# Is there a name for this recorded scream? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894 "2003-04-02T04:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Erik\_the\_Viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Erik\_the\_Viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erik_the_Viking)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/21 "2003-04-03T19:18:32Z")
A few years ago I spent hours and hours playing XCOM: Apocalypse. In that game, there were several screams that your soldiers made when they were injured. Since then, I’ve heard those screams (particularly the female ones) over and over again in movie trailers and commercials. I’d estimate that I hear a scream I recognize at least two or three times a month. There seems to be a pretty small pool of sound effects screams that they use; either that, or their use is so ubiquitous that it’s inevitable that’ll I’ll hear the ones I recognize often. It’s kind of like in _Say Anything_ when Diane says she ocassionally hears a recording of herself screaming being used in commercials. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/22 "2003-04-03T20:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MSU 1978 \* > \*\*Anybody else ever notice that the “person falling from a great height scream” from ANY classic Disney cartoon is exactly the same sound and voice? \*\* If it’s what I’m thinking of, I believe this scream was inspired by a musician called “Whoopie” something-or-other. It’s most associated with Goofy, and would best be represented in print by “yah-hoo-hoo-hooie!” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/23 "2003-04-03T20:36:01Z")
Slightly off topic, but there’s a Clint Eastwood western where they use the exact same gunshot-and-ricochet sound, over and over, to the point of absurdity! Trinopus ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/24 "2003-04-04T07:00:37Z")
There are lots of sounds that they use over and over. In every hospital scene used in every movie, there is a point where you here, “Dr. David telephone please Dr. David.” This, though I am certain everyone knew about long before, became apparent to me after I listened to Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime album. The sound byte is in the very last song on the album. After you listen to it many times, the sound becomes absurd, and everytime you hear it you take note. I am going to listen for the Wilhelm screem from now on. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/25 "2003-04-04T14:23:47Z")
For me, the first time I realised they used the same sound effect over and over came in the late 70s/early 80s - there was a particular ‘ambient street noise’ effect which had low-level traffic sounds, and then two horn beeps. I remember this being used in the many police/detective dramas prevalent at the time (Charlies Angels, Columbo, McCloud, and so on). I also wondered why the villians would always be driving Ford LTDs… (Ford supplied vehicles for many of those shows at the time) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/26 "2003-04-04T23:24:38Z")
And most police radio chatter begins with “11-8-25, Code 6…” ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/27 "2003-04-05T00:49:38Z")
I remember once noticing an office supply ad on TV used the same “office background” noise they use in SimTower 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/28 "2003-04-05T01:36:37Z")
There was a commercial for tires that used the same sound effects as Doom ---
**Author:** ![Shakey\_Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Shakey\_Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakey_Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/29 "2003-04-05T04:18:07Z")
I’m not sure if it’s the same one you’re talking about, but it may be the one in the Princess Bride that Westley screams when the prince takes 50 years from him all at once. ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/30 "2003-04-05T07:21:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ed \* > I’ve personally noticed this scream in the original Dark Forces, Starcraft (both as noted above), and in the movie “Serial Mom”, when the guy walks into the bathroom and sees the body in the urinal. > > I have not yet been able to locate any information on it. ☹ I have no information on it, but I do have the [sample](http://members.iglou.com/mekh/DF-Fall.wav), perhaps it can help someone that does know identify it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894/31 "2003-04-05T07:33:56Z")
I only noticed it in Starcraft & Dark Forces. According to this thread at [nitpickers.com](http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/nitpicks/9000/8006.shtml), it is also used in _Face Off_ and _Broken Arrow_, neither which are films I’ve been exposed to. Someone in that thread also suggests that it is used in the original _Star Wars_, when a Stormtrooper gets shot off a walkway in the Death Star-- a claim that I’m not sure I agree with, since I’ve probably seen that movie almost as many times as I’ve clicked on a damned Terran Academy to upgrade my cussed marines, and I don’t recognize it. I’m doing a great job of resisting dusting off my ol’ copy of Star Wars and checking. :twitch: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-recorded-scream/165894.md?page=1)