The familiar tones that introduce Canada's most-watched newscast may sound a little different for faithful viewers tonight.

That's because CTV National News is debuting brand new theme music that manages to push things forward while maintaining some of the traditional themes of intro-music from the past.

"The new composition will sound familiar to viewers, but has an all-new feel for an all-new era at CTV News," said Wendy Freeman, president of CTV News.

Some of Canada's finest musicians played on the new theme music, and it was recorded and performed right here in the Great White North.

In fact, it's a point of pride that the music was made in Canada, said Freeman.

"Many broadcasters head out of country to produce their music, but as Canada's number one newscast, we wanted to do this at home. Every aspect of the music is Canadian -- from the composer and local recording studio, to the recording engineers, technicians, and of course the musicians."

Producer and composer Doug Pennock helmed the project, along with conductor Jamie Hopkings, who also arranged the new version.

The song was expertly mixed at Revolution Recording in Toronto, where nearly 80 musicians took part in the recording process.

Close listening will reveal that the music is coloured by strings, woodwinds, brass, harp, percussion, and even a cimbasso – which is a trombone-like instrument known for giving arrangements a little extra punch.

Pennock said that it was a dream gig working on the music for such a well-watched show.

"We have kept a lot of the sound already associated with CTV National News, but we have given it a fresh sparkle with subtle differences and new sections," he said.

"How many people get to write something and work on something that viewers hear every single night? It's definitely a career highlight for me."

Over the course of several studio sessions, the production staff recorded as many as 50 string players at once. The smallest session was the recording of a harp, which was done alone to ensure audio fidelity.

Perhaps most impressive is the inclusion of a cello worth some $8 million on loan from the Canada Council.

Played by cellist Rachel Mercer, the Bonjour Stradivari cello even has its own Wikipedia entry.

"We recorded the sections separately over two days and then combined them for maximum control," said Hopkings. "But we also had to do this because we had more musicians than we could physically get into the studio."

Check out the new theme tonight at 11 p.m., or listen to it in the video attached on the right-hand side.