Line #68 Main/CacophonyCoverUp


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12	->''"Loud noises... Sometimes you make being a ninja so easy."''
13	-->-- ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''
14
15	You've got to do something stealthily. The problem is, the thing you want to do is going to make a lot of noise, and you cannot silence it in any way.
16
17	What to do? Drown it out with a ''bigger'' noise. You can create it yourself, or just wait until something loud happens nearby and make your move then.
18
19	This follows the same logic as NeedleInAStackOfNeedles, LostInACrowd, and IAmSpartacus, except those are covering up objects and people, not actions.
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21	By definition, this also involves StartsStealthilyEndsLoudly. Compare CoveringForTheNoise. If one makes a lot of noise doing something that should be stealthy, it's WithCatlikeTread.
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23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* ''The Book of Human Insects'' by Creator/OsamuTezuka begins the second chapter, "Leafhopper", by having the anarchist assassin Heihachi Arikawa convince [[IntrepidReporter Kametaro Aokusa]] to join him for a drink to learn some things about the latter's scoop, [[FemmeFatale Toshiko Tomura]]. Arikawa notes that the dingy bar he brings Aokusa to is nearly empty because the noise from a nearby industrial pile driver drives people away. Aokusa has slowly realized what Arikawa plans to do, but by then it's too late to escape, and Arikawa shoots Aokusa right as the pile driver hits the ground. For added measure, Arikawa then disposes of the body by putting it under the pile driver's piston.
30	* Subverted in one ''Manga/CaseClosed'' case. The murder happens at a Disneyland-esque theme park where a fireworks display happens after sundown. Nearby eyewitnesses (or ''ear''witnesses, rather) report hearing a whistling noise and then a bang right before the body was discovered with gun wounds. However, it turns out that the killer had whistled through the hole of a yen coin and then shot the victim ''before'' the fireworks started in order make it ''seem'' like an attempt to mask the gunshot with fireworks; [[KansasCityShuffle it was an elaborate ruse to confuse people as to when exactly the murder happened]].
31	* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': In a flashback from ''2nd Gig'' showing how Saito met the Major, the ColdSniper times his shot to coincide with the clock chime of a bell tower. In that case the idea is to confuse where the shot came from, rather than the fact that it was fired.
32	* In the anime of ''Manga/Golgo13'', a Mafia boss sends an army of mooks up to the roof when he sees the roof guards missing on the security camera. Meanwhile Duke is FastRoping down the side of the building; as the mooks empty their guns into the air conditioning room (the only cover on the roof) Duke is using the gunfire to cover his own shots as he guns down the Mafia boss.
33	* In ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'', a fake construction crew is used to cover an assault on a terrorist safehouse.
34	* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' uses a fake construction crew to cover the sound of his other goons breaking into a vault.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': In "The Malay Penguin", the Penguin rents the theatre next to a museum and hires a lot of tap dancers to stage a rehearsal so the sound and vibration will [[FalseFalseAlarm constantly trip the alarms]] in the museum.
39	* Looney's betrayal of Michael O'Sullivan in ''ComicBook/RoadToPerdition'' is preceded by a big band starting up a rousing rendition of "The Saints Go Marching In."
40	* In ''Franchise/{{Tintin}} [[Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros and the Picaros]]'', Tintin turns up at Captain Haddock's hotel room and switches on the radio to high volume. It's playing one of Bianca Castafiore's operettas, and as a RunningGag in the series is how much they both loathe her music, Haddock immediately asks Tintin if he's gone mad. Tintin then proceeds to point out [[FindingTheBug the various hidden microphones in the room]].
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
44	* ''ComicStrip/MadamAndEve'': In [[http://www.madamandeve.co.za/cartoons/me000189.jpg this comic,]] Gwen and Abigail keep using loud noises to prevent Eve from hearing about the government's recommended minimum wage rates for domestic workers.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* The ''Jethro and Monty'' fanfics of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' have the fratello using Monty's cyborg superhearing to advantage by holding a whispered conversation covered by whatever background noise is provided. While in Hong Kong, they find several bugs planted in their hotel room, so Monty takes a bath and Jethro turns on the spa to cover their conversation [[FakeOutMakeOut while making it look like]] they're doing [[TwoPersonPoolParty something else]].
49	* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace'': A ScreamingWoman being [[MarsNeedsWomen carried off]] by a robot monster is drowned out by the noise of all the {{Jet Pack}}s, {{Retro Rocket}}s and {{Flying Car}}s in her AtomPunk future.
50	* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': After being denied entrance to a city, Kay’la pretends to get startled by a bug and casts ''thunderous smite'' on it to draw attention from (and mask the sound of) her nearby horse kicking a hole in the border wall.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
54	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', Miguel waits for a firework to go off before breaking a window to get into De La Cruz's mausoleum.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
58	* ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen'': Woodward comes to Bernstein's apartment, insists on turning on some [[PokeInTheThirdEye loud]] classical music, and communicates with Bernstein by typing notes on his typewriter after being warned that their apartments are bugged. The piece we hear is Vivaldi's Concerto in C for Two Trumpets.
59	* The protagonist of ''Film/TheAmerican'' is secretly building a custom-made rifle in a small Italian town. At one stage he has to hit a metal disc with a ball hammer, so waits till the church bells start ringing.
60	* ''Film/TheArtOfWar'': A triad gangster turns up the stereo before torturing a female agent for information.
61	* ''Film/AtomicBlonde''. Lorraine turns up the stereo when the police enter the apartment she's in, as she's about to kick their asses.
62	* In ''Film/BadTimesAtTheElRoyale'', Darlene uses her singing and clapping to cover up the sound of her partner prising up the floorboards in her room.
63	* In ''Film/BankShot'', El prevents the guards from noticing the sound of the approaching truck by revving a very noisy motorbike outside the bank.
64	* ''Film/BigDriver'': Just before she kills Ramona, Tess turns up the volume on Ramona's stereo to mask the sound of the gunshots.
65	* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'': When Bourne is being tracked through tall grass by Clive Owen's ColdSniper, Bourne lets off a shotgun, disturbing some very noisy birds, and runs for cover while the ensuing cacophony covers his footsteps.
66	* An unusual example in ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', but this is a case of covering something up ''with'' a cacophony. Bender crashes through the ceiling; Vernon of course hears and comes into the library to investigate. Bender hides under Claire's place at the the table, but hits his head and lets out a cry of pain. Andrew rapidly taps loudly on the table as a distraction. Then Bender tries to stick his face between Claire's knees. Claire reacts as would be expected, and all four teens begin coughing to drown out Bender's further cries as she kicks at him.
67	* ''Film/BruteForce1947'': The cons in the machine start pounding on metal to cover up the sound of TheStoolPigeon Wilson getting attacked by Joe's men.
68	* ''Film/{{Colombiana}}'': A SWAT team is raiding Cataleya's apartment and makes an explosive entry. At the same time Cataleya uses an explosive charge to blow a hole through a wall to make her escape into the lift shaft.
69	* In ''Film/TheCriminal'', the prisons in Wing B create a deafening racket to cover up the sound of Clobber's assault of Kelly.
70	* A variation in ''Film/Daredevil2003''. The title character [[BlessedWithSuck has to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank]] due to his SuperHearing. On waking up, he then has to turn on his stereo so he can focus on his MorningRoutine without distraction.
71	* In ''Film/TheDeparted'', one gangster is shown out in the street, tossing cherry-bombs, apparently for fun. We realize in the next scene that he was covering for the sounds of gunfire.
72	* ''Film/DrPhibesRisesAgain'': When he's out to crush Baker to death with a special contraption, Phibes brings a studio fan to blow an artificial wind on the archaeologists' camp, the sound of which covers Baker's screams (and the rest of the camp, Trout included, believe it's a natural wind).
73	* ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'': Vasily Zaytzev's EstablishingCharacterMoment where he dispatches five Germans with five shots, purposefully timed to coincide with artillery explosions.
74	* ''Film/{{Entrapment}}'': A clock's chimes are used to mask the sounds of a break-in.
75	* ''Film/FinalExam'': The Gammas ''fake a mass shooting'' so that some of them can cheat on a test.
76	* ''Film/TheGodfather'':
77	** In the first movie, when Michael goes to shoot Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=] in the restaurant, he waits for a stopping subway to be at its loudest before he shoots.
78	** In ''Part II'', young Vito waits for Don Fanucci in his apartment hallway and shoots him as fireworks go off in the festival outside.
79	* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'':
80	** Three men are sneaking up to Blondie's room as a Confederate army column marches by. Unfortunately the column comes to an abrupt halt just as a spur jingles, alerting Blondie.
81	** In the prisoner of war camp run by Angel Eyes, he has a band of captured Confederate soldiers play music to cover the sound of his men torturing Tuco. All the prisoners know what's happening and cry as a result.
82	* In ''Film/GrandSlam'', Gregg uses the sound of the fireworks going off for Carnival to cover the noise of him using nitroglycerine to blow the door on the safe.
83	* ''Film/TheGrayMan2022'':
84	** At the start of the movie, it's arranged for Sierra Six to shoot his target during a fireworks display in Bangkok, though the protagonist [[WouldNotHurtAChild elects not to fire]] and instead takes out his target and bodyguards hand-to-hand, concluding with a [[RuleOfCool visually spectacular]] fight on a fireworks barge.
85	** Sierra Six is assigned to guard the young niece of his handler. Someone breaks in and tries to assassinate her while she's playing ''Silver Bird'' on her record player, though she still hears the ruckus of Sierra Six fighting him. At the end of the movie, she's being held prisoner, but finds a note from Sierra Six tucked into her ''Silver Bird'' record, telling her to play it loud. She does so as he runs about shooting all her guards.
86	* In ''Film/TheGreatEscape'', they do this at least twice. Once, with ''singing'' "Twelve Days of Christmas". When starting the tunnel and needing to break a thick piece of slate, some of the prisoners pound some stakes into the ground with mallets (for their vegetable gardens that are part of the distraction as well).
87	* ''Film/HongKong1941'': Yip Kim-Fay assassinates one of the LesCollaborateurs with the traitor's own concealed pistol, just as the traitor is torturing Yip's friend via [[EarAche firecrackers going off in the ears]]. Yip then helps his injured and near-unconscious friend out of the area, moments before the commotion starts when the traitor's guards find him slumped dead in his chair.
88	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'': Wu Han tries to assist Indiana during a standoff, but one of Lao Che's goons shoots him when champagne bottles are being popped open.
89	* ''Film/IngloriousBasterds'': As the besieged sniper scene of "Stoltz der Nation" ("Pride of a Nation") begins, Zoller, a Nazi war hero and the subject/star of the propaganda film, goes to the projection booth to flirt with Shoshana (a Jewish woman posing as a gentile theater owner), she rudely tells him to go away. He angrily storms in and tells he's had enough of her rejections. She tells him they can sit and talk, but he has to lock the door behind him, and as he turns around, she pulls out a pistol and shoots him, with Hitler's entourage and the other Nazi guests being none the wiser due to the film's massive gunfight scene. When she ducks down to check on him, he pulls out his side arm and shoots her back, his shots also drowned out by the film's sound effects.
90	* Used for an OvertRendezvous in ''Film/TheIpcressFile''. Harry Palmer and Colonel Dalby meet with shady agents at a bandstand in a park to seal a deal regarding the proto-proton scattering device. The loud marching music played by the band indeed drowns out their talk.
91	* ''Film/TheJackal'': As federal agents search the house he's hiding in, the Jackal sets the timer on a stereo to play loud music, which covers his shooting them with a silenced submachine gun as they rush to investigate the noise.
92	* ''Film/JamesBond'':
93	** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': After chasing the [=MI6=] mole who freed Mr. White and shot at M into a belltower, Bond yanks on the bell rope so the noise of the church bell will cover him running up the stairs, preventing the man from plotting his exact position.
94	** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': In Jamaica, Felix Leiter asks James Bond if they can go somewhere quiet to talk. GilliganCut to them in a nightclub, where the noise would make it harder to be overheard.
95	* ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'': To cover him telling Ellie Sattler how to sneak into Biosyn's restricted lab, Ian Malcolm orders two cappuccinos, using the noise and steam caused by the barista to prevent being overheard. Meanwhile, Alan Grant is standing there complaining to the barista about how he doesn't like cappuccinos and misses the entire conversation.
96	* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'': Clyde shows his cellmate how to use the remote to turn up the volume [[LuxuryPrisonSuite on the stereo he's been given]], then bloodily stabs him to death with a steak bone under cover of loud rock music and the other prisoners shouting in outrage.
97	* In ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooMuch'', there is an attempted assassination during a concert, using a cymbal crash to cover the sound of the gunshot.
98	* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries''
99	** Referenced in ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'': "The generators will cover the sound of Hunt's break in." Nyah's theft of the necklace early in the movie involves a similar trick. To cover the sound of her high heels as she runs to the room where the necklace is kept, she only runs while dancers downstairs are dancing, making their own heels-on-floor noise.
100	** In ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'', assassins preparing to shoot the Austrian chancellor during a performance of ''Theatre/{{Turandot}}'' time their shots for the climax of the aria "Nessun Dorma", at a point when the audience would erupt in applause and drown out any bullets.
101	* In one of the most famous heists of the ''Film/OlsenBanden'' film series, Olsen and his gang performs a daring break-in of the Royal Opera during a performance of the Danish classic ''Elverhøj''. They have to break through several sealed doors to get where they're going, and carefully time every action to coincide with appropriate musical cover (setting off dynamite charges during cymbal clashes, running concrete-drills during woodwind sections, etc.).
102	* In ''Film/OneFootInHell'', Ivers and Stu use the noise of the cattle herd being driven through town to cover the sounds of their shots when they murder the storekeeper and the hotel clerk.
103	* In ''Film/{{P2}}'', when the police arrive to check out a 911 call at the eponymous parking garage, the kidnapper blasts Christmas music over the speakers to drown out the heroine's screams for help from the locked trunk of a car.
104	* ''Film/ThePublicEnemy1931'': When Tom, Matt, and the others are hiding in a safe house, they briefly get tense when they hear a rat-a-tat-tat sound outside the window — only to see that there's a coal truck emptying coal in the street. But it turns out a rival gang has set up both the coal truck and several machine gun turrets in a nearby building. They actually wait until the next day when Tom and Matt leave the building and have the coal truck dump more coal, which puts the two off guard when the guns fire at them for real.
105	* The aliens in ''Film/AQuietPlace'' attack any unnatural sound, so to talk verbally Lee takes Marcus to the waterfall where the falling and crashing water drowns out their voices. It serves as a ChekhovsGun for when Evelyn, holding a crying baby, hides behind an overflow of water gushing down from the floor above.
106	* ''Film/RoadToPerdition'': Michael Sullivan enters a hotel to confront a mob accountant, leaving his son in the car as a lookout. His son then sees ProfessionalKiller Harlen Maguire crossing the road, and honks the car horn in warning. Sullivan doesn't hear it as the accountant's teletype machine is chattering -- it's not clear if this is deliberate, though everything else the accountant does is clearly meant to delay Sullivan until Maguire arrives.
107	* Averted in ''Film/TheRussiaHouse''. Blair is given some basic spycraft instruction, and is told that running showers or playing music loudly won't work against modern listening devices.
108	* In ''Film/Scarface1983'', the infamous {{chainsaw\|Good}} scene is preceded by the Toad's female associate turning up the volume on the hotel room's TV.
109	* The assassination of Ding-Lik, ''Film/ShanghaiGrand'''s {{Deuteragonist}}, takes place precisely at the stroke of midnight during New Year's Eve 1934 when Lik and his entourage are wiped out in a GanglandDriveBy via machine-guns, which is perfectly masked by the fireworks going off and the cheering crowd outside.
110	* ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'': [[spoiler:Andy Dufresne]] uses thunder to drown out his banging on the pipes with a rock, [[spoiler:to break through them in order to escape]].
111	* ''Film/ShootEmUp'': A BabyFactory is located on top of a heavy metal rock club, to cover the babies crying. The protagonists discover the location of the nursery after noticing that the baby who's the LivingMacGuffin of the movie stops crying whenever rock music is played, because it's familiar.
112	* In ''Film/AShotInTheDark'', an attempt at murder is made at a nightclub during a flamenco dance, with the gunshot being timed to coincide with the dancer's boot tap.
113	* ''Film/TheSilence2019'': While trapped in the pharmacy with the vesps, which swarm and attack anything that makes noise, Hugh and his daughter set off the fire sprinkler system and flee as the vesps flap about screeching. This serves as a ChekhovsGun [[spoiler:for the BattleInTheRain when the cultists kidnap his daughter; Hugh and the others are able to chase after them and get her back because the thunder and rain only confuse the vesps]].
114	* In ''Film/SinnersAndSaints'', the villains are playing a record loudly to cover up their torture session. However, this also means [[OhCrap they don't hear two detectives entering the house]] until they interrupt events.
115	* ''Film/{{Sleepers}}'': Gangbangers execute a man on the approach area of an airport, waiting until an airliner comes in to land before opening fire.
116	* In one scene in ''Film/Snatched2017'', Emily needs to smash a lock with a hammer. Some men in the other room are watching UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball; she waits until they're all cheering to smash the lock.
117	* In ''Film/SorryWrongNumber'', George is told to commit the murder as the train is going by the apartment, so that if the victim screams, she won't be heard through the open window.
118	* ''Film/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor'': The chattering of 1970's era teletypes and printers cover the sound of the hit squad with their silenced submachine guns attacking a CIA research station.
119	* In ''Film/TheTripAcrossParis'', which is set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII during the Occupation of Paris, main protagonist Marcel (Creator/{{Bourvil}}) has to play accordion to cover the screams of a pig being slaughtered by Jambier (Creator/LouisDeFunes), since Jambier is a BlackMarket butcher and grocer who wants to avoid attracting attention either from patrolling German soldiers or LesCollaborateurs.
120	* In ''Film/WeTooTogether'', a child psychologist has Rob wear headphones playing music so she can discuss his autism diagnosis with his father.
121	* In the MadeForTVMovie ''[[https://youtu.be/t9_FXlIg2ns Without Her Consent]]'', a man rapes a woman who he invited to his house to look at some furniture he wants to sell. Her screams are unfortunately drowned out by the sound of his neighbor's lawnmower and it's implied that he specifically timed his attack to coincide with his neighbor's yardwork.
122	%%* In a Dutch movie, a member of LaResistance disassembles his bunk and uses the parts as improvised tools to break out of a Nazi cell block. Unfortunately, the prisoner in the neigbouring cell starts asking about the noise he's making, so the resistance guy calls for a biblical quotation from a deeply religious prisoner, knowing the other prisoners will start shouting at him to shut up and he can proceed under cover of their argument.%%This example has been commented out for not identifying the work from which it originates. Do not uncomment it without adding the work.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Literature]]
126	[[AC:Examples by author:]]
127	* In one of Creator/SvenHassel's novels, a senior SA officer has been arrested in the Night of the Long Knives purge. As he waits in his cell, he isn't alarmed because he thinks he's too important to harm -- until he realises that the sound of a revving lorry and motorcycle are masking regular bursts of gunfire, like you'd hear from a firing squad.
128	[[AC:Examples by title:]]
129	* ''Literature/AlexRider'': In ''Snakehead'', Alex uses a peal of thunder to cover up the explosion he uses to blow a float off a seaplane. Later, he uses another peal of thunder to mask the sound of him smashing the plane's window.
130	* A variation occurs in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' when Belgarion has to scare off a demon with the Orb of Aldur. To stop enemies homing in the "sound" that it makes, the effect covers the entire sky above the mountain range the good guys are in making it impossible to zero in on.
131	* ''Literature/{{Boot Camp\|2007}}'': In the cafeteria at Lake Harmony, loudspeakers play taped lectures at ear-aching volumes. The intention is to make it hard for residents to communicate, but it also means that if kids are careful, they can whisper to each other without being overheard.
132	* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoDrewMonsters'': When Miss Tiramaku goes to talk to Jack Peter, Tim, who disapproves of her, puts on a Music/FrankSinatra record so he and Holly can have a private conversation about her.
133	* In ''Literature/ByRoyalCommand'', Bond shoots the lock to his cell, timing the shot with the hourly blast from a cannon outside.
134	* In ''Literature/CallMeSunflower'', Sunny sneaks out of the house at night to pick roses from her mother's "secret admirer." She waits for the clock to bong to cover up the squeak of the backdoor.
135	* Overlaps with WeNeedADistraction in ''Literature/CiaphasCain: Death or Glory''. To cover up the sound of most of their team cutting into an ork encampment with a laser torch, they make a huge ruckus at the main gate -- ''with a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill rocket launcher]]''.
136	* ''Literature/TheDarkHours'': In inner-city Los Angeles, it's a New Year's Eve tradition for some to [[FiringInTheAirALot fire all their guns in the air]] as the clock strikes midnight on the new year. The noise of this celebration, and specifically the moment where everybody's shooting guns in the air, is the moment where the killer shoots Javier Raffa in the head, in the middle of an outdoor party.
137	* ''Literature/DiamondBrothers'': A gang of prisoners attempt to time their shooting and killing of Johnny Powers with the roar of a Concorde flying overhead in ''Public Enemy Number Two''. They're only stopped with Nick Diamond's intervention.
138	* The ''Literature/{{Doppelganger}}'' duology has [[ActionGirl Mirei]], [[spoiler:newly restored to her original body by the FusionDance of Miryo and Mirage]], using the cover of applause to knock out a pair of guards and confront [[WellIntentionedExtremist the Primes]].
139	* In the ''Literature/DrWatsonAtWar'' series by Robert Ryan, a fake air raid is used to get everyone into the shelters so a robbery can occur. The criminals build an acoustic device to simulate the "Gotha hum" of the German bombers and set off explosive charges as fake bomb blasts -- the latter destroy a truckload of soldiers rushing to stop them and cover for the sound of them blasting their way into the building.
140	* ''Literature/TheExecutioner'': In ''They Came to Kill'', Able Team capture a KGB spymaster and have him BoundAndGagged with earphones on to prevent him overhearing their conversation.
141	-->''"And don't worry about Illovich hearing you all. The Wizard's got head-phones on Illovich, blasting him with Mexican radio. Old man's rocking 'n' rolling, shaking his bones."''
142	* In ''Literature/TheFourthProtocol'', a safecracker breaks into an apartment while the owner is away in the country for New Year's Day, and waits till the stroke of midnight before setting off the charge that blows open his safe, covered by the fireworks and general outburst of revelry.
143	* In ''Literature/MarathonMan'', Babe is taking a bath in his apartment when the bad guys break in. He's listening anxiously as they quietly walk around, then gets really scared when they turn the radio on, loud, to cover up his screams for help.
144	* Frank Garcia's ''Literature/MarkedCardsAndLoadedDice'' has a story attributed to John Philip Quinn, a 19th century crooked gambler. One day, a man approached Quinn and asked to become a "bottom dealer" for him. As the man dealt out the cards Quinn listened for the distinctive sound of a poorly executed bottom deal. He then told the man that if he would give Quinn a signal when he was about to begin, Quinn would fire off a pistol and distract everyone else in the room from the horrible noise the man made.
145	* ''Literature/MegLangslowMysteries'': In ''Some Like It Hawk'', the protagonists have scheduled a lot of very noisy events at the town festival so they can open a squeaky trapdoor without being noticed.
146	* ''Literature/TheMonsterGarden'': While Alf is making a hutch for Monnie to live in, Frankie plays her radio loudly so her father won't hear the noise.
147	* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries'': Murderbot has to take out a couple of CorporateSamurai in the public atrium of a space station. There's a holographic display overhead of a storm on a gas giant, so he hacks the computer system and has it suddenly dropped down to ground level.
148	* In ''Literature/PerilAtEndHouse'', a person is shot to death during a fireworks display, and another is nearly hit by a bullet, the sound of which is believed to be covered up by a passing motorboat.
149	* ''Literature/TheShadow'': In ''Gangdom's Doom'', gangsters set up a fake riveting crew on a skyscraper under construction to cover up the sound of machine guns being fired at street level.
150	* ''Literature/TheSocietyOfSylphs'': When Eddie sneaks out to watch the storm, Estelle is watching a dance competition on TV, with the volume turned up to deafening levels. He pauses on the threshold when the commercials start and she turns the volume down, and doesn't open the door until she turns the volume back up.
151	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Olenna Tyrell is trying to coax some treasonable details about [[TheCaligula King Joffrey]] from Sansa Stark. Given the ever-present threat of spies in the DecadentCourt, she has CourtJester Butterbumps sing "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" at an absurd volume to prevent anyone overhearing, with the plausible excuse that she's old and can't hear well.
152	* ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'': In ''A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born'', the main character bases his plan for a concert hall burglary around the musical composition to be played, so that the noisiest parts of the job take place during the noisiest part of the concert.
153	* ''Literature/TicketsForDeath'': Protagonist Michael Shayne has discovered John Hardeman, the manager of a dogracing track, murdered. Shayne wishes to make it look like a suicide but has to fire off a second shot from Hardeman's gun -- and the crowd just outside will surely hear this, so he waits until the roar from the track at the start of the race and pulls the trigger then.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
157	* A minor RunningGag in ''Series/TheATeam'' is that whenever Face and Hannibal are captured, their friends naturally come to rescue them. When they realize that their teammates are close by, they cover up their noises by singing "You Are My Sunshine".
158	* In ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', Gus Fring's henchman Tyrus drives a large truck over a metal plate in the street at the exact moment the workers building Gus' underground meth lab trigger an explosion.
159	* In ''Series/BlackSails'', the pirates of the ''Walrus'' start hammering on the deck of a slave ship whose crew has barricaded themselves into a lower compartment. The slaver crew assumes that the pirates are futilely trying to burrow into the compartment, but in reality, they're masking the sounds of the ship's slaves striking off their irons in preparation for a revolt.
160	* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Al Capone is trying to schmooze some important Hollywood guests, only to be called to a back room to deal with a case of embezzlement. He orders his henchman to turn up the music on the radio, so they won't hear a gunshot.
161	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E7TheInitiative The Initiative]]", vampire Spike attacks Willow in her dorm room, turning up her CD player so the students outside can't hear her screaming.
162	* Played with in the ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS06E03 The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case]]", in which the murderer uses a RubeGoldbergDevice to create a loud bang -- not to cover the sound of the fatal gunshot, but to make it sound like there were two gunshots instead of one. When Colombo demonstrates an incorrect replica of the device, the murderer corrects it at the last second, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain incriminating himself]] and leading to his arrest.
163	* ''Series/DeathInParadise'': In "Melodies of Murder", the murderer takes advantage of their band mate's post-gig ritual of playing music really loudly to mask the sound of the fatal gunshot.
164	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E3ThinIce Thin Ice]]", the Doctor and Bill are tied up next to a bomb in a fairground. However, despite Bill saying she'll [[ScreamingWoman scream her head off]], the villains don't bother to gag her as no one hears her over the sounds of the fair.
165	* ''Series/DueSouth'': In the episode "Mountie on the Bounty", Fraser and Ray are undercover aboard a freighter ship that has been dumping toxic waste in Lake Michigan. While Ray sneaks off to the hold to investigate, Fraser draws the attention of the ship's crew by singing "Barrett's Privateers". By the second chorus everyone else in joining in, making it easier for Ray to move around unencumbered.
166	* This is used in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' when John is hiding in the walls from the bad guys who can hear his heartbeat and breathing. His shipmates start speaking loudly in various alien languages to give him time to escape.
167	* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': In "[[Recap/FawltyTowersS2E4TheKipperAndTheCorpse The Kipper and the Corpse]]", Miss Tibbs has been locked in a wardrobe, and starts moaning and screaming. Polly and Manuel groan and sing to hide the noise.
168	* ''Series/FXTheSeries'' has a sniper use fireworks to mask a shot, and a computer that isolates the gunshot sound from said fireworks.
169	* When ''Series/GeneralHospital'''s Karen began having strange flashbacks triggered by static on the radio and/or the sight of a window shade being pulled down and finally remembered being sexually abused by one of her mother's boyfriends, she realized that he would turn up the radio so that her mother wouldn't hear her crying.
170	* ''Series/GetSmart'':
171	** Max is meeting his contact in a record store, so he plays a record up high in case they're being bugged. They end up shouting so loudly everyone in the store can hear what they're saying.
172	** In the TV movie ''Get Smart, Again!'', the useless Cone of Silence has finally been ditched and replaced with Hover Cover, which involves standing on a rooftop between three hovering helicopters. Naturally this also proves more trouble than it's worth, as the participants get blown off their feet and still can't hear each other.
173	* ''Series/IronFist2017'': In the Season 2 premiere, Danny Rand is shown training to use his Iron Fist near a subway tunnel, waiting till a train goes past before throwing a punch.
174	* In the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Kojak}}'', the police attempt to break in through the ceiling of a store where bank robbers have taken customers hostage. Kojak hopes driving around an armored car will cover the noise of the tools. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
175	* ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'': When Violet and Bruce are arguing loudly, Hyacinth [[TalkingWithSigns holds up signs]] with song titles, encouraging everyone to sing to drown the noise.
176	* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'':
177	** In "[[Recap/LeverageS01E12TheFirstDavidJob The First David Job]]", Hardison covers up Parker lifting the statue from a vibration sensor by triggering every car alarm in the parking lot. The guards see the sensor has been triggered, but hearing every alarm in the parking lot go off, they assume that it was an earth tremor and reset the sensor.
178	** In "[[Recap/LeverageS03E04TheScheherazadeJob The Scheherazade Job]]", the team use the climax of the masterpiece "Scheherazade" to cover-up blowing up a hole in the ceiling of a vault and as an excuse to get the people to turn off the seismic sensors. Notably, [[spoiler:they immediately wreck their own plan because they are too enraptured by the violin solo which follows to actually finish the heist (so the alarm ends up going off anyway)]].
179	* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'':
180	** In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS13E3 Blood on the Saddle]]", the killer uses the noise of a mock gunfight being conducted in the main arena to cover the rifle shot he uses to murder the first VictimOfTheWeek.
181	** In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS17E2 Murder by Magic]]", the killer uses the sound of gunshot being used in a magic trick to mask the sound of the gunshot they used to kill one of their victims.
182	* The pilot episode of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' uses fireworks to cover the sounds of the team's escape.
183	* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In "[[Recap/MurderSheWroteS6E17MurderAccordingToMaggie Murder: According to Maggie]]", the killer uses the gunshots on screen during the screening of TV show to drown out the sound of their actual gunshots.
184	* ''Series/OneLifeToLive'': Marty Saybrooke's gang rape took place during a raucous frat house party, with no one able to hear her screams because of the loud music. When the chief assailant attacked her ''again'', this time in the alley behind a local bar, he taunted her about the fact that just like the previous assault, no one would be able to hear her for the very same reason. Indeed, when a friend of hers showed up, despite them ''both'' screaming and pounding on the door, the bar patrons were completely oblivious to what was going on.
185	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'':
186	** An accidental version in "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS03E13 4C]]" when John Reese is fighting a hitman in the airplane cabin while the passengers are watching an action scene in ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''. At one point, a gunshot is fired at the exact same time it is in the movie.
187	** Lampshaded in "[[Recap/PersonOfInterestS05E06 A More Perfect Union]]" when Reese spots some villains just after Harold Finch has to sing at a wedding. "Finch better sing louder, 'cause we've got some serious ass to kick."
188	* ''Series/{{Poirot}}'':
189	** The trope is discussed and [[spoiler:believed to be]] used in "[[Recap/PoirotS01E02MurderInTheMews Murder in the Mews]]", which opens on Guy Fawkes Day. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it was a suicide made to look like murder.]]
190	** In "[[Recap/PoirotS02E05TheDisappearanceOfMrDavenheim The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim]]", [[spoiler:Davenheim]] breaks open a safe by timing the blows of a hammer with the cannon shots in a record of Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky's ''[[StandardSnippet 1812 Overture]]''.
191	* ''Series/{{Porridge}}'': When Harry Grout is forced into organizing the digging of an escape tunnel for another prisoner, the noise of the tunneling is covered up by a choir singing Christmas carols.
192	* ''Series/PrisonBreak'':
193	** In "Cute Poison", Michael Scoffield finishes digging a hole behind his cell's toilet by kicking through the wall. His cellmate Fernando Sucre covers the noise by loudly singing "Eres Tu", aggravating the entire cellblock into making a ruckus.
194	** In "Safe and Sound", Michael and his brother Lincoln Burrows must drill the wall of an empty office in order to gain access to one of the [[PlotCoupons Scylla cards]]. Sucre and [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn Brad Bellick]]]] cover the drilling noise by posing as janitors and using a loud vacuum cleaner to clean a stain on the carpet at the office door.
195	** When Don Self and Trishanne [[spoiler:(special agent Miriam Holtz)]] are held captive by Feng Huan and his crooks in "Selfless", Trishanne yells at Self and accuses him of putting her in this mess. Self acts defensive while opening his handcuffs. The gangsters don't hear the cuffs' click over the yelling, and before they realize it, Self is free and killing them.
196	* ''Series/TheProfessionals'': Before Doyle hauls a criminal into the storeroom of a pub for some PerpSweating, he throws the manager a coin and tells him to play something loud on the jutebox. Subverted when the criminal turns out to be an undercover policeman, and the noise is actually meant to cover their friendly conversation (now and again they knock over a few cans to make it sound like [[PoliceBrutality Doyle is roughing him up]]).
197	* ''Rubbery Figures'' (the Australian version of ''Series/SpittingImage'') has UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan holding a press conference, and every time a journalist asks an awkward question, a helicopter flies over or a squad of marines march past or a brass band play their trumpets loudly, drowning out his NonAnswer.
198	* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
199	** In an old skit, Bert and Ernie find themselves unable to get to sleep because of the sound of a dripping faucet. Ernie decides the best solution is just to drown out the sound by turning on the radio at full blast. When Bert complains that the radio is too loud, Ernie turns on the vacuum cleaner to drown that out. Bert is left to handle all of the sounds himself only to be kept awake by Ernie's snoring.
200	** There is an even older sketch in which Bert gets annoyed by the sound of Ernie's TV show, so he decides to drown it out with a record. When Ernie complains that the record is too loud, he drowns it out with the radio. Bert one-ups even that by turning on a blender to drown out the radio, promptly blowing a fuse.
201	* ''Series/ShadowAndBone'': Inej and Jesper are stealing the plans for the Little Palace but end up locked inside the Kribirsk Archives, so Jesper proceeds to ShootOutTheLock by waiting until the clock strikes on the hour.
202	* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': In "A Bad Habit", the thief uses a chisel to break the sacred sceptre free from its brackets on the wall; timing his blows to coincide with the striking of the abbey clock.
203	[[/folder]]
204
205	[[folder:Mythology]]
206	* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, after Zeus was born and his father tricked into eating a rock thinking it was his son, the nymphs who raised him often made a racket to cover up Zeus's crying so his father wouldn't hear him and realize he was still alive.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:Video Games]]
210	* One of the main story assassinations in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' can be accomplished using Ezio's pistol, if you time your shot with the fireworks going off in the area.
211	* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'': Similar to the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' example, a storyline mission in ''Bad Company 2'' sees you providing sniper fire support at night with a huge thunderstorm right overhead as the rest of your fireteam sneaks into an enemy camp. In order to avoid alerting the guards to your shots, you time them to coincide with the sounds of the storm.
212	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'':
213	** At the beginning of the first Soviet level of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'', you have to snipe idle German soldiers as Luftwaffe flights pass overhead, in reference to ''Enemy at the Gates''.
214	** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3'' requires you to synch an explosion with background thunder. If you don't, you have to fight your way through the horde of enemies who then arrive.
215	* In ''VideoGame/{{Desperados}}'', gunshots can be masked by other loud noises such as a nearby roaring waterfall or thunder.
216	* You can use this to your advantage in ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}''. If someone's firing guns for another reason (like to celebrate a wedding), you can kill someone and use their gunfire to mask the sound of yours.
217	* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
218	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', unsilenced gunshot sounds won't travel very far in the Tanker chapter's engine room due to how loud the ship's engines are.
219	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', the Hind helicopter patrols the summit of the Krasnogorje mountain. Your footsteps and other audible noises become inaudible for a few seconds when the helicopter passes directly overhead, making it handy to rush enemy guards during that time.
220	* ''VideoGame/Payday2'': During the [[ConcertEpisode Alesso Heist]], the crew covers up the sound of [=C4=] going off by timing its detonation with the live concert's pyrotechnics going off.
221	* In the ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' series, you're encouraged to make use of this to take out enemies without giving yourself away. Being that your missions mostly take place in active [=WW2=] warzones, this means that in addition to using regular loud noises like thunder and planes flying overhead, you can fire while dropped bombs explode nearby or while flak erupts across the sky.
222	* In the various ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' games you can get away with making noise if the ambient sounds of the environment are loud enough. ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent Double Agent]]'' has a stage where, because of a civil war, intermittent shellings will temporarily knock out the power allowing you to loudly run to the next hiding place in the ensuing noise and darkness before the lights come back on.
223	* One of the final puzzles in ''VideoGame/StillLife 2'' requires you to turn on a large fan while you sneak up on the villain.
224	* ''VideoGame/AWayOut'' has a sequence where Vincent and Leo need to get past a set of locked doors without a nearby group of prison guards noticing. To do this, they use the passing storm to their advantage and ram the doors in time with the thunder.
225	* One of the first puzzles in ''VideoGame/ZorkGrandInquisitor'' requires you to turn up the volume of [[CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker a propaganda-spewing speaker]], so that you can steal something from a shop without the owner hearing the alarm bell.
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
229	* In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', the sound of some pyrotechnics and a gun going off are masked by the concert going on outside.
230	* In Chapter Five of ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', everyone enters the warehouse to hear blaring loud, depressing hymn music before [[spoiler:discovering Nagito's corpse]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Nagito lined up some Monokuma cutouts so when the other students opened the door, they would create a domino effect to knock over an oil lighter and cause a fire. The reason for the music was to cover up the noise of the cutouts falling]].
231	* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:the Yamainu]] use the cover of festival fireworks to conceal the noise of exploding [[spoiler:their way into the Sonozaki bunker]].
232	* ''VisualNovel/ReigningPassions'': In Amara episode 10, the heroine needs to talk to Amara without risk of anyone eavesdropping, so she takes her to Hazel's shop and has Hazel make a lot of noise with her hammer while she talks to Amara.
233	[[/folder]]
234
235	[[folder:Webcomics]]
236	* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', the doctor has to blow up an entrance into a truck, so he has his friend drive by in a car playing [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/20p29 very loud music]] to cover up the explosion sound.
237	[[/folder]]
238
239	[[folder:Websites]]
240	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-539 SCP-539 ("The Perfect Distraction")]], which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin performs this trope to a T]]. Every test of 539 (shaped like a gray Frisbee) happens as such: 539 is thrown, [[OutsideContextProblem something weird happens]], and everyone looks away from 539. Repeated testing has shown that the "something weird" part usually involves [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere predatory animals appearing out of thin air]].
241	[[/folder]]
242
243	[[folder:Western Animation]]
244	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS5E23OneLastJob One Last Job]]", the Flying Lettuce Brothers [[VoiceChangeling imitate the Banana Guard Captain]] and order the Banana Guards to go out into the courtyard and practice their battle cries, which both distracts them from their posts and covers up the sound of the vault to [[MacGuffin the Baker's Shard]] being blown open.
245	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS3E01TheNewNormal The New Normal]]", Anne plays loud rock music over the speakers of the store to cover up any noise they make and to avoid drawing any attention while they fight the Cloak-Bot.
246	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Defied in "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS1E10Shriek Shriek]]". Terry tries to sneak around Shriek by switching on the machinery in the factory they're fighting in. [[NoSell Shriek uses his acoustic suit to silence all the sounds]] ''except'' [[QuieterThanSilence Terry's footsteps]].
247	* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': Similar to the ''Film/AQuietPlace'' example, in "[[Recap/BigCityGreensS2E20 Quiet Please]]", Bill turns on the water fountain to drown out his and Cricket's voices so they can talk without the ScaryLibrarian hearing them.
248	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
249	** In the final segment of "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E15ThreeKings Three Kings]]", a parody of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'', Andy (Peter) is tries to bust open a sewer pipe with a rock to escape the prison, but he is within hearing range of Norton/Carter, who is watching an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' in his office. To cover his noise, Andy times his banging of the rock to the clapping of the show's theme song.
250	** Another episode has Peter timing his farts to thunderclaps.
251	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In one episode, Strickland and the other local propane shops start an illegal price-fixing racket and Hank is forced by the Feds to wear a wire during one of their meetings so that the team assigned to catch them could get proof. So how does Hank keep from getting Strickland shut down? He gets the freaking Orange County Choppers to rev their engines outside the store in order to cover up his explanation of the situation to Buck.
252	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E12RebelResolve Rebel Resolve]]", Chopper 'accidentally' overloads the internal comm on the ''Ghost''. The noise and the fact that Hera is busy shouting at the droid distracts her from the flashing light and buzzer indicating that the others have stolen the ''Phantom'' for a rescue mission that Hera hasn't authorized.
253	[[/folder]]
254
255	[[folder:Real Life]]
256	* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne, the [[UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben Imperial German Army]] deployed a gigantic artillery piece, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Gun Paris Gun]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which they used to send random shells landing all over Paris]]. To disguise the location of the gun from Allied listening posts, numerous other artillery pieces were fired off at the same time.
257	* At the [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust extermination camp of Auschwitz]], the Nazis attempted to muffle the screams of the gas chambers' victims, using two motorcycle engines that were revved up to full throttle nearby. Despite this, the sounds of yelling could still be heard over the engines.
258	* Car stereo thieves sometimes intentionally trigger a nearby car alarm to mask the sound of breaking glass.
259	* There's an {{Urban Legend\|s}} about a college campus that had a tradition of students screaming for a few minutes during finals week to let their stress out before they went back to studying, and a student having been murdered during the Scream one year because her screaming was masked by everyone else's. Even without encouraging students to scream at a specific time, some campuses ''could'' be noisy enough to drown out a cry for help. That said, it's still a legend.
260	* It's said that as an actor, John Wilkes Booth was familiar with the play "Our American Cousin" enough that he timed his assassination of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln with the point of the play the audience would be laughing the loudest.
261	* US fitness center chain Planet Fitness censors out the sound of those who drop weights or grunt while lifting weights with a "lunk alarm", a rotating blue light with an air raid siren.
262	* During the Tet Offensive the Vietcong used firecrackers to cover the sound of gunfire.
263	* In autocratic countries like East Germany or the USSR, where constant surveillance was a way of life, it was common for citizens to play loud albums or use the vacuum cleaner to drown out whatever sensitive topic they might wish to discuss.
264	* Website/{{Twitch}} streamers may employ this if someone causes a word that could get them banned (e.g. a slur) to be uttered on cast repeatedly, such as via a shared video or a text-to-speech program, mainly by screaming as loudly as they can in order to drown out the offending audio. [[DefiedTrope To get around this]], dedicated trolls may send custom BaitAndSwitch videos which abruptly cut to bannable words being screamed at an incredibly loud volume so that the streamer cannot cover them up.
265	* ''{{Website/Cracked}}'' [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26304_5-real-world-heists-that-sound-like-bad-movie-plots.html mentions this trope]] on an article about heists with movie plots, specifically burglars sawing through a bank roof during a fireworks display.
266	--> You know that action movie cliché whereby an evil hitman will wait until the big parade gets loud or the symphony orchestra reaches a swell so they can fire a shot without being noticed?
267	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CacophonyCoverUp