Their Way - The Sounds Of Seinfeld

I didn’t grow up with Seinfeld in the traditional sense. I was too young when it first aired (1989 to 1998).
Yes, I really am that young. That’s why it’s always funny when I get called “Grootman”….

But over the years, through reruns and streaming, the show found me. At this point, I’m not even sure how many times I’ve rewatched it. And like a lot of people, I’ve had it playing in the background more times than I can count. Sometimes it’s just there while I’m doing other things.
Someone once said it makes a great lullaby, and I totally get that. I’ve fallen asleep to it and woken up to it more than once.

But what really caught my attention this time wasn’t just the writing or the cast.
It was the sound.

The Music That Danced Around the Jokes

Seinfeld doesn’t have a traditional theme song. No lyrics, no orchestral build-up—just a funky slap bass.
Composer Jonathan Wolff even used body sounds like finger snaps and lip pops, layering them into that bass line. It was strange, it was cool, and somehow it just worked.
The show was quirky, and the sound matched that energy perfectly. They felt like they were made for each other.

Jerry Seinfeld wanted something different. He didn’t want the music to interrupt his stand-up intros. He wanted it to support them. So Wolff studied Jerry’s delivery, noticed it sat around 110 BPM (which honestly feels perfect for the vibe—not too fast, not too slow), and built the music around that rhythm.

Each episode’s intro is slightly different, timed to match how Jerry speaks in that particular moment. That’s part of what makes it feel so alive.
He recreated the intro music for every episode. The slap bass would land on punch lines, sneak between words, and disappear right before the next beat.
It’s melodic, but in a way that’s weird and interesting. It’s awkward, unpredictable, and slightly absurd.
And it always hits the right moment.

Later on, that same bass was used in scene transitions. But unlike other shows that repeated the same short clip every time, Seinfeld kept it fresh. Wolff customized those little musical moments to match the scene’s mood.
If the slap bass had stayed exactly the same throughout the series, it probably would’ve gotten old.
But because Wolff kept reshaping it, it stayed fun and surprising.

A Whole Sonic World

It wasn’t just the slap bass that stood out. Until I looked into it, I didn’t realise how much the show’s music changed and adapted over time.

Even the chase scenes (just Kramer running around like a mania, were set to these dramatic, cinematic tracks that made them way more entertaining than they had any right to be.
It felt like watching the climax of a big action movie, even if the scene was just someone rushing to a phone booth.
That’s what made it so funny. The music was way too serious for what was actually happening, and that contrast made everything better.

At Soundela, we don’t do TV composition. But that’s not the point of this blog. Their Way is where we get to share the audio stuff we love, what excites us, what makes us geek out a little. Not because it’s in our portfolio, but because it’s just… cool. The sound of Seinfeld is one of those things.

PS: Believe it or not… we’re not at the office this weekend.
(And yes, that’s a Seinfeld reference. Shoutout to George’s iconic answering machine moment.)