ANOTHER Dr No soundtrack question --- SOLVED!

RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
edited January 2022 in James Bond Music
Hi guys,

I'm on a probably impossible quest to track down a particular sound effect from Dr No!

It occurs just after 1hr 35m - Bond has just escaped from his cell and is edging down the corrugated metal pipe. There's a fantastic swirling, whooshing air effect that runs throughout this sequence and it's the one I'm after.

Does anyone out there have the faintest idea where this effect comes from? Is it a Norman Wanstall original creation? (Well done Norman, if so!) Is it a pre-existing track, possibly from a sound effects library? If it is from a library does anyone have any idea which one? Has anyone spotted the track anywhere else?

There are a couple of computer sound effects in Dr No that appear to have come from the BBC library. There's another that pops up later in The Prisoner and also one that's used in the Amicus Dr Who and the Daleks. Perhaps the track was a Wanstall original that was added to a library subsequently. Perhaps it was already a library piece and Mr W plucked it off the shelf fully formed.

Any concrete information, vague theories or mad ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks :)

Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 35,980Chief of Staff
    No idea, Rinberg! :# Now, the musical score I do know about.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I do know the sound you mean but can't help. I did see a very interesting documentary about sound effects a while ago where the BBC staff were creating all manner of weird & wonderful sounds from mostly home made or everyday objects. It's possible that the whooshing sound could have been actually made by air being pushed along a pipe & electronically tweaked to give the desired effect.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Just an idea but couldn't you lift the sound off the film somehow & use that?
  • Mr SnowMr Snow Station "J" JamaicaPosts: 1,736MI6 Agent
    edited February 2016
    This won't be of much use but I have a special features DVD on Dr No (along with the subsequent 20 James Bond films - I won the box set in a contest by telling a couple of white lies ;) ), regardless, I have a vague recollection that one of the interviews/documentaries is about the sound effects used in the film. I definitely remember the scene you are talking about which makes me think it was spoken about.

    I may have that totally wrong and can't check at present as my DVD player is broken. However, once I replace it with a Blu-Ray player I'll check again. I don't know when that will be but will keep it in mind for sure. Also, if someone on here has the same special features DVD I'm talking about (it was one of 21 in the black and silver box set with the 007 logo on it) then they may be able to help. -{
    "Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
  • Mr SnowMr Snow Station "J" JamaicaPosts: 1,736MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:

    This may also be of some help. Fast forward to about 34:30 and watch for the next 4-5 minutes. Actually, the whole documentary is worth a look.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nJ68vJ-0k
    "Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    Many, many thanks for all the links and suggestions, people - there's some fantastic leads there. Top medal goes to OGG007 - I never imagined anyone would be able to turn up an interview with Norman Wanstall discussing not just Dr No but the specific effect I was after! Thanks again.

    So, Wanstall found it while "searching in the libraries". This presumably means a sound effects library and that's where I hit another brick wall. I'm pretty familiar with production music libraries - e.g. KPM who provided the original theme to Grange Hill in the UK, or Chappell, who provided much of the incidental music for The Prisoner - but when it comes to sound effects libraries I know absolutely nothing. The BBC had their own internal one (here's an original disc on eBay) but that's about all I know.

    Did Pinewood have their own internal sound FX library? Or if they used an established external one does anyone know which one? (I'd be impressed if anyone did - I can't even name any!)

    Thanks for your time!
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    Just an idea but couldn't you lift the sound off the film somehow & use that?

    How did you discover my secret Plan B?!

    Actually, I've just nabbed the 2-disc DVD set of Amazon which allegedly contains a 5.1 mix. If I can't track the full track down it should come in handy...
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    edited February 2016
    This may be of interest, it may not...

    The wonderful whooshing air sound effect from Dr No turned up in Dr Who (they *soooo* stole the name!) four years later:

    http://www.mediafire.com/download/3ud152co1g1moox/Swirly+1.mp3

    - it kicks in at about 7-and-a-half seconds, It's quiet! (There's a "respiration" effect too - ignore that, that's definitely Radiophonic Workshop.)

    Here's another section of it that's particularly dramatic (ignore the other track fading out in the opening seconds):

    https://www.mediafire.com/?85ql7y7b0h1i943

    - that's pure electronic music, that is. It's b brilliant, and I want a copy of it!
  • BondEditor25BondEditor25 Posts: 1MI6 Agent
    One of the sound effects libraries around at that time was Cinesound, whose work also appeared in Thunderbirds and many many more tv and film productions. Their library is now owned by another company.
  • Mr SnowMr Snow Station "J" JamaicaPosts: 1,736MI6 Agent
    One of the sound effects libraries around at that time was Cinesound, whose work also appeared in Thunderbirds and many many more tv and film productions. Their library is now owned by another company.

    This may have been replicated in many films (not just Bond) but listen to the single gunshot at about 45 seconds. Sounds very similar to one used in one of Connery's early Bond films.

    May have to watch them all again to clarify - oh well, can think of worse things to do :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV8YbLvGrb0
    "Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent

    Well, six years later I've finally found it! Turns out to be a BBC creation, likely produced for the Journey into Space radio series. And you can hear it in full here:

    Thanks again for all the original helpful comments, chaps! :)

  • The Domino EffectThe Domino Effect Posts: 3,631MI6 Agent

    This is just the sort of stuff that I really love about this website and this community. Thanks for sharing!

  • The Red KindThe Red Kind EnglandPosts: 3,104MI6 Agent

    I quite agree!

    Congrats on the conclusion of your quest Rinberg👏

    "Any of the opposition around..?"
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    edited January 2022

    Thanks guys. You probably can't imagine how excited I was when it turned up! 😀

    As this is a Dr No thread, I thought some of you might like to hear this too - it's another ancient BBC effects disc (50s / 60s) which, once again, I bought because it contained a Dr Who effect. But it turns out there are a couple of Dr No effects in there too:


    • 7. 4:33 One Channel of Six-Channel Multiple Voice Frequency Morse - at 01:42:40 when the radio beam is synced for toppling.
    • 8. 5:37 Phasing Pulse of Radio Facsimile Apparatus - at 01:19:28 when Honey and Bond are forcibly showered to get rid of radioactive contamination... this one's also in The Spy Who Loved Me / also in The Prisoner TV show.


    Thanks to Sgt Yard at Gallifrey Base for that info. Hope it's of some interest!

  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    edited March 2022

    Another contender for "Most ridiculously niche YouTube video ever", here are some more BBC sound effects - the bleeps and whirrs of an extremely early computer. Dr No fans might recognise tracks 2, 7 and 11!


    Thanks again to Sgt Yard.

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 35,980Chief of Staff

    And thank you!

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