The History of Sound in Cinema – Part I

"... there were no friendly greetings, no ‘Did you have a good trip?’ or ‘Welcome to Hollywood!’ Instead, he complained about the crews, the producers, directors, and cameramen. ‘They don’t like us,’ ‘they hate the sound, they want us gone — but we’re not going anywhere.’”(Free translation from the book “The State of the Art – 1928” by Edward Bernds)

That’s how Edward Bernds was received in 1928 by Howard Campbell at the United Artists studios. Edward was just 23, switching from radio to film. The Jazz Singer (1928), released by Warner Bros, had just hit Hollywood like a bomb. It was one of the first films with sound — and the first with spoken dialogue — so studios were hiring people like him to build the first sound departments in cinema.

Technology has always played a revolutionary role in the arts, and like any revolution, it faced a lot of resistance. Many directors at the time believed sound would ruin cinema and disrupt the entire production model. And in a way, they were right — a lot had to change. Studios weren’t ready. They were often giant warehouses, detailed film cities — but also incredibly noisy. Noise was everywhere: directors shouting at their teams, stagehands dragging heavy gear, machines of every shape and size buzzing away. All of it had to be rethought.

Edward Bernds became a key sound engineer in that transition. Since the challenges were brand new, they had to invent and improve both techniques and technology. Film sound was still very limited, complex, and tough to work with. Edward played a major role — no surprise he was named best sound engineer of his time by Columbia. He eventually became a respected director and screenwriter (he even directed The Three Stooges).

Sound and image became inseparable, and the endless creative possibilities that audio brought to cinema started lighting up the minds of directors and writers. Alfred Hitchcock, who had already made a name for himself with silent films (if you haven’t seen The Lodger, stop reading and go watch it now!), was one of the best at using soundtracks. His movies are still reference points today. Take the classic shower scene from Psycho (1960), with those shrieking strings that instantly trigger a sense of panic — that was all Bernard Herrmann. He convinced Hitchcock to use music in a scene that was originally meant to be silent. Not only did Hitchcock listen, he even doubled Herrmann’s fee for the idea. (They don’t make directors like that anymore, say today’s composers.) True story.

But the score is just one part of a film’s sound design. Recorded sound opened up whole new dimensions. To quote Brian De Palma: “The camera lies 24 times per second.” Because of course, the image doesn’t come alone. In 1940, along came Fantasia by Walt Disney, a film that brought a major leap in sound tech. Until then, all movies used mono sound (you know when one earbud breaks and you only hear one side? That’s mono — one audio channel). Since Fantasia was based on classical music masterpieces, it needed sound that matched its ambition (a demand from Walt himself). So they created a system to make it feel like a real orchestra was playing live in the theater: it was called Fantasound. It worked a lot like today’s surround sound — multiple speakers placed around the theater to create depth and immersion. Sadly, because it was expensive and required theaters to be physically adapted, Fantasia was the only film to use it. But it introduced key innovations like multi-track recording, which allowed them to record other effects and voices during post-production (a technique known as overdubbing) alongside the sounds captured during filming.

That changed everything — and here’s why.

If you’ve watched Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, or The Flintstones, then your ears remember the iconic sound effects used in those animations. They became standards. The same techniques to sync character movements or hit the beats of jokes and dialogue are still used today. Styles may vary, but the methods are still there. These techniques were possible thanks to multi-track recording — separate audio channels where different elements could be recorded individually. For example: on one track, a metronome, so the orchestra could play in sync and animators could precisely match character movements to music. Another track for the orchestra, another for dialogue, and another for sound effects (like footsteps or doors closing). That gave much more control and precision to a film’s sound. This technique is still essential in today’s productions.

Nowadays, the number of tracks can go up to a thousand or more, and the digital world made everything way easier. Most of the work happens on a single computer, using far fewer tools than before. Computers brought another revolution to cinema — but that’s a story for part two, when the digital age takes over the audiovisual world.

See you then!