Losing horns

The unwanted sound heard on a game show, usually when a bonus round is lost.

On The Price Is Right, when a player loses his or her pricing game, or if there is a double overbid in the Showcase, these are signified by a tuba playing the first four notes of theme music followed by horns playing notes in C, D, and E all at once before pretending to faint. When Drew Carey hosted the show in 2007, an A-sharp note was added with faintly audible drums with the sound remixed in full stereo.

When you hear the losing horns on a game show, you know something went horribly wrong.

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