Who Made That Sound?

By HILARY GREENBAUM

For the past week, I actually haven’t set foot on the sixth floor, as I’ve been serving my civic duty as a juror in the State of New York. Between each case that’s called, though, I can’t help hearing that sound. If you’ve ever watched an episode of “Law and Order,” you know exactly what I mean. It has been called, among other variations, the “doink doink,” the “dun dun” and the “chung chung.”

No, the courts of New York do not actually blast those two, distinctive notes through the speaker system (although that would be amazing), but I can’t get them out of my head. According to IMDb, “The distinctive thunk-thunk sound effect used in between scenes was created by combining close to a dozen sounds, including that of a group of monks stamping on a floor. The sound is intended to be reminiscent of both a jurist’s gavel and a jail-cell door slamming.” When the original “Law and Order” was canceled last year, Brandon Kim of I.F.C. referred it as the “sound that’s got to be the current title holder for Most Recognizable Sound on TV.”

That audible brand was created by Mike Post, who also wrote the theme to the show. He’s a Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer who has scored the themes of television shows like “The A-Team,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “MacGyver,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and “The Greatest American Hero.” Multiple albums are available of Post’s work, including “Inventions from the Blue Line” and “The Essential Mike Post TV Theme Collection.”

Fuente: The New York times
http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/who-made-that-sound/?scp=4&sq=head%20sounds&st=cse