Let It Beep: The rise and fall of the Mac startup chime

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Music, Design, Arts, Music Commentary

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2017

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For over two decades, every time you turned on a Mac, you were greeted by a familiar sound. It’s appeared as a punchline in The Simpsons, and in movies like WALL•E. It’s a sound some of us tried to hide from our parents as we turned on the computer in the middle of the night. It’s a sound that’s transcended technology; the sound that makes a Mac feel like a Mac. But no longer; the iconic Mac startup chime is going away. But, while we all recognize the sound, we rarely think of who made it. On the eve of the boot beep's retirement, Mark Bramhill, from the podcast Welcome to Macintosh talks with creator Jim Reekes about the most fun and iconic sounds he designed during his time at Apple. 20K is hosted by Dallas Taylor and made out of the studios of Defacto Sound. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Consider supporting the show at donate.20k.org Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/letitbeep Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's a new year and many of us are committing to exercising and eating healthier.
0:04.8	But another crucial part of staying healthy is keeping on top of your doctor appointments.
0:09.8	That's where Zoc Doc comes in.
0:12.0	Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoch.com slash Hertz to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.
0:19.7	That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com slash H-E-R-T-Z.
0:24.1	Zocococ.com slash Hertz.
0:32.3	You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.
0:36.1	The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.
0:40.3	I'm Dallas Taylor.
0:42.3	This is the story of a rogue sound designer at Apple,
0:46.3	who created three of the most iconic sounds in computer history.
1:00.7	For those of us who use and love Max, and I'll pause here to say that I am one of those people.
1:02.3	It's about the little things.
1:10.7	The sound it makes when it turns on, the way the keyboard clicks, the sound of taking a screenshot, or the satisfying magnetic snap when you
1:14.9	close a MacBook. These sounds are engineered and designed with purpose, and that's why I love
1:21.2	them. However, as clean and friendly as they sound, there's a darker backstory, one that takes us through
1:29.0	legal hurdles and an impressive level of passive aggressiveness.
1:35.2	Mark Bramhill, host of the incredible podcast Welcome to Macintosh, tells us the story
1:39.9	behind three of Apple's most famous sounds and the sound designer who snuck them into existence.
1:47.6	The devices we use every day make all kinds of sounds. You may not think about them much.
1:54.3	Maybe you've never even thought about them at all. But we have deep ingrained associations with each of them.
2:03.6	They tell us that something is wrong, or give us good news,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dallas Taylor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dallas Taylor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.