Story of Sosumi and the Mac Startup Sound

Summary

Here is the true story about the Sosumi beep, Mac startup sound, and other sounds I created at Apple. So many myths and urban legends about these sounds. I kept my secret about Sosumi for a decade after leaving Apple. I feared if the truth were known it would be removed. I’m happier than anyone could imagine these sounds I created are still around.Sosumi BeepListen to the Sosumi beepI was interviewed for a documentary about the history of the Macintosh in San Francisco. They gave me free beer too!Sadly, my favorite scene was deleted in the final edit of the movie. Fortunately, I found this clip on the cutting room floor. Here I am, telling the real story behind the urban legend of the infamous Sosumi beep sound on the Macintosh.This clip is from the movie: Welcome to Macintosh. In the next video below I tell a more complete version of the story. Welcome to Macintosh – Deleted Scene – SosumiHere’s a rare clip (sorry about the low audio quality, not my fault but I could fix it). This was taken from the premier of the Welcome to Macintosh movie. I was on a Q&A panel with Steve Wozniak, Andrew Hertzfeld, and Guy Kawasaki. I set the mark in this clip to feature me and the Sosumi story :) Welcome To Macintosh Q&A SessionMac Startup Sound Listen to the Mac startup soundAt the end of “A Day In The Life” by The Beatles, after the extended atonal crescendo, is this amazing sound. It’s something I remember listening to very carefully many times. Probably one of the most famous chords. It was a key (pun intended) inspiration for my Mac startup sound. Listen to the final chord in A Day In The Life, and now knowing my private joke hopefully have a laugh.In an interesting twist of irony (and I do love irony) the Sosumi sound came about due to a trademark dispute. My most famous sound is now officially an Apple trademark (what took them so long?). A sound trademark is rare. Some of the few examples are the 20th Century Fox orchestral fanfare, the NBC chimes (which also happens to b...