Deep Note

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The Deep Note in audio editing software Audacity

The Deep Note is the sound trademark of THX Ltd., being a distinctive synthesized crescendo that glissandos from a relatively narrow frequency spread (about 200–400 Hz) to a broader frequency spread (of about three octaves). It was created by James A. Moorer,[1] a former employee of Lucasfilm's Computer Division in late 1982.[2] The sound is used on trailers for THX-certified movie theaters, home video releases, video games, and in-car entertainment systems.

The Deep Note debuted at the premiere of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi in Los Angeles.[2]

Description[]

The U.S. trademark registration for the first version of the sound contains this description of it:[3]

The THX logo theme consists of 30 voices over seven measures, starting in a narrow range, 200 to 400 Hz, and slowly diverging to preselected pitches encompassing three octaves. The 30 voices begin at pitches between 200 Hz and 400 Hz and arrive at pre-selected pitches spanning three octaves by the fourth measure. The highest pitch is slightly detuned while there is double the number of voices of the lowest two pitches.

Spectrogram made using Spek

In 1992, the Deep Note was registered as a trademark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[3]

The sound is perceived as louder than it actually is; sound designer and re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom explains that, "from a technical standpoint, 'Deep Note' just feels loud because it has a spectrum of frequencies that grows from small to large."[2]

Although Moorer had initially claimed that the score consisted of about 20,000 lines of code,[4] he subsequently corrected the statement and elaborated:[5]

The original 30-year-old C program is 355 lines, and the “patch” file for the synthesizer was 300 more lines. I guess it just felt like 20,000 lines when I did it. Given that it was written and debugged in 4 days, I can’t claim the programming chops to make 20,000 lines of working code that quickly. But, to synthesize it in real-time, in 1983, took 2 years to design and build a 19” rack full of digital hardware and 200,000 lines of system code to run the synthesizer. All that was already done, so I was building on a large foundation of audio processing horsepower, both hardware and software. Consequently, a mere 355 lines of C code and 300 lines of audio patching set-up for the 30 voices was enough to invoke the audio horsepower to make the piece.

Remastered version (2005–present)[]

In May 2005, THX introduced a new trailer called "The Science of Sensation", which featured a new version of the Deep Note, which is similar to the original, although various new voices were overlaid and some voices reach their final pitches before others.[6]

Regenerated version (2015–present)[]

In April 2015, THX introduced a new trailer called Eclipse, which was accompanied by an updated, more powerful version of the Deep Note, also created by Moorer.[7] This version of the Deep Note was created entirely digitally so it could play on Dolby Digital 7.1, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X systems, and Moorer created 30-second, 45-second, and 60-second versions of it.[8] Moorer used around eighty voices in the remake, as opposed to thirty in the original 1983 version. He stated in an interview, "That’s the way I wanted it to sound originally. I think it’s as far as you can take it."[9]

Previous works[]

Prior to the creation of the Deep Note, several other works made use of similar techniques of frequency spread. A recognized predecessor is a section in the Beatles' 1967 song "A Day in the Life", using a full orchestra. Unlike in the Deep Note, the resolving high chord is never held, but instead brought to a stop. Moorer has admitted that both "A Day in the Life" and a fugue in B minor by Bach were sources of inspiration for the Deep Note.[10]

In their book Analog Days, Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco say that the track "Spaced", from the 1970 Beaver & Krause album In a Wild Sanctuary,[11] was "copied by a famous Marin County film company" to introduce its film presentations, although they do not identify the company. The authors quote synthesizer builder Tom Oberheim as saying that the original analog form is much richer than the "digital perfection" evident in the sound logo so familiar to cinema-goers.[12]

Original score[]

Score for 'Deep Note'

In 2018, THX released an image of the original 30-voice score, with notes.[13]

In popular culture[]

Lucasfilm, then-owner of THX, sued rapper Dr. Dre in 2000 for using an unauthorized cover of Deep Note in the opening track "Lolo (Intro)" on his 1999 album 2001.[14] It was remixed in Ariana Grande's 2013 single "Baby I".[15] The Deep Note was sampled prominently in the track "Cannibals" from Neil Cicierega's 2020 mashup and remix album Mouth Dreams, alongside Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" and an assortment of 80s and 90s television logo jingles.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ "James A. Moorer Personal Website". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c "About THX". THX Ltd. Retrieved January 4, 2018. THX Deep Note was composed by Lucasfilm sound engineer Dr. James ‘Andy’ Moorer and was screened at the start of the 1983 premiere of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.
  3. ^ a b "Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR)". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  4. ^ Whitwell, Tom (May 25, 2005). "TINY MUSIC MAKERS: Pt 3: The THX Sound". Music Thing. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  5. ^ Kirn, Peter (April 8, 2015). "Q+A: How the THX Deep Note Creator Remade His Iconic Sound". Create Digital Music. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ^ "THX : nouveau trailer Science - CineNow".
  7. ^ "THX Releases Rejuvenated Versions of Iconic 'THX Deep Note' Sound with New 'Eclipse' Trailer" (Press release). THX Ltd. April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  8. ^ Welch, Chris (April 15, 2015). "THX just remade the iconic 'Deep Note' sound you hear before mov ies". The Verge. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved March 10, 2016. Moorer composed 30-, 45-, and 60-second versions of the new Deep Note, but for now THX is only sharing the shortest cut as part of its new 'Eclipse' trailer,…
  9. ^ Walker, Rob (April 2, 2015). "The 'Star Wars'-Inspired History of the Iconic THX Audio Logo". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  10. ^ Murphy, Mekado (April 17, 2015). "As THX Gets a New Trailer, an Interview With Its Composer". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  11. ^ Spaced_InAWildSanctuary.mov, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2021-09-05
  12. ^ Pinch, Trevor; Trocco, Frank (2002). Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-674-01617-3.
  13. ^ "In 35 yrs we have NEVER shown this!". Facebook. May 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Dansby, Andrew (April 21, 2000). "LucasFilm (sic) Taking Dr. Dre to Court". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  15. ^ "Thursday Thoughts: Who knew?". June 21, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  16. ^ Neil Cicierega – Cannibals, retrieved 2021-10-16

External links[]

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