For decades, nearly every microwave has sounded the same. We’ve all grown accustomed to the loud, piercing, alarm-like beep that plays whenever you press a button or the timer hits zero. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Starling, a new sonic-branding studio founded by sound designers Joel Corelitz and Colin Coogan, is working on a way to upgrade microwave sounds without replacing the cheap hardware already inside them.
The studio helps companies develop sonic strategies, interface sounds, branded music and audio logos. Collectivley, Corelitz and Coogan have previously worked with clients like Netflix, Sony and Microsoft.
The company’s Instagram page is also filled with demos of how the pair would redesign the startup sounds for different devices and apps, and this month, they turned their attention to microwaves.
Why microwave beeps sound annoying
In a series of Instagram videos, Corelitz explained why microwaves and many other home appliances rely on the same annoying beep. It largely comes down to cost.
“It’s because microwaves are designed around a really simple limitation, which is they rely on these things called passive piezo buzzers to make their sounds, which are kind of limited to beeps and tones,” Corelitz says in one video.
Passive piezoelectric buzzers are simple speakers that vibrate when electrically charged, producing that infamous beep. They are widely used in microwaves because they affordable, costing only a few cents.
The obvious solution would be to put an actual speaker in the microwave. However, Corelitz says that would too expensive and complex for an appliance that might sell for around $80.
Old microwave, new sound
With this limitation in mind, Corelitz and Coogan challenged themselves to create better sounds without adding any new hardware.
They built a software tool called Microwave Sound Bench that lets them test and program the frequency and duration of sounds produced by the buzzers. Their setup uses an Arduino microcontroller connected to several different buzzers, but Corelitz says the underlying C++ code could run on the microcontrollers already found inside microwaves.
The software allowed them to create softer, more tactile button sounds, along with short sequences of chirps and tones. All of them sound more pleasant than the grating beeps microwaves make now.
Programming the buzzer could also allow microwaves to use different sounds for all its functions. Appliance companies could even develop their own disntinctive sounds, giving products from different brands a distinct feel, Corelitz says.
“A manufacturer would have to be open to putting new code in their device, but that’s it. It’s theoretically compatible with any hardware that’s in a microwave,” Corelitz told Wired in an interview.
Corelitz and Coogan would be happy to partner with Samsung, Panasonic or another appliance maker to bring their sounds to actual products. But they also wouldn’t be too upset if a company took the the idea.
“It’s not a big fear that someone’s going to steal this,” Corelitz told Wired. “I’d hope our sensibilities as designers, as audio consultants, is more valuable than this. We just want to solve the problem of going through the world hearing noises that are annoying and don’t contain good information.”
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