Frankenstein, MD Theme – The Story Behind the Music
The follow story was lovingly borrowed from Sally’s website. Enjoy!
When I was asked to write the theme music for Frankenstein, MD, the task daunted me. I had to capture the tone and flavor of this unique and special show in mere seconds. On top of that, I felt an unbearable sense of obligation. I would be remiss in writing an ordinary theme. As a scientist as well as a composer, it was a moral imperative that I find a way to relate the music to science. Otherwise, I would be letting down my fellow girl-nerds everywhere!
After fruitlessly racking my brain for hours, inspiration struck at last. The source? An unlikely muse: the periodic table. You read that right.
As with all good science, it took some trial and error (I mean, a LOT of error), but eventually I found a winning combination of elements whose symbols spelled out “Frank MD”.

![]() Figure 2: Frankenstein, MD Theme Melody
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Next, using this thematic material, I constructed supporting harmonies to convey the show’s whimsical, slightly dark, yet fun undertones. Some study of the great monster movie scores was involved. What a chore! 😉 The orchestration and sound design followed, selecting and voicing the instruments and mixing in sounds into what became the final piece of music. FYI, slightly muted medium-sized Taiko drums make for great heartbeats.
After all of this, with fingers crossed, I sent the demo off to the show creators. With great luck, they loved it! Phew. After a bit more spit and polish, the final theme music was laid into the show.
That’s it. Thanks for reading and enjoy the show!
– Sally Chou
Tags: bts, composer, frankenstein md, fun facts, sally chou, theme music