Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance theme The Rising Solar helped outline his WWE presence the second he debuted—and now, the violinist answerable for that unforgettable sound is revealing precisely the way it all got here collectively.
Earl Maneein of Seven)Suns lately appeared on Ropes N Riffs and shared how he acquired concerned within the session with WWE music producers CFO$. Surprisingly, he admitted that when he was first contacted to document the monitor, he didn’t even notice what it was for.
“It was simply one other gig. I don’t even keep in mind who referred to as me actually. However it was simply type of like what I used to be saying alluding to earlier the place such as you get a textual content, proper, and also you go, ‘Oh, present up right here at the moment.’”
As soon as contained in the studio, Maneein noticed that CFO$ already had a full MIDI demo organized. That they had the monitor’s construction in place however needed a violinist to convey one thing distinctive to the sound.
“The CFO$ guys had been like tremendous cool. They wrote the entire issues. It was all laid out for me. It wasn’t on sheet music, however it was on their MIDI controllers, they usually had been like, ‘We acquired this factor. We type of hear violin right here. What are you able to do for this sort of stuff?’”
He approached the session utilizing each electrical and acoustic violins. The electrical violin was processed with amp simulators to create a heavy, fashionable tone, whereas the acoustic violin dealt with the melody traces.
“The principle theme was not accomplished on an electrical violin… the acoustic half—yeah, that stuff can be this violin.”
Whereas CFO$ had the principle riff and construction able to go, Maneein was given loads of room to experiment. He improvised a number of solos and distinctive sections on the spot—one thing that wasn’t solely spontaneous, however moderately instinctual after years of performing.
“For those who take heed to the total monitor, there’s positively me taking a bunch of solos. It’s improvisatory. Sure, I simply made it up on the spot. However I additionally didn’t—if that is sensible. These are issues I’ve accomplished 1,000,000 occasions in barely alternative ways.”
Maneein described these solos as pure extensions of his musical vocabulary. Whereas they could have sounded spontaneous, they had been grounded in a long time of muscle reminiscence and phrasing that he had used numerous occasions in different initiatives. Although he wasn’t a wrestling fan, he understood precisely what sort of emotion and vitality the monitor wanted to ship.
“I’m not a wrestling fan, actually, however I perceive deeply that that is hype music, that is what will get the group stoked that this man is popping out, and the way are we going to construct this pleasure?”
The top outcome was a theme that didn’t simply hype up a crowd—it elevated Nakamura’s complete presence on WWE tv. And it began with a gig that Maneein almost forgot about.
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December 8, 2025 12:40 pm