Tune Tuesday – Materia Primoris

It was on this day in 1993 that we were told “The truth is out there,” as the X-Files debuted on Fox Television. It starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. They are FBI agents who investigate the eponymous “X-Files”: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena.

The theme song, entitled “Materia Primoris,” perfectly conveys the mysterious themes of the show.  It is often just called “Theme from the X-Files” and it was written and produced by American film and television composer Mark Snow.

The composition was released as a single in 1996 and achieved chart success, particularly in France, where it reached number one.  Believe it or not, it has been covered by many artists and has quite a few remixes.

Mark Snow created the echo effect for the song by accident. Snow said that he had gone through several revisions, but Chris Carter felt that something was not quite right. Carter walked out of the room and Snow put his hand and forearm on his keyboard in frustration. Snow said, “this sound was in the keyboard. And that was it.”

The whistle melody comes from an old sample from the Proteus line of synth products called “Whistling Joe” and the whistling of Snow’s wife, Glynn.