Classic Sound Effect: What is that catlike meow/whistle laugh heard in old sitcoms???

[voicebug]

This could be one of the weirdest threads ever. Technically, it probably belongs in Visual Arts, but I'm hoping it won't get moved because more people will see it here.

What on earth is this sound that is heard on a number of laff tracks in sitcoms from the 60's and 70's? I honestly don't know how to describe it, but I'll try my best.

It sounds like a whistle that somebody is doing in place of a laugh. It has sort of the same rhythm as a cat's meow. But instead of Mee-owwww it sounds more like Her-owwww. Also, I'm thinking that it's a single recording that has been recycled dozens of times in many different sitcoms. The sound is ingrained in my memory, but I honestly can't name a 'specific' sitcom I've heard it in. However, as far as I can remember, the sound occurs when there is a very small amount of laughter, not when there's a whole lot of people laughing. And when this sound is heard, it's usually the last laugh element heard before dialogue resumes. There may be a second or so more laughter after this sound.

Does anyone know what the heck I'm talking about? I can't be the only person who has noticed this sound. Better yet, can anyone post a recording of it if it's on one of your sitcom DVDs? If anyone knows what I'm talking about, do you know what this noise is? Is it some kind of whistle? It definitely sounds too high pitched to be done with the vocal cords alone.

Any comments??? :hide:

This thread will either have a lot of responses or die quickly. :laugh:

[Oatsdad]

I thought I knew the laugh you mean, but I don't consider the one I know as high-pitched. More of a man's "hrr-uk", with a warped sound like it's from an overused tape. It's the frigging Wilhelm Scream of laughtrack noises! Very late Sixties/Seventies. Pretty sure it's on the first season of The Odd Couple, though I wouldn't know how to capture the sound and post it...

[voicebug]

Colin, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're right. It 'is' the Wilhelm scream of laff tracks. I was thinking the same thing, but I forgot the name of the 'Wilhelm' when I was writing the thread. :laugh:

You're absolutely right---It sounds like 'hrr-uk.'

[Bahax]

I know exactly what you mean, and can say with near certainty that it could be heard in many early episodes of M*A*S*H.

No doubt due to the sound (whatever it was) occurring during the source laughs used in the laff box, the inventor of which died not so long ago, I believe.

[Oatsdad]

I know exactly what you mean, and can say with near certainty that it could be heard in many early episodes of M*A*S*H.


Yup, I think you're right. And the more I think about it, the sound is more like "hrr-arr!" than "hrr-uk"...

[voicebug]

Now that we're talking about it, I've dying to hear it! :laugh:

[Bahax]

Charles Douglass, died in 2003, laff box inventor.

"The question of where the first laughs in Charlie's Laff Box came from is still subject to debate in TV geek circles. Some say they were sampled from a Marcel Marceau concert; others claim they came from a classic Red Skelton performance; still others say he recorded live audiences from early "I Love Lucy" shows. All of these shows relied heavily on sight gags, which would have simplified the recording process."
—http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110003464


If the above is true, I'm imagining one of those performers doing some physical business accompanied by a wacky sound effect, thereby making its way onto the original laff recordings...

'ats me theory

[Dillydipper]

This is the sort of stuff I dearly wanted to learn about back when I was doing radio production regularly.

I remember my first correspondence with Media General about their FX library, and requesting fx I knew only by sound, not by name. One in particular was "yadda-de-yadda", which got a return query to my program director (the, "who IS this twerp?" kinda query). Of course, the sound I was looking for was a Warner Bros. casrtoon "head-shake", but hey, I was younger then...

[Bahax]

One in particular was "yadda-de-yadda"

This one (http://www.earthstation1.com/WBCartoonFiles/WB_Wavs/yaheyahe.wav)

I'd like to know how they made that sound, and a lot of others.

[Victor/Victrola]

This one (http://www.earthstation1.com/WBCartoonFiles/WB_Wavs/yaheyahe.wav)

I'd like to know how they made that sound, and a lot of others.

I believe that sound was made by the amazing Mel Blanc. I saw an old Jack Benny skit where Mel did all the sound effects with just his voice, and he was an unbelievable talent.

[JBStephens]

This is the sort of stuff I dearly wanted to learn about back when I was doing radio production regularly.

I remember my first correspondence with Media General about their FX library, and requesting fx I knew only by sound, not by name. One in particular was "yadda-de-yadda", which got a return query to my program director (the, "who IS this twerp?" kinda query). Of course, the sound I was looking for was a Warner Bros. casrtoon "head-shake", but hey, I was younger then...

When I saw "yadda-de-yadda" there, I knew EXACTLY which sound you were talking about. :agree:

[Bahax]

Now that we're talking about it, I've dying to hear it! :laugh:

Oh dear, I sense an irrational urge growing in me, to rent some early MASH discs....and painstakingly listen to the laugh track!!

...must...resist...


I would kill for one of those old laff boxes!
Cold-blooded murder. Whatever it takes.

I believe that sound was made by the amazing Mel Blanc. I saw an old Jack Benny skit where Mel did all the sound effects with just his voice, and he was an unbelievable talent.

Yup. That was an amazing intersection of talents on those Warner Bros cartoons in general.

[Dillydipper]

This one (http://www.earthstation1.com/WBCartoonFiles/WB_Wavs/yaheyahe.wav)

I'd like to know how they made that sound, and a lot of others.

Of course that's the one. What amazed me was how obtuse the guy at Media General was, that he didn't know what I was talking about - he's in the SOUND EFFECTS business, for cryin' out loud...! :rolleyes:

[axnyslie]

Yes I know it too! It is THE M*A*S*H* laugh I heard all the time. Someone must have a DVD of the show so they can capture an audio clip of it

[inperson]

As soon as I read the thread title I thought of M*A*S*H

[HGN2001]

I have all of the M*A*S*H discs, but can't STAND to listen to it with the laugh track turned on. We watch an episode almost every night before retiring, and with each new disc you have to remember to turn OFF the laugh track and select the one without.

That said, I'm hoping someone will come up with a sample because I'm dying to hear what you all are talking about!

Harry

[Bahax]

What amazed me was how obtuse the guy at Media General was, that he didn't know what I was talking about - he's in the SOUND EFFECTS business, for cryin' out loud...!

What boggles me noggin is that sound effect doesn't appear to be included on the Warner Bros Sound Effects Library CDs.

[Dillydipper]

Can't remember where I sourced the one in my arsenal. I believe I lifted it from the tail-end of one of the shorts; several kicked-off the end-theme with that "bee-youu-whipp!" vocal effect, but only one had the "head shake" effect cold just before the orchestra tag comes in.

[billdcat]

For more info try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PxALy22utc&NR=1

Funny stuff!

[His Masters Vice]

That said, I'm hoping someone will come up with a sample because I'm dying to hear what you all are talking about!

Harry


Be careful of what you ask for Harry. Once you've heard it, you will never be able to ignore it again!

I know exactly what sound is being referred. However, I always just assumed it was someone with a very high pitched voicing sighing after laughing :shrug:

[Bahax]

Maybe it's Wilhelm's wife.

[His Masters Vice]

Maybe it's Wilhelm's wife.

They say her laugh was so annoying that every time Wilhelm heard it he would scream

;)

[Big Al]

I always thought it was the sound of a horse laughing.

[guy incognito]

Let's not let this thread pass without discussing the loud, honking laugh James L. Brooks contributed to countless '70s sitcoms ("Mary Tyler Moore", "Bob Newhart", "Taxi", etc.).

[Oatsdad]

The Wilhelm Scream is one of those things I wish I could unhear. Now I can't ignore it when it appears - and it openly distracts me... :(