The Game Composer’s Blog

And now for the second installment of Thou Shalt Not…

…use the Batman theme anymore anywhere!

It was fine in the first Batman movie. It sounded pretty cool. But since that movie came out in 1989, I have heard that theme coming from way too many movie and game soundtracks. What’s going on? I swear I’ve heard it on 70% of the aspiring game composers’ websites out there.

What is it exactly? Using the degrees of a minor scale: 1-2-3-6…-5-flat5:

Elfman’s Batman snippet:

Sometimes people change it a bit by doing 1-3-5-6…-5-flat5, but I’m gonna say that counts too.

Something about that little melody must have resonated in lots of people’s minds. The darn thing just won’t go away. I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again a couple nights ago and it crept up there. I heard it Lord of the Rings too, for crying out loud. I was guilty of using it in a string quartet I wrote shortly after college. But as soon as I realized what it was, I threw that part out. I mean, it’s Batman.

And, no, according to the Ludus Sonitus Decretum from which I got these rules, just changing the harmony underneath this melody doesn’t count. It’s still too noticeable.

Please, all, let’s let this melody rest for a few decades.