(tense electronic music)
- [Scott] In 2015 two brothers named
Matt and Ross Duffer were going around
to different television networks
and pitching their supernatural, horror, sci-fi, drama
set in the 80s called "Stranger Things".
To shop the series around the Duffer brothers
cut up a mock trailer where they combined clips
from "Halloween", "Nightmare on Elm Street"
and "Poltergeist".
To try and capture the horrific visual tone
they were going for.
But since the show would also feature a cast of young kids
who would uncover the massive, terrifying truth
about their small town and reality as a whole.
The Duffer brothers also threw in scenes from "E.T.",
but then they were faced with a small problem.
- [Man] "Because we knew we were gonna get all of these
"Spielberg references, the minute you put kids on bikes
"with flashlights, it screams Amblin."
"We were looking at differentiate 'Stranger Things'
"because we wanted the show to be a little darker."
- [Scott] The brothers found their
dark musical inspiration from the 2014 film "The Guest",
which is a movie I have never heard of,
until just this moment.
But at least two people watched this film
and one of the songs from the soundtrack stood out to them.
"Hourglass", by the experimental synth band, S U R V I V E.
"Hourglass" is from S U R V I V E's 2012 album
and the final track from that same LP
is a song called "Dirge".
The Duffer brothers thought it had precisely the right tone
and used it as temp music for their mock trailer,
that made its way to the people at Netflix
who loved the vibe it was giving off.
(dramatic electronic music)
- [Man] "When we first showed Netflix the show,
"it was entirely scored with S U R V I V E's music.
"I've never seen the show with different music on it,
"it's an integral part of the show.
"So of course when it comes time to actually find a composer
"they were one of the first names to pop in our heads"
- In July of that year, after the series was greenlit,
the Duffer's reached out to S U R V I V E's
primary songwriters and producers,
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.
Who fortuitously had a vast library of unfinished tracks
that would become the groundwork
for the "Stranger Things" score.
One of those abandoned songs was an idea tentatively titled,
"Prophecy", that would evolve little by little
into the show's eerie, suspenseful
and literally heart pounding opening scene.
"It's an old demo Michael had,
"but it's nothing like what you hear.
"Nowhere near as much of a piece of music, as it is now.
"That was just some random thing that ended up
"in the library they had and when they found it
"they were like, 'what if this was the main title?'
"We thought it could be good, so we built it out."
- Dixon and Stein reworks the entire track,
still keeping the same spheres of minimalism and suspense,
but with a more impactful instrumental arrangement.
So let's break down this thrilling theme
to uncover the hidden elements that make the music of
"Stranger Things" secretly brilliant.
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It's gonna be a good time.
But for now let's discuss something a bit stranger.
Once Dixon and stein were signed on as composers
for "Stranger Things", the pair brought an arsenal
of heavy-hitting vintage and analog synths
to create the unsettling mood
of the "Stranger Things" theme.
And I want to recreate this theme, not just note for note,
but sound for sound.
Which would mean I would be the exact same vintage synths
used in the creation of the original theme.
So I asked my bosses.
Hey guys, a really quick question.
Can I have $20,000 to buy vintage musical equipment?
- I'm gonna, no.
- Yeah, I don't, no.
- I want it!
So in the face of these unforeseen financial limitations
my musical pals from RKVC have used their
otherworldly skills to craft an
approximate recreation of the song.
Which also helps, so I don't get sued by Netflix,
for playing copyrighted music over the next 13 minutes.
So thanks gang.
- No problem.
- So you're paying us an Eggo's right?
- What?
No, I mean, maybe.
Surely that's in the, is that in budget?
Are Eggo's in the budget?
Can I have $20,000 of.
The "Stranger Things" theme, which is incredibly hard
for me to say for some reason.
Opens with a flurry of high octave sparkling arpeggios,
that the composers describe as spiders
skittering across the wall, sending shivers down your spine.
(sparkling dramatic music)
To foreshadow the unnerving adventures to come.
Then the mellow electric piano sounds
of the Prophet 5 enter in.
This synth was a staple of pop music from the 80s,
like Michael Jackon's "Thriller"
and Madonna's first two albums.
Making an appropriate choice for a show
set in that same era.
The Prophet 5 was also used in the original production of,
wait, no, nothing,
Nevermind!
Even composers of that decade used it quite a lot
for scoring horror.
John Harrison scored the 1982 horror
anthology "Creepshow", with only a Prophet 5 and a piano.
And then, of course, there was the work of
legendary filmmaker and composer John Carpenter.
This eerie sonic landscape of "Stranger Things"
often draws comparisons to John Carpenter's work,
and for good reason.
Not only is he famous for directing classics
like the Halloween series, "The Fog"
and "Big Trouble in Little China",
but he also scored them using analog synths as well.
- [Man] "It was a way to sound big with just a keyboard".
- [Scott] And we can hear those big sounds in action
back in the "Stranger Things" opening.
This chill vibe is challenged by the stabbing sounds
of a mellotron which enter emphatically and violently,
signaling that the show is going to have
some thrilling action and suspense,
as kids and small town residents
fight back against the paranormal.
With the foundation of the track laid out,
the duo needed to find a way to propel the song forward
and add a sense of liveliness.
Drums would sound wildly out of place,
but they found an inspiration in something more organic.
Adding in the driving thumps of a heartbeat,
the composers found a way to include fitting percussion
while also brilliantly raising the distressing
nature of the song.
It's tense.
It's creepy.
It's thrilling.
It gets the blood. (stutters)
I was gonna say it gets the blood pumping,
but that's a bit on the nose.
And the best part is this sound was entirely manufactured
by opening and closing a filter on their
Sequential Circuits Pro One.
So it's ultimately the sound of something
that seems organic, but is wholly unnatural.
In the song and in the show things are not as they seem.
And then the most identifiable melody of the theme fades in,
like the demagogue and slowly creeping into sight.
This arpeggiated melody is the star component of the song.
An arpeggio is simply the notes of a chord
played in succession, either rising or falling.
It's one of those pretentious music terms
that sound artsy and impressive,
even though it's pretty elementary.
- Oh, it's nothing, it's just a serious of arpeggios.
Lesson number three, say the word arpeggio
as much as possible, even if it doesn't make sense.
- But it's worth noting that arpeggios
in the context of electronic and pop music,
is often slang for keyboard or synth parts performed with
the help of a sequencing component called an arpeggiator,
like this JUNO-106 here.
So most people assume when they hear a series of
equally timed rising falling and sometimes
scattered notes of a chord that it's automated.
It's presupposed that a computer is playing it,
except in this case it isn't an arpeggiator.
- Misconception, everyone thinks that the little arpeggio
was written on a JUNO, which I don't even own.
- Was it played by hand.
- [Michael] And it was this guy.
- [Kyle] That's doing the main sequence.
- This guy is the Oberheim Two-Voice,
with a Korg SQ1 sequencer.
I had somebody look that up for me.
And was used by a broad stable of 80s musicians,
including Prince, Stevie Wonder and, you guessed it,
John Carpenter again.
Yeah, he just keeps coming up.
I will say, it is fitting that a guy
literally named Carpenter,
was significant in establishing the foundation and structure
of something that others after him
would continue to build upon and make their own.
Makes me wonder what Hans Zimmer translates to.
(dramatic music)
Oh my god.
Somebody tell me what this means!
I feel like this means something, but I don't know what.
- Okay, well while Scott has a bit of a weird meltdown
about something silly.
Let's get back to that creepy melody.
Musically speaking it's just a major seven chord,
played manually as an arpeggio.
In western music the major seven chord includes the seventh
and last note in its respective musical scale.
Hence the name.
And is the closest to the tonic or home note
without actually being there.
You can hear how this musical suspension invokes
the sense of urgency or longing,
to return to that tonic home base.
- Okay, now that is genius.
Because the theme of longing for home
is present in every season of the series.
A massive plot point in the show centers around
the family and friends of Will Byers
desperately fighting to bring him back home,
physically in the first season
and psychologically in the second season.
And in season three, Will is increasingly frustrated
by how the dynamic among his friends has changed.
He wishes that things could be like they once were.
Playing D and D with the gang, like they did
when they were younger.
He longs for that time when he felt at home.
And hell, season two even ramped up to El,
seeking out a home for herself by uncovering her past
and connecting with her spiritual siblings.
Only to return to Hawkins, to her friends
and her home with Hopper.
The entire season led up to this moment where El and Mike
finally reunite after spending the whole season apart.
- Exactly which is why infusing this idea of returning home
into the theme song is insanely smart.
- And the major seven chord is a common tool
that songwriters use very often,
and you probably already heard many times before.
And not just in horror films.
Something about the major seven chord
is evocative of songs from the past.
As Billy Joel once explained.
- [Billy] Somebody would ask me for a song,
I didn't know this song from a hole in the wall.
But if you play enough major sevenths
you can make a lot of songs sound like other songs.
(piano music)
Not a song, yet reminiscent of a song.
(audience laughing)
- So it's not surprising that in creating a piece of music
to headline to show that itself is a nostalgic homage to 80s
horror and adventure.
Dixon and Stein would choose to not only feature
the reminiscent tone of the major seven chord,
but also make it play throughout almost
the entire length of the song.
But "Stranger Things" isn't just a silly trip
back to the 80s, it's a show about supernatural terror.
And the theme needs to reflect that mood
and atmosphere as well.
Most listeners might assume that the song is in a minor key
because it sounds creepy overall.
But that major seven chord
dominating so much of the composition,
firmly plants this song in the key of C major.
Possibly the most major of major keys.
Honestly is pretty vanilla.
Except there's one component of the song
we haven't talked about yet, the bassline.
- In addition to the driving heartbeat,
the composers knew they needed something else
to add momentum to the song.
So they created a dynamic bassline
that shot energy right into the track.
(synthetic bass rumbles)
- But here's an interesting thing,
in this song the bass note starts on the third note
of the C major scale, E, instead of its root note of C.
And that's a little strange, don't you think?
- See, I love this clever little element.
It subverts what fans or even fellow musicians might expect
and once again plays into the themes of "Stranger Things".
Hawkins, Indiana is this representation
of quintessential small-town America, it's safe.
It's boring, it's exceptionally unexceptional,
like the key of C major.
But lurking below is something that's a bit off,
a bit unexpected and unsettling.
In the case of the song it's the bass
starting on an abnormal note in.
The case of Hawkins, it's a shadowy agency
secretly experimenting with portals
to supernatural dimensions.
So it's basically the same thing.
The bass notes dance around somewhat unusual choices
to parallel the stranger nature of the show,
before eventually returning to the root note.
Again, echoing the themes of returning home.
While the main melody carries with this
ambiguous major seven chord.
From a composer standpoint the use of an E
in the base of a song that is in C major
is a purposeful choice, and one that they want you to feel
more than outright hear.
I mean we literally call these pieces of music theme songs.
Their purpose is to help establish and strengthen
the themes of the show and hopefully you see
or rather you hear all of these
intentional artistic elements that make the opening music
of "Stranger Things" secretly brilliant.
That being said there was one component of the song
that wasn't planned.
The chord stabs and overall tempo of the song
was dictated by the visuals of the intro.
As is common, in a lot of Hollywood scoring,
Dixon and Stein had to perform to picture.
Meaning the visuals of the intro were fully complete
and the music had to fit the timings
of elements on the screen.
Like the names of primary actors popping in.
So the somewhat random placements of those chord stabs
were products of creativity through limitations.
And I know a lot about that,
'cause the Carlin's still won't expense
those dang synths that I need and I need them.
I need!
Hey, guys.
- Yeah? - Sorry again, to interrupt.
Look, I know I was kind of, I yelled at you guys,
I didn't really mean that.
So I just wanted to say - That's okay.
- I'm really sorry. - Sure.
- Don't worry about it. - DOn't worry about it, yeah.
- It's all good.
- [Scott] But seriously, can I have $20,000
to buy the musical equipment please?
- But seriously,
absolute not. - Still no!
- You guys are the worst!
Well, I guess I guess start paying the bills by myself.
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Thanks so much for watching and thanks again
to Rod and Vince from RKVC for helping out
with all these musical analysis videos.
- Thanks for having us.
If you want to see our analysis of
the Never Ending Story theme song,
you can check out that video on our channel right now.
- [Scott] I also want to give a super special thanks to
Cristoffer Lange, Lori Thames, Billy Baums,
Everett Parrott, Havelock Smiggles, Itsquinnflea,
Jonathan and Megan Peirson, Jonathan Lonowski,
Sonali Manka and the rest of the wonderful nerds
who support me over at patreon.com/nerdsync.
Click or tap right here to learn why
the Duck Tales theme song is so catchy.
- [Vince] Or click right here to see our video
about the Never Ending story theme song.
- [Scott] Hey, this is my outro!
Ah, whatever.
Once again my name is Scott,
reminding you to read between the panels
and grow smarter through comics.
Or Netflix originals, I guess?
It doesn't matter.
See ya
- It's a hit. - Bo!
- Sell it to Netflix!