“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: The police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories,” are the words that open every episode of the crime drama series, Law & Order.
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Those few harrowing lines are then followed by that dramatic dun dun, known as “The Clang,” a sound effect some may consider the most iconic part of the show. But to that we say, “Objection!”
For over 30 seasons, and over multiple spinoffs, Law & Order has opened with a legendary title theme. The minimal, but effective composition has perfectly soundtracked decades worth of courtroom justice. While the theme has a no-frills arrangement, it still manages to bring the drama and the theatrics, a work so memorable one has to wonder, “Who wrote it?”
Who Wrote It?
The “Theme of Law & Order” was written by acclaimed composer Mike Post. Using electric piano, guitar, and clarinet, the theme came together as a jazzy and dramatic tune to illustrate the bite of an inner-city police beat and the chill of an intimidating courtroom.
As actors’ names and cityscapes flash across the screen, the theme plays, building to a gripping fade out before revealing the investigation at hand.
“There’s very little music in Law & Order, and very little is needed,” Post once told Entertainment Weekly, adding that the classic tune gets too often overshadowed by the show’s iconic sound effects. “It’s odd, to be honest, when you’ve written a theme that you think is very musical and what everybody wants to talk about is The Clang.” Dun dun.
The Clang
“The Clang” not only opens the show, but it is also used to transition from scene to scene.
“I think of it as the stylized sound of a jail cell locking,” Post explained to the aforementioned outlet. “I wanted to add something that’s very distinctive but not a literal sound. What I tried to do was jar a little bit.”
To make that abrupt dun DUN sound, Post used a combination of six or seven different sounds in order to get the perfect effect. He sampled an actual jail door slamming shut, the sound of someone taking a hammer to an anvil, and most absurdly, the sound of 500 Japanese men stomping on a wooden floor.
“It was a sort of monstrous Kabuki event,” he detailed. “Probably one of those large dance classes they hold. They did this whole big stamp. Somebody went out and sampled that.”
Whether it’s because of the Clang, the theme tune, or the introduction as a whole, Law & Order has one of those openers that grabs viewers from the very start and doesn’t let go until the credits roll.
Photo by Univeral International Television courtesy of Getty Images
