Prior to 1954, gunshot effects in drama were made firing a real gun in front of a microphone. Guns could easily damage microphones, scare performers and had safety implications.

The BBC Designs Department produced a successful electronic alternative which sounded realistic and was capable of being used for a broad range of sounds which could not be made naturally.

Have a play with our simulation of the Gunfire Effects Generator to create your own gun sounds, then keep scrolling to find out how we built it using the Web Audio API.