The History (And Science) Behind Laser Sound Effects

If you think about a laser sound effect, your mind probably jumps straight to Star Wars. George Lucas’ space opera has become more than just a blockbuster film franchise — it’s literally become a generation-defining achievement.

While everyone knows that George Lucas was the mastermind behind it all, a huge part of the films’ success ties back to two other people: visual effects supervisor John Dykstra and sound designer Ben Burtt. These men (and their teams) are responsible for the magic and wonder that turned Lucas’ vision into a breathtaking reality.

Ben Burtt’s work on Star Wars did more than create iconic sounds like wookies, lightsabers, and TIE fighters. He also established the baseline for a new audio “standard” for sound design in science fiction.

But of course laser sound effects existed before Star Wars released in 1977. Science fiction rose in popularity decades before Lucas took us all to a galaxy far, far away. And the history of laser sound effects might just be even more interesting than the plots of some Star Wars films.

Laser Technology In Popular Culture

People have been thinking about a scientific future for over a century. In fact, it’s almost strange to look back to 19th century “science fiction” and the daydreams of aliens and long-lost human cities hidden on Mars and the Moon.

Compare that to the 21st century, where science fiction is a way to explore philosophical questions and societal issues through the lens of artificial intelligence and space exploration. SciFi has come a long way, and yet some pieces—like laser weapons—are still a founding father of how we think about the genre.

One of the earliest examples of a laser weapon was in H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds, published in 1898. It’s kind of assumed that medical advances in radiation (and especially the x-ray) helped inspire science fiction writers to start implementing these mysterious, unseen energies into futuristic weapons.

The “torture” scene in Goldfinger (1964) is another early example of laser sound effects.

And science fiction really began to explore laser weapons with Star Trek: The Original Series. It predates Star Wars by over a decade, and while it doesn’t get quite the same amount of credit, the use of “futuristic” sounds helped establish its science fiction setting.

Star Wars helped popularize laser weapons in modern culture. In fact, Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (an orbital defense grid that would shoot down missiles with lasers) was nicknamed “Star Wars,” tying science fiction ideology into our society.

Fast forward to the modern era of film, TV, and even video games. Laser weapons have grown and evolved, branching out into a variety of new styles and types. But the core concepts are still the same, and those traditional laser sound effects are still the driving force in how sound designers approach it.

Laser Sound Effects For Video

Now you might not be working on a Star Wars production, or even an indie SciFi film. Maybe you just want to add some visual effects to a video for your YouTube channel, or try some new transitions on another project. Or maybe you need a laser sound for an explainer video about a scientific process, mechanical tool, or medical procedure.

The point is, there are a whole variety of ways that you can use laser sound effects. The only thing that determines where they fit best is your own creativity.

A major benefit of the popularization of lasers is that audiences have an intuitive understanding of what they sound like. And the same is true of the opposite perspective: We can easily figure out when a sound signifies a laser, either as a tool or as a weapon.

At this top of this page, we embedded a playlist of some popular laser effects used by filmmakers and content creators that currently use our sound effects library. While you’ll pick out some universal similarities in the sounds, it’s the small differences that force you to “see” each laser differently in your head.

Maybe it’s a different “weight,” or some sort of change in the size of the laser beam. Maybe a certain sound makes you imagine a different beam color. But no matter how you visualize it, these subtle changes illustrate the kind of style or flair that a sound effect — when used at the perfect moment — can add to video.

Find Great Sound Effects For Your Projects

If you appreciate a good laser effect, your main question is probably, “Alright, now where do I find high-quality laser sounds?” Fortunately, this is something that Soundstripe can help you with.

We include a library of over 40,000 sound effects as part of our Premium subscription plan. (And yes, there are hundreds of science fiction-type sounds, including a whole bunch of laser sound effects.) And this is in addition to all of our radio-quality royalty free songs.

Royalty free sound effects are an easy way for content creators to get the specific sound they want without having to license specific files. More importantly, it means you won’t have to spend three days sorting through terrible laser sounds that a 16-year-old recorded on their Yamaha keyboard.

Because Soundstripe uses a subscription service, that means that you’ll sign up for a plan and get unlimited access to both of our libraries: sound effects and music. You’ll pick the specific sound you want, generate a unique license, and then you’ll never have to worry about copyright claims or that file disappearing from our library.

Once you download the sound effect or song that you want, your license for it is valid forever.

It’s just the peace of mind that content creators want, especially with YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms cracking down with copyright infringement claims.

With Soundstripe, you can get professionally made laser sound effects for your next video project and rest easy knowing that you’ll never have to worry about royalty payments, individual licensing fees, or copyright claims.