Scott: I think the Beast is almost run out, personally.

[Huggs]

Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

But actually the alien does make a sound, it is a weird sound that's hard to describe, but it is there.  And before you say "it's the soundtrack", it's not on the soundtrack, I checked.

I know what you mean I think. It's kinda like a buzzing sound? It IS hard to describe

I think I know what you're talking about. Didn't it also make a noise while inside the vents? I believe it was between 1:13:32 and 1:13:33 on the Directors Cut. Dallas is in the vents, and is looking at the slime on his hand. There's a kind of buzzing/hissing sound and he quickly looks up and in each direction. I always thought it was the alien. It almost seems like some sort of salivating, yet pleased sound, with a slightly snakelike erotic quality. Whatever it was, it got Dallas's attention, so what else could it have been? If his sudden movement cause it to re-think it's strategy, then I shudder to think where it was, and exactly what it was about to do when he heard it.

[426Buddy]

That might be the dumbest thing you've ever written.

That's a bold statement.

[Scorpio]

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

That might be the dumbest thing you've ever written. If they wanted it to make more noise it would. It screams just fine at the end.

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Technology has made a bit of leap since the 70s, believe it or not.

[PsyKore]

Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

But actually the alien does make a sound, it is a weird sound that's hard to describe, but it is there.  And before you say "it's the soundtrack", it's not on the soundtrack, I checked.

I know what you mean I think. It's kinda like a buzzing sound? It IS hard to describe

It's a very insect-like sound. You generally hear it with a faint heartbeat. I'm more of a fan of slow burn horror, but I still think those little details are far more effective than general snarling or growling. This is where I feel Isolation really missed the mark.

[OpenMaw]

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Technology has made a bit of leap since the 70s, believe it or not.

Dude, you're wrong. It was a creative choice, not a technical one.

[SM]

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

That might be the dumbest thing you've ever written. If they wanted it to make more noise it would. It screams just fine at the end.

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Technology has made a bit of leap since the 70s, believe it or not.

That doesn't make what you said less dumb.

The reason it didn't make a specific sound - was because they didn't want it to make a sound; not because they didn't have the right sound effect.  It hissed, screeched and screamed exactly the way they wanted it to, when they wanted it to.

[SiL]

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Technology has made a bit of leap since the 70s, believe it or not.

Yeah, but you said they couldn't make the Alien make noises in those scenes because the technology didn't exist.

Which is incredibly stupid and demonstrably false. It didn't make a sound because the filmmakers didn't want it to. Technical limitations had nothing to do with it.

[Scorpio]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing, which in 1979 was analogue sound in 2017 it's entirely digital.  Yes, they made creative choices in 1979 but they were limited by the technology of the time.

[OpenMaw]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing

That's just simply not true. Audio mixing is how you make audio for film. You "mix" the audio. Dialogue, music, sound effects. There's nothing new, or recent, about mixing.

Digital is easier, and better, yes, but there is literally nothing about the sounds the creature makes in Covenant that could not have been done in 1979. Nothing. They used distorted animal and baby sounds, they may have used synthesizers. There's all kinds of methods they do today that they did back then, and absolutely none of it would have been prohibitive to the audio guys in 1979.

[Paranoid Android]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing, which in 1979 was analogue sound in 2017 it's entirely digital.  Yes, they made creative choices in 1979 but they were limited by the technology of the time.

Dude, just stop. The alien sounds just fine during the final confrontation between it and Ripley on the Narcissus. The film itself disagrees with you.

[SiL]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing, which in 1979 was analogue sound in 2017 it's entirely digital.  Yes, they made creative choices in 1979 but they were limited by the technology of the time.

OpenMaw explained why the analogue/digital part is irrelevant, and on top of that they didn't want it to sound like that in 1979. They made it sound like they wanted to. They had it make noise when they wanted it to. There is nothing resembling an argument to be made here, but instead of acknowledging you said the wrong thing you're doubling down on your ignorance.

[Xenomrph]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing, which in 1979 was analogue sound in 2017 it's entirely digital.  Yes, they made creative choices in 1979 but they were limited by the technology of the time.

This seems like a weird stance to take when Ben Burtt did the sound design for 'Star Wars' two years before 'Alien' came out.

[SM]

The way the alien sounds in 2017 was not possible in 1979, because of something called audio mixing, which in 1979 was analogue sound in 2017 it's entirely digital.  Yes, they made creative choices in 1979 but they were limited by the technology of the time.

In what way exactly were they limited?  What did Jim Shields want to do that he couldn't?  How did using analogue restrict them?

[NetworkATTH]

I knew I was right and it wasn't a half remembered Friday night. The man behind the sounds of the Alien in 1979 was a man named  Percy Edwards. He vocalized them himself. I was wrong about him being a radio host, usually they get people from there to do work; but apparently he was an Ornithologist, and one of the best in his field at attracting birds by near perfectly mimicking their calls.

They must have hired him for his unique vocal capabilities. When he retired from serious ornithology he was a television guy, entertainment, impersonating animal sounds etc. He's done everything from orca impersonations to sperm whale vocalizations, to dogs and cats. He apparently was responsible for the sound of the facehugger and the squeal of the chest burster, and the light insect like noises of the adult alien. It's hard to imagine a single man did this but, apparently he did it. The chestburster I can imagine as a man contorting his vocal chords; but the rest is truly something.

Well, there's the answer. It wasn't analog recording equipment, modulated animal sounds or anything else. It was apparently just a guy.
Here's his wikipedia page if you want to know more. He's unfortunately passed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Edwards

[SiL]

That's cool! Clearly some manipulation going on with the adult, though, but cool to know they got a person for the basis rather than stock sounds.