YouTube player screenshot of JonTron holding a cassette tape, with the video titled 'Actual noise it made - Jontron' and auto-generated captions displayed.

Actual Noise It Made

2013closed caption / reaction clipclassic

Published October 26, 2026

"Actual Noise It Made" is the closed caption from a September 2013 JonTron episode in which host Jon Jafari loaded a Commodore 64 cassette of Hercules: Slayer Of The Damned into an audio cassette deck and heard a loud screech of data1. The caption, placed below Jon's stunned face so viewers knew the sound was not edited in post, became its own joke within 48 hours when YouTuber OliverReacts replaced the screech with audio from a different review2. By January 2014, fans were uploading compilation videos set to alternate soundtracks3.

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Overview

Edits of "Actual Noise It Made" generally follow one of two templates. The simpler version holds on Jon's confused stare while substituting the tape screech for an unrelated song or sound effect1. Compilation edits chain several of these substitutions together, so each cut returns to Jon's blank reaction with a different absurd sound playing in place of the original noise3.

Humor comes from the original caption's insistence on authenticity3. Remixers invert that premise by replacing the authentic sound with something obviously fake, often lifted from other JonTron episodes or unrelated songs2. Jon's deadpan reaction, delivered straight to camera, holds together regardless of what audio is dubbed in1.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube
Creator
Jon Jafari
Date
2013

Jon Jafari uploaded "Hercules Games" to his JonTron YouTube channel on September 24, 2013, a retrospective of video games based on the Greek demigod1. During a segment on Hercules: Slayer Of The Damned, a 1988 Commodore 64 title distributed on cassette, Jon fed the tape into a regular audio cassette player instead of a C64 console3. A screech of raw tape data filled the room, and Jon turned to the camera with a blank, slightly scared expression. The on-screen caption "(ACTUAL NOISE IT MADE)" appeared below his face to signal that nothing was added in post1.

How It Spread

Two days after the JonTron video posted, YouTube user OliverReacts uploaded "The ACTUAL Noise JonTron's Hercules Cassette Game Made" on September 26, 2013, splicing audio from JonTron's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts review into Jon's reaction shot2. That edit collected more than 13,000 views and over 370 likes2. User mardfet followed on January 23, 2014 with a compilation video stringing several alternate noises together, which gained over 2,500 views and over 90 likes3.

More remixes appeared through late 2013 and 2014, with creators dubbing dialogue or music over Jon's reaction shot4. Later variants layered music tracks or scenes from other reviews over the same stunned face5.

Timeline

2013-09-24

Jon Jafari uploads "Hercules Games" to the JonTron YouTube channel, including the Hercules: Slayer Of The Damned cassette segment where the "(ACTUAL NOISE IT MADE)" caption appears.

2013-09-26

YouTuber OliverReacts posts the first known remix, swapping the tape screech for audio from JonTron's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts review.

2014-01-23

User mardfet uploads a compilation video stringing together multiple alternate noises dubbed over Jon's reaction shot.

How to Use This Meme

Users typically take the shot of Jon's blank stare and dub a different sound over the original tape screech while keeping the "(ACTUAL NOISE IT MADE)" caption on screen2. Common substitutions include music tracks or dialogue from other JonTron reviews, with the comedy coming from the contrast between the caption's claim of authenticity and the obviously fake audio dubbed in3.

Frequently Asked Questions