The 70s TV PI Theme sequenced motif

lead · hard · 120 BPM (108–132) · D minor · 4 bars · 64 steps

70s TV PI Theme3.10One four-note shape, three times, a step lower each time

Every patch on the Moog Subsequent 37

The technique

One shape, four notes, played three times: up a third, up a third, back down a third. Bar one starts on the root, bar two on the seventh below it, bar three on the sixth below that, each a triad on its own chord. Same fingering every time, one step lower.

The four notes sit on the bar head, the last sixteenth of beat one, the "and" of two and the last sixteenth of beat three. That placement is the shape as much as the pitches are; play it straight and the theme disappears.

Bar four does not continue. The shape turns over and falls, the fifth down to the third down to the raised seventh, and then steps up a semitone onto the root and holds. Three statements and a break is a theme; four statements is an exercise.

The raised seventh is the one note the key does not own, and it is the whole cadence. Land on it late in the bar and let it lean up into the root rather than sliding.

Never play the key’s own seventh while the last chord is sounding. It is the note the raised seventh replaces, and one of them takes the ending out of the figure.

Play the first note of each bar the loudest and let the other three fall away. The theme is heard as three descending arrivals, not twelve even notes.

The chords

4 chords over 4 bars, in D minor.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
iDmD · F · A1–1●
VIICC · E · G2–2●
VIBbBb · D · F3–3●
VAA · C# · E4–4●

The figure is played over these chords; supply them separately if your rig allows.

The rules

  • Over V, never the 7th — the C natural is the note the raised one replaces, and it takes the ending away.

The notes

4 bars in D minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–3·over i Dm·D4·degree 1·MIDI 62
  • steps 4–6·over i Dm·F4·degree 3·MIDI 65
  • steps 7–11·over i Dm·A4·degree 5·MIDI 69
  • steps 12–16·over i Dm·F4·degree 3·MIDI 65
  • steps 17–19·over VII C·C4·degree 7·MIDI 60
  • steps 20–22·over VII C·E4·degree 2·MIDI 64
  • steps 23–27·over VII C·G4·degree 4·MIDI 67
  • steps 28–32·over VII C·E4·degree 2·MIDI 64
  • steps 33–35·over VI Bb·Bb3·degree 6·MIDI 58
  • steps 36–38·over VI Bb·D4·degree 1·MIDI 62
  • steps 39–43·over VI Bb·F4·degree 3·MIDI 65
  • steps 44–48·over VI Bb·D4·degree 1·MIDI 62
  • steps 49–51·over V A·A4·degree 5·MIDI 69
  • steps 52–54·over V A·F4·degree 3·MIDI 65
  • steps 55–59·over V A·C#4·degree #7·MIDI 61
  • steps 60–64·over V A·D4·degree 1·MIDI 62

The grid

Every step below strikes the note in force at that point. The grid is where the figure is played.

  • —1 (vel 114), 17 (vel 114), 33 (vel 114), 49 (vel 122)
  • —4, 7, 12, 20, 23, 28, 36, 39, 44, 52, 55, 60

On the Moog Subsequent 37

Subsequent 37 · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a lead · hard voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.

Settings

  • SWING50%(0…100 %)

    50 is straight; it swings the onboard arpeggiator and sequencer, nothing played from elsewhere

    PRESET EDIT, ARPEGGIATOR, SWING

GLIDE

  • ONOFF

    Must be lit for any glide at all

OSCILLATORS

  • OSC 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • OSC 1 · WAVENARROW PULSE

    The knob is continuous; these are its four named points

  • OSC 2 · OCTAVE8'
  • OSC 2 · WAVESQUARE

    The knob is continuous; these are its four named points

  • OSC · HARD SYNCOFF

    Keep OSC 2 at or above OSC 1 or it barely sounds

  • OSC · KB RESETON

    A defined leading edge, at the cost of a click on hard attacks

  • OSC · DUO MODEOFF

    Off: one note at a time, both oscillators on the same key

  • OSC · KB CTRLHI

    Inert while DUO MODE is off; set so FREQUENCY keeps its semitone scale

  • OSC 2 · FREQUENCY-0.5st(-7…7 st)

    Centre is unison with OSC 1; fully clockwise is a fifth

  • OSC 2 · BEAT FREQ0Hz(-3.5…3.5 Hz)

    A constant beat rate at every pitch, unlike FREQUENCY

MIXER

  • OSC 18(0…10)
  • SUB 13(0…10)

    Always a square, always an octave below OSC 1

  • OSC 26.5(0…10)
  • NOISE0(0…10)

    Pink, not white

  • FDBK / EXT IN0(0…10)

    With nothing in EXT IN this feeds the mixer output back into itself

FILTER

  • CUTOFF1800Hz(20…20000 Hz)

    Fully down closes the filter completely

  • RESONANCE4(0…10)

    Above 7 the filter sings by itself

  • MULTIDRIVE5(0…10)

    Tube-like warmth at the bottom, hard clipping at the top

  • SLOPE24

    dB per octave: one, two, three or four poles

  • EG AMT3.5(-5…5)

    Bipolar: below centre the envelope pulls the cutoff down

  • KB TRACK1(0…2)

    1.0 is 1:1 tracking centred on C3; 2.0 is 2:1

ENVELOPE GENERATORS

  • ENV · KNOB SHIFTOFF

    Unlit, or the eight knobs below are DELAY, HOLD, VEL AMT and KB TRACK instead

  • FILTER EG · ATTACK2ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · DECAY200ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · SUSTAIN3.5(0…10)

    0 to 100%, calibrated 1 to 10

  • FILTER EG · RELEASE140ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • FILTER EG · LOOPOFF

    On, the envelope repeats for as long as a note is held — a multistage LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK2ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · DECAY380ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN7(0…10)

    0 to 100%, calibrated 1 to 10

  • AMP EG · RELEASE120ms(0.1…10000 ms)
  • AMP EG · MULTI TRIGON

    On, every note re-attacks even when you play legato

  • AMP EG · LOOPOFF

    Off on everything but a bed: looping the amplitude re-articulates a held note

MOD 1

  • SOURCETriangle
  • HI RANGEOFF

    On, the LFO runs ten times faster

  • SYNCOFF

    Off, so RATE is in hertz rather than clock divisions

  • LFO RATE6Hz(0.1…100 Hz)
  • KB RESETOFF

    On, the LFO restarts at zero on every note

  • PITCH AMT0(-5…5)
  • OSCBOTH

    Which oscillator PITCH AMT reaches

  • FILTER AMT0(-5…5)
  • DESTVCA LEVEL
  • MOD AMT0(-5…5)

This block draws on the Subsequent 37 User's Manual, pp.21-61; its values are starting points.