# Walla

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walla
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walla.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla
> Source revision: 1331203740
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background}}
{{Other uses|Walla (disambiguation)|Wallah}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2023}}
In [American](/source/United_States) [radio](/source/radio), [film](/source/film), [television](/source/television), and [video games](/source/video_games), '''walla''' is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background.<ref>Corey, M., Ochoa, G., ''The American Film Institute Desk Reference'', Dorling Kindersley, 2002, p206</ref> A group of [actor](/source/actor)s brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known as a '''walla group'''. According to one story, walla received its name during the early days of radio, when it was discovered that having several people repeat the sound ''walla'' in the background was sufficient to mimic the indistinct chatter of a crowd. Nowadays, walla actors make use of real words and conversations, often [improvised](/source/improvised), tailored to the [languages](/source/languages), [speech pattern](/source/speech_pattern)s, and [accents](/source/Accent_(dialect)) that might be expected of the crowd to be mimicked.

'''Rhubarb''' is used instead in the [UK](/source/United_Kingdom) where actors say "rhubarb, rhubarb", '''''gur-gur''''' (''"гур-гур"'') in [Russia](/source/Russia), and {{nihongo||がや|'''gaya'''}} in [Japan](/source/Japan), perhaps in part reflecting the varying textures of crowd noise in the different countries. Other phrases are "peas and carrots", "watermelon cantaloupe", "wheelbarrow" and "natter natter" (to which the response is "grommish grommish").<ref>{{cite book|title=The Trouble with Tribbles: The Full Story of the Classic Star Trek Show|author=David Gerrold|publisher=Virgin|year=1996}} Refers to his own work as an extra, where he was taught 'natter' and 'grommish', before his writing career began.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.filmsound.org/terminology/walla.htm Walla description from filmsound.org]
* [https://www.ruyasonic.com/sfx-walla.htm Using Walla Walla Crowd Sounds in Radio Drama]

Category:Sound production
Category:Cinematic techniques
Category:Sound effects

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Walla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.