Ben Burtt is an American film writer, editor and director, though he is best known for his sound design work. He has worked on every Star Wars film, and has also worked on Pixar and Star Trek films.
Burtt designed the sounds for many characters and objects in Star Wars, such as Chewbacca, Yoda, R2-D2 and the lightsaber.
When asked to sound design for the Star Wars films, the sound of the lightsaber was the first idea he worked on. When working as a projectionist, he was inspired by the sound of old simplex projectors and recorded the sounds of the motors making humming noises and harmonizing with each other. This was a good starting point, but he searched for other sounds to layer.
Burtt said he felt it needed a buzzy, sparkly layer. He found a sound for this by accident when carrying a microphone past an idle 70s television set. The mic picked up the transmissions from the TV and created an interesting hum.
By combining these two sounds, the base sound of a lightsaber was created. In order to add movement to the sound Burtt played back the sounds through a speaker, holding a microphone towards it and moving it in a way that created a doppler effect. This effect made the sound shift pitch as he moved the microphone, creating the feeling of the lightsaber shifting and swinging through the air.
Inigo Joel 