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'Deep Note' is the name of THX's audio logo, a distinctive synthesized crescendo sound. It was created by Dr. James "Andy" Moorer^[1], then an employee of the Lucasfilm Computer Division, in 1983^[2]. The sound is used on trailers for THX-certified movie theatres and video releases; it debuted in the THX trailer shown before the 1983 premiere of ''Return of the Jedi'' in Los Angeles.

Contents

Description

Previous works

In popular culture

References

External links

Description

The U.S. trademark registration for the sound contains this description of it:
:"The THX logo theme consists of 30 voices over seven measures, starting in a narrow range, 200 to 400 Hz, and slowly diverting 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 are double the number of voices of the lowest two pitches.^[3]
The sound is perceived as louder than it actually is; sound designer 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."
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!"^[4]

Previous works

Prior to the creation of Deep Note, several other works made use of similar techniques of frequency spread.
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.
Other similar predecessors include:

★ Iannis Xenakis' piece ''Metastasis'' (1955), which contains a very similar effect in the first minute that begins on a single tone and slowly spreads into a quarter tone cluster.

★ The Beatles' 1967 song "A Day in the Life," which concludes with "an orchestral crescendo".

★ Styx's 1974 song "Krakatoa," which features the spread tone.

★ Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1981 track "Loom," with an upward slow glissando to crescendo at the beginning.

In popular culture

The perceived loudness of the Deep Note is frequently depicted as having actual destructive effects:

★ The 1992 made-for-video feature '' shows a Deep Note–like trailer blasting a theatre, concluding with the text "THUD: The Audience Is Now Deaf."

★ In the 1994 ''Simpsons'' episode "Burns' Heir," a THX trailer plays before a film, blowing the audience back, shattering eyeglasses, teeth, and even causing one person's head to explode; despite this, Grampa Simpson shouts, "Turn it up! Turn it up!" This segment was later turned into a THX theatrical trailer.

★ In the 2006 film ''Over the Hedge'', Deep Note is featured in a scene late in the movie, when the animals enter a house and a young porcupine accidentally switches on the television. The sheer force of the sound blows some porcupine quills off.
In music:

★ Rapper Dr. Dre was sued in 2000 by Lucasfilm, then-owner of THX, for using an unauthorized cover of "Deep Note" on his album ''2001''. ^[5]

★ Australian grindcore band The Berzerker use the sound in their concerts before they perform the song "Mono Grind."

★ The "Mega Lo Mania Remix" of Mylène Farmer's song "California" begins with Deep Note.

★ Rock band Asia used Deep Note as the opening for the song "Countdown to Zero" from their 1985 album Astra.
Homage:

★ A sound similar to Deep Note is included as an easter egg in the BitTorrent client µTorrent.

★ A sound similar to Deep Note is used in the logo for Tokuma Japan Communications, the home video division of Tokuma Shoten.

★ Radio host Tom Leykis used Deep Note to "take out" callers, "THX style," until he received a cease and desist notice.

★ The LucasArts adventure game The Curse of Monkey Island opens with a large 'CMI' logo with a Deep Note, accompanied with the caption "The Monkeys are Listening"

References

1. James A. Moorer Personal Website
2. THX Trailers THX Ltd.
3. Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR)
4. TINY MUSIC MAKERS: Pt 3: The THX Sound
5. LucasFilm ''(sic)'' Taking Dr. Dre to Court

External links

★ THX trailers (WMV format)

★ TINY MUSIC MAKERS: Pt 3: The THX Sound

★ United States Patent and Trademark Office sound recording of Deep Note (MP3 format)