Quick question, and maybe there are dentists who are Trek lovers and will know. In "Wink Of An Eye", there is the strange buzzing sound heard when the aliens, in their super fast accelerated form, are near the crew. I heard this exact sound one day while visiting the dentist with a loved one. Since the loved one had an emergency, I failed to ask the dentist what it was. I could hear it being used in one of the patient rooms, but not the one where my loved one went. It doesn't seem to be a drill or dental filler as I've checked just about all of the online sounds in that regard and have failed to come across it. Some audio savvy folks say that it might be a dental polisher or grinder of some type. Thank you!
which dental device heard in "Wink Of An Eye"?
- Thread starter billsantos
- Start date
I always thought that sound effects editor Douglas Grindstaff took an insect buzzing sound and sped it up, but what do I know. 
I always thought that sound effects editor Douglas Grindstaff took an insect buzzing sound and sped it up, but what do I know.
Maybe he was able to lay hands on stock footage of a beehive buzzing. If not, something closer at hand like an electric shaver would be very easy to record from scratch.
Also, instead of speeding it up, which greatly shortens the running length, I'll bet he used the Eltro device to pitch-shift the buzzing electronically. The Scalosian buzz has that funny pitch weirdness you can also hear in the Keeper's voice.
http://www.wendycarlos.com/other/Eltro-1967/
(this link was provided by @alchemist, here.)
Well, the buzz I heard was definitely in the dentist's office. I must go back there someday to find out the device producing it. I suspect it is some sort of polisher/ grinder or maybe even an ultrasonic device. I just never thought I'd not be able to find it online with all of the machinery samples available.
Grindstaff may have used some dental instruments. I came across a dental drill sound recently, with the drill being used in a certain way and, once slowed down, it sounded almost exactly like the steady part of TOS bridge sound. Add a teletype machine to it, some echo and reverb and you have the first part of the sound.
They used a modified Hammond organ for sounds like the alien planet surface and transporter. Some credited Jack Cookerly using his pitch bender with the Hammond and that may have been the case.
A ship squealing its keel along an iceberg was another part of the transporter, according to Jack Finlay. I believe it can be heard as they are beaming down from the ship.
Grindstaff may have used some dental instruments. I came across a dental drill sound recently, with the drill being used in a certain way and, once slowed down, it sounded almost exactly like the steady part of TOS bridge sound. Add a teletype machine to it, some echo and reverb and you have the first part of the sound.
They used a modified Hammond organ for sounds like the alien planet surface and transporter. Some credited Jack Cookerly using his pitch bender with the Hammond and that may have been the case.
A ship squealing its keel along an iceberg was another part of the transporter, according to Jack Finlay. I believe it can be heard as they are beaming down from the ship.
I think you're dismissing the idea that there are people moving at super speed in your dentist's office far too quickly.
That may be, but, in our current state of technology, I lack the means to slow them down and/or devise a tainted water that will allow me access to their level.
Maybe it's a dentist drill, sped up and electronically altered in pitch?
I'd be more worried if they used a bit of floss and rubbed it against a cat to produce a noise to be electronically altered to create an ethereal computer power-off noise. Ever see the show "Blake's 7"? One sound effect definitely sounds like it came from a cat, but probably without the floss...
I'd be more worried if they used a bit of floss and rubbed it against a cat to produce a noise to be electronically altered to create an ethereal computer power-off noise. Ever see the show "Blake's 7"? One sound effect definitely sounds like it came from a cat, but probably without the floss...
I'd be more worried that your dentist is potentially using tools from the 1960s.
Is it safe?
Just don't drink the water they offer you on the next visit. Or keep it in view at all times. Or get ready for an interesting adventure.
This thread reminds me of an experience I had at work years ago. We had a gigantic laser printer, a machine about 18 feet long counting it's output stacking cabinets, and when it was fired up and printing 90 pages per minute, it made a loud whine that sounded exactly like the "turbine" sound of the Jupiter 2 in flight.
If your mind "imprinted" on sci-fi sound fx as a little kid, that kid of thing really gets your attention.
If your mind "imprinted" on sci-fi sound fx as a little kid, that kid of thing really gets your attention.
