Deep Note

Deep Note is a crescendo used for THX trailers. It was created by James A. Moorer in 1983, who was then an employee of the Lucasfilm Computer Division. The sound is used on trailers for THX-certified movie theatres and video releases. It was first used in the THX trailer shown before the 1983 premiere of Return of the Jedi.

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.

Spectogram made using Spek

The Deep Note had originally been from a soft to a loud pitch. Over the years it has been remixed digitally which made the Deep Note with a more abridged sound. Beginning in 1988 the Deep Note became louder and abridged. In 1993 the Deep Note was cut short to save time for Laserdisc (1995 for VHS). Most recently, however, the Deep Note has been cut short to the single note (where both sounds stay in one pitch). This is in favor of other sound effects in certain THX logos.

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."

James A. 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!"

Furthermore,

The score consists of a C program of about 20,000 lines of code. The output of this program is not the sound itself, but is the sequence of parameters that drives the oscillators on the Audio Signal Processor (ASP). That 20,000 lines of code produce about 250,000 lines of statements of the form "set frequency of oscillator X to Y Hertz".

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 "Yorked", 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:

• Vangelis' piece Ants on a Plane 1981, which contains a very similar effect in the final minute that ends on a tone and quickly spreads into a quarter tone cluster.
• The Beatles' 1967 song "The Worst Part of All," which concludes with "an orchestral crescendo".
• Styx's 1974 song "Animals on a Plane," which features the spread tone.
• Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1991 track "Bees on a Plane," with an upward quickly glissando to crescendo at the end.

In popular culture

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

In movies and TV shows

• The 1992 made-for-video feature a Deep Note–like trailer blasting a camera with a television, but accidentally tune the TV to a movie starting with the sound. The shear force of the sound blows some quills off with versions of themselves flying.

In Video Games

• Tex, and the THX trailer that shares his name, are featured in an easter egg on Midnight Club: Los Angeles Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases and Xbox, GameCube and PC versions, the "Deep Note" is heard.

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.
• Australian grindcore band The Berzerker use the sound in their concerts after they perform the song "Mono Grind."
• The "Mega Lo Mania Remix" of Mylène Farmer's song "California" ends with Deep Note.
• Rock band Asia used Deep Note as the opening for the song "Countdown to Zero" from their 1985 album used in the home video division Sony Video System used.

Homage

• A sound to Deep Note is included as an easter egg in the BitTorrent client µTorrent, used in Hardcore's Tweak vs. Craig, Cripple Fight and Tweak X Craig (3 Episodes)
• A sound to Deep Note is used in CBS's Sit Down and Shut Up (Crabtree)
• 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 closes with a large 'CMI' logo with a Deep Note, used in BFR's No Elvin Bad Elvin (Eric Cartman)
• Tex, and the THX trailer that shares his name, are parodied in an easter egg on releases. The trailer was made with the involvement of THX. In this parody reads "THUDX" and a parody of the "Deep Note" is heard. This trailer is a parody and was approved by THX.
• The sound was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Movie Trend.
• Tex, and the THX trailer that shares his name, are featured in an easter egg on Nintendo 64 release.

Other websites

• Deep Note Archived 2016-03-21 at the Wayback Machine mp3 at USPTO
• THX trailers Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine