Sound Pro Smackdown!

Summary

Twenty Thousand Hertz: Sound Pro Smackdown! Episode Summary

Introduction In the "Sound Pro Smackdown!" episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz, host Dallas Taylor invites listeners to witness an exhilarating edition of the annual Mystery Sound Challenge. Released on December 4, 2024, this episode delves deep into the intricate world of sound design, featuring three esteemed professionals competing to identify a series of enigmatic sounds.

Meet the Contestants Dallas welcomes three distinguished guests from the professional audio realm:

1. Austin Olivia Kendrick – A seasoned dialogue and ADR editor with credits on Barry, Star Discovery, and Transformers EarthSpark.
2. Mike James Gallagher – A renowned sound designer known for his work on The Al Yankovic Story, Netflix's Song Exploder, and the documentary Lucy and Desi.
3. Zachary Quarles – A prolific sound designer in the video game industry, contributing to iconic titles like Fortnite, God of War, and Quake.

Producer Grace East joins as the Scorekeeper, overseeing the scoring system throughout the competition.

The Mystery Sound Challenge: Rules Grace East outlines the competition framework:

• Each sound presented can earn up to three points.
• 3 Points: Correctly identifying the sound without any hints.
• 2 Points: Correct identification after one hint.
• 1 Point: Correct identification after two hints.

The objective is straightforward: identify as many mystery sounds as possible to emerge as the Ultimate Mystery Sound Champion.

Sound Round Highlights

Sound Number One [04:03]

• Sound Played: An unfamiliar roar.
• Contestant Reactions:
  • Unnamed Contestant 2: "Is this starting at maximum difficulty?"
  • Austin Olivia Kendrick: "It's deep. You gotta dig deep."
• Hints Provided:
  • Hint 1: "This is a scene from an iconic 80s movie."
  • Hint 2: "The creature in this scene is known for his appetite, but not for his table manners."
• Guess: Zachary Quarles correctly identifies the sound as Slimer from Ghostbusters.
• Reveal:
  • The roar was sourced from a 1977 BBC Sound Effects record titled Mad Ape.

Notable Quote:

Austin Olivia Kendrick [07:00]: "Slimer's roar comes from a 1977 record called BBC Sound Effects Number 13, Death and Horror."

Sound Number Two [07:02]

• Sound Played: A distinct chime.
• Contestant Reactions:
  • Unnamed Contestant 2: "I know this."
• Guess: Quickly identified as the opening door chime for Family Mart, a Japanese convenience store chain.
• Reveal:
  • Composed in 1978 by Yasushi Inada, this chime is a staple in Family Mart stores.

Sound Number Three [08:47]

• Sound Played: Unique vocal sounds.
• Contestant Reactions:
  • Unnamed Contestant 2: "I would like to take a guess."
• Hints Provided:
  • Hint 1: "It's an instrument made out of wood."
  • Hint 2: "Rhymes with an existing reed instrument."
• Guess: Unanimously identified as the Daxophone.
• Reveal:
  • The Daxophone, invented by Hans Reichel, produces eerie, vocal-like tones through a vibrating wooden tongue and cello bow.

Notable Quote:

Austin Olivia Kendrick [14:16]: "The Daxophone involves a vibrating wooden tongue, a cello bow, and a curved block of wood called a Dax."

Sound Number Five [12:33]

• Sound Played: A sheep-like noise.
• Contestant Struggles:
  • Multiple incorrect guesses led Austin to reveal it as the render failure sound from Adobe After Effects, created by a sound designer's mother.

Sound Number Eight [18:44]

• Sound Played: Alien language sounds.
• Contestant Reactions:
  • Unnamed Contestant 1: "Is that the aliens from Arrival?"
• Reveal:
  • The intricate sounds were crafted by blending exotic bird calls with instruments like didgeridoos and bagpipes.

Sound Number Thirteen [32:34]

• Sound Played: An ambiguous notification sound.
• Guess: After numerous attempts and hints, it was identified as the iconic jingle from Castle Rock production company, composed by Mark Shaiman.

Sound Number Seventeen [42:46]

• Sound Played: The voice of a snow creature.
• Guess: Quickly recognized as the Tauntaun from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
• Reveal:
  • Created by pitching down recordings of an Asian sea otter, voiced by Bill Hader for comedic effect on Conan O'Brien.

Competition Dynamics Throughout the challenge, Mike James Gallagher exhibited a strong lead with consistent correct answers, accumulating 14 points by the midpoint. However, Zachary Quarles made a remarkable resurgence towards the end, nearly overtaking Mike with strategic guesses and insightful deductions.

Mid-Challenge Score Update [15:01]:

Grace East: "Mike is still in the lead with seven points. After those two direct pulls, Family Mart and the Willow Ptarmigan. In second place, we've got Austin with three. And in last place now, but there's still plenty of time, we have Zach with one point."

Final Sounds and Winner Announcement As the competition progressed to its final sounds, the tension mounted. Austin's extensive knowledge and Zachary's rapid point accumulation brought them neck-and-neck with Mike James Gallagher. Ultimately, Mike maintained his lead and was declared the Ultimate Mystery Sound Champion with a final score of 14 points, followed closely by Zachary and Austin.

Final Score Reveal [43:31]:

Grace East: "Mike is still in the lead with 14, Zach has pulled into second with eight, and Austin is a very close third with seven."

Conclusion The "Sound Pro Smackdown!" episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz showcased the depth of expertise among professional sound designers. Through a series of challenging and diverse sounds, listeners were treated to fascinating insights into the art and science of sound design. The competitive yet friendly atmosphere highlighted the intricate processes behind creating memorable auditory experiences in media.

Notable Closing Quote:

Austin Olivia Kendrick [46:07]: "Incredible. And I curated the three of you into this, knowing how good this would be, so thank you."

Listeners are encouraged to revisit older episodes during the holiday break and stay tuned for new content in January. The episode not only entertained but also educated, reaffirming the podcast's mission to illuminate the joy and complexity of our sense of hearing.

Transcript

[Dallas Taylor]

At 20,000 hertz. Our mission is to tell joy filled stories that help people appreciate our amazing sense of hearing. At this point we have over 200 episodes about almost any sound related topic you can think of. And if you or someone you know works in podcasting or public radio, I want to offer up our episodes to play on your feed or on your station for free. We have the audio splits for every episode which will make them easy to cut down, edit and repurpose however you want. Every episode is also evergreen, which means they're always relevant and it's all upbeat, family friendly and inclusive. So if you'd like to help us spread the joy of sound or if you just have some space on your schedule that needs filling, then send me an [e-mail] again that's dallas20k.org during the holidays it can be hard to stay healthy, but while you're enjoying all of that tasty food and trying to avoid catching a cold, you can stay on top of your health with zocdoc. Zocdoc zocdoc is a free app and website where you can find and book high quality in network doctors instantly. With over 100,000 providers across every specialty, you can get appointments within 24 to 72 hours or even the same day. Visit Zocdoc.com 20K to book your top rated doctor today. That's Zocdoc.com 2 0K. You're listening to 20,000 Hz. I'm Dallas Taylor. As our longtime listeners know, every year we end the year with a special Mystery Sound game show episode. In the past, we've invited some of our favorite podcasters to come on the show and guess these sounds. But this year I decided to invite a few of my friends from the world of professional audio. The first guest is dialogue and ADR editor Austin Olivia Kendrick. Austin's credits include Barry, Star Discovery and the Transformers EarthSpark series. Our second guest is sound designer Mike James Gallagher. Mike sound designed the hilarious movie the Al Yankovic Story. He's also worked on the Netflix song Exploder show and the documentary Lucy and Desi. Our third guest is sound designer Zachary Quarles, who mainly works in video games. Zach has worked on legendary games like Fortnite, God of War, Quake, and many, many more. You'll also hear our producer Grace east as the Scorekeeper. So without further ado, crank up the volume and get ready to play.

[Grace East]

Welcome to the 5th annual 20,000 Hz Mystery Sound Challenge. In this heated competition, three opponents will compete to become the Ultimate Mystery Sound Champion. The rules are simple. Each sound has a maximum score of three points. If the correct answer is guessed without any hints, the guesser will earn all three. If one hint is given, the guesser will receive two points. And if two hints are given, the guesser will earn just a single point. Three players will enter. Only one will emerge victorious. Now, here's your host, Dallas Taylor.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Okay, so intro, intro, intro, intro, intro, intro. So now let's turn it over to Grace to introduce herself.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Well, welcome everyone. It's a joy to have you with us. Any questions about our scorekeeping or how it's going to work?

[Zachary Quarles]

Is there a negative.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Like Jeopardy?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I'm gonna bet all my points immediately.

[Mike James Gallagher]

There are no consequences for guessing just about anything.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No consequences. And Grace is also negotiable with her points.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I'm negotiable.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

And so if you just don't feel like it's fair, we'll probably.

[Zachary Quarles]

What do you think, about 12 points for this?

[Mike James Gallagher]

You know.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

All right, are we ready to go?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Ready to do my best. I make no other promises.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Let's get zeros.

[Grace East]

Sound number one.

[Zachary Quarles]

Wow.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is this starting at maximum difficulty?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

They're all gonna be a little, you know, this is the sound Designer mystery game, so it's gonna be a little challenging.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

All right, all right.

[Zachary Quarles]

I feel like I know this.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Yeah, it's deep. You gotta dig deep.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I have terrible memory. Oh, no.

[Mike James Gallagher]

You can always ask for hints too. We can agree as a group if we're ready for hint one.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm probably gonna be requesting a lot of hints.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Feel free to turn me down again. I'm a dialogue editor. You're guessing these three sounds.

[Zachary Quarles]

That was all dialogue.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Awesome.

[Dallas Taylor]

That is true.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

And I'm still lost. Okay, great. Awesome.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Okay, hint one. Okay, hint one is this is a scene from a iconic 80s movie.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay, 80s.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Okay. That completely shifts the frame of reference.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Kind of sounded like animation at first.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can I hear it one more time?

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, man. What is this?

[Mike James Gallagher]

I will say too. I feel like animation was like half right.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That is true. Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, oh, oh, that's funny.

[Zachary Quarles]

Well then like a. Ah, yeah, like perhaps like a stop motion or claymation.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Scenario or a Roger Rabbit type situation.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I'll go ahead and go with hint number two. Okay, which is the creature in this scene is known for his appetite, but not for his table manners. This green creature is.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, oh, it's Ghostbusters. Yep. Yep. There you go.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

How I'm ashamed.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm also ashamed.

[Mike James Gallagher]

And wait, I'm still learning everyone's voices. Who got that one?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That was Zach.

[Mike James Gallagher]

That was Zach. Okay, perfect.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So let me do my reveal. So that's the scene from Ghostbusters when Slimer charges down the hotel hallway at Bill Murray. Slimer's roar comes from a 1977 record called BBC Sound Effects Number 13, Death and Horror. And the specific track is called the Mad Ape. And here's a clip of that.

[Zachary Quarles]

I mean, beautiful. The ape does sound mad, but, yes.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That'S real apt description.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I'm kind of blown away that Slimer was a library poll.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I am too.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

That's.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Works, though.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It works. If it works, who cares?

[Zachary Quarles]

That's right.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yep.

[Grace East]

Sound number two.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I know this.

[Zachary Quarles]

I don't know this.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It's the opening door for Lawson.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Lawson.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, God. Family Mart.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Boom. You got it.

[Dallas Taylor]

Ding, ding.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Wow. What about.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That was so quick on the draw. Oh, my God.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, Mike just got back from Japan.

[Zachary Quarles]

Hey.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Giving away my secrets. I just know that because I'm a genius. Come on.

[Mike James Gallagher]

He was given inside intel and traveled to Japan for this specific reason.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

The dedication.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

You know, I respect the hustle. I respect it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

All right, so that's the chime that plays when you walk through the doors of a family mart, which is a popular chain of convenience stores in Japan.

[Dallas Taylor]

And this chime was composed in 1978 by Yasushi Inada.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Here he is in 2015 playing the melody on a piano.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, I want to hear it with bagpipes. Can we do that?

[Mike James Gallagher]

Ooh, now there's an idea.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

And has everyone been to Japan to experience that, or.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

No, I haven't. It's on the list. Oh, my God. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Now, a tuna mayo onigiri, and.

[Zachary Quarles]

Ooh.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Hard boiled eggs in a bag. Oh, man. I know it sounds crazy, but egg salad sandwich.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I'm fully in.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Hard boiled eggs in a bag. I think I'm gonna start a band called that.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That's actually the name of my punk band. Sorry, it's already taken.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay.

[Grace East]

Sound number three.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I would like to take a guess.

[Zachary Quarles]

Do it.

[Mike James Gallagher]

All right.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

That is a willowed ptarmigan. What the.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Are you on our Google Doc?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Are you kidding?

[Zachary Quarles]

What?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No. That's it.

[Dallas Taylor]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

And I can give you a little fun fact about that as well. Can I?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Oh, sure.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Oh, my gosh. Yes. I think we're all in awe.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah. I'm not even mad. I'm just impressed.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I mean, I'm just kind of surprised that Dallas thinks I leave my house.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Well, I mean, you Might know it from the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Zachary Quarles]

If they knew we were here, they.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Would have killed us already. Oh, and an interesting story behind that is that Ben Burtt threw that in to the first scene, and Steven Spielberg was blown away because it made his movie feel very alien. So Ben Burtt was just like a hero to him from that point on.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Wow.

[Zachary Quarles]

That's super cool.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I'm getting out. Hosted by Mike.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I'm going to start playing some sounds for you guys.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, here's my reveal. Those strange sounds were made by the willow ptarmigan, which is a type of pheasant found across the northern hemisphere. These birds are extreme vocal and make a variety of noises when they are courting mates, fighting off rivals, and alerting others about nearby predators. And I don't know if you know this, but at the beginning of Raiders, there were, like, played, and it made this.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I'm so sorry.

[Zachary Quarles]

Feels like I'm in the Matrix right now.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Very impressed.

[Zachary Quarles]

Very impressed, Mike.

[Grace East]

Sound number four.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, oh, oh. That is the. That's the. That is the sound of the. Oh, the Goombas when they do the little. The little dance.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I think that counts.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I think that counts.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Ding, ding, ding.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Okay, I'll take that. I'll take that.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Is it Mario Wii U, something like that?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Mario Party.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It's the iconic Paw Paw sound that plays throughout the soundtracks of the New Super Mario Bros. Games. Paw Paw. Back in the 90s, composer Koji Kondo came across this track in a CD of vocal sounds made for sampling.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Pa pa pa pa pa. For Mario.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

64, Kondo used that to create the melody you hear after you jump into a painting. Then he made it the signature sound in the music of New Super Mario Bros. Whenever these notes play in the game, the enemies on screen will hop or dance. That's what I remember.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

That's great.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That's so deeply embedded into my childhood. Specifically the sound married to the image of the Goombas, of everything. Of just turning forward and just doing a little dance.

[Zachary Quarles]

Kind of doing their little sashay kind thing.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah. And then immediately turning to their villainous work.

[Zachary Quarles]

Even villains got to dance.

[Grace East]

Sound number five.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Wow. What on earth?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

It's me.

[Zachary Quarles]

When I have gas.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

How did we get a recording of that? I don't even want it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Always at the ready.

[Zachary Quarles]

I have other mics set up as well. Can I hear it again?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Are we allowed any context clues that wouldn't be considered a hint, or do we just need to roll into asking for one?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Oh, I Would say it's an instrument.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I was gonna say, is it one of those things? I can't remember what it is. That.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is it a Sonovox?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It is an instrument made out of wood, yes.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, okay.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

It's not from the Apprehension Engine, is it? No, no.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not like a didgeridoo or a. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's not like a bull roarer, because those have very. This almost has, like, a synthetic vocal kind of thing going on with it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is it Bode?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Ooh, that's a great one. It is Bode.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, yeah, I know what this is. I just forget what the name of it is.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not an erhu, right?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No, it's very.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah, it's used for creature sounds.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Another helpful hint is that it rhymes with an existing reed instrument.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, a Daxophone.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yay. Ding, ding, ding.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Well done.

[Zachary Quarles]

I was going to call it a slow bow.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That's actually the name of my ska band, so we will also have to discuss royalties for that one, too.

[Dallas Taylor]

Okay.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So those strange sounds come from an instrument called the Daxophone. It's like saxophone, but with a D. The instrument was invented in the late 1980s by a German experimental musician named Hans Reichel. The Daxophone involves a vibrating wooden tongue, a cello bow, and a curved block of wood called a Dax. As the player slides the bow and the Dax along the tongue, it produces all kinds of strange vocal sounding tones. Here are a few more.

[Zachary Quarles]

I love bizarre instruments. Like, I have a whole bunch of stuff, so I'm going to order one of these right now.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

You can make some nasty creature sounds with it, too, I bet.

[Zachary Quarles]

I bet.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So, Grace, let's do a score check.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Okay. So everyone is on the board with at least a point. In first place, we've got Mike with seven. After those two direct pulls, Family Mart and the Willow Ptarmigan. In second place, we've got Austin with three. And in last place now, but there's still plenty of time, we have Zach with one point.

[Zachary Quarles]

I'm embarrassed for myself.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm just glad I got any points on the board. Honestly, that was more than I was expecting for this entire thing.

[Grace East]

Sound number six.

[Zachary Quarles]

I mean, it's some sort of goat or sheep thing, right?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Baby goat.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I think that I should have led in with that free hint. So it's like a reaction sound to an app on a computer, right?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Huh. Can we hear it one more time?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

And it sounds old. Is this from a certain era?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, it does sound old.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Or you could play it today. You could have this reaction sound today.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

You could have this reaction sound today. Although it's in a discipline that none of us would be. We're only very adjacent to.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, okay. I was gonna say Goat Simulator, but no.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Hey, you don't know how involved with Goat Simulator I am. That's true.

[Zachary Quarles]

That's true.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, in this case, I'm going to just go with hint number two. So you may have heard this if you've ever worked on any motion graphics or vfx.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, is this After Effects?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That's it.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Ding, ding, ding.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So it's the sheep noise that plays in Adobe After Effects when there's a render failure.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

There you go.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

And according to Adobe, the noise was recorded by the mom of one of the After Effects software developers.

[Dallas Taylor]

Oh, wow.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, nice.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

So it's a human.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I just imagine, I don't know, this person comes to the mom and they're like, you're never going to believe this problem that I have. And she's like, I've got the solution.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yeah, yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It's a sheep noise.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Say no more. I've got it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Yeah.

[Grace East]

Sound number seven.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, my God. Hard copy.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, Access Hollywood.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Uh.

[Zachary Quarles]

Entertainment Tonight.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Nope.

[Mike James Gallagher]

These are all so close. Orbiting.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh. A Current Affair.

[Zachary Quarles]

A Current Affair.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

Boom.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

And that. I beat you by a millisecond, man. Oh, that is incredible. I love this.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That is the iconic Kachung sound from the intro of A Current Affair, a popular American news show from the 80s and 90s. And here's Maury Povich, the show's original host, describing how that sound was made.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It was the sound of a construction paper cutter. The old time elementary school construction paper cutters and the swish of a golf club put through a synthesizer. And that was the sound.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I have no idea how a little cutter made that.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Me neither.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I feel like Maury was just telling a story. I don't know if I trust Maury.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I feel like he was just kind of, like, walking by someone that was talking about the sound. At one point, he's like, yeah, okay, it's a cutter. I got it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It was like a game of telephone from the actual sound designer. And all the steps that got to Maury Povich.

[Zachary Quarles]

This was made out of a boat.

[Grace East]

Sound number eight.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

The aliens from Arrival.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, wow. Oh, my God. The neurons were still knitting together. You got it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the language spoken by the aliens in the film Arrival. To create those sounds, the sound designers went into the mountains of New Zealand and recorded a variety of exotic birds. Then they pitched these bird calls down and combined them with recordings of didgeridoos, bagpipes, and a so called lung that they made from rice paper.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Mm.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I love the lung made out of rice paper. I love imagining what that looked like. Cause there's no video of it.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I just love all of those words together too.

[Dallas Taylor]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

Lung made out of rice paper.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I feel like I could get that at some restaurant. Give me the lung with rice paper.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Rice paper. There's like one rice paper lung. Thank you.

[Grace East]

Sound number nine.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Is that the sound of a dolphin.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Or not a dolphin?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Nope. How about this? Let's play it again, but with three people who work in sound. I want you to try to paint the picture of what you're hearing in your head and tell me what you think you're hearing.

[Zachary Quarles]

I mean, it sounds like there's some sort of event happening with this creature. Whether it be a bird or something else that people are watching and celebrating being ooh ah kind of thing.

[Dallas Taylor]

Mm.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah, my brain went to like the SeaWorld shows.

[Dallas Taylor]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

You know, I immediately thought bird and I felt like a mating dance or something. It's showing its plumage and everyone's cheering.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, I will say it is not a bird. Okay, we'll go one more time with it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Could it be a howler Monkey?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I was gonna say a monkey.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Hmm. I mean, depends on how you define lemur.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Or is it a monkey or an ape?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

This one's tricky. I'm gonna go ahead and call this one and just reveal it. How does that sound, Grace?

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yeah, sounds good.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm okay with that.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That's the voice of a nine year old British boy named Cooper Wallace.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, you're kidding me.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Cooper recently won the junior category in Belgium's fourth annual Seagull Screeching Championships.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I saw this. I saw this video.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

My gosh. I mean, I can see why he placed that high, you know? Check this out.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

He is good.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, Dallas, Dallas. I forgot. Like, that's from a kid that mimicked a seagull.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Yes, exactly.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah, that's a negative 12 points right there. Thinking could get away with that.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I was wrong before. That is going to be a negative nod.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So in it, competitors are judged by their ability to sound and move like a seagull. Here's one of the winners from last year. There you have it.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Incredible.

[Zachary Quarles]

Wow. I mean, those are aspirations, I guess.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

They are aspirations.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

How do you even discover that talent?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I know, it's impressive.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, all right.

[Dallas Taylor]

We are halfway through.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So, Grace, what's our score?

[Mike James Gallagher]

Mike is still in a strong lead. With 14, Austin in second with three and Zach still in last place with one. But there's still time.

[Zachary Quarles]

Negative 11.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Give him 11. Once again, are we doing Jeopardy Rules or not?

[Grace East]

Do Austin and Zach have what it takes to wrestle first place away from Mike, or will they be left in the dust? That's coming up after the break.

[Dallas Taylor]

With most things we pay for, the cost is pretty straightforward. But somehow with wireless providers that's often not the case. You might think the price is one thing, but then when you get the bill, there are extra fees and charges tacked on. Thankfully, Mint Mobile does things differently, which is one of the reasons that I use them. Mint Mobile is a simple and straightforward wireless company where what you see is what you get. New users get three months of premium wireless service for just 15 bucks a month. All of their plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text. That means you won't get any surprise charges for going over some limit you never knew about. To get this new customer offer and your new 3 month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com 20k that's mintmobile.com 20k cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com $20,045 upfront payment required, equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only speeds slower above 40gb on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. Congratulations to Reyna Bello for getting last episode's Mystery Sound right. Those otherworldly sounds were made by Weddell seals in Antarctica. These creatures produce all kinds of trills, whistles and chirps while swimming in the frigid waters below the ice. Scientists in Antarctica can sometimes hear these sounds below them as they go about their work. We'll be taking a break for the holidays and coming back with new episodes in January. While we're gone, it's a great time to catch up on some of our older episodes. In the meantime, I can announce the winner from our Cat and Dog double feature that we released two weeks ago.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So I wanted to see if we.

[Dallas Taylor]

Had more Cat people or dog people in the audience based on which episodes got more listening. And as of right now, it looks like the answer is Dog People, since that episode has about 17% more listens than the cat one does. Cat people if you want vengeance, then keep sharing our Cat Translation Guide episode with your fellow cat fanatics and let's see if you can turn the tide. Finally, our online store is a great place to get some holiday gifts for any 20,000 Hertz fans. We've got our signature super soft T shirts as well as hoodies, beanies, caps and more. You can find it [e-mail] shop.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

When.

[Dallas Taylor]

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[Grace East]

Welcome back to the 20,000 Hertz mystery sound challenge. Sound number 10 uh oh, icy Cuba.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

No of There was a pix art thing when I was a kid, and when you tried to do something, it's like the after effects, like something failed. Sound of a. I don't remember what it's called, but I can literally.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

I thought it was icq, the notification.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It is icq.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, yeah. I was about to say. I was gonna say Instant messenger, but it was more obscure than that.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I think that soundbite was. I had to take computer class in elementary school where we learned to type, and our reward was that we got to use, like, this very obscure, weird art program where we basically just got to draw on the computer. And whenever you tried to do something, you were allowed to. I think they used that same sound bite because that is deeply embedded in my brain.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. I wonder if it was the same company or just, like, used a library sound from somewhere.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Grace, this is going to be an interesting one.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I think so too.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

For other reasons.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yeah, for other. Yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the message notification sound from icq, one of the earliest instant messaging programs.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Uh oh.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It was originally a competitor to AOL Instant messenger, but was then bought out by AOL in 1998. And here are a few more ICQ sounds.

[Zachary Quarles]

System message.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Ribbit.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Ah, memories.

[Mike James Gallagher]

The good old days.

[Grace East]

Sound number 11.

[Sinistar Voice]

I hunger. Beware, Coward.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not Resident Evil.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I'd love to hear especially how your brains are working through this as you analyze kind of the quality and.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is it a toy, right?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

Or is it P.S. one time period?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah. Or is it low sample rate?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Grace East]

Yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

You want to play it one more time?

[Sinistar Voice]

I hunger. Beware, Coward.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is it like a Halloween decoration or something?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Okay.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Is it from a physical object?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It's from a classic arcade game.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay. Not House of the Dead.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Sega Genesis or Nintendo or Stand up or. Yeah, yeah. Actual arcade.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. I thought it might be like an arcade game. Ah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Did it happen?

[Zachary Quarles]

I think my brain just popped, I think. Right, right. Disconnect.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

One more go for Zach.

[Sinistar Voice]

I hunger. Beware, Coward.

[Zachary Quarles]

Sinister.

[Dallas Taylor]

You got it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

You're kidding me. That's amazing.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That's incredible.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That should be the full three, Grace. Yeah, yeah, I did say that first one, but I never really kind of led into it.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I'm fully open to the full three.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I agree with that.

[Zachary Quarles]

Wow.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Way to go, Zach.

[Zachary Quarles]

Woof.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the voice of Sinistar, the villain from the 1982 arcade game of the same name.

[Sinistar Voice]

I Hunger. Be Wears, Coward.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Cinestar was one of the very first games to use real recordings of a human voice. Those sound bites were recorded by John Dorimus who is a popular radio DJ in the Chicago area. And here's John on his radio program. And for the London Festival Orchestra.

[Sinistar Voice]

A beauty. It's called if I Rule the World.

[Dallas Taylor]

What a voice.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Especially when it's crushed into, like, 8 bit 11k exactly.

[Grace East]

Sound number 12.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, like a rainbow or something. No, that's the. Yeah. Oh, gosh. That's the opening of the Beatles I Feel Fine, isn't it?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Ding, ding, ding. Wow.

[Zachary Quarles]

Incredible.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Nice.

[Zachary Quarles]

Very cool.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I was raised by a Beatles Die Hard fan and my father, so I know their discography very well.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Incredible.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's guitar feedback from the beginning of the Beatles song I Feel Fine. During a recording session, John Lennon casually leaned his guitar against an amp and it made that noise. The band liked the sound and asked producer George Martin to include it somewhere on their upcoming album Today. It's widely considered the first intentional use of feedback in recorded music. And here's the sound going into the actual song.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Shout out to my dad for that one.

[Grace East]

Sound number 13.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh. My brain recognizes it, but. Oh, no.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, it's entering a Japanese grocery store.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, I know that. I know that sound. I'm having a hard time putting it in the frame that I need.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can we hear it one more time?

[Zachary Quarles]

I mean, it could be any number of sitcoms or Family Guy or.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I think it's more like a welcome for an application or something. Like an old one.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can we request hint?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Absolutely. You should feel smart after hearing this sound.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh.

[Zachary Quarles]

From a game show.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Congratulatory.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm never going to forgive myself for not getting this. I swear.

[Mike James Gallagher]

We're orbiting. We're getting closer. For sure.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

One of the greatest things about this show is that there are many thousands of people who are yelling.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I know I'm yelling at myself internally. I'm having the same experience in my own brain right now.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Not Hollywood Squares or hint number two.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

You should feel especially smart if you hear this sound on a Saturday versus a Monday.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Is it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Mm. Mm.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It's a show.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No, it's actually coming from an app.

[Zachary Quarles]

From an app.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah. Okay. That's what I thought.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, it's. Is it the crossword? New York Times? Dang it. I knew it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Here's the thing. I heard Zach said crossword.

[Zachary Quarles]

I said crossword.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Austin started crying. New York Times.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I think I'm going to split it.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

One.

[Mike James Gallagher]

One. Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

All right, I'll take that. I'll take that.

[Zachary Quarles]

Excellent.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the jingle that Plays when you correctly solve the New York Times crossword puzzle on the New York. The tune is called San Jose Strut. And a few years ago, the New York Times games account tweeted that it came from some music library, but they couldn't remember the name of the composer. So if anyone knows who this composer is, please let us know.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Okay.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Five sounds left, Grace.

[Mike James Gallagher]

That's right.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

How are we with score?

[Mike James Gallagher]

The scores have evened quite a bit, so there's been some movement. Mike is still in the lead with 14, Zach has pulled into second with eight, and Austin is a very close third with seven.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's getting serious. Everyone getting scared.

[Grace East]

Let's lock in sound number 14.

[Zachary Quarles]

Am I repeating myself?

[Grace East]

Would you stand me on my head?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, my God.

[Zachary Quarles]

That is a toy of some kind. Yes, that is.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Is it? Oh, it's not. It's not.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, I know this.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can we hear it one more time?

[Zachary Quarles]

Am I repeating myself?

[Grace East]

Would you stand me on my head?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I had this toy. I mean, this is.

[Mike James Gallagher]

So can you, like, describe the toy? I'm wondering if that will trigger a memory.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

He's gone into the upside down.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, no.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

His eyes have rolled into the back of his head.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It's all darkness.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So this thing is probably friends with Tickle Me Elmo.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Oh, I mean, that's. It's definitely not a Teddy Ruxpin.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

No, I'm thinking about the specificity of the line of like.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

On behalf of myself.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah, well, that's actually the repeating myself one is the one that's getting me.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So hint number two, it shares a name with Forrest Gump's best friend.

[Zachary Quarles]

Bubba Gump. Bubba.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Bubba something.

[Zachary Quarles]

Bubba.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Bubba.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, man.

[Zachary Quarles]

Bubba.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I mean, if we're still not getting.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

It, if we just repeat Bubba over and over again, it'll come to us eventually.

[Sinistar Voice]

Bu.

[Zachary Quarles]

Keep going.

[Mike James Gallagher]

We're summoning him into the room now. Yeah.

[Dallas Taylor]

All right, I will reveal it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the voice of real talking.

[Dallas Taylor]

Bubba, a wise cracking teddy bear that.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Was released by Mattel in the mid-90s.

[Zachary Quarles]

Am I repeating myself?

[Grace East]

Would you stand me on my head?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Bubba was voiced by character actor Gary Grubbs, who appeared in everything from Dukes of Hazzard to Django Enchained to Glee. Here's Gary playing a sheriff on the X Files.

[Zachary Quarles]

Well, we didn't find any evidence of criminal activity, and since no body turned up, we just went ahead and filed a missing person's report.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

There you have.

[Mike James Gallagher]

It's a super normal choice for a Teddy bear.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Hey. He saw the chance to really make a character and he took it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

He took it.

[Grace East]

Sound number.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oof.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Ooh.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Some kind of welcome music.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Yeah, I think you are correct on that.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can we hear it one more time?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Is this a 90s thing?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, it sounds super 90s.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No, no, it's not. It looks like the mid aughts.

[Zachary Quarles]

The mid aughts, huh?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah, hint.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So it's a device sound.

[Zachary Quarles]

Okay.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Okay.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

And you may recognize this if you're too hip for both Windows and Mac. Linux. Linux even too cool for Linux too.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Oh, Linux is very close.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Though I will say I am disappointing some of my friends right now and not knowing what this is. This is my era.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not like, yeah, Amiga. Because Amiga was already gone by mid 2000s, wasn't it?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

This is killing me.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Dallas Taylor]

I'm happy to reveal this. So that's the old login sound for the Ubuntu operating system.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yes. Okay.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, yeah. So very, very Linux adjacent.

[Dallas Taylor]

Yeah.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So be sure to cut my thing about not Linux. I don't want a bunch of people coming after me.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Yeah, that's.

[Dallas Taylor]

So that sound was apparently created by a community contributor named Peter Savage. It was enabled by default for about six years from 2006 to 2012. Since then, Ubuntu hasn't had a login sound enabled by default.

[Grace East]

All right, sound number 16.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, a. Miramax. Or. No, Tristar.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No and no.

[Zachary Quarles]

No and no.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, God. Here, here we go. Just start naming production.

[Zachary Quarles]

Here we go.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can you play it again?

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Hemplin? No, no.

[Zachary Quarles]

United Artists?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

No and no.

[Zachary Quarles]

No.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Skydance. No.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Holy. Wow.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

This is gonna drive me nuts.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's not Columbia Pictures, is it?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

This would be a great time to be like, that's our show and see you later.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

No.

[Zachary Quarles]

And then the credits are rolling and we're just still saying Warner Brothers.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Here's what's interesting. I think this might be television.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I think that's fair to say.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Television.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Okay.

[Zachary Quarles]

Dunna. Nah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

At the end of sitcoms, this is.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, okay, okay, see, I'm there.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I just can't. I can't.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, is it?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, my God. I see it, I see it.

[Zachary Quarles]

I know, I know.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, my God, help.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

I love how iconic this sound is. And yet out of all the times you've heard it, you can't even come up with the name of the company.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Oh, my goodness.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Can we request a formal hint?

[Dallas Taylor]

Sure.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Well, we've already kind of gotten through hint number one, so we'll consider Hint. Number one. This one. You might have heard this sound after episodes of Seinfeld.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

But what's the production company?

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yeah.

[Zachary Quarles]

Oh, my God.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I knew there was gonna come a time in my life where I regretted not having a Seinfeld phase. Oh, my God.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

And I did have a Seinfeld phase, and I can't. It's so at my fingertips.

[Zachary Quarles]

Can I hear it one more time? That's not Castle Rock, is it?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That's Castle Rock.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Whoa. I would have never gotten that. I would have never gotten that. But now, of course, it makes sense.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Incredible.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Way to pull that out of nowhere.

[Zachary Quarles]

Wow.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Amazing.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Congrats.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the iconic sonic logo of the Castle Rock production company. The music and the logo was written by composer Mark Shaiman, who scored films like When Harry Met Sally, Hocus Pocus, and Patch Adams. The version you heard was the shorter TV version of the logo. And here's the full theatrical version.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Much more cinematic.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah. And if it would have been the full one, I also would have thrown out DreamWorks in there because that also has, like, a DreamWorks vibe.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Totally.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Very DreamWorks adjacent.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah.

[Grace East]

Sound number 17.

[Zachary Quarles]

It's a Taunton.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

It's a Taunton.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It's a Taunton.

[Zachary Quarles]

You beat me to it.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Same.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

So that's the sound of the Taunton. The snow creature that Luke Skywalker rides in the Empire Strikes Back. To create the sound of the Taunton, sound designer Ben Burtt recorded an Asian sea otter and pitched it down. And here's actor Bill Hader doing a Tauntaun imitation for Conan O'Brien. All right, we have one final sound. Where are we, the scores?

[Mike James Gallagher]

All right, so Zach is creeping up, but Mike still has the lead with 14. Zach is in a close second with 12, and Austin is in third with seven.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Sounds good.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

All right, is everyone all the ears ready?

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I guess so.

[Grace East]

Sound number 18.

[Sinistar Voice]

I made a boo Boo. Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That is. I feel like from that same program that I was talking about earlier, that same.

[Zachary Quarles]

The art one that you're talking about.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Yes. I swear they used that same sound because that is where my brain. I'm not even joking. Somebody out there listening maybe knows what I'm talking about or something. I. I can't even remember the name of what the program was. I just remember sitting there as a kid.

[Mike James Gallagher]

You are so close.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Am I so close that I would.

[Dallas Taylor]

Give it to you?

[Mike James Gallagher]

Yeah, it feels right.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

You're kidding.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

There was a moment earlier where I told Grace, I was like, well, that's interesting on another one, because I knew that this one was coming up and I had no familiarity with it.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I mean, Karel draw.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

No, it was called, like, Kid Pics or something like that.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That's it.

[Dallas Taylor]

Ding, ding, ding.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Oh, my God. Safe pike right now. Safe pike.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Applauding right now.

[Zachary Quarles]

Aw, Stan.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

I am blown away. What an ending.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Me too.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Incredible.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Full circle.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

That was cinematic.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That was.

[Zachary Quarles]

That was.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

You could not have written that. That's amazing.

[Zachary Quarles]

I'm going to have to lay down.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I am not crazy.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

You are not crazy. So that's the voice of the undo guy from KidPix, which was a series of drawing programs, kind of like Microsoft Paint. In later versions of Kid Pix, whenever you'd click the undo button, the undo guy would say phrases like these.

[Sinistar Voice]

Oh, no. Undo, undo. I made a moo boo. Yeah.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Mm. Every one of those is embedded deep in my brain.

[Zachary Quarles]

So was the ICQ sound part of that program then?

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Maybe it was something real similar.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

It could also be me. Completely misremembering.

[Dallas Taylor]

Update. We looked into it and it turns out there is an oh in Kid Pics that sounds super similar to the one in icq.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Here's Kid Pics.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Uh oh.

[Dallas Taylor]

And here's icq.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Uh oh.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Here they are. Back to back.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Uh oh. Uh oh.

[Dallas Taylor]

So, Austin, you were not misremembering.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

I'm just glad I got that last one.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Honestly, this may be the closest score that we've ever had.

[Mike James Gallagher]

I was literally just about to say that. Dallas. I think so too. I'm super impressed. We had in a very close third place, Austin with 10, Zach in a meteoric rise to second place, 12. And Mike with the winning score of 14.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

We were within four points of each other.

[Zachary Quarles]

I love it.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

Incredible. And I curated the three of you into this, knowing how good this would be, so thank you. Wow. Well, I didn't have an ending. That's it. That's the final scene.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then we have ding, ding, dings.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

We basically say, make people laugh and fade in the music while people are laughing. And then there we go.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Credits.

[Zachary Quarles]

Yeah, I think maybe just put the Castle Rock theme at the end.

[Austin Olivia Kendrick]

That would be fun.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

Love it.

[Unnamed Contestant 1]

Wait there. We should do that button.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Print it.

[Dallas Taylor]

20,000 Hz is produced out of the Sound design studios of Defacto Sound. Hear [e-mail] this episode was written and.

[Mike James Gallagher]

Produced by Casey Emerling with help from Grace East.

[Unnamed Contestant 2]

It was sound designed and mixed by Justin Hollis.

[Dallas Taylor]

Thanks to our guests, Austin, Olivia Kendrick, Mike, James Gallagher, and Zachary Quarles. Austin has an incredible TikTok channel under the name Aok Wav over there. She posts tons of enlightening videos about dialogue, editing and sound design techniques. Mike runs an awesome YouTube and Instagram channel called In Depth Sound Design where legendary sound designers unpack their most famous sounds. Zach has an online shop of sample and sound effect libraries which you can find at his website zq. There are links to all of these in the show notes. Finally, thanks to voice artist Jeff Rechner for his awesome game show Voice. I'm Dallas Taylor and from everyone here at 20,000 hertz, happy holidays and thanks for listening. Before we go, a quick reminder that our episodes are available to any podcast or public radio stations that want to play them. We have a over 200 highly produced, emotionally driven episodes and there's a good chance that one of them could be a perfect fit on your feed or your radio station. If you or someone you know is interested in running episodes of 20,000 Hz, just send me an email at [e-mail].