# Lights that go "WHOOMP"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327 "2008-06-01T03:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/1 "2008-06-01T03:44:19Z")
I’ve often heard a loud “whoomp” sound on the track of a TV show or movie when a lot of lights come on. Here’s a scenario: There’s a bad guy in a stadium on the fifty yard line, in the dark, crouched down and trying to not be seem. Suddenly, “whoomp whoomp whoomp whoomp”, four banks of lights turn on and the nefarious one is exposed. I used to be an electrician. I’ve been around a lot of times when a lot of big lights are turned on at the same time. Warehouses, an arena or two, stadiums, and like that. Not once did I hear any thing even close to that sound. The click of a switch, the clack of relays, sure. But no whoomp I’m not saying it’s not possible, just unlikely. Could be an inrush of quickly heated air, I guess. :dubious: Anyone ever heard light? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/2 "2008-06-01T03:48:48Z")
Well, punches also don’t sound like hamburger being thrown at a wall and walking rarely has that CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK sound, so it’s Hollywood trying to add mood. At least that’s what **I** think, personally I’ve also never heard this WHOOSH when lights come on in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/3 "2008-06-01T03:59:34Z")
Also, if movies are to be believed: All computers need to be constantly making bleeps, bloops, clicks and whirrs if they’re being used by someone. Any computerized security system will have an insanely embellished graphical interface, usually light blue or light green on a black background, with all kinds of three-dimensional effects, spinning menus and zooming effects, accompanied by the inevitable beeps and bloops, and lots of dramatic flashing and noise if the password is denied, and a pleasant tone accompanied by the text turning green if access is granted. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/4 "2008-06-01T04:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jragon] Well, punches also don’t sound like hamburger being thrown at a wall [/QUOTE] Of course not. Everybody knows that punches sound like a rubber mallet hitting a cabbage. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/5 "2008-06-01T04:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Also, if movies are to be believed: All computers need to be constantly making bleeps, bloops, clicks and whirrs if they’re being used by someone. Any computerized security system will have an insanely embellished graphical interface, usually light blue or light green on a black background, with all kinds of three-dimensional effects, spinning menus and zooming effects, accompanied by the inevitable beeps and bloops, and lots of dramatic flashing and noise if the password is denied, and a pleasant tone accompanied by the text turning green if access is granted. [/QUOTE] Reminds me of… [Things Hollywood think computers can do](http://www.cracked.com/article_15229_5-things-hollywood-thinks-computers-can-do.html) Anyway, I (probably wrongly) always imagined people moving those giant metal switches (i.e. the giant metallic lever ones you see in Frankenstein). If those things stick I could see you overexerting and having them make that distinct whoosh/clang noise when you hit the on/off position. Maybe that’s where it came from? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/6 "2008-06-01T04:15:58Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Anyone ever heard light? [/QUOTE] The high voltage starting supply on a xenon-arc spectrofluorimeter can make sort of a funny crackly-wumpish sound when the coils contract under voltage. I expect that firing up an open air carbon-arc lamp might also produce an interesting noise. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/7 "2008-06-01T04:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] The high voltage starting supply on a xenon-arc spectrofluorimeter can make sort of a funny crackly-wumpish sound when the coils contract under voltage. I expect that firing up an open air carbon-arc lamp might also produce an interesting noise. [/QUOTE] I have heard this sound in real life outside the movies with these types of lights and I always attributed it to some kind of massive power transfer and the instantaneous illumination of a very powerful light bulb. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/8 "2008-06-01T05:04:33Z")
Speaking from personal experience, HID lights (like sports lighting) are almost silent. The contactors that control the lights can be very loud though. Some of them make quite a “bang” when they are energized, and some buzz very loudly all the time they are on. Carbon arcs make a sizzling sound, but they are relatively quiet. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/9 "2008-06-01T05:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Speaking from personal experience, HID lights (like sports lighting) are almost silent. The contactors that control the lights can be very loud though. Some of them make quite a “bang” when they are energized, and some buzz very loudly all the time they are on. Carbon arcs make a sizzling sound, but they are relatively quiet. [/QUOTE] Does stadium lighting have the usual motor starter/contactor setup? If so, as you describe, contactors of varying sizes can be quite audible. Didn’t think of that. I can’t imagine the Motor Control Centers for a lighting rig like that, and I work around a pretty substantial 480 volt setup at the carwash I run. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/10 "2008-06-01T05:20:27Z")
Add on- The contactors I deal with issue more of a loud “click” sound rather than a “whoomph” sound. I wonder if that sound differs for a larger contactor distributing that kind of electric power (what is that voltage, anyway?) to a stadium-style light. ---
**Author:** ![Madgolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Madgolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madgolf)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/11 "2008-06-01T06:43:13Z")
A great example of the whoomp is from The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUt6wI23M9c) 17 second mark. I think Die Hard had the same effect going on too. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/12 "2008-06-01T14:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] Does stadium lighting have the usual motor starter/contactor setup? If so, as you describe, contactors of varying sizes can be quite audible. Didn’t think of that. I can’t imagine the Motor Control Centers for a lighting rig like that, and I work around a pretty substantial 480 volt setup at the carwash I run. [/QUOTE] Well, I don’t think anyone switches the lighting directly these days. Most sports lighting systems I run into are run on 277, with some on 480 volts, and lots of Amps - a typical pole will have 6-12 lamps, each 400W, so we’re talking around 5,000W per pole. A contactor may control several poles, so they need to be pretty beefy. There has been a great deal of improvement in contactor design over the years - newer designs are much smaller and quieter than some of the ancient ones I run into, which may be as large as a 1/2 shoebox, and make a loud bang when energized. The other thing to realize is that studio lights and stadium lights behave differently. AFAIK, studio lights are still mostly incandescent (for continuous color spectrum), whereas stadium lights are almost all HID. Incandescent lights have a huge current inrush when turned on, which means the contactors must be oversized to deal with it. HID lights take 10 minutes to warm up, and have essentially no inrush current spike. ---
**Author:** ![Consonants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@Consonants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consonants)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/13 "2008-06-01T15:06:49Z")
Maybe it’s the real sound of studio klieg lights? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/14 "2008-06-01T15:08:05Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] HID lights take 10 minutes to warm up, and have essentially no inrush current spike. [/QUOTE] That’s the part I was wondering about. I have never seen big lights like that that didn’t have a long slow startup. Not very good for flooding the bad guys with bright light and catching them in the act, unless they are kind enough to sit still for ten minutes while ignore the ever-increasing light. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/15 "2008-06-01T15:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=Consonants] Maybe it’s the real sound of studio klieg lights? [/QUOTE] They had to get the sound and the idea for the sound from _somewhere_. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/16 "2008-06-01T15:42:39Z")
Has anyone at a baseball game that went into night time ever heard the lights come on? The sound in the movies/tv is always from the lighted area point of view, not from a control room or mechanical room. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/17 "2008-06-01T17:22:35Z")
Right or wrong, sports movies have associated that sound with stadium light start ups for me. The noise just screams “SPORTS” to me. Near the end of this trailer: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzyp4qOW0F0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzyp4qOW0F0) And I couldn’t find the others I know are out there in Remember the Titans and others on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/18 "2008-06-02T00:16:14Z")
Data point: there’s an echoey \*whoomp-chunk \* sound when the arena lights are turned _off_ in **Miracle** [Scene 7, when the team is made to skate drills after their tie with the Norwegian “B” Team]. The electrical equipment looks old; the arena guy pulls down on an old-fashioned handle switch [as in **Frankenstein** , only without the Tesla coils and Van der Graaf generators]. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/19 "2008-06-02T23:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Sensitive] Right or wrong, sports movies have associated that sound with stadium light start ups for me. The noise just screams “SPORTS” to me. Near the end of this trailer: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzyp4qOW0F0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzyp4qOW0F0) And I couldn’t find the others I know are out there in Remember the Titans and others on YouTube. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that. Or usually very close to that. Ol’ Billy Bob sure can act, can’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327/20 "2008-06-02T23:54:13Z")
There are some very large case switches used on high-current power distribution equipment, typically rated 1000 A and up, like the one shown [here](http://www.us.schneider-electric.com/us/products/circuit_breakers.nsf/unid/7AD8922937A2AAD985256B8E00584339/$file/masterpactntcbFrameset.htm). These have very heavy-duty contacts so hefty that powerful springs need to be “charged” by pumping a handle in order to toggle them. You saw a different type of these being energized in _Jurassic Park_. These make a pretty loud noise when you open or close them. I can see something like this being the inspiration for the sound effect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-that-go-whoomp/451327.md?page=2)