Catwoman's theme
Moderators: Scott Sebring, Ben Bentley
Catwoman's theme
OK, here's a question that's always been in the back of my mind when watching a Catwoman episode. That mysterious, somewhat-meow-like theme: What instrument is it being played on? Sounds like some kind of electronic keyboard instrument.
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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A. Pennyworth
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Re: Catwoman's theme
Yes, exactly. Obviously I get the brass accompaniment, but the main melody seems to be played on some kind of keyboard I can't identify.A. Pennyworth wrote: ↑Tue Oct 21, 2025 5:37 pm This background music? (this link to video good 7 days)
https://limewire.com/d/zfxwb#O7VJcqJ0Sl
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
Re: Catwoman's theme
Hadn't considered that. It could be. What does everyone else think?
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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Yellow Oval
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- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:57 am
Re: Catwoman's theme
Sounds like it might be a theramin. I know I was fooled for years watching original Star Trek thinking it was an opera soprano singing the space mermaid "AAH-AAAAH-AH-HAHHAHHAHHAAAAH" part in the show's opening theme when, in fact, they were using a theramin. You can also see its uses demonstrated by the legendary Jimmy Page in the excellent Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains The Same.
"Hmmm... I don't like the twist this joke is taking. Let us away! Let us away!"
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Simon Cowl
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Re: Catwoman's theme
There are several possible candidate instruments from that era, other than the venerable theremin.
Look up other such early eerie-sounding devices as the novachord, the ondes martenot, and the trautonium.
Gadgets like these, alongside the theremin, were popular in classic sci-fi and horror films, particularly those of 1950s vintage, but sometimes earlier (also in TV’s The Outer Limits, especially Harry Lubin’s spooky second-season scores).
Look up other such early eerie-sounding devices as the novachord, the ondes martenot, and the trautonium.
Gadgets like these, alongside the theremin, were popular in classic sci-fi and horror films, particularly those of 1950s vintage, but sometimes earlier (also in TV’s The Outer Limits, especially Harry Lubin’s spooky second-season scores).
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Simon Cowl
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Re: Catwoman's theme
Also, from everything I’ve read, the original Star Trek theme did not, in fact, use a theremin at all; that seems to be a commonly reported and persistent misconception.
What you hear in the Trek TV title sequences that sounds “theremin-like” varies per season (and/or perhaps even per episode), but ranges between an electric violin and an actual human female soprano (named Loulie Jean Norman).
(Per Wikipedia: “Norman delivered the non-lexical vocables over Alexander Courage's opening theme song for the first season of Star Trek. The music was remixed without Norman’s voice for the show’s second and third season so the producers could avoid paying her royalties.” I reckon the cheaper electric violin got cranked up in the mix thereafter.)
What you hear in the Trek TV title sequences that sounds “theremin-like” varies per season (and/or perhaps even per episode), but ranges between an electric violin and an actual human female soprano (named Loulie Jean Norman).
(Per Wikipedia: “Norman delivered the non-lexical vocables over Alexander Courage's opening theme song for the first season of Star Trek. The music was remixed without Norman’s voice for the show’s second and third season so the producers could avoid paying her royalties.” I reckon the cheaper electric violin got cranked up in the mix thereafter.)
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Yellow Oval
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- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:57 am
Re: Catwoman's theme
Thanks, Simon. Good to know a soprano was actually used. Restores my faith and love fully now for the original series theme making it feel like an outer-space mermaid is really singing a siren song from somewhere deep out in the stars. If they would have used a theremin it would have been akin to today's use of phony A.I. as a cheap replacement for real human emotion. I'm sure Dr. McCoy would agree with me. 
"Hmmm... I don't like the twist this joke is taking. Let us away! Let us away!"
Re: Catwoman's theme
"I'm a doctor, not a record producer!"Yellow Oval wrote: ↑Thu Oct 30, 2025 7:29 am Thanks, Simon. Good to know a soprano was actually used. Restores my faith and love fully now for the original series theme making it feel like an outer-space mermaid is really singing a siren song from somewhere deep out in the stars. If they would have used a theremin it would have been akin to today's use of phony A.I. as a cheap replacement for real human emotion. I'm sure Dr. McCoy would agree with me.
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
Re: Catwoman's theme
Interesting. Hadn't heard of any of those. Will have to do some poking around. Thanks!Simon Cowl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 3:16 pm There are several possible candidate instruments from that era, other than the venerable theremin.
Look up other such early eerie-sounding devices as the novachord, the ondes martenot, and the trautonium.
Gadgets like these, alongside the theremin, were popular in classic sci-fi and horror films, particularly those of 1950s vintage, but sometimes earlier (also in TV’s The Outer Limits, especially Harry Lubin’s spooky second-season scores).
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
Re: Catwoman's theme
For a fine introduction to the theremin, its history and other instruments it spawned, check out the "Good Vibrations" episode of the podcast "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs," by Andrew Hickey. The podcast title essentially describes its premise, but the background on each song and its creators can be fascinatingly deep. The "Good Vibrations" entry begins with a primer on the theremin, only to reveal that the instrument everyone *thinks* they hear on the Beach Boys song isn't actually a theremin, but a later refinement of that instrument, played on the record by its inventor.