I'm looking for.

[D]

I should know what it is.

[C]

Oh, that's. Yeah. Like you say, it's a PVC xylophone or PVC marimba.

[A]

Could it be very close? You're circling it.

[D]

It's percussion, though. It's not a wind instrument.

[C]

No, it's a percussion for sure.

[A]

Grace, I'm gonna make a hint. So it really. If you have small children who are in, like, elementary school music, this is where you'd find this instrument. It's a recorder.

[C]

Tubes. Tubes. No tubes. Banging tubes.

[A]

Oh, that's. Yeah. Do you know what the name of that is, Carlos?

[C]

I don't know. I know Remo makes them for kids. It's just a plastic, colorful tube.

[F]

Yeah.

[E]

Oh, yeah. Yep.

[C]

And then you bang it on the floor. And then that's what the kids do. They just.

[A]

Okay, so I will say we could give some level of points for that. Unless someone else can just say the name of what it's actually called, which is really fun. It's a great name.

[C]

Bang a tube. No.

[D]

Right.

[A]

That's better.

[E]

I was just about to say. Someone pitch us the name of what you think it could be called.

[A]

So that is someone playing all of the different sizes of boom whackers. These are colorful plastic percussion tubes that produce a musical note when you hit them with your hand or against another surface. The smaller the size, the higher the note. And I've had boom whackers here at my house ever since my first was born.

[D]

Boom whackers.

[F]

Boom whackers is an awesome name, isn't it?

[C]

I love it. Yeah. Okay, But I thought the boom whacker was the director of photography. When the boom gets on the shot, he goes, what's the boom guy? I said, we call them boom walkers. Because he's like, you're on the shot.

[A]

Kupam.

[E]

Oh, my God. So, okay, I think. John, I think I'm gonna give you one point because you had, like, the tube percussion, right? So I think that was, like, an initial clue. And then, Carlos, I'm gonna give you two because you described everything about the exact instrument, so I think that's a fair split. Does that sound good to everybody?

[C]

Sounds good. I can settle for that.

[F]

I feel like that's gonna be my only point the entire show, but yay.

[A]

You know, everyone says that, and then they come back.

[E]

That's true.

[B]

Sound number four.

[A]

Woodpecker. No, dang.

[C]

It could be a frog, though.

[D]

Can you play it again?

[F]

Is the cow part of it or just giving you context?

[D]

I mean, I hear several things. Yeah, but is it an animal, like a woodpecker?

[A]

I feel like the specific answer we're going for is going to be just too hard. I would settle for just getting extremely close to what would make that sound. It is a animal.

[C]

I'll go with a ck. Or an insect. I'll go with an insect.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

I'm going to go with some kind of bird. If it's not a woodpecker, it's something that's doing something with a tree.

[F]

I definitely heard a cow. Okay.

[C]

I did hear something mooing at the end for sure.

[A]

So I'll do hint number one. This sound comes from a bird with three parts to its name. Here's a hint for the first part. What is the last name of the most serious character in Harry Potter?

[D]

Black. Serious Black.

[F]

Oh, serious black. I got you a black.

[D]

Birds have such weird names. It could be anything.

[E]

They do. I will say you are on the right track, though.

[A]

And here's a hint for the third part of the name. In golf, when you score three strokes under par, it's called a double eagle. It's also called a. Oh, I don't.

[F]

Know, can I just say, you just asked a bunch of artsy people to talk about sports.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, bocce ball is as far as we get.

[F]

I was like, birdie. I was like, it's a black birdie.

[A]

Like, okay, I'm going to reveal this and then I'm just going to leave it to Grace for points because that's not my department. So those sounds came from a pair of black footed albatrosses.

[C]

Oh, for the love of.

[A]

That. That was really hard.

[D]

There's no way I put this together.

[A]

I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus, but that was hard.

[C]

Oh, my. I've never heard that combination of words together.

[A]

So it's a species of sea birds that can be found across the northern Pacific. These two birds are doing a courtship display which involves a variety of brays, whistles, and bill clattering.

[E]

My other hint was going to be as obscure, which is that it's one of the birds in the rime of the Ancient Mariner poem from 1835.

[D]

I would not have gotten.

[F]

Oh, if it was from 1835, I would have known.

[E]

And then I was like, wait a second. No one knows what that is. So Jake's guess that it was a bird. I feel good about giving you a point.

[C]

Give it to Jake.

[B]

Sound number five.

[C]

Q. Bert.

[D]

That's a video game of some kind.

[C]

Qbert?

[A]

No. Same time frame, though.

[C]

Donkey Kong.

[A]

Nope.

[F]

Is it an arcade game?

[A]

I think it was, yes. I'll tell you, even for no point deduction that it was on multiple platforms.

[C]

Oh, in television, too?

[A]

Not television. Never had a movie adaptation either. Although it would be awesome.

[C]

No, I mean, there was a console called Intellivision. I don't know if you guys remember.

[A]

That'S what you meant.

[F]

Okay, yeah, that had Pong. That was my first gaming system.

[C]

Yeah, Intellivision was big. It was the competition of Atari.

[A]

You're like orbiting the same. It was after Pong because that was so early.

[F]

It's not Space Invaders.

[A]

It's in that kind of time zone. So here is hint. Because hint number one was it's a classic arcade game made by the company Namco. I don't think we need to deduct anything for that. Okay, hint number two is the game's name includes the present tense and past tense of the same verb.

[C]

Oh, that makes it so much easier.

[D]

Thank you.

[C]

My God. Just.

[D]

Oh. Mortal Kombat.

[A]

Very friendly. Mortal Kombat.

[F]

Finish him. Finish him.

[E]

Finish him if you want to.

[A]

It was the prequel before they had their differences that then led them into Mortal Kombat.

[C]

It's not Pac man, because Pac man came out later.

[A]

It's just kind of in that same world. It's just right on the fringe.

[C]

Just. I'm suffering. This is painful. I thought it was going to be fun. I'm curling my toes.

[D]

I'm sure the people listening are cringing.

[A]

That's kind of the thing about this whole show.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Sorry, guys. We were playing outside in the streets. Okay. We got kids in the blue. Sorry, you guys. Nerds.

[A]

I just love that there's going to be a handful of people out there yelling at their earbuds that it's a black footed albatross on that last one, I'm sure. So this one. That is the digging theme from the arcade game Dig Dug.

[C]

Ah, yes.

[D]

Didn't know that game.

[A]

During the game's development, composer Yuriko Keeno was asked to make a movement sound for the main character. Since she couldn't create a realistic sound using the game's hardware, she composed this loopable melody which starts and stops along with the player's movements. So at this point, I know we don't have lots of points, but this is our have grace check score moment of the show.

[E]

Yes. So on that last one, I do want to give out some partial points. So someone early on said arcade.

[F]

That was me.

[E]

Yeah. I think is this.

[C]

I say it's a video game. That's the first thing I said.

[E]

Yes. So in that case, I'm going to give a point to John and a point to Carlos.

[C]

Sorry, John.

[E]

You gotta share the points.

[C]

Don't disappear me, Carlos.

[E]

You mentioned Intellivision, which I think was a good guess because it was. There is a Dig Dug version that Intellivision made.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

So with that in mind, our scores thus far. In first place, with six points, we have Carlos. And tied for second place, we have Jake and John with two points each.

[F]

Oh, we're so coming back.

[E]

There's still time.

[D]

Oh, yeah, plenty of time. All right, I'm warmed up now. Let's do it. Let's go.

[B]

Sound number six.

[D]

Oh, is that it?

[A]

That's it.

[D]

I meant a synthesizer.

[C]

That's like a wrong sound. Like when I say something and my wife is like, man.

[A]

Do we need to edit that out?

[C]

Like, I invited John for lunch. Not. Not you John, just another John.

[F]

Oh, the other John.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Not you. No, no, you'll be like. More like.

[A]

All right, how about that sound again? Somebody should get this.

[D]

Yeah, play it again. Is it a game show sound?

[A]

Yes. You're going down the right track here, Jake.

[D]

It's like a wrong answer on a game show.

[A]

Correct.

[D]

Carlos, I feel like this is in your territory.

[C]

Yeah.

[F]

How does Carlos not already have this?

[A]

Yeah. This is a Carlos one.

[C]

Oh, no. I'm feeling pressure. Yeah.

[D]

It's not who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

[C]

Is it?

[A]

It is not. No.

[F]

Can a hint be like, what era this game show is?

[C]

That sounds like 80s. No.

[A]

Yes, it is. Back in the 80s. I think that they've done maybe an updated version.

[E]

They did.

[C]

It's not Family Feud, is it?

[E]

Nah.

[A]

I'm going to do a two word hint. Okay. Big Bucks.

[C]

Oh, the pyramid with Donny Osmond.

[A]

No. You're close, though. Okay, here's the three word hint of that same thing. Big Bucks. No.

[D]

What? No.

[C]

I don't know, guys.

[F]

No whammies.

[A]

There it is. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Really? Yes.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Yay.

[D]

Oh, it's a spin the wheel.

[A]

It's the whammy from Press yous Luck.

[C]

Oh, I've never heard. Guys, I was living in Mexico City watching shows, being dubbed in Spanish. Like, different strokes.

[A]

Okay, you are in for a treat because Press yous Luck was the most off the rails game show that I remember. It's a brutal game and they would lose a bunch of money and it would, like, insult to injury with this little mascot. Red creature would come out with a yellow cape and a money sign in his chest and just like take away all their money. It's. I don't even know if you could get away with it now because it's just so mean. All right, here's the reveal. That's the whammy sound effect from the game show Press youh Luck. When a player lands on a whammy space, this sound plays and they lose all the money they've earned so far. Then they play a short animation featuring a mischievous whammy character. Here's one where the whammy skateboards into a tree.

[B]

Sound number seven.

[D]

Is that from a scene in a movie?

[E]

It is not.

[C]

Well, there's a lot of vacuum sound there, so.

[E]

Okay, that's closer.

[A]

I feel like I just need to say without any point deduction that this is a home appliance of some sort.

[C]

Dishwasher. That is finished.

[A]

That's a good guess, but that is a good guess.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Washing machine sound.

[A]

It's kind of like an appliance that has become all the rage lately.

[E]

Yes.

[A]

An air fryer.

[C]

What?

[A]

There it is. Yeah. Let me just call that a ding, ding, ding. No one's Going to get the actual name brand of that.

[C]

Okay, let me ask. Does anybody here own an air fryer?

[A]

I do.

[F]

Me.

[E]

I do.

[F]

I love it. It's the best thing in the world.

[E]

It's the best. I. Oh, really?

[A]

So that's the chime of an Instant Vortex air fryer when the food is ready. Like many modern appliance companies, Instant now uses upbeat melodies instead of simple beeps. But as far as we can tell, this little tune is an original composition, not an existing melody like the other brands.

[F]

We being sponsored by Instant Vortex.

[E]

This episode is brought to you by Instant Vortex 20K.

[B]

Sound number eight.

[D]

Oh, my gosh. What is that? There's like a toy. It's not a toy, like laser gun thing.

[F]

It's not a fax machine, but something kind of like that.

[A]

I will give 87 points to anyone who gets this right right now because this is so hard.

[C]

Is it a massage handheld machine you play.

[D]

Sounds like a cassette player, like reversing or going forward. But then the sound at the end is confusing.

[C]

No, that's something wine that can end like a razor. Like an electric racer.

[E]

I think Jake was closest with toy.

[A]

I feel like what we should do is go ahead and reveal this and consider doing a pickup that we only have like 16 of these because this is way too oppressively hard. I just want you all to react to what I'm about to say. Here's the reveal. Those sounds came from a 1976 Mattel game called Auto Race.

[C]

I do remember that game.

[A]

Oh, wait, you do? I do.

[C]

They were the best. They were like little handheld. They had the football, they had the soccer one, they had the base, and they had the car one. Fantastic machines. I remember. Yeah.

[A]

Auto Race is considered the first fully electronic handheld game, meaning it had no mechanical components other than the controls. In the game. The cars are represented by red lights that flash by as you avoid collisions and try to earn a high score.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

And for the sound, you get some good old fashioned beeps.

[D]

Was it black with red lights? Are you looking at a picture of it?

[C]

They were white, like cream white.

[D]

Is it a circle and the lights go in the circle?

[C]

No, it was like a big calculator.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

And the display was just little lines. And you will just. With three, four arrows, you will move the lines. And you had like three, four more lines coming your way. And you had to imagine that was a car.

[D]

Okay.

[E]

Carlos remembers this perfectly. I just want everyone to know that's very impressive.

[C]

I always wanted it one.

[E]

Oh, yeah. Okay. Carlos Your prize if you win is us shipping you a Mattel Auto.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Wait a second. Have you checked ebay prices before we.

[F]

Spend all of our money on trophies?

[E]

It's a hundred thousand dollars. I'm just kidding.

[A]

I love how everyone's promising all kinds of stuff and I'm like, wait a second. This all comes out of my pocket.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So I get three points for nostat. For knowledge.

[E]

Yeah. I think we have to go zero across the board since we did earlier.

[D]

Oh, do I get one point because it was a toy?

[E]

Well, you know. Okay, I'm feeling generous if we give Jake the point for toy, I feel like we have to give Carlos the post reveal point for describing the toy perfectly.

[F]

But then I also should get a point because I was listening.

[C]

No, John, you're ahead. You're fine. Don't be greedy.

[A]

Let's suit you.

[B]

Sound number nine.

[C]

That's pretty good rhythm.

[D]

Is this like a recorded thing? Is this an instrument?

[A]

No, I'm gonna say this is the start of a song.

[C]

Oh, well, that sounds like bottles. Water bottles. That could be played by Shi Lai in one of Michael Jackson's tracks.

[D]

Water bottles.

[C]

Yeah. It could be like little Perriere. Little bottles with different.

[D]

Oh, glass bottles.

[A]

Glass bottles.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So this is going to be something that a lot of people are yelling at us to get. I am certain.

[D]

Is this a Christmas song?

[A]

Oh, they're just not gonna like that, what you're saying right now.

[C]

No, it's not Christmas at all.

[F]

No, it's like Megadeth.

[A]

Let's go with hint number one. It's a song from a Canadian rock band. If that does anything for you. That did not do anything for anyone. So I'm gonna go to hint number two, which is the song's title. Consists of three letters.

[D]

Oh, no.

[A]

That was so awful. I'm ready to reveal this. That's the start of the song YYZ by the Prague rock band Rush.

[C]

No way. That's Neil Pert.

[A]

Rush is from Toronto. And the ringing bells in the intro spell out the letters YYZ in Morse code, which is the airport code for the Toronto International Airport. All right, so we're halfway through. How are we on the score, Grace?

[E]

Yeah. So Carlos and John are tied for first with seven points each. Jake is in second with three points. But there's still plenty of time to catch up.

[D]

I feel like I need one of those magic cards from Candy Land where I just jump ahead.

[E]

Just skip ahead.

[B]

It's a close game, but who will take home the trophy we'll find out after a word from our sponsor.

[A]

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[C]

Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.

[A]

And here's this episode's mystery sound. If you know that sound, submit your guess at the web address mystery.2000. Anyone who guesses it right will be entered to win a super soft 20,000 Hz T shirt. Cooking a nice meal on a busy weekday can feel like a lot of work, but with HelloFresh you get chef crafted meals with pre portioned ingredients delivered right to your door. Recently, HelloFresh doubled its menu. Now you can choose from 100 options each week, including new seasonal dishes and recipes from around the world. They have everything from high protein and veggie packed recipes to juicy steak and fresh seafood. The meals are delicious, convenient and 91% of customers say they feel healthier eating with HelloFresh. The recipes are easy to follow and a great way to gain confidence in the kitchen. The best way to cook just got better. Go to hellofresh.comtth10fmnow to get 10 free meals plus a free breakfast for life, one per box with an active subscription. Free meals are applied as a Discount on the first box for new subscribers only and vary by plan. That's hellofresh.comtth10fm to get 10 free meals plus free breakfast for life. Shopping for eyeglasses can be tough. It's something you wear every day, so you want to make sure to get it right. That's where Warby Parker comes in. They have hundreds of stylish options in every shape and color. They also offer sunglasses, contact lenses and even eye exams at their brick and mortar stores. I especially love the virtual try on feature which uses your phone or computer camera to let you see what a pair will look like on your face. It's not a static photo. You can actually move around and see yourself from different angles. Best of all, they're very reasonably priced. Glasses start at $95 and include prescription lenses with anti reflective scratch resistant coatings. You can also save 15% when you buy two pairs or more. Warby Parker has over 300 locations to help you find your next pair of glasses. You can also head over to warbyparker.comhertz right now to try on any pair virtually. That's warbyparker.comhertz warbyparker.comherz.

[B]

Sound number 10.

[F]

Oh, this is on Pixar.

[A]

This is Pixar lamp. Ding, ding, ding.

[D]

Oh yeah, it's the lamp.

[A]

That's it.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

John's taken over again. Okay, so that is The Pixar lamp, aka Luxo Jr. Jumping on top of the letter I in the iconic Pixar opening sequence.

[C]

I'm impressed.

[A]

That animation actually came from a short film that Pixar made back in 1986 where a cute little lamp hops around on a desk while its parent lamp watches. The sounds were created by legendary sound designer Gary Rydstrom who recorded the springs of real lamps and and the squeaks of light bulbs being screwed in and out of sockets. Many of these original sounds were reused for the Pixar animation we all know today.

[B]

Sound number 11.

[F]

Water droplets.

[C]

Yes, that's a PC sound. I think that's like from PC. Could it be the clip animation of the PC?

[A]

I think you're orbiting here.

[E]

Yeah, good deduction for sure.

[A]

Circling it.

[D]

Is it the volume up or down?

[A]

So it is a sound from the early days of the Internet.

[D]

Oh, is it an imessage? I mean, sorry, an instant message?

[A]

I mean.

[E]

Yeah, I think that's enough.

[A]

You think so?

[D]

Like you got mail or someone coming online in America.

[A]

Ding, ding, ding. There we go. America Online instant messaging.

[E]

I think that's enough.

[A]

There we go.

[E]

Yep.

[A]

So that's a sound called drop from AOL Instant Messenger. Back in the days of AOL chat rooms, you could make everyone's computer play a sound effect by typing a curly bracket the letter S and the name of the sound. Needless to say, some people would spam this function so the whole chat room would be flooded with drop sounds. How are you gonna do with points on that? I love how just Jake kind of fell into it.

[F]

That's all Jake.

[C]

That's all Jake, dude.

[E]

I agree. I think Jake gets the full three.

[F]

He needs them.

[E]

He's back, baby.

[C]

He's catching up. Be careful.

[D]

What is that, a 6? 7. The score right now?

[E]

I'm too old to really know what that means, but yeah, it is.

[D]

I'm too old to actually know what it means either.

[A]

I have kids, and apparently it means nothing, but I don'.

[B]

Sound number 12.

[C]

It's a flexitone.

[A]

That's it. Ding, ding, ding.

[C]

All right.

[D]

Good one.

[A]

Yep.

[E]

Incredible.

[C]

I'm coming to get you, John.

[D]

Oh, you're tied. Yeah, Carlos.

[A]

Because of how confident you were. Do you want to describe what a flexitone is?

[C]

A flexatone is a metal plate that creates that sound by two little red balls that hit the plate as you shake it, and you can actually curve and manipulate the plate and it creates that modulation. I don't know who came up with that. It's probably an accident. Like a fried wonton.

[F]

Like a fried wong ton.

[E]

Incredible.

[C]

You know what I mean? Like, the guy dropped it on the fry pan and like, oh, this is pretty good, actually.

[A]

You can fry anything.

[C]

You can fry it. Oh, go back to the frying.

[A]

Okay. I don't need to reveal that because I think Carlos did a great job.

[E]

But it was perfect.

[A]

Here is a flexitone in the theme song of Grand Theft San Andreas.

[C]

Awesome.

[B]

Sound number 13.

[A]

Okay. Sound number 13 is another one of those. You know, there's gonna be somebody in the audience that knows it, but there's, like, one.

[D]

It's another bird.

[A]

True grace. We need to have a mystery sound game show with people who are bird experts and do all the birds all at once.

[E]

Okay. Wait.

[A]

And then just see how spicy that would be.

[E]

I love this idea.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

We gotta remember that that's a whole, like, niche.

[A]

Okay. Does anybody know birds here? Anybody?

[D]

Nope.

[A]

Okay. No one's gonna get this unless you feel very strongly about thinking about it. But I can go ahead and reveal it.

[D]

A red bellied wingledopper.

[A]

That's so close. But what's this.

[E]

You know what? Yeah. It's not that far off.

[A]

Okay. That squeak comes from a bird called the cl. Club winged mannequin. But that sound isn't coming from inside its body. It's coming from the vibration of its feathers. To create that tone, their wings vibrate at more than 100 cycles per second, which is twice the speed of hummingbirds.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

While many insects do something similar, this is the only known bird species that does this.

[C]

Fascinating.

[F]

Can you say that again? Now that I know all that? That was amazing.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Okay, that's wings flapping. That's pretty awesome. Yeah, that's amazing.

[B]

Sound number 14.

[D]

Oh, man.

[C]

I have no idea.

[F]

Definitely a logo.

[A]

It is a Sonic logo. This might be one that you want to start extracting. What's in it? What could it be?

[C]

It's like pages.

[D]

Can you play it again?

[C]

Something flipping. No. I don't think I've ever heard it, to be honest.

[A]

Okay, so it is a Sonic logo for a website. You probably didn't know how to. Sonic logo.

[D]

Wikipedia.

[A]

There you go.

[F]

It's Wikipedia.

[A]

That's Wikipedia.

[C]

Wow. I've never heard that.

[E]

Well done.

[A]

I was actually gonna say it actually has Wikipedia in it.

[F]

When do they play this song?

[A]

I've never heard it.

[C]

Me neither.

[A]

I'm about to find out on this reveal. That is the official Sonic logo of Wikimedia, the organization behind Wikipedia. To find this sound, Wikimedia held a global competition in 2022. They received more than 3,000 submissions from 135 countries. And here is a quick montage of the finalists.

[B]

Sound number 15.

[F]

Oh, that's star Tours.

[A]

That's it. Ding, ding, ding. I figured John would get this.

[F]

I'm like the biggest Disney nut in the world, so that's not fair.

[A]

Challenge accepted.

[F]

Let's go.

[A]

So that chime comes from the Star Tours ride at Disneyland. It's a Star wars themed attraction that was first built in 1987, long before Disney bought Lucasfilm. The chime plays before boarding announcements like this.

[E]

Attention, please.

[A]

Star Tours Flight 1119 nonstop service to Endor is now ready for boarding at gate number one.

[F]

For the record, you didn't need to play all of her voice because I heard it in my head as soon as you played it.

[B]

Sound number 16.

[C]

Ooh.

[A]

What?

[C]

That's a walrus.

[F]

That's not the Wookiee.

[D]

No, that was so short. Can you play it again? Is it a bear of some kind?

[C]

It could be an elephant too.

[F]

Is it from Star Wars?

[A]

This sound comes from a PC game.

[D]

Oh, PC game. Oh, man. What year was the game?

[A]

Early PC game. One of the originals, I believe.

[F]

It's not like Prince of Persia or whatever. They didn't have sounds.

[C]

I had no idea. I'm not a gamer, to be honest.

[A]

Okay, so over the years, innovative programmers have gotten this game to run on everything from an atmosphere to a smart refrigerator to a printer.

[F]

Smart refrigerator. That's where I want to stand and play a game.

[D]

But it's a PC game.

[A]

Yeah, it's something that's in the PC game. I would even take the game.

[D]

Oh, gosh. If we talk about PC games, I'm a rollercoaster tycoon gamer.

[F]

Oh, I love that game.

[D]

This seems like it's earlier than that. I don't know.

[A]

I'll go ahead and reveal it. So that's the sound of an imp being defeated in the original Doom game. That sound effect is from a Lucasfilm sound library and a set of camel vocalizations. Here are a few more. Camels just make me so sad. I mean, camels are beautiful animals, but they're just like, meh.

[C]

Oh, they're grumpy. You guys ever been on a camel trip?

[A]

I have not, actually.

[C]

No. And then when they're running back home, you get destroyed with their galloping, if you know what I mean.

[A]

Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. Okay.

[F]

Carlos is the best comments.

[C]

I know it's true. I'm talking the truth.

[B]

Sound number 17.

[D]

Oh, that went on longer than I thought it was.

[C]

Yeah, I thought it was a sprinkler, but it's not. No, that's electronic. It's when something gets stuck. No.

[D]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. It's get sounds like something that. Can we play it again?

[A]

Who started verbalizing a song?

[E]

A beat?

[C]

Yeah, Yeah, I did. I put it on top. Let's make a song.

[A]

Oh, that's such a smart thing to do.

[C]

I have no idea.

[D]

Is it a toy or a game?

[A]

Well, I'll give a hint. I just got back from Australia and I heard it everywhere.

[C]

Really?

[A]

Wow.

[D]

In Australia?

[A]

Yeah, go ahead and play that again. I heard it everywhere in the city.

[C]

Is that the.

[D]

Oh, hold on. It's an ADA crosswalk sound.

[A]

Ding, ding. That's exactly what it is. So that is the sound of a crosswalk sign in Sydney, Australia. But I heard them all over the place really changing from don't walk to walk. At one point, Billie Eilish and Phineas visited Sidney and heard that sound. They liked the sound of it, so they recorded it on a phone and sampled it. In Billy's Song, Bad guy. Here's Phineas.

[D]

The issue is, if you play that unaltered, it's not the right speed.

[A]

Basically, like, put it into a quantized bar section and then put sampled on it so it was wider and then it became. All right, we are down to one last sound. So, Grace, where are we with the scores?

[E]

For sure. So I gave Jake two points for that because we gave everyone Australia, but He nailed the 88 crosswalk, so we are truly neck and neck here, folks. Carlos is in third with 10 points, Jake is in second place with 11, and John is in the lead with 13.

[B]

Let's go.

[D]

It's anybody's game. It's anybody's game.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Should the last one be worth four points?

[F]

No, it should be worth a half a point. No, like, Jeopardy.

[B]

Sound number 18.

[D]

A hog.

[F]

I feel like it's some sort of dog.

[C]

No, no, that's. Is that a walrus again?

[D]

No, it sounds like a wild animal.

[F]

Maybe, I don't know, a bulldog trying to get something out of its throat. That's what it sounded like to me.

[C]

Maybe a weird canary. No. Right.

[A]

Here's a hint that we don't even have to use for points, but right now, there's a whole country yelling at their phones right now.

[D]

Guinea. A guinea pig. Wait, is the name of the country in the name of the animal?

[F]

Turkey.

[A]

I'm sorry.

[F]

That's the only country I knew that had it named after an animal.

[E]

I love where your mind went. That's great.

[C]

A pig.

[A]

No.

[C]

Is it edible?

[A]

Is it edible? I mean, I'm sure you could eat anything. It just depends on what the outcome would be.

[C]

If you put it in deep fryer, it's gonna be awesome.

[F]

The vortex air fryer.

[C]

The vortex air fryer.

[A]

This is not good for the people who know this sound. Oh, no. Okay, so this creature often sleeps 18 to 20 hours a day.

[F]

Sloth.

[A]

You're awfully close. You're kind of close.

[E]

I don't want to offend anybody. Sloth is the closest we've gotten.

[C]

Ooh.

[F]

Pawesome.

[A]

And this thing comes from the same part of the world as the last sound.

[D]

Oh, okay. A wallaby.

[A]

No. So close.

[D]

Kangaroo. Wallaby. What else is over there?

[C]

Ooh, marsupials. A koala bear.

[A]

There you go. Ding, ding, ding. And it's up to.

[D]

Well, I wouldn't expect a koala to sound like that.

[A]

Me neither. I know those freaky sounds were actually made by a koala. Koalas have an extra set of vocal folds outside of their larynx, which allows them to create those deep bellows and grunts. These noises are mainly used by male koalas as a mating call and also in altercations with other males.

[C]

Sounds like my neighbor. Great. So am I up to speed with John and Jake, or do we have to do a mano? A mano?

[F]

No, because he had to have way too many hints. He got one point for that.

[E]

Yeah, he did get. I did get a 5.1.

[F]

There was lots of hints.

[C]

Come on, you guys. Don't give me tariffs.

[A]

You remember, Grace is the bad guy, not me.

[E]

So the good news is that we had no true loser because there was a tie for second place. All right, so second place tie goes to Carlos and Jake, which makes John our winner with 13 points.

[F]

Oh, I cannot wait to put this next to my fooless trophy.

[A]

Oh, my goodness.

[D]

Congratulations. Congratulations.

[E]

Amazing job.

[A]

Well, this was so fun. Thank you all for doing this.

[C]

I love it. I think next time less video game sounds and more like, cultural beat sounds.

[A]

What we're actually gonna do is we're gonna get a bunch of people who are bird experts on and just play them. Video game sounds. 20,000 Hz is produced by my sound agency, Defacto Sound. Find out [e-mail] or by following Defacto Sound on Instagram. This episode was written and produced by.

[E]

Casey Emerling with help from Grace East.

[A]

It was sound designed and mixed by.

[B]

Colin Devarney with a game show announcer voice by Casey Emerling.

[A]

Thanks to our guests, Carlos Torres, Jake Hartsfield, and John Michael Hinton. To see the videos of me following Carlos at Jeopardy. And Jake at Red Rock's mixing Vulfpeck, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Dallas Taylor MP3. You'll also find short videos on Instagram and TikTok under that same name. And sometime down the road, there will be a video of me following around John. But in the meantime, follow him on Instagram under his name, John Michael Hinton. Also, there's two great videos of him performing for Penn and teller on YouTube, one of which, spoiler alert, he actually fools them. I highly recommend looking that up. And John actually travels the world performing magic for all kinds of big audiences. So if you'd like to book him, which you should, visit johnmichaelhenton.com I'm Dallas Taylor, and from everyone here at 20,000 Hertz, happy holidays and thanks for listening, 2026 is almost here, and many of us, including myself, want to work on healthier habits next year. So instead of doom scrolling. Why not explore the fascinating documentaries on CuriosityStream? Visit CuriosityStream.com 20K for 50% off your subscription. Give yourself the mental healthcare you deserve with Rula. To find a therapist, visit rula.com 20k skip the junk food and get delicious meals delivered right to your door with HelloFresh. Go to hellofresh.comtth10fm for 10 free meals plus free breakfast for life. Update that old eyeglass prescription and get yourself a stylish new pair of [e-mail] Hertz support us by supporting our sponsors. All of these links are in the show Notes. Thanks.