Why Is 60 Minutes Dubbing Motor Noises Over Tesla Footage? (Video)

"Bob Sorokanich" (robertsorokanich)
03/30/2014 at 19:50 • Filed to: tesla, 60 minutes, model s, elon musk.

Anyone watching 60 Minutes' interview with Elon Musk? They keep dubbing motor noises over driving footage of the Model S. It sounds like they recorded a motorcycle engine and used it to spice up the car footage. Whatever it is, it's not the sound of a Tesla. ( Update: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

Maybe the drive-along camera was on a bike, and they used the audio footage? Regardless, it seems very weird and out-of-place. It's one thing to dub exciting motor noises over a mundane-sounding car, but to plop engine sounds on a car that most folks realize is nearly silent? That just seems . . . bizarre.

Update: Here's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Around the 40 second mark, there's Tesla driving footage that definitely includes motor noises that definitely don't come from a Tesla. In the full episode there were about three or four instances like this, complete with gear-shifting sounds that didn't correspond with the speed of the Model S (or the presumed camera vehicle).

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Sure doesn't sound anything like this Tesla:

DISCUSSION (100)

PS9 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 19:56

For the same reason ever accelerating car in a movie or TV show must be made to shift through a bazillion gears. People in the industry think they're making this stuff for chimpanzees with down syndrome, who won't know they're looking at a car unless car noises accompany the image.

Bob Sorokanich > PS9
03/30/2014 at 20:04

Just seems particularly odd of them to dub motor noise for a car that most folks probably realize doesn't make motor noises.

Triborough > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:09

Because 60 Minutes is an entertainment show.

UserNotFound > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:10

They were in a tunnel. Maybe the engine noise came from the camera vehicle.

Matt Novak > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:10

Don't some states and countries require fake engine noises on electric and hybrid vehicles?

turbo-prius > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:10

I'm totally attaching some really ricer looking exhaust tips under the rear bumper of my Tesla and sticking a baseball card in the spokes.

scoob > PS9
03/30/2014 at 20:12

My family was watching it and I tried really hard to resist saying "It doesn't sound like that..."

Bob Sorokanich > Matt Novak
03/30/2014 at 20:13

True! Though as far as I know, U.S. Teslas don't have any such equipment. And it would seem odd for them to use a motorcycle engine recording to meet that requirement. Knowing Musk (not that I do), he'd probably opt for some kinda Jetsons spaceship noise.

Matt Novak > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:14

makes you think

hethoughtofcars > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:20

60 Minutes is the least trustworthy and, in fact, downright fraudulent source for automotive information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi#Audi…

A 60 Minutes report aired 23 November 1986, [30] featuring interviews with six people who had sued Audi after reporting unintended acceleration, showing an Audi 5000 ostensibly suffering a problem when the brake pedal was pushed. [31] [32] Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had engineered the failure – fitting a canister of compressed air on the passenger-side floor, linked via a hose to a hole drilled into the transmission. [30]

BKRM3 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:22

Haha the gf and I were just watching it and heard that. We were like umm wut?? Glad I'm not the only one who noticed

Michael Ballaban > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:22

Hmmm... I think you may be on to something with that chase vehicle theory though. That shot was done in a tunnel, and that could amplify the effect.

Plus, you're onto something further with the whole artificial noise for electric cars thing. Check out what Audi did for the R8 E-tron:

It's definitely weird, though.

Takuro Spirit > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:23

Only thing I took from this that a Model S is the perfect Zombie Apocalypse survival vehicle.

Bob Sorokanich > Michael Ballaban
03/30/2014 at 20:25

It's the weekend Ballaban. I'm on a lot of things.

J.D.H. > UserNotFound
03/30/2014 at 20:26

This was my thought exactly....the engine noise is coming from the camera vehicle not the Tesla.

Sky Blue > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:28

I think you're hearing the car that's following the Tesla

TheSmokingTire > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:28

It sounds like they are using background "factory noises" as right afterwards you hear some kind of hydraulic system too. I don't think it's supposed to be a car sound, I think they just picked a terrible background factory noise to use at that particular moment.

TheBurnerIdentity > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:34

Because they're in a tunnel, and there's a truck following the car. The truck is making the noise.

ScreenShot > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:36

The media TV adds crowd noise to sports events; birds to golf...on and on. No surprise they wouldn't hesitate to add vroom to any auto footage, even if it's not applicable. F1 is next.

Gary Johnson > Triborough
03/30/2014 at 20:38

I actually think it's just the sound from the vehicle filming.

The Transporter > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:39

Are you talking about the shot in the tunnel? It's probably the noise from the chase vehicle's engine. In the next shot, the shot from a helicopter looking down at a Models S cruising through the English countryside, you can also hear the sound of the helo's engines and main rotor.

Although we train ourselves to ignore the fact that we are looking through a camera lens when we watch a movie, we often forget when we watch a documentary or journalistic piece, the camera is just as real as the camera's subject.

When_in_doubt_throttle_out > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:39

My first thought was a motorcycle as a film vehicle. Sure sounds like a moto.

crowmolly > hethoughtofcars
03/30/2014 at 20:40

Dateline pulled this shit with GM side saddle fuel tanks in the 90's.

ilostmypants > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:41

I had to watch it 3 times to hear anything, sounds like the camera vehicle, and if not it's probably road noise from the tires,

segofl > Triborough
03/30/2014 at 20:42

I agree that it's the film car.

hethoughtofcars > crowmolly
03/30/2014 at 20:44

I recall that too (and for a moment I thought it was 60 Minutes, as well). What was the point?! Shouldn't a news program actually report genuine news instead of ridiculous allegations/fabrications? Even the Mythbusters are more honest than these guys...

Northwind79 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 20:49

Well at least they didn't rig it to burst into flame...

crowmolly > hethoughtofcars
03/30/2014 at 20:49

Ha. I did too, I had to look it up to check. I knew one of them fabbed the story.

Maxxuman > ilostmypants
03/30/2014 at 20:52

Sounds to me like you need to get your ears checked (if you had to watch 3 times to hear anything). Either that or your TV sound is screwed up somehow.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Michael Ballaban
03/30/2014 at 20:54

It's actually for the Oddie R8.

AlexioFlexio > Triborough
03/30/2014 at 20:58

A really bad entertainment show then.. That's just twtRded

Hectic > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:09

I'm not surprised by the altered audio, but I'm shocked by the fact that 12 million people watch this show every week. Old people and their televisions crack me up.

Nacon > Triborough
03/30/2014 at 21:10

Ooohhh... just like Top Gear then?

JinDenver > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:18

They said that the footage was from Tesla's own video. Now, I doubt Tesla would release a video with sound design that ridiculous, but have we verified that that isn't the case?

Haze > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:22

For the same reason the Chevy Volt has a fake radiator grille stamped in plastic. People can't adjust their thinking to their expectations.

The Little Engine That Couldnt > Triborough
03/30/2014 at 21:22

You mean sleep aid.

Axel-Ripper > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:23

Sounds like the camera car to me...

Gary Yogurt > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:24

It's the sound of Ed Bradley rolling in his grave.

Audi For Life > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:24

Ratings over fact. Entertainment over information. Gossip over investigation.

Welcome to "news" media.

jalop1991 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:26

The same 60 Minutes that took it into their own hands to try to destroy Audi?

Why do you even watch that drivel?

wiffleballtony > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:29

Since most news is generated from corporations that are interested in making money, they have no incentive to be impartial or accurate.

iska2000 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:32

It's the sound of the chase car/motorcycle that had the camera on it.

JJS119 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:40

I was just watching it and thinking to myself why the hell does it sound like that?

bodinej > Michael Ballaban
03/30/2014 at 21:46

Not against you but audi is not awdee. It's Oudy!!! It's hurting me.

Nick George > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 21:49

I know exactly what that sound is. It's a Model S at full throttle on the dyno in the factory, used for final testing... so basically they dubbed dyno sounds over the driving footage, haha.

Nick George > TheSmokingTire
03/30/2014 at 21:57

It's the dyno in the factory that they use for final testing. It's just out of shot, to the left of Elon, during the interview scene.

HammerheadFistpunch > Michael Ballaban
03/30/2014 at 22:01

whats an oddy?

HeyYouGuys > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:05

"It's not the sound of a Tesla...

and believe us, we know every sound a Tesla makes, including the one when on the receiving end of a 24 hour a day blowjob from Jalopnik"

It's an impractical, overpriced electric motor with a derivatively styled shell strapped over it. Had Ford or Chrysler made this thing it would have been the subject of ridicule, but since it's backed by a trendy Silicon Valley douche it's captured the hearts of hipsters and media outlets everywhere. Congratulations on being their bitch and marketing for them full time for free.

ilostmypants > Maxxuman
03/30/2014 at 22:11

TV sound?

I'll admit my laptop dose not have the best speakers, but I did not hear any obvious engine noises coming from the tesla, I just think any engine noise picked up was just acidental, and if the camea was mounted to the front of a bike or car it would be very close to the engine of that vehicle, aka no big whoop.

But if you do want to see some bad car footage audio watch the car chase from Dr NO. full of tires screaming to death on a dirt road.

gets good at about the half minute mark,

Dadu > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:13

The same reason the X-Wings an TIE fighters scream in "space"....

revarthurbelling > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:17

"most folks" - there's your problem right there. "Most folks" probably don't even know what a Tesla is.

Scrape > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:25

60 Minutes (and CBS News) is to news what the Game Show Network is to news.

Vincent Davidson > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:26

Because like most legacy media, they are idiots. Don't get me wrong, I watch it sometimes, but to take it as 100% gospel is not smart.

Remember this gem that effectively ended Dan Rather's career?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rather-on…

SOVO94 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:29

It's probably from the car tailing the tesla and recording the footage. No conspiracy here.

RDGJR > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:34

HeWhoKnew > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:37

Go ask Audi about 60 minutes and accurate reporting - never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Dr_turtles > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:38

Sounded like filming from a motorcycle or something to me. Still makes no sense though.

TheSmokingTire > Nick George
03/30/2014 at 22:41

yeah. so not a dubbed in engine, just poor placement of random factory sounds.

MosquitoXR13 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:42

Those "fake engine noises" in the video just sound like tire noise in the tunnel clip and the helicopter that is filming in the fly by clip.

TheDoubleClutchBandit > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:47

It sounds like quadcopter that someone pitched down a little in Garageband.

jtiberius91 > scoob
03/30/2014 at 22:48

me too!!

TheDoubleClutchBandit > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:48

But it would be fun if every Model S and X sounded like a Hayabusa at full clip even under slight acceleration.

Stephen > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 22:52

When does this air?

DrBoom > HeyYouGuys
03/30/2014 at 22:56

You must be new here...
Check up in the upper left. There's a search box. Using it's infernal magic, you'll find that prior to about January 2013, this website was far more critical of Tesla that just about anybody else in the Auto-journalism world. But I hear that being an asshole in the internet and acting above it all and way too fucking cool for school is really making inroads in the hipster douchebag community. I hear Williamsburg is lovely this time of year.

FiST of FuRRY > TheSmokingTire
03/30/2014 at 23:10

Agreed. Just a job of bad editing, IMO

FiST of FuRRY > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:13

This is truly a NON-story

dirgle > Nacon
03/30/2014 at 23:19

That's some pretty premium troll bait you got there. Where did you get it? It's about time to restock my supply.

Galant Enthusiast > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:19

I don't have sound but could it be that's just the sound of what they're following it in?

Autolegend86 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:23

Because according to 60 Minutes, Audi 5000s accelerate themselves.

1UZ > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:25

Obviously a car following the tesla, probably not another tesla. Come on guys?

Sheriff Of American Douchetown > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:27

Because you should really be watching Vice.

CodyC831 > Bob Sorokanich
03/30/2014 at 23:36

Can't beat a Zombie Apocalypse Warranty!

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Michael Ballaban
03/30/2014 at 23:49

That noise I wouldn't mind, as I have ridden in a LEAF quite a bit, I only hear wind and tire noise, and slight whirr from the motor if it passes by with speed.

CJinOB > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 00:13

People should consider that 60 Minutes is obviously deceitful and clueless when discussing topics that they themselves know a thing or two about. Why assume that they are any better on topics on which one has no expertise? Your time is better spent gazing at your navel.

Cheesewhiz > TheSmokingTire
03/31/2014 at 00:44

It's certainly not what this post led me to believe and no worse than the recent Mercedes C-class spot showing a 4-cyl turbo model accelerating with an AMG V8 soundtrack. Now THAT was fraud.

CountIt > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 00:56

I noticed this IMMEDIATELY and was like WHAT THE FUCK DUDE?!?!?!

Wry > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 01:28

60 Minutes is a joke. Plain and simple. I don't think anybody from at least the past 2-3 generations takes them seriously.

the guy with the focus st > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 01:38

Im not really put of by this, I think it has more to do with ignorance than some evil plot. I think the person editing felt sound was missing it and added. some I think they do this for regular cars too. At the distance the camera and mic are from the car I doubt you get a decent audio clip.

Axial > hethoughtofcars
03/31/2014 at 02:04

I thought slander and libel were grounds for legal action...

timateo81 > ilostmypants
03/31/2014 at 02:34

The proper engine sound is "meh"

osbjmg > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 02:35

Because Tesla uses motors, unlike vehicles with *engines*.

techinsanity2011 > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 03:12

I have a theory, but it's kind of a long shot. Lots of elderly people watch 60 minutes, and I think they'd probably be freaked out by the Tesla Model S, because it doesn't make any noise, so I think they put the noise in so they wouldn't freak out and complain.

JCNM > The Transporter
03/31/2014 at 03:19

It looks and sounds like they shot the footage of the Tesla from a motorcycle and we're hearing the sounds of it rather than the sound of the Tesla which would be just tire noise. I have a friend with a Tesla S and tire noise is pretty much all you hear at speed.

mrated > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 04:11

I found the B-Roll footage from that episode...

EchtoGammut > TheSmokingTire
03/31/2014 at 04:50

I assumed it was either the sound of the camera vehicle or another vehicle in the tunnel. 60 Minutes has fallen a lot since their heyday, but I am pretty sure they are not guilty of dubbing engine noises onto electric car footage.

Cé hé sin > bodinej
03/31/2014 at 05:02

I always call them Awdi. Yes, I know this is wrong. I also say Skoda rather than Shkoda, Volkswagen rather than Folksvagen, Citron rather than Citroën and Pewjoe rather than Peugeot. I'm quite without shame in this.

DasWolf13 > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 06:09

Kinja'd!!!

This seams unfair the best car film of all time was its sound dubbed over with a Ferrari. And if you must ask the best car film of all time is under 10 minutes long and worth every single one of them, if you have not seen C'était un Rendez-vous put it on your radar, if you have seen it then it has been fare to long you need to see it again.

-Tom- > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 06:42

The only spot that I thought I heard engine noise (there was a low volume hum over the whole video BTW, it might have just been coming out) was when the car was in the tunnel, but that sounded like a motorcycle. I'm guessing their crappy no-newer-than-1997 recording and mixing equipment is to blame, thus the constant background buzz.

Hjemloes > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 06:45

Isn't it the sound from the car coming from behind? maybe the editor was too stupid to realize that the noise on the original footage was from the other vehicle and therefore enhanced it..

Or maybe it is the secret V6 hybrid Tesla

8trackback > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 06:50

Because only 13 year old boys piss and moan about fake engine noises. Most probably didn't even listen to the dialog or the interview itself. Now go back to reality and play your xbox!

HeyYouGuys > DrBoom
03/31/2014 at 07:09

No, not new, but I also didn't realize this was an oppo post before I commented. Pardon the mistake.

chriswhotakesphotos > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:11

I'd like to imagine the editor chewed the fuck out of whomever shot the footage for not getting any sound and then told an intern to dub it in.

duckstu > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:34

I think the sound may be that of the camera vehicle,.. which is likely a motorcycle. They probably should have edited it out,.. and just had silent video.

joel5493 > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:35

THAT was your takeaway from that piece? That was the most miniscule, inconsequential aspect of the entire report and it definitely didn't require reporting.

Jon404 > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:39

Chase car.

inefficient > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:54

Because 60 minutes has several decades' deficit of journalistic integrity?

TheContradiktion > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 07:55

Honestly, based on that clip and the fact that they were also so lazy they didn't edit out the sound from the helicopter I'd guess it's just ambient noise from the chase vehicle or another vehicle around it. I think it's the pinnacle of lazy editing, not even bothering to cut out sound from clips you don't want when you're dubbing a voice track over, but it doesn't seem like they dubbed in sound intentionally. Perhaps it's different in the full segment, I'd have to hear more.

vavoo > Triborough
03/31/2014 at 08:12

they've learned from the best:

highplainsdrifter > Bob Sorokanich
03/31/2014 at 08:32

The more troubling issue is why you are watching 60 Minutes.

GeoJosh > The Transporter
03/31/2014 at 08:36

I do not know how this concept was even an issue for anyone. Really shocked that this post got recommended by Hardigree. You would think that an automotive journalist would understand this...