You can also experience the full audio journey on YouTube:
Sound familiar?
The sound that just played has notoriously scared hundreds of children in the early 90s and 2000s. The way the tones spread and gain intensity, how they expand from a quiet rumbling of disarray, the way the sound sneaks up on you when you don’t expect it only to explode your eardrums. This chilling theme is rightfully dubbed “The Deep Note”.
“The Deep Note” was composed by Dr. James Moorer for Lucasfilm as a means of testing the sound systems through the company THX. Its first appearance was in the 1983 premier of “Star Wars: Episode VI”, where it likely had a much larger and broader impact on audiences in theaters.
So, what makes “The Deep Note” so unnerving?
The THX Deep Note actually has a score written out by Dr. Moorer himself, thus allowing for a closer look into the iconic sound’s overall structure:
The first point to note is the lead into the overarching harmony. Dr. Moorer granted freedom to whoever was recreating “The Deep Note” to begin wherever they wished. There is still some restraint. As marked in the notes beneath the first and second measure, the pitches must begin between 200 and 400 Hz.
Let’s have a listen to these two tones to have a better understanding of the range Dr. Moorer worked with.
Audio of a 400 Hz tone:
Audio of a 200 Hz tone:
What would happen if these two tones were put together? I decided to put them both side by side and these were the results:
Audio of both the 400 Hz and 200 Hz tones:
Those who are musically inclined may recognize that this is a full octave. This is reflected in the sheet music as well. However, because this is a range, that means each individual instrument has free reign on what exact note they wish to play. They could make a major chord, a minor chord, or they could make a sound that clearly doesn’t harmonize properly. “The Deep Note” also holds value in the number of instruments involved. The music calls for 30 different sounds. The substantial amount of instruments, combined with the lack of complete direction, leads to a chaotic blend of noise. Imagine it like standing in a room full of speakers, but each is playing a different song.
Audio of 12 Tones at once:
Overwhelming, right?
The term for this is called dissonance. Dissonance, or lack of harmony, creates a strong sense of unease and wrongness. As we expect to develop patterns around us, the lack thereof presents us with distinct unfamiliarity. The fact we cannot find anything to relate it to then causes the sensations of fear and panic.
Audio of dissonant ambience:
Dissonance can be typically found in horror films, such as the soundtracks for Hereditary and Midsommar. These sounds can also be heard in music that the internet tends to dub “weirdcore” or “dreamcore”. The overall intent is to give the listener a feeling of uncertainty, and the THX logo delivers.
According to Kristina Morss, a sound designer and foley artist, the silence before a sound can also make a difference.
“Moments when it's silent before a sound happens really help sell the sound ... [it] gives your ear a break, a breather, and the next terrifying sound seems louder than it really is”. In this case, the THX logo isn’t shown straight away. The audience only sees a black screen as they are immediately greeted to silence. Following that, they hear the low tones varying in sound and volume. The moment where there is no comfortable ambience almost serves to accentuate the delivery once they pick up on the first low note. The sounds are unexpected, thus catching the listener off guard.
What about the slow crescendo? Does that have any effect?
Absolutely.
The THX theme raises the sound of each individual note at a slow pace, reaching the end at a powerful volume and finally finding that harmony the audience wants. However, the journey is long and satisfaction cannot be found anywhere throughout. The heightened sound invokes a feeling of anxiety through the notion that the noise is getting closer and more pronounced. The audience feels the theme growing and gaining in volume, but doesn’t know when it will stop. Once the theme finally reaches the end, the audio is blaring and unwarranted. The sound reaches a point where the listener expects something to happen to them.
But it never does.
The listener waits on the edge of their seat, which is exactly what “The Deep Note” wants them to do.
Sources:
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/horror-sounds-what-makes-something-scary-jurassic-park-last-of-us
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