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{{short description|THX's audio logo, a distinctive synthesized crescendo sound}}
{{High-traffic|site=Slashdot|url=http://slashdot.org|date=00:40, 22 April 2006 (UTC)}}
{{redirect|THX sound|the sound certification|THX}}
{{redirect|The audience is listening|the album and song by Cut Chemist|The Audience's Listening}}
[[File:THX Deep Note.mp3|thumb|The THX Deep Note]]
[[file:Deep Note Internet Archive.png|thumb|Waveform of the Deep Note]]


The '''Deep Note''' is the [[sound trademark]] of [[THX]], being a distinctive [[audio synthesis|synthesized]] [[crescendo]] that [[glissando]]s from a relatively narrow frequency spread (about 200–400&nbsp;Hz) to a broader frequency spread (of about three octaves). It was created by [[James A. Moorer]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamminpower.com/|title=James A. Moorer Personal Website|accessdate=December 3, 2006}}</ref> a former employee of [[Lucasfilm]]'s Computer Division (later known as [[Pixar|Pixar Animation Studios]]) in late 1982.<ref name="AboutTHX">{{cite web|title=THX Deep Note|url=https://www.thx.com/deepnote/|publisher=[[THX]]|accessdate=July 13, 2023|quote=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.}}</ref> The sound is used on [[trailer (movie)|trailer]]s for THX-certified [[movie theater]]s, [[home video]] releases, [[video games]], and [[in-car entertainment]] systems.
[[Image:Deep note on Audacity.png|thumb|right|Deep Note in [[Audacity]] in [[Ubuntu Linux]]]]
[[Image:Deep note on Baudline.jpg|thumb|right|Deep Note in [[Baudline]] in [[Linux]]]]
[[Image:Deep note on Baudline zoomed.jpg|thumb|right|Deep Note in [[Baudline]] in [[Linux]](zoomed to 5kHz)]]


The Deep Note was partially previewed on the opening track of the 1983 album ''The Digital Domain: A Demonstration,'' where it was included among sound effects that were combined with the Deep Note itself. The Deep Note debuted later that same year at the premiere of ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' in Los Angeles.<ref name="AboutTHX"/>
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:James a moorer.jpg|thumb|James A. Moorer.]] -->
'''Deep Note''' is the name of [[THX]]'s audio [[logo]], a distinctive [[audio synthesis|synthesized]] [[crescendo]] sound. It was created by Dr. James "Andy" Moorer in [[1982]], then an employee of the [[Lucasfilm]] Computer Division. The sound is used on [[trailer (movie)|trailer]]s for THX-certified [[movie theatres]] and video releases.


== Description ==
The sound is a registered U.S. [[Sound trademark|trademark]] (serial number 74309951). The registration contains the following description of the sound:


The U.S. trademark registration for the first version of the sound contains this description of it:<ref name="uspto-thxdeepnote">{{cite web|url=http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=74309951|title=Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR)|accessdate=December 3, 2006|publisher=[[United States Patent and Trademark Office]]}}</ref>
⚫
:''The THX logo theme consists of 30 [[Register (music)|voices]] over seven [[Bar (music)|measure]]s, starting in a narrow range, 200 to 400 [[hertz|Hz]], and slowly diverting to preselected pitches encompassing three [[octave]]s. 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 [[detuning|detuned]] while there are double the number of voices of the lowest two pitches.''


⚫
{{quotation|The THX logo theme consists of 30 [[Part (music)|voices]] over seven [[Bar (music)|measure]]s, starting in a narrow range, 200 to 400 [[hertz|Hz]], and slowly diverging to preselected pitches encompassing three [[octave]]s. 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 [[Musical tuning|detuned]] while there is double the number of voices of the lowest two pitches.}}
Moorer has been quoted as saying, "I like to say that the THX sound is the most widely-recognized piece of [[computer-generated music]] in the world. This may or may not be true, but it sounds cool!" A full accounting of his creation of the note can be found here. [http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html]


[[file:THX-DeepNote-Spectogram.png|thumb|Spectrogram made using Spek]]
⚫
==Previous works==


In 1992, the Deep Note was registered as a trademark by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]].<ref name="uspto-thxdeepnote"/>
Prior to the creation of Deep Note, several other works made use of similar techniques of frequency spread. In [[1974]], the band [[Styx (band)|Styx]] featured the spread tone on the track ''Krakatoa'' from the album ''[[The Serpent Is Rising]]''. Deep Note is also similar to the orchestral [[Dynamics (music)|crescendo]] heard on [[The Beatles|The Beatles']] [[1967]] album, ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', on the track ''[[A Day in the Life#An orchestral"freak out"|A Day in the Life]]''. As early as [[1955]], a very similar effect can be found in the first minute of the [[Iannis Xenakis]] piece, ''[[Metastasis (Xenakis composition)|Metastasis]]'', which begins on a single tone and slowly spreads into a [[quarter tone|quarter]] [[tone cluster]].


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."<ref name="AboutTHX"/>
In their book ''[[Analog Days]]'', [[Trevor Pinch]] and [[Frank Trocco]] point to the track "Spaced", from the [[1970]] [[Beaver & Krause]] album ''[[In A Wild Sanctuary]]'' as the source for Deep Note. They quote synthesizer builder [[Tom Oberheim]] as saying the original analog form is much richer than the "digital perfection" used in movie theatres.


Although Moorer had initially claimed that the score consisted of about 20,000 [[Source lines of code|lines of code]],<ref name="moorer">{{cite web|url=http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html|title=TINY MUSIC MAKERS: Pt 3: The THX Sound|accessdate=December 3, 2006|last=Whitwell|first=Tom|date=May 25, 2005|work=Music Thing}}</ref> he subsequently corrected the statement and elaborated:<ref name="cdm">{{cite web|url=http://createdigitalmusic.com/2015/04/thx-deep-note-creator-remade-iconic-sound/|title=Q+A: How the THX Deep Note Creator Remade His Iconic Sound|accessdate=April 10, 2015|last=Kirn|first=Peter|date=April 8, 2015|work=Create Digital Music}}</ref>
==Cultural status==


{{quotation|The original 30-year-old [[C (programming language)|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.
The perceived [[loudness]] of the trailers was parodied by television series ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' (in the ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation|How I Spent My Vacation]]'' made-for-video movie; "THUD: The audience is now deaf."), and ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in the episode "[[Burns' Heir]]", in which the noise causes eyeglasses to shatter and heads to explode. An excerpt from the ''Simpsons'' parody, with [[Abraham Simpson|Grampa Simpson]] yelling, "Turn it up!" was later used in an actual THX trailer.


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-inch 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.}}
[[LucasArts]] themselves also parodied the THX slogan "The Audience Is Listening" in ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island]]'', as the game starts up with a choir of chittering monkeys which grows bigger and louder in the spirit of Deep Note, and ends with the slogan "CMI — The Monkeys are Listening".


=== Millennium version (2000) ===
After the opening logos in ''[[Bug Too!]]'' for the [[Sega Saturn]], a similar version of the THX jingle is heard as we see Bug vacuuming his floor, plus it becomes "BHX — The Bugs are Listening."


In fall 1999,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demo-world.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-thx-ultimate-demo-disc-57.jpg |title= THX Broadway 2000 trailer information from the THX Ultimate Demo Disc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503225628im_/http://www.demo-world.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-thx-ultimate-demo-disc-57.jpg |archive-date=3 May 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> THX released the trailer ''Broadway 2000'' for use of the [[Dolby Digital|Dolby Digital Surround EX]] sound system. As a result, an entirely new Deep Note was made from scratch. In this version of the Deep Note, new voices were made doing the similar process while voices from the previous version can be briefly heard. Aside from the trailer's appearance in theaters as well as on ''The Adventures of Indiana Jones'' DVD box set, the only other trailer that also uses this version of the Deep Note was a trailer made specially for the post-2000 home media releases of ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]''.
The [[Asia (band)|Asia]] song "Countdown to Zero" from the [[1985]] album ''[[Astra (album)|Astra]]'' begins with an effect similar to "Deep Note."


=== Remastered version (2005–present) ===
Rapper [[Dr. Dre]] was sued in [[2000]] by [[Lucasfilm]], then-owner of THX, for using an unauthorized [[cover version|cover]] of "Deep Note" on his ''[[2001 (album)|2001]]'' album. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/5922699/drdre?pageid=rs.ArtistArticles&pageregion=mainRegion]


In May 2005, to coincide with the theatrical release of ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]'', 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, but voices from the ''Broadway 2000'' trailer were mixed together.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinenow.fr/articles/2141-thx-nouveau-trailer-science|title=THX : nouveau trailer Science - CineNow}}</ref>
A version of Deep Note is included as an [[Easter egg (virtual)|easter egg]] in the [[BitTorrent]] client [[µTorrent]].


=== Regenerated version (2015) ===
⚫
==External links==

* [http://www.thx.com/trailers/ THX trailers]
In April 2015, THX introduced a new trailer called ''Eclipse'', which was accompanied by an updated, "Dolbyized" and more powerful version of the Deep Note, also created by Moorer.<ref>{{cite press release|title=THX Releases Rejuvenated Versions of Iconic 'THX Deep Note' Sound with New 'Eclipse' Trailer|url=http://www.thx.com/blog/thx-releases-rejuvenated-deep-note-with-eclipse-trailer/|publisher=THX Ltd.|date=April 3, 2015|accessdate=January 4, 2018}}</ref> This version of the Deep Note was created entirely digitally so it could play on Dolby Surround 7.1, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X systems, and Moorer created 30-second, 45-second, and 60-second versions of it.<ref name="verge042015">{{cite news|last=Welch|first=Chris|title=THX just remade the iconic 'Deep Note' sound you hear before mov ies|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/4/8340811/thx-deep-note-sound-you-hear-before-movies-remake|website=The Verge|publisher=[[Vox Media, Inc.]]|date=April 15, 2015|accessdate=March 10, 2016|quote=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,…}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Rob|title=The 'Star Wars'-Inspired History of the Iconic THX Audio Logo|url=https://www.yahoo.com/tech/the-star-wars-inspired-history-of-the-iconic-thx-115130823374.html|publisher=[[Yahoo! Finance]]|date=April 2, 2015|accessdate=January 4, 2018}}</ref> ''Eclipse'' would be the only appearance of the regenerated version as starting with trailers ''Sphere'' and ''Genesis'' (both made to utilize the [[4K resolution|4K video resolution]]), the remastered Deep Note was used instead.
* [http://www.jamminpower.com/jam.jsp Personal Site of Dr. James A. Moorer]

* [http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html Music Thing - How Deep Note was Made]
⚫
=== Previous works ===
* [http://www.pocketmovies.net/detail_36.html Simpsons trailer]

⚫
* [http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/74309951.mp3 United States Patent and Trademark Office sound recording]
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 [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] were sources of inspiration for the Deep Note.<ref>{{cite news|last=Murphy|first=Mekado|title=As THX Gets a New Trailer, an Interview With Its Composer|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/as-thx-gets-a-new-trailer-an-interview-with-its-composer/?_r=0|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 17, 2015|accessdate=January 4, 2018}}</ref>
[[de:THX]]

[[fr:THX Ltd.]]
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'',<ref>{{Citation|title=Spaced_InAWildSanctuary.mov|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xKO3KAtDZ0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/2xKO3KAtDZ0 |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-09-05}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Trevor|last1=Pinch|first2=Frank|last2=Trocco|title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|year=2002|isbn=0-674-01617-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/analogdaysinvent00trev/page/128 128]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/analogdaysinvent00trev/page/128}}</ref>
[[pt:THX]]

=== Original score ===

[[file:THXDeepNoteScore35thAnniversary.jpg|thumb|Score for 'Deep Note']]

In 2018, THX released an image of the original 30-voice score, with notes.<ref>{{cite web|title=In 35 yrs we have NEVER shown this!|website=[[Facebook]]|url=https://www.facebook.com/thxltd/posts/10155235578381930 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/181603076929/10155235578381930 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|date=May 25, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Lawsuit ==
[[Lucasfilm]], then-owner of THX, sued rapper [[Dr. Dre]] in 2000 for using an unauthorized [[cover version|cover]] of Deep Note in the opening track "Lolo (Intro)" on his 1999 album ''[[2001 (Dr. Dre album)|2001]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5922699/lucasfilm_taking_dr_dre_to_court |title=LucasFilm ''(sic)'' Taking Dr. Dre to Court |accessdate=December 3, 2006 |last=Dansby |first=Andrew |date=April 21, 2000 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804072949/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5922699/lucasfilm_taking_dr_dre_to_court |archivedate=August 4, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/apr/21/news4 |title=Lucasfilm sues rapper over sound clip|website=The Guardian|date=April 21, 2000|accessdate=March 18, 2023}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
<!--

Please do not add examples unless
* They are notable
* You provide a source referring to the example (i.e., an article about the example, *not* a YouTube video of it.)

-->
In a 1994 episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' titled "[[Burns' Heir]]", there is a parody gag of the Deep Note, with the [[Simpson family]] in the theater watching ''Siskel & Ebert: The Movie''. The Deep Note causes multiple things in the theater to explode seemingly from [[acoustic resonance]], and ends with [[Abraham Simpson]] yelling "Turn it up!" THX executives liked the parody so much that the scene was later remade into an actual THX movie trailer, with the scene being redone in a [[widescreen]] aspect ratio by [[Film Roman]].<ref name="Mirkin">Mirkin, David. (2004). Commentary for "Burns' Heir", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

"Dumbest Girl Alive", the opening track on the album ''[[10,000 Gecs]]'', by [[hyperpop]] duo [[100 gecs]], begins with a sample of the THX Deep Note.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.holo.mg/stream/100-gecs-deep-note-switched-on-pop/ | website = holo.mg |title=Experimental Popsters 100 Gecs Endorse THX Deep Noise as Ultimate 'PC Music' |last=Smith |first=Greg J. |date=March 21, 2023 |access-date=June 18, 2023 |quote= "Wanna talk about 'PC Music?' It's one cello sample and a computer, baby." - 100 gecs' Dylan Brady and Laura Les, enthusing about the origins of the THX deep note, the characterful chord that sounds before many motion pictures. Gushing about getting clearance to use it to kick off their new album, Les describes the soundmark as "beautiful and terrifying."}}</ref>

[[Jacob Collier]] recreated the THX Deep Note in "100,000 Voices", the opening track to his 2024 album ''[[Djesse Vol. 4]]''. He discussed his inspiration and method of recreating the sound with an audience choir in the March 4th 2024 '[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/switched-on-pop/id934552872 Switched On Pop]' podcast.

== References ==

{{reflist|30em}}

⚫
== External links ==
⚫
* [https://uspto.gov/sites/default/files/74309951.mp3 Deep Note] mp3 at the United States Patent and Trademark Office
* ''[[Twenty Thousand Hertz]]'' podcast episodes about Deep Note: [https://20k.org/episodes/thxdeepnote Part 1] and [https://20k.org/episodes/thxdeepnote2 Part 2]

[[Category:Electronic music]]
[[Category:Film sound production]]
[[Category:Film sound production]]
[[Category:Lucasfilm]]
[[Category:Sound effects]]
[[Category:Sound effects]]
[[Category:Sound trademarks]]
[[Category:Internet memes]]
[[Category:1982 works]]
[[Category:1983 introductions]]

Revision as of 09:09, 9 August 2024

"THX sound" redirects here. For the sound certification, see THX.
"The audience is listening" redirects here. For the album and song by Cut Chemist, see The Audience's Listening.
The THX Deep Note
Waveform of the Deep Note

The Deep Note is the sound trademark of THX, 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 (later known as Pixar Animation Studios) 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 was partially previewed on the opening track of the 1983 album The Digital Domain: A Demonstration, where it was included among sound effects that were combined with the Deep Note itself. The Deep Note debuted later that same year at the premiere of 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-inch 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.

Millennium version (2000)

In fall 1999,[6] THX released the trailer Broadway 2000 for use of the Dolby Digital Surround EX sound system. As a result, an entirely new Deep Note was made from scratch. In this version of the Deep Note, new voices were made doing the similar process while voices from the previous version can be briefly heard. Aside from the trailer's appearance in theaters as well as on The Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD box set, the only other trailer that also uses this version of the Deep Note was a trailer made specially for the post-2000 home media releases of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Remastered version (2005–present)

In May 2005, to coincide with the theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, 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, but voices from the Broadway 2000 trailer were mixed together.[7]

Regenerated version (2015)

In April 2015, THX introduced a new trailer called Eclipse, which was accompanied by an updated, "Dolbyized" and more powerful version of the Deep Note, also created by Moorer.[8] This version of the Deep Note was created entirely digitally so it could play on Dolby Surround 7.1, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X systems, and Moorer created 30-second, 45-second, and 60-second versions of it.[9] 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."[10] Eclipse would be the only appearance of the regenerated version as starting with trailers Sphere and Genesis (both made to utilize the 4K video resolution), the remastered Deep Note was used instead.

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.[11]

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,[12] 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.[13]

Original score

Score for 'Deep Note'

In 2018, THX released an image of the original 30-voice score, with notes.[14]

Lawsuit

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.[15][16]

In a 1994 episode of The Simpsons titled "Burns' Heir", there is a parody gag of the Deep Note, with the Simpson family in the theater watching Siskel & Ebert: The Movie. The Deep Note causes multiple things in the theater to explode seemingly from acoustic resonance, and ends with Abraham Simpson yelling "Turn it up!" THX executives liked the parody so much that the scene was later remade into an actual THX movie trailer, with the scene being redone in a widescreen aspect ratio by Film Roman.[17]

"Dumbest Girl Alive", the opening track on the album 10,000 Gecs, by hyperpop duo 100 gecs, begins with a sample of the THX Deep Note.[18]

Jacob Collier recreated the THX Deep Note in "100,000 Voices", the opening track to his 2024 album Djesse Vol. 4. He discussed his inspiration and method of recreating the sound with an audience choir in the March 4th 2024 'Switched On Pop' podcast.

References

  1. ^ "James A. Moorer Personal Website". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c "THX Deep Note". THX. Retrieved July 13, 2023. 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 Broadway 2000 trailer information from the THX Ultimate Demo Disc". Archived from the original on 3 May 2018.
  7. ^ "THX : nouveau trailer Science - CineNow".
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ 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,…
  10. ^ Walker, Rob (April 2, 2015). "The 'Star Wars'-Inspired History of the Iconic THX Audio Logo". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  11. ^ Murphy, Mekado (April 17, 2015). "As THX Gets a New Trailer, an Interview With Its Composer". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  12. ^ Spaced_InAWildSanctuary.mov, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2021-09-05
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "In 35 yrs we have NEVER shown this!". Facebook. May 25, 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Lucasfilm sues rapper over sound clip". The Guardian. April 21, 2000. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  17. ^ Mirkin, David. (2004). Commentary for "Burns' Heir", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  18. ^ Smith, Greg J. (March 21, 2023). "Experimental Popsters 100 Gecs Endorse THX Deep Noise as Ultimate 'PC Music'". holo.mg. Retrieved June 18, 2023. Wanna talk about 'PC Music?' It's one cello sample and a computer, baby." - 100 gecs' Dylan Brady and Laura Les, enthusing about the origins of the THX deep note, the characterful chord that sounds before many motion pictures. Gushing about getting clearance to use it to kick off their new album, Les describes the soundmark as "beautiful and terrifying.
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