Sound Design: The Six Million Dollar Man Bionic Sound - Page 2

u b k · 28th September 2006, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Welcome Back Kotter here!!!

land of the lost for me.

no one ever seemed to notice that the theme starts off with their names, "marshall will & holly", but marshall was their last name, dad's name was rick.

i guess musically they couldn't make "rii-iick will & holly" work, but still... that's some serious license they were taking.

gregoire
del
ubk
.

BrianK · 28th September 2006, 07:49 AM

Can I prove that I'm a gear geek for one second?

The sound (as I recall form a 1970's keyboard magazine) was:

1) a Yamaha YC45D organ (very cool, look it up)
2) played through a Morley Electrostatic Delay line

(The Morley was a Tolex-box echo, very similar to the Tel Ray, but much more of a distinct repeat. It used a magnetized disc. I think the only other record to feature one MAY be "Red Barchetta" from Rush, in the guitar solo; it SQUEALS when you turn the delay knob!)

severe · 28th September 2006, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u b i k

land of the lost for me...

Poplab Studios · 28th September 2006, 08:15 AM

i think this guys are qualified to help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhEm4lGKY8k

cheers

max cooper · 28th September 2006, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEMAS

I don't think there's any delay fx.

I haven't heard it for a few years at least - but from memory, my guess is that it was a METAL RULER that was TWANGED against a table top (like you used to do when you were at school) and then slowed down to a quarter of its original pitch - which is why it sounds like slow motion.

I once heard a long piece of rebar fall; it had been standing on end against a wall and it fell on concrete. My first immediate thought was The Six Million Dollar Man.

dave-G · 28th September 2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u b i k

land of the lost for me..

Good call!

Many of the Krofft shows left their mark on my brain in the 70s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7bB3RYeBP0

(how did we survive before youtube?)

This (The Banana Splits) was also scarring .. I somehow have a CD of music from that show, and my 3-year old loves the "tra-la-la"song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jag06_r7eng

Welcome Back Kotter had a great theme song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQBmfy1GwJw

As did Streets of San Francisco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F0wlfmxKdU

And don't forget Sanford and Son, if only for the awesome themesong (Quincy Jones!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0RTo-eXgQY

Oops ... i'm going full-on tangent here.

Okay .. in the early-mid 70s, my family lived in the Phillippines (dad had to do his Navy time), and the only US TV shows we got were Mission Impossible, and Star Trek, which my brother and I watched religiously... and which had some outstanding orchestral score.

... anyway ... I think the bionic fx was probably some processed recording of something happening to something metal, rather than something generated (entirely) by an old synth.

And I always thought that this scene from Caddyshack was a nod to this effect, no?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U264AYBDsME

-dave

FULL-DUPLEX · 28th September 2006, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poplab Studios

i think this guys are qualified to help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhEm4lGKY8k

cheers

WTF?

Poplab Studios · 28th September 2006, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FULL-DUPLEX

WTF?

dbbubba · 28th September 2006, 04:43 PM

I think that what BrianK seems to recall is the best guess (if he is acccurate in his memory then it isn't a guess.) Yamaha organ.

My first thought was that it is a Yamaha synth or organ.
As soon as I heard the sound I thought about a Yamaha CS80.
We had one in a band I was in and I played with it for hours on end in hotel rooms.
The problem with the CS80 is that it came out after the 6 Mil. Man was made.
Still, those Yamaha organs had that brutal "gated" tremelo/repeat sound.
I never thought the sound was anything other than an organ turned up all the way with that repeat thing going on.

Back when Star Wars came out I recall an article in REP or one of the recording mags that interviewed the guys that made all of the SFX at LucasFilms.
I recall that almost everything was created from sounds they recorded in the field with a Nagra. They used shotgun mics and contact mics.
They would take them back to the SFX studio and process them until they mutated them into something usefull.
The sound of the guns the StormTrooper guys use is the sound produced by hitting the metal guywire on a aluminum light pole. It is most likely VSO'd.
I can also recall the picture of the SFX studio and there wasn't much equipment other than a TEAC 3340, an Eventide piece or two and the ring modulator they used a lot.
They might have had a Minimoog, too. They used some sort of synth for R2D2's Voice.
I recall listening to the sounds on the DVD recently and there is a LOT of ring modulator used. They seem to be the original sounds that I recall hearing years ago.
I don't think that the Eventide H910 Harmonizer was out at the time Star Wars was made (in fact I'm sure it wasn't.) So, the Eventide pieces were probebly an InstaFlanger and maybe a Phasor unit.

Back in those days the SFX departments at both film production and especially TV production houses were rather crude and VERY LOW on the budget totem pole! Picture always wins out. Sound has always been thought of as a support thing.

Here's another interesting anecdote regarding a Lee Majors TV show... when The Fall Guy was in production they actually shot a few episodes using what they hoped would be the HDTV system along with 35mm Panavision film (the usual medium.) The 35mm was what we saw, but they did tests with an HDTV system that never made it.
Because that show was so popular I guess it was a good demo for the HDTV system they were pushing. So, that was 1978 and we have only got how far with HDTV becoming the standard? (Why did they make that awesome, blond haired chick wearing that yellow bikini ride around in the back of that Chevy pickup in the Fall Guy?)

Danny Brown

max cooper · 28th September 2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave-G

Many of the Krofft shows left their mark on my brain in the 70s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7bB3RYeBP0

I was a huge fan and later got to know Sid Krofft. Real kid-show royalty.

Remember Wonderbug? The alter-ego was called "Schlep Car" I wondered how they got away with that.

dave-G · 28th September 2006, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max cooper

I was a huge fan and later got to know Sid Krofft. Real kid-show royalty.

Remember Wonderbug? The alter-ego was called "Schlep Car" I wondered how they got away with that.

I absolutely remember Wonderbug/Schlep Car, and inasmuch as yiddishisms were slung around my house, I didn't think anything of the use of the word..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XRKa6uwqW0

Dr. Shrinker, Far Out Space Nuts, Sigmund the Sea Monster etc etc. .. Cheesetastic.

Weren't the Kroffts British? And hated each other or something?

-dave

severe · 28th September 2006, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave-G

Good call!

Many of the Krofft shows left their mark on my brain in the 70s.

I've always had a soft spot for the Rhodes in the theme for Taxi.

dbbubba · 28th September 2006, 05:35 PM

In one of those shows (Land of the Lost?) they drove around in a big, silver, space-age looking RV thing. I can't recall what show it was because I was too old to watch it.

That vehicle used to sit in parking lot near the intersection of Cahuenga Blvd. and Barham in N. Hollywood. It was there in the early '80s and I used to look at it and laugh everytime I passed it.

In what show were the kids paired up and in a spaceship with Jim Nabors?
THAT is a scarey thought! Especially, if you have ever been around him in person.

Danny Brown

severe · 28th September 2006, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbbubba

...That vehicle used to sit in parking lot near the intersection of Cahuenga Blvd. and Barham in N. Hollywood. It was there in the early '80s and I used to look at it and laugh everytime I passed it.

In what show were the kids paired up and in a spaceship with Jim Nabors?
THAT is a scarey thought! Especially, if you have ever been around him in person.

This reminds me, when I was still living back east, I had a friend attending Cal State Northridge. He told be that much of Battlestar Galactica's Cylon "base station", or whatever, was the schools library.

I love L.A.

2leod · 28th September 2006, 06:29 PM

Right on! A Space TV tangent...

Anyone remember this one?

I was just a wee lad, but didn't it come out before Star Trek? For the life of me I can't remember the theme music.

What I do remember was thinking that the robot was the coolest thing ever! My Mom even made my a halloween custume of it - of course it was just cardboard boxes with coloured comics glued on it.

Big box for the body, little box for the head.

And on the third house we trick or treated getting knocked off the porch onto my back, and I couldn't get up.

Just laying there crying, my arms and legs flailing like a flipped turtle.

I'm fine now, thanks for asking...

dbbubba · 28th September 2006, 06:47 PM

That was Lost in Space.
It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?)
Lost in Space was great for a while, but eventually they ran out of ideas for the planets that they'd visit.
Eventually, they were dealing with an "outerspace pirate" who had a robot parrot on his shoulder or Santa Claus (yes, that was one episode!)
They would always get everything resolved and then right at the end of the show they'd run into the next problem. It was always "To Be Continued" next week!
That dumbass Dr. Smith was always at the heart of the trouble. They should have just "off'ed" him and got on with business! He was a stowaway from the very first episode (which I recall seeing as a young kid... the 1st season was in black and white.)

That robot was built by the same guy that built Robby the Robot for Forbidden Planet and there is a guy in L.A. that has them all now. I forget his website, but it's easy to find. He sells high-dollar recreations. Those things were VERY precision.

A funny thing about that show was that the second in command guy (not the dad) ALWAYS had a bad attitude. I guess he was mad because that older daughter was holding out on him? I mean, she's some hot business and why he never stole the ship and took off with just her is beyond me.

Danny Brown

mitchell · 28th September 2006, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbbubba

That was Lost in Space.
It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?)
Lost in Space was great for a while, but eventually they ran out of ideas for the planets that they'd visit.
Eventually, they were dealing with an "outerspace pirate" who had a robot parrot on his shoulder or Santa Claus (yes, that was one episode!)
They would always get everything resolved and then right at the end of the show they'd run into the next problem. It was always "To Be Continued" next week!
That dumbass Dr. Smith was always at the heart of the trouble. They should have just "off'ed" him and got on with business! He was a stowaway from the very first episode (which I recall seeing as a young kid... the 1st season was in black and white.)

That robot was built by the same guy that built Robby the Robot for Forbidden Planet and there is a guy in L.A. that has them all now. I forget his website, but it's easy to find. He sells high-dollar recreations. Those things were VERY precision.

A funny thing about that show was that the second in command guy (not the dad) ALWAYS had a bad attitude. I guess he was mad because that older daughter was holding out on him? I mean, she's some hot business and why he never stole the ship and took off with just her is beyond me.

Danny Brown

Even when were little kids, we used to think Don's (second-in-charge-guy) ire was hysterical. I guess I'd be irritable if I were him too. Stuck in the middle of space with a super hot c**ktease and Dr. Smith.

The place where all the weird Hollywood cars were on Caheunga is still there... my studio is walking distance from it.

cush · 29th September 2006, 12:25 AM

I just did a ADR session with Harve Bennett (prod. of $6M Man) and could have asked him. I think his son freelances at the post place I work. I'll see if I can dig up the answer.

I was in the middle of explaining to the inexperienced director why I record every take and Harve went into the "We can rebuild him" bit from the opening of the show. Sadly, I couldn't shove the director aside and hit record before he finished. I had no idea it was his voice.

u b k · 29th September 2006, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbbubba

In what show were the kids paired up and in a spaceship with Jim Nabors? THAT is a scarey thought!

not as scary as the thought of pairing him up with ruth buzzi.

the show was 'lost saucer.'

gregoire
del
ubk
.

initialsBB · 29th September 2006, 12:44 AM

And of course Bill Mumy who played the kid Will Robinson on Lost in Space was also one half of Barnes and Barnes of "Fishheads" fame!

2leod · 29th September 2006, 12:51 AM

I did not know that!

Lilainjil · 29th September 2006, 02:06 AM

[quote=dbbubba;898534]That was Lost in Space.
It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?)

That would be none other than John Williams. He changed the theme for the third season.

(How sad that this would be only my 4th GS post.)

ArcCirDude · 29th September 2006, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave-G

I absolutely remember Wonderbug/Schlep Car, and inasmuch as yiddishisms were slung around my house, I didn't think anything of the use of the word..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XRKa6uwqW0

Dr. Shrinker, Far Out Space Nuts, Sigmund the Sea Monster etc etc. .. Cheesetastic.

Weren't the Kroffts British? And hated each other or something?

-dave

Sing along , now!
Oh, Sigmund the Sea Monster and Johnny and Scott are friends....
They're the funniest thing you ever did seeeeee... on the land or in the sea!

Man, you guys are forgetting both Lidsville (with the teenaged Eddie Munster!) and the king of them all... H.R. PUFFINSTUFF!!!! "Oh no! It's Witchiepoo!!!!"

GCL · 29th September 2006, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianK

Can I prove that I'm a gear geek for one second?

The sound (as I recall form a 1970's keyboard magazine) was:

1) a Yamaha YC45D organ (very cool, look it up)
2) played through a Morley Electrostatic Delay line

(The Morley was a Tolex-box echo, very similar to the Tel Ray, but much more of a distinct repeat. It used a magnetized disc. I think the only other record to feature one MAY be "Red Barchetta" from Rush, in the guitar solo; it SQUEALS when you turn the delay knob!)

You are correct. I used to have one of the Morley's, it was easy to get that exact sound.

Led · 29th September 2006, 08:27 AM

Billy Mummy had a sex change and became Sissy Spaceck. Seriously. Me and my little bro used to argue about which Lost in Space theme was better, but how about the theme for the Rockford Files. Everytime we are recording and hook up my rhodes I like to play the openening bars of Doogie Howser for a warm up.
Da na na na na bomp bomp da na na na na bomp bomp....

FULL-DUPLEX · 29th September 2006, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by initialsBB

And of course Bill Mumy who played the kid Will Robinson on Lost in Space was also one half of Barnes and Barnes of "Fishheads" fame!

Funny... Nice Beat...

FULL-DUPLEX · 29th September 2006, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbbubba

That was Lost in Space.
It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?)

Lost in Space Themes on Youtube

The first one is my fav.

Theramin at is best...

Regards,

F.D.

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28th September 2006, 06:29 PM	#45
2leod Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: A big Canadian island in the Pacific, but my citizenship is otherworldly... Posts: 939	Right on! A Space TV tangent... Anyone remember this one? I was just a wee lad, but didn't it come out before Star Trek? For the life of me I can't remember the theme music. What I do remember was thinking that the robot was the coolest thing ever! My Mom even made my a halloween custume of it - of course it was just cardboard boxes with coloured comics glued on it. Big box for the body, little box for the head. And on the third house we trick or treated getting knocked off the porch onto my back, and I couldn't get up. Just laying there crying, my arms and legs flailing like a flipped turtle. I'm fine now, thanks for asking... __________________ Doug

29th September 2006, 12:25 AM	#48
cush Gear Head Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 72	Too bad I didn't see this thread before I just did a ADR session with Harve Bennett (prod. of $6M Man) and could have asked him. I think his son freelances at the post place I work. I'll see if I can dig up the answer. I was in the middle of explaining to the inexperienced director why I record every take and Harve went into the "We can rebuild him" bit from the opening of the show. Sadly, I couldn't shove the director aside and hit record before he finished. I had no idea it was his voice. __________________ OtherWorld Distractions Things I Say

29th September 2006, 12:51 AM	#51
2leod Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: A big Canadian island in the Pacific, but my citizenship is otherworldly... Posts: 939	I did not know that! __________________ Doug

29th September 2006, 08:27 AM	#55
Led Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,834	Billy Mummy had a sex change and became Sissy Spaceck. Seriously. Me and my little bro used to argue about which Lost in Space theme was better, but how about the theme for the Rockford Files. Everytime we are recording and hook up my rhodes I like to play the openening bars of Doogie Howser for a warm up. Da na na na na bomp bomp da na na na na bomp bomp.... __________________ "My voice has a built in extortion box" - recent vocalist I recorded...

28th September 2006, 07:49 AM	#32
BrianK Gear addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hollywood Posts: 341	Can I prove that I'm a gear geek for one second? The sound (as I recall form a 1970's keyboard magazine) was: 1) a Yamaha YC45D organ (very cool, look it up) 2) played through a Morley Electrostatic Delay line (The Morley was a Tolex-box echo, very similar to the Tel Ray, but much more of a distinct repeat. It used a magnetized disc. I think the only other record to feature one MAY be "Red Barchetta" from Rush, in the guitar solo; it SQUEALS when you turn the delay knob!)

28th September 2006, 08:15 AM	#34
Poplab Studios Gear addict Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 347	i think this guys are qualified to help you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhEm4lGKY8k cheers

28th September 2006, 04:43 PM	#39
dbbubba Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,904	I think that what BrianK seems to recall is the best guess (if he is acccurate in his memory then it isn't a guess.) Yamaha organ. My first thought was that it is a Yamaha synth or organ. As soon as I heard the sound I thought about a Yamaha CS80. We had one in a band I was in and I played with it for hours on end in hotel rooms. The problem with the CS80 is that it came out after the 6 Mil. Man was made. Still, those Yamaha organs had that brutal "gated" tremelo/repeat sound. I never thought the sound was anything other than an organ turned up all the way with that repeat thing going on. Back when Star Wars came out I recall an article in REP or one of the recording mags that interviewed the guys that made all of the SFX at LucasFilms. I recall that almost everything was created from sounds they recorded in the field with a Nagra. They used shotgun mics and contact mics. They would take them back to the SFX studio and process them until they mutated them into something usefull. The sound of the guns the StormTrooper guys use is the sound produced by hitting the metal guywire on a aluminum light pole. It is most likely VSO'd. I can also recall the picture of the SFX studio and there wasn't much equipment other than a TEAC 3340, an Eventide piece or two and the ring modulator they used a lot. They might have had a Minimoog, too. They used some sort of synth for R2D2's Voice. I recall listening to the sounds on the DVD recently and there is a LOT of ring modulator used. They seem to be the original sounds that I recall hearing years ago. I don't think that the Eventide H910 Harmonizer was out at the time Star Wars was made (in fact I'm sure it wasn't.) So, the Eventide pieces were probebly an InstaFlanger and maybe a Phasor unit. Back in those days the SFX departments at both film production and especially TV production houses were rather crude and VERY LOW on the budget totem pole! Picture always wins out. Sound has always been thought of as a support thing. Here's another interesting anecdote regarding a Lee Majors TV show... when The Fall Guy was in production they actually shot a few episodes using what they hoped would be the HDTV system along with 35mm Panavision film (the usual medium.) The 35mm was what we saw, but they did tests with an HDTV system that never made it. Because that show was so popular I guess it was a good demo for the HDTV system they were pushing. So, that was 1978 and we have only got how far with HDTV becoming the standard? (Why did they make that awesome, blond haired chick wearing that yellow bikini ride around in the back of that Chevy pickup in the Fall Guy?) Danny Brown

28th September 2006, 05:35 PM	#43
dbbubba Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,904	In one of those shows (Land of the Lost?) they drove around in a big, silver, space-age looking RV thing. I can't recall what show it was because I was too old to watch it. That vehicle used to sit in parking lot near the intersection of Cahuenga Blvd. and Barham in N. Hollywood. It was there in the early '80s and I used to look at it and laugh everytime I passed it. In what show were the kids paired up and in a spaceship with Jim Nabors? THAT is a scarey thought! Especially, if you have ever been around him in person. Danny Brown

28th September 2006, 06:47 PM	#46
dbbubba Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,904	That was Lost in Space. It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?) Lost in Space was great for a while, but eventually they ran out of ideas for the planets that they'd visit. Eventually, they were dealing with an "outerspace pirate" who had a robot parrot on his shoulder or Santa Claus (yes, that was one episode!) They would always get everything resolved and then right at the end of the show they'd run into the next problem. It was always "To Be Continued" next week! That dumbass Dr. Smith was always at the heart of the trouble. They should have just "off'ed" him and got on with business! He was a stowaway from the very first episode (which I recall seeing as a young kid... the 1st season was in black and white.) That robot was built by the same guy that built Robby the Robot for Forbidden Planet and there is a guy in L.A. that has them all now. I forget his website, but it's easy to find. He sells high-dollar recreations. Those things were VERY precision. A funny thing about that show was that the second in command guy (not the dad) ALWAYS had a bad attitude. I guess he was mad because that older daughter was holding out on him? I mean, she's some hot business and why he never stole the ship and took off with just her is beyond me. Danny Brown

29th September 2006, 12:44 AM	#50
initialsBB Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: LA Posts: 747	And of course Bill Mumy who played the kid Will Robinson on Lost in Space was also one half of Barnes and Barnes of "Fishheads" fame!

29th September 2006, 02:06 AM	#52
Lilainjil Gear interested Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 11	[quote=dbbubba;898534]That was Lost in Space. It had pretty cool theme music, but it kinda' sounded like the Dennis the Menace theme (same guy?) That would be none other than John Williams. He changed the theme for the third season. (How sad that this would be only my 4th GS post.)