# Help me identify this music (possibly from a movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180 "2012-10-19T00:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/1 "2012-10-19T00:03:56Z")
While I was in the elevator today, a guy’s phone went off, and it played a tune that I know I’ve heard before. It was possibly in a horror or action movie. It sounded like stringed instruments, with 9 quick notes, somewhat staccato, in a minor key. The first eight notes were kinda alternating (like the two notes in Jaws, but there might have been more than two notes involved) but the ninth was slightly discordant compared to the previous eight. And that’s all I’ve got. I couldn’t ask the guy about it because he was on the phone and I was getting off the elevator. It has been driving me crazy ever since. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/2 "2012-10-19T00:31:30Z")
[Tubular Bells](http://youtu.be/1LFCG7kOsxE)? I know it doesn’t match your 9-note description, but I’ve always thought it would make a nice ring tone. For someone I didn’t particularly want to talk to. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/3 "2012-10-19T00:34:21Z")
It almost sounds like you are describing the \*Twilight Zone \*theme, but I doubt you would have had trouble recognizing that. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/4 "2012-10-19T00:48:11Z")
[Nine notes, huh?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrEOZk23FzA). Eh, I KNOW this can’t be it, but its’a free bump. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/5 "2012-10-19T01:18:35Z")
[New World Symphony](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yctfXIqugXc)? [The Klingon theme](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xaO55LipQ&feature=related)? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/6 "2012-10-19T01:27:30Z")
None of those. If it helps, the guy was on his way to pee in a cup for probation. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/7 "2012-10-19T01:42:01Z")
So if I can help you a bit more…this is a bit silly, but I can sort of remember it went a bit like this: dum dum dum dum dum : dum dum dum dum The : is a slight break–the first five notes are played quickly, then there’s a rest, then the last four notes. The final note is higher than the rest, and is a bit jarring when compared to the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/8 "2012-10-19T01:50:31Z")
Too many notes compared to your description, but the bit about the final note being jarring sounds like the surprise symphony. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lLjwkamp3lI/hqdefault.jpg "Haydn : Symphony No. 94, 'Surprise', 2nd movement") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLjwkamp3lI) ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/9 "2012-10-19T01:51:57Z")
Maybe you can do a “melodic contour” search for it on Musipedia? > **[by Melodic Contour: Musipedia Melody Search Engine](https://www.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.html)** > > A search engine for tunes and musical themes and a collaborative music encyclopedia. Only the melody needs to be known to search Musipedia or the Web. The melody can be played on a keyboard or whistled or sung to the computer. The Musipedia... ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/10 "2012-10-19T02:47:28Z")
If it’s strings, it could be a snippet of the theme for \*\*Psycho \*\*or **Friday the 13th** ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/11 "2012-10-19T02:47:57Z")
[A wild stab in the dark.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8v90u-VZq8) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/12 "2012-10-19T03:01:52Z")
Is the rest the same duration as the notes, like it skips a beat? dum dum dum dum dum (dum) dum dum dum dum ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/13 "2012-10-19T03:18:10Z")
The ‘alternating notes’…is the first note higher or lower than the second? And can you give us an idea of the tempo? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/14 "2012-10-19T06:32:03Z")
I bet I got it! Beethoven - [Fur Elise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQTTFUtMSvQ) ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/15 "2012-10-19T07:27:10Z")
hur dur, back in a sec. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/16 "2012-10-19T07:32:37Z")
[The theme from Dexter?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej8-Rqo-VT4) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/17 "2012-10-19T08:56:27Z")
Wait… It’s not the [Game of Thrones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7L2PVdrb_8) is it? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/18 "2012-10-19T09:35:18Z")
Your best bet is to hum it into [SoundHound](http://www.soundhound.com/) or a similar app. It’s free on Android, not sure about on iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/19 "2012-10-19T11:00:58Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Is the rest the same duration as the notes, like it skips a beat? > > dum dum dum dum dum (dum) dum dum dum dum Yeah, I think so. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180/20 "2012-10-19T11:11:27Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > The ‘alternating notes’…is the first note higher or lower than the second? > > And can you give us an idea of the tempo? I think the first note is lower, although I’m having trouble remembering exactly how it goes. If my head memory is correct, it goes low-high-low-high-low, low-high-low-high#. The tempo is relatively fast. Definitely faster than the Jaws music is as it starts, but maybe not quite as fast as it is when it peaks. What I could be wrong about is the strings. I was hearing it through a cell phone, after all. It could be a lower woodwind, maybe. I don’t think it’s a piece of classical music–it doesn’t have that feel to it at all. None of the above posts are even close. I was thinking maybe it was the Bourne movies, but I listened to a lot of that last night on YouTube, and while some of it had a similar feel, it’s not quite the same. Now I’m thinking it might have been from Twelve Monkeys, but I haven’t had a chance to go searching for that yet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-music-possibly-from-a-movie/638180.md?page=2)