Twenty Thousand Hertz Launches Two-Part Series on Sonic Brand of HBO

Today, Twenty Thousand Hertz launches a two-part series on HBO, diving deep into the past four decades to uncover how the television network has built one of the most memorable sonic brands in media history. In the first episode of the podcast, out now, host Dallas Taylor reveals the never-before-told creation process behind two iconic pieces of sound: the classic pre-movie Feature Presentation Theme and the "Static Angel," which millions of viewers have heard before every episode of groundbreaking series like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, Succession, The Sopranos, Veep and dozens more. 

Listen to "It's Not TV. It's HBO" Part 1

Before speaking to "Feature Presentation" composer Ferdinand Jay Smith, as well as former HBO Head of Production & EVP Bruce Richmond (currently an executive producer at Amazon), Dallas Taylor begins by tracing the channel's history, from its early days airing commercial-free hockey games to a few hundred subscribers in Pennsylvania, through their first ever satellite broadcast, the legendary "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Soon enough, HBO started airing full-length movies, and by the early 1980s, tens of millions of subscribers were tuning in across the country to watch films they couldn't see anywhere else on television. It was a pivotal moment in culture, and that's when HBO chairman Michael Fuchs decided it was time to replace their scattered sonic branding with the most ambitious, expensive-sounding film opening ever made. 

To create it, Michael Fuchs called Ferdinand Jay Smith, the episode's first guest. Smith had composed theme music for CBS and ABC through an unconventional writing method that involves singing every part into a hand-held recorder. HBO's visual concept involved a thirty-foot model city that took three months to create, and a physical version of the HBO logo built from chrome-plated brass. According to Smith, the melody just popped into his head like it always did. At first, the HBO executives weren't sure about it, but Smith brought it to life with a 65-piece orchestra. When he realized in the recording studio that the animation was eight seconds longer than his composition, he made up the final section on the spot, singing his idea to the orchestra. Lasting roughly one minute, the result is an outrageously epic theme that perfectly captures the excitement of sitting down for a big movie night. 

Going into the 1990s, HBO's focus shifted to original TV programming. But when episodes of The Larry Sanders Show opened with just the words "Home Box Office Presents," and no sound or music, the network quickly realized they could spice it up. What they didn't know was that they were about to produce one of the most famous audio logos of all time, now known as the "Static Angel." So they turned to a team led by Bruce Richmond, who was then HBO's Head of Production & EVP. As Richmond explains, HBO needed something to unify their content, and it needed to live up to the reputation of doing things differently - as their slogan said, "It's not TV, it's HBO." 

Richmond and his team started with the concept of turning on a television. Like the Feature Presentation theme, the sound was based on a visual. Generating graphics for the five-second clip took three whole days of digital processing. To produce the audio, Richmond, his business partner and a sound designer holed up in an old house in the Los Angeles hills. They spent all night perfecting the noise: TV static, a transition through a multi-timbral done, a synthesized choral sound (which may or may not remind viewers of angelic voices), and the final click in the post-credits version. Over five seconds, it had a beginning, middle and end that pulled everyone into whatever they were about to watch. 

By the early 2000s, HBO was producing hits with two massively famous sounds on their hands, but over the next 20 years television completely changed. In Part Two of Twenty Thousand Hertz's series, coming December 1st, Dallas Taylor will explore how streaming has impacted both the Feature Presentation theme and the Static Angel in the era of HBO Max, with interviews from HBO and HBO Max's SVP of Brand Marketing, Jason Mulderig, and more. 

Twenty Thousand Hertz is the leading, award-winning show about the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. Produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound, the podcast has previously revealed the origins of Netflix's "Ta-Dum" for the first time ever, in addition to dissecting the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, the McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" jingle, the sonic worlds of Star Wars, Looney Tunes, Seinfeldand more. 

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About Twenty Thousand Hertz

Twenty Thousand Hertz is a lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. With 20 million+ lifetime downloads, 125,000+ listeners per episode, and 3 Webby awards to its name, Twenty Thousand Hertz is the world's leading podcast about sound. Episodes of Twenty Thousand Hertz have been featured on 99% Invisible, Endless Thread, and Every Little Thing. The show has also been covered by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Salon, Popular Science, and many others.

About Dallas Taylor

Dallas Taylor is the host and creator of Twenty Thousand Hertz, a lovingly crafted podcast revealing the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. Dallas is also the Creative Director of Defacto Sound, where he has led thousands of high-profile sound design projects - from blockbuster trailers and advertising campaigns, to major television series and Sundance award-winning films. Additionally, Dallas is a TED mainstage speaker, a regular contributor to major publications, and a respected thought leader on the narrative power of sound.

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