The Showa Godzilla roar debuted in Toho's Gojira in 1954 and defined the monster's voice through the Showa era of films ending in 1975. Composer Akira Ifukube created it by rubbing a resin-coated leather glove along the loosened strings of a double bass, then slowing the recording to give it that cavernous depth. The roar became one of cinema's most recognisable sound effects, sampled in cartoons, games and memes, and it still signals an unstoppable giant arriving on screen.