An X-files Intro Theme Song Breakdown (and the Meow-files)
I love the X-files, but the show really kicked in at the 3rd season. From season 3-8 I was fully hooked and Chris Carter and company were at the top of their game. I'm not exactly sure what happened with the Season 9, but it wasn't as potent for me (sorry Monica and Dogett). Season 10 was good too.
An introductory song like Stranger Things took a bass line, an arpeggio, and in a minute had a perfect tune to remind people of where they were going. It seems less is more when you scale up a theme song across many episodes, and Mark Snow, the composer for the X-files theme song, understood this as well.
There are four motifs used. One is repeated every other measure and the other three are part of a 4 motif pattern, which is shifted so the last note of each motif lands in the first beat of the following measure.
This is the first motif. It has dotted sixteenth notes in the first measure. I think there may be another way to notate this, but this is the closest I could get. The first four notes are important because they an arpeggio of the Am+ chord. That plus stands for augmented, which means there is a note a half step below the 6th (b6) or a half step above the 5th (#5). In more common terms, this #5 is the note that gives the motif an eerie mysterious feeling. I immedietly picture the scene where Mulder runs off into a dark basement of a necromancer (never go by yourself).
There is a variation on this theme where they raise the last note a whole step to the B, which I call the second motif.
The third motif is the main melody. It has a signiture sound that is a Am7sus4 arpeggio. Going between the Amaj7 and the Am7sus4 creates an interesting switch between major and minor chords.
The third motif is very similar to the second and could even be a harmony of the main melody. This motif is repeated twice before the entire pattern is played again.
Flat.io has an interesting feature that allows you to change the piano out for an accordian, harpsichord, or even a cat meow. I thought it would be fun to hear the main melody as meows to entertain the gods of the internet (whose gaze shines light on the darkest places).
Check out the Meow Files!
- Source for the first image.
Mark Snow also did the Twin Peaks theme, which I'd love to see someone analyze (not that I know enough about music to understand it, but I could repeat it verbatim and sound all cool).
I will work on that. Thanks for the suggestion.