Last updated: July 8, 2023
Many drama troupes staging adaptations of "It's A Wonderful Life" need professional quality pre-recorded music and sound effects. I offer music and SFX tracks that can support any dramatized version of Frank Capra's famous film. Additionally, I offer a sound effects "cookbook" that details how to produce the many live SFX used in the show.
NOTE: It's a Wonderful Life is based on the story, The Greatest Gift, by Philip Van Doren Stern.
The pre-recorded music tracks are NOT the ones used in the Hollywood film. Instead this original score was composed by Jonathan Green, and employ an authentic 1940's-style organ plus some piano, accordion and jazz combo tracks.
These music and sound effects tracks work with any version that follows the plot of Frank Capra's film. Please note that some “Wonderful Life” scripts may not use all of my sound effects (such as the ice pond breaking/splashing, Uncle Billy’s car, wind, crickets, traffic, 1920s-40s telephones, etc.) or music cues (such as the wartime montage, Janie Bailey's piano practicing, the "Auld Lang Syne" sing-along at the end, etc.)
TO ORDER: See below for prices and how to pay. The pre-recorded music cues and pre-recorded sound effects tracks can be downloaded as MP3 files. They are sold as collections. I do not sell individual tracks. The Sound Effects Cookbook is delivered as a PDF file.
Pre-recorded musical tracks for 'It's A Wonderful Life!'
36 minutes worth of Jonathan Green's original music--featuring 1940s theater organ, piano,
accordion and jazz combo--available as downloadable MP3 files.
Here's an MP3
clip demonstrating the 'WL' score's authentic organ
sound and how it
accompanies the show's intro:
DEMO-Wonderful-Life-organ-and-intro
[MP3]
Here's a 5-minute walkthrough of a dozen different music tracks from the
dramatic score:
DEMO-Wonderful-Life-music-track-walkthrough [MP3]
Track
Description
1.
(BED) “Wonderful Overture"
2.
(BED) “Wonderful Life Intro”
3.
(BED) “Heavenly”
4.
(BRIDGE) “Gower’s Sad Drugstore”
5.
(BED) “Tender Moment”
6.
(BRIDGE) “Up and Segue into “Heavenly”
7.
(BED) “Heavenly”
8.
(BRIDGE) Last 2 Bars of “Buffalo Gals” setup
9.
(BRIDGE) “Tragic” into “Heavenly”
10.
(BRIDGE) “Oh Well” segues to “Heavenly”
11.
(BRIDGE) “Downtown Bedford Falls”
12.
(BRIDGE) “From Violet to Mary”
13.
(BED) “Wrenching”
14.
(BED) “Heavenly”
15.
(BRIDGE) “Wedding March Taxi”
16.
(BED) “Act 1 Outro”
17.
(BED) “Wonderful Life Act 2 Intro”
18.
(BED) “Heavenly”
19.
(BED) “Time Passing”
20.
(BRIDGE) “Bride” to “Heavenly”
21.
(BRIDGE) “Indignant” to “Sleepy”
22.
(BRIDGE) “Baby” to “Heavenly”
23.
(BED) “War Montage”
24.
(BRIDGE) “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” - ends sourly
25.
(BRIDGE) “Lost” to “Heavenly”
26.
(BRIDGE) “Desperate”
27.
(SOURCE) Janie Piano Practice - #1 - “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
28.
(SOURCE) Janie Piano Practice - #2 - “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
29.
(SOURCE) Janie Piano Practice - #3 - “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
30.
(BRIDGE) “Troubled”
31.
(BRIDGE) “Cruel” to “Heavenly”
32.
(SOURCE) “Santa Lucia” on accordion--gets abruptly stopped
33.
(BRIDGE) “Alone” to “Heavenly”
34.
(BRIDGE) ACT 2 Outro --ends in suspense chord
35.
(BED) “Act 3 Intro/“Dire Bridge”
36.
(SOURCE) “Juke Joint Jingle Bells”--Honky-Tonk piano
37.
(SOURCE) “Pottersville Streetscene”--Jazz combo
38.
(BRIDGE) “I Know That Girl”
39.
(BRIDGE) “Empty Granville House”
40.
(GLISSANDO UP) “Magical Help”
41.
(BRIDGE) “Escape” to “Mean Mother”
42.
(BED) “Shattered” to “The Cemetery”
43.
(BRIDGE) “Lightly” to “Old Maid”
44.
(BED) “Lynch Mob” to “Redemption”
45.
(BED) “Organ: Hark The Herald Angels Sing”
46.
(BED) “Piano: Auld Lang Syne” – Janie playing
47.
(BED) “Organ: Auld Lang Syne” – Chorus only
48.
(BED) “Organ:Auld Lang Syne” – Verse & 2 choruses
49.
(BED) “OUTRO - an extra long version of the "Wonderful Overture"
Sound Effects:
Pre-recorded sound effects for "It's A Wonderful Life":
I offer 30+ minutes of pre-recorded tracks (of sounds not easily-produced live), available as downloadable MP3 files.
I offer 27 pre-recorded sound effects tracks—30
minutes worth—of the more unusual sounds: ones that would be difficult
to produce manually (crickets, wind, 1920s-40s telephones, jumping in
the river splashes, harp glissandos, the 78 RPM record of "Buffalo
Gals", 1940s traffic, etc).
While your troupe’s Sound Designer could assemble such sounds from
various SFX collections, here, they are already edited, layered and
ambience has been added. It will cost you more time and trouble to do
this yourself than to purchase these tracks from me.
Please note that sounds generated by the characters, such as doors,
footsteps, plates, forks, bells, typing, cash registers, etc., are NOT
included. Either your actors or a live sound effects artist will have to
produce those manually. However, I do offer a SFX Cookbook that details
how to make those live manual sound effects—see below.
Here's a 2-minute walkthrough of a variety of pre-recorded sound
effects tracks for "WL!":
DEMO-Wonderful-Life-sound-effects-track-walkthrough.mp3 (2.2 MB)
Track
Description
01
Icy splashes into pond
02
Gower’s phone rings (3X) – can be done live, also
03
1928 Dance band - Gym-floor retracting - Splashes
04
Crickets #1
05
Distant window shattered by rock #1
06
Distant window shattered by rock #2
07
Car pulls up, idles--under
08
Downtown Bedford Falls (Traffic)
09
Ernie’s cab pulls away from curb
10
Crickets #2
11
“Buffalo Gals” 78 RPM record
12
Mary’s phone rings (20X) – can be done live, also
13
Interior of cab driving #1
14
Cab pulls over
15
Uncle Billy’s phone rings (1-½X) – can be live, also
16
Office phone rings (1-¼X) – can be done live, also
17
Potter’s clock ticking in background #1
18
Bailey phone rings (2X) – can be live, also
19
Potter’s clock ticking in background #2
20
Clarence jumps in river, splashes around
21
George jumps in river, splashes around
22
Magical harp glissando--UP
23
Wind #1
24
Downtown Pottersville (Traffic)
25
Interior of cab driving #2
26
Wind #2 (Cemetery)
27
Wind #3 (Bridge)
28
Magical harp glissando--DOWN
I also offer a colorful 20-page guide about how to do the sound effects
for radio and stage adaptations of It's A Wonderful Life. This includes info and photos on making the
devices for the doors, footsteps, ringing phones, fights, Mr. Potter’s
squeaky wheel chair, typing, etc., These live sounds are NOT included in
the pre-recorded SFX collection above. There are also sections on
integrating live and pre-recorded sounds, setting up the SFX area, how
to mic SFX, monitoring, and getting the various telephone voice effects
used in the show. I’m a professional AFTRA sound effects artist who’s
mentors worked with Orson Wells, Jack Benny and Jack Webb. I’ve made my
extensive knowledge of the gadgets and techniques of radio sound effects
available in this unique guide focused on Wonderful Life SFX. (Note:
It is inauthentic to use the film term “Foley”—which dates from the
mid-1980s—in describing radio “sound effects.”)
SAMPLE LISTINGS FROM SFX COOKBOOK:
PHONE BEING DIALED:
Use an old rotary dial phone--a Western Electric model #500 or #302 phone will do. See Wikipedia for info on those two models. To purchase one, try flea markets or e-bay. Beware of modern reproductions with pushbutton numbers inside a fake rotary dialPHONE RINGS: (If you want to use a live sound effect instead of the pre-recorded phone rings I provide)
Ring Rhythm: Ring for 2 seconds, then pause for 4 seconds of silence, then repeat.
Take two “handbells” (the kind where the clapper is held on with a small spring) and ring them.
Search the web for Kidsplay Chromatic Add-On Handbells.
OR wire up an electric “delivery bell.” Search Google for: Heath Zenith 2-1/2” Wired chime Model# 172C-A. It’s available at many hardware stores. This bell can run on a 6-volt lantern battery or from AC power--via a transformer. Use a quiet pushbutton.FOOTSTEPS IN SNOW:
Take a 1 lb. package of corn starch (about the size of a thick paperback book)--available at any grocery store--and reinforce the seams with duct tape, so it won’t leak. Then with two hands, squeeze the box close to the mic, in a walking rhythm: 1-2, 1-2, 1-2. You’ll have to “break in” the cardboard box a bit. Keep extra duct tape nearby to seal leaks. Beware of covering the entire box with duct tape--as this will muffle the sound
My SFX cookbook offers detailed instructions on how to find/make these live and mechanical sound effects for this play.
1.
TINGLING WIND CHIMES
2.
ICE CRACKING
3.
PHONE RINGS
4.
PHONE HANDSET PICKED UP/HUNG UP
5.
PHONE BEING DIALED
6.
FACE SLAPS
7.
DINNER PLATES/FORKS
8.
FOOTSTEPS ON SIDEWALK
9.
DOG BARKS/HOWLS
10.
ROBE BEING RIPPED
11.
SHAKING FLOWER BUSH
12.
GAVEL
13.
JIMMY, THE TALKING BIRD
14.
DOOR OPENING/CLOSING/SHUT
15.
BELL ATTACHED TO DOOR RINGS
16.
CREAKING DOOR OPENING
17.
DOOR LOCKING
18.
PHONOGRAPH CLICKED ON
19.
NEEDLE SCRATCHES RECORD
20.
ENVELOPE OF MONEY RUSTLED
21.
CAB DOOR OPENS/SHUTS
22.
FLAPPING BIRD WINGS
23.
KNITTING NEEDLES QUIETLY KNITTING
24.
TYPEWRITER (KEYS AND BELL)
25.
SQUEAKY WHEELCHAIR
26.
NEWSPAPER FLEXED/HANDED OVER
27.
FOOTSTEPS IN SNOW
28.
MODEL BRIDGE BEING DESTROYED
29.
PAPER HANDED OVER
30.
BARROOM GLASSES CLINKING
31.
PUNCH
32.
BODY DROP
33.
THUNDER ROLL
34.
CASH REGISTER KA-CHING & BELL
35.
DRINKS BEING SET DOWN ON BAR
36.
BOTTLE BEING SLAMMED DOWN ON BAR
37.
SCUFFLES
38.
CRASH OF TRASH CAN
39.
WOMAN STAGGERS IN HIGH HEELS
40.
FRANTIC POUNDING ON DOOR
41.
POLICE WHISTLE
42.
GUNSHOTS
43.
SEARCHING A POCKET
44.
CHAMPAGNE CORK POP
45.
BOOK OPENED
46.
SMALL TEA BELL RUNG
Once you download the MP3s, you can burn them to audio CDs or trigger them from a computer or MP3 player.
HOW TO PAY FOR MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS TRACKS:
I accept credit card payments via the free and secure www.PayPal.com service.
1) Go to the
www.PayPal.com website, click on the “Send Money” button, and
register for free.
2) Use my e-mail address of:
to send the money to my PayPal account.
3) PayPal has an info box on their payment page that allows you to send
a note to me, use it to specify WHAT show you are ordering (I offer 25
different shows) and, if you want either/both music
tracks and SFX tracks. For all
orders, include your e-mail address and postal mail address—for my tax reporting
purposes.
NOTE: If you do not specify WHAT you are
ordering, I cannot send you ANYTHING.
4) NOTE: You must pay in U.S. dollars—which is easy to do on Paypal. When you go to pay, there's a drop-down menu with a currency to use. Select "USD" to pay me. PayPal calculates the currency conversion for you, using the latest exchange rates.
DELIVERY:
Once your payment has
been received, I will e-mail you
links to special download pages for the MP3 files of the tracks.
If you have any questions, contact: