Sounds like Chewbacca
QUESTION How was
Chewbacca’s voice created for the Star Wars films?
THE man responsible for creating many of Star Wars’s most iconic sounds, including Chewbacca’s animalistic voice, was American sound designer and voice artist Ben Burtt.
The brief he was given by director George Lucas was to ditch the modernist sounds that science fiction movies typically aimed for and instead create an entirely new soundscape that would lend realism to his space opera.
Chewbacca was challenging because the costume had lips that could only open and close. ‘You needed to create a sound that would be believable coming from a mouth like this,’ he said.
Burtt recorded a four-month-old pet cinnamon bear living on a farm in California. He broke the sounds down into emotions such as angry or questioning.
He then mixed them with wild animal recordings — a black bear, dog, lion, seal, walrus, tiger, camel and badger. The bear was key because it makes sounds from the back of its throat, like Chewbacca.
Burtt created many of the other great sounds in the film. His brief for R2-D2 was simply: ‘The little dwarf robot makes a series of electronic sounds that only another robot could understand.’
He ran his own voice through a synthesiser via a cheap microphone, lending R2-D2’s voice human and robot characteristics and thus bringing him to life.
To create Darth Vader’s breathing, Burtt used an old diving regulator, recording the sound from within using a small microphone.
The trumpet of an elephant became the shriek of a fighter jet while a high-tension wire struck with a hammer became the firing of a blaster. For the lightsabre, Burtt combined the feedback from a microphone held near a TV set with the drone of old film projectors.
The dramatic pitch shifts were generated by waving a microphone at a speaker and letting the Doppler effect do the rest.
Among numerous award nominations, Burtt won sound editing Oscars for Star Wars, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, E.T. and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. Cliff Thompson, Maidenhead,
Berks.
QUESTION
In an expanding universe, why are the Andromeda Galaxy and Milky Way approaching each other?
IN 1925, the US astronomer Edwin Hubble was the first to prove that the universe is expanding. He demonstrated the direct relationship between the speeds of distant galaxies and their distances from Earth. This is known as Hubble’s Law.
However, Andromeda is an exception to the rule. It is moving towards the Milky Way at 250,000 miles per hour.
Collisions between galaxies in close proximity to each other can happen. Proximate galaxies are bound by the gravity of the dark matter surrounding them, pulling them together and resisting the expansion. In four billion years, a gigantic collision will take place between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy.
Dr Ken Bristow, Glasgow.
QUESTION
Who is the greatest ever Irish snooker player?
MANY people in the Republic would nominate Ken Doherty, from Dublin, as Ireland’s greatest ever snooker player, while people in the North of Ireland would probably choose Dennis Taylor, a native of Coalisland, Co. Tyrone.
Ken Doherty was born in Ranelagh, on Dublin’s southside, in 1969 and he first learned the tricks of the trade at Jason’s renowned snooker hall in Ranelagh. He went professional in 1990.
He remains the only person to have won both the amateur and the professional world championships, in 1989 and 1997 respectively. The highlights of his career include his multiple world cup wins and appearances in the finals of several other world championship tournaments.
In more recent years, he has regained much of the success he had in his earlier years and he continues to play in international tournaments and working as a sports speaker around the world. He also often makes appearances as an after-dinner speaker and he also has his own snooker and sports club in Terenure, Dublin.
Dennis Taylor, born in 1949, 20 years before Ken Doherty, was a professional player from 1972 until 2000. He had many successes, including beating world number one Steve Davis to win the world championship in 1985. He also won the Grand Prix in 1984 and the Masters in 1987. His highest world ranking was in 1979/1980 when he came in at second place.
He’s a very colourful character, renowned for his oversize spectacles and a great sense of humour, which he has put to great use since finishing his time as a player and becoming a television commentator on the sport for the BBC.
Two other Irish snooker players also deserve a mention as being among the greatest players Ireland has produced.
Fergal O’Brien, was born in Dublin in 1972 and is the ‘owner’ of two nicknames, ‘the baby-faced assassin’ and ‘Fearless Fergal’. He turned professional in 1991 and he came close to winning the Masters in 2001. His ranking peaked at ninth place in 2000/2001. His current ranking is sixth.
The fourth great player from Ireland is Joe Swail, born in Belfast in 1969. In his career, he has reached the semi-finals of ten major tournaments, including the world championships in 2000 and 2001.
Nicknamed ‘The Outlaw’, he was also Irish champion in 1992 and 2005. He is renowned for his very unorthodox way of cueing up.
Terence Page, Douglas, Co. Cork
KEN DOHERTY and Dennis Taylor are two Irish players who hold eminent positions in the history of world snooker; however, when it comes to Irish players, there is one who is head and shoulders above these two great players as far as flamboyance and stunning play is concerned.
Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins was as troubled as he was talented. Worldchampion in 1972 and 1982 and runner-up in 1976 and 1980, the Belfast-born Higgins was mesmerising to watch when he was on form.
His supreme talent was overshadowed by his addictive personality, which saw him suffer ill health due to his heavy smoking and drinking.
The People’s Champioin, as he was known, died in 2010, aged 61.
If ever one thought snooker a dull sport, then time should be taken to search out Higgins in full flight, playing at speed and oozing both passion and talent... it’s a sight that lingers in the memory and confirms his place in the pantheon of the sport’s great players.
D. Power, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
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