How Star Wars Inspired My Journey Into Sound Design

I can still remember the first time I really heard Star Wars. Not just the music, not just the dialogue—the sounds. The hum of a lightsaber, the roar of a TIE fighter, the hollow beeps and boops of R2-D2. These weren’t just noises added to a film; they were characters themselves, shaping how I experienced the story. That realization is what first pulled me into the world of sound design.

What fascinated me most was the creativity behind it. A lightsaber wasn’t recorded in some futuristic lab—it came from blending the hum of an old projector motor with the feedback from a microphone cable. That blew my mind. It made me start asking new questions: Where do sounds come from? How can I take something ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary?

From there, my whole perspective on sound shifted. Suddenly, I wasn’t just listening to music or movies—I was analyzing them. I began to notice how footsteps in video games create atmosphere, how subtle sound effects in commercials make products feel bigger than life, and how music itself can be designed not just to be heard, but to tell a story.

Sound design isn’t locked to film; it bleeds into every corner of media. Video game audio design, for instance, doesn’t just involve making cool effects—it’s about guiding the player’s emotions, giving feedback, and building immersion. Commercial music uses sound in a different way, capturing attention in just a few seconds and making you feel something instantly. In both cases, the goal is the same: use sound as a storytelling tool.

Looking back, it was Star Wars that taught me sound could be more than background noise—it could be the force (pun intended) that shapes entire worlds. And that’s the mindset I carry into every project: sound isn’t just added; it’s designed.

Nate Dias editing sound in a digital audio workstation