diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index 46d2d6a..8081bd7 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -442,6 +442,22 @@ Three courts, picked on a second start-screen stage. A court is pure DATA — `C
 Not done: clay ball-marks (the `gore` decal loop already draws flat ground ellipses, so a pale
 scuff per bounce is one call), per-court bounce SOUND, per-court crowd density.
 
+**Menu theme** (`background-music.wav`, `menuMusic`/`menuDuck` in audio.js). Started at BOOT so the
+title screen has music, ducked out when a court is picked, faded back in at `EATEN_SUMMARY` — the
+death summary is the end menu, and the zombie bed ducks out as it comes in. Two things this cost:
+
+- `loopBed` now calls `audio()` BEFORE its already-started early return. The theme starts before any
+  gesture exists, so on a phone it plays into a context the autoplay policy holds suspended; the
+  call that wakes it is a second `menuMusic()` from the first tap, and that used to return at the
+  `beds.has` guard without ever reaching the `AC.resume()` inside `audio()`.
+- `fadeBed` records a duck for a bed that is STILL LOADING (`ducked`), and `loopBed` starts that
+  bed's gain at 0. Without it, a multi-megabyte file ducked mid-fetch comes up at full level several
+  seconds later, over the match.
+
+`background-music.wav` is 8.3 MB and now downloads on every page load. Converting it to m4a (as the
+umpire lines already are) would cut that ~10x; `loopBed` hardcodes `.wav`, so that is a two-line
+change if it ever matters.
+
 ## Session log: the serve is the gesture (2026-08-01)
 
 Oliver's notes on the art pass: the zombies are good, the runner "flickers very hard", and the
diff --git a/assets/audio/background-music.wav b/assets/audio/background-music.wav
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb283a3
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/audio/background-music.wav differ
diff --git a/audio.js b/audio.js
index 141c24a..49fe8b5 100644
--- a/audio.js
+++ b/audio.js
@@ -76,17 +76,26 @@ export function aww(vol = 1) { sfx('tennis-aww', vol * 0.5, { reverb: true }); }
 
 // Looping background beds (scene atmosphere, mode music): each starts once, highpass 'lowcut' + quiet gain.
 const beds = new Map(); // file -> {ac, g, vol} once playing (null while loading); see fadeBed
+const ducked = new Set(); // beds asked to duck while they were STILL LOADING — see fadeBed
 function loopBed(file, lowcut, vol) {
+  // audio() FIRST, before the already-started early return: it is also what RESUMES a context the
+  // browser suspended under its autoplay policy. The menu theme is started at boot, before any
+  // gesture exists, so it plays into a suspended context and stays silent — and the call that has
+  // to wake it up is a second menuMusic() from the first tap, which would otherwise return here
+  // without ever reaching audio().
+  const ac = audio();
   if (beds.has(file)) return;
   beds.set(file, null);
-  const ac = audio();
   fetch('assets/audio/' + file + '.wav')
     .then(r => { if (!r.ok) throw 0; return r.arrayBuffer(); })
     .then(ab => ac.decodeAudioData(ab))
     .then(buf => {
       const src = ac.createBufferSource(); src.buffer = buf; src.loop = true;
       const hp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); hp.type = 'highpass'; hp.frequency.value = lowcut;
-      const g = ac.createGain(); g.gain.value = vol;
+      // start SILENT if it was ducked while loading: a multi-megabyte file takes seconds to fetch
+      // and decode, and a player who taps straight through the picker would otherwise have the
+      // menu theme come up over the match, several seconds late, at full level.
+      const g = ac.createGain(); g.gain.value = ducked.has(file) ? 0 : vol;
       src.connect(hp).connect(g).connect(ac.destination); src.start();
       beds.set(file, { ac, g, vol });
     })
@@ -94,17 +103,26 @@ function loopBed(file, lowcut, vol) {
 }
 export const ambient = () => loopBed('tennis-ambient-loop', 500, 0.035);  // whole-scene atmosphere, from first tap
 export const zombieMusic = () => loopBed('zombie-mode', 800, 0.2);         // background music once splatter kicks in
+// Menu theme: the splash, the court picker, the death summary. Barely highpassed — this one is
+// MUSIC, not an atmosphere bed, so the low end is the point. Started at boot so it is already
+// running by the time the title is on screen; on a phone the autoplay policy holds the context
+// suspended until the first tap, and it becomes audible then (see loopBed).
+export const menuMusic = () => loopBed('background-music', 30, 0.3);
 
 // duck a bed to silence (out=true) or back to its base level over `secs` — the sudden-death duel mutes the music
 function fadeBed(file, out, secs = 0.7) {
+  if (out) ducked.add(file); else ducked.delete(file);
   const b = beds.get(file);
-  if (!b) return;
+  if (!b) return; // still loading — the flag above is the level it will start at
   const t = b.ac.currentTime;
   b.g.gain.cancelScheduledValues(t);
   b.g.gain.setValueAtTime(b.g.gain.value, t); // anchor at current level so a mid-fade toggle stays smooth
   b.g.gain.linearRampToValueAtTime(out ? 0 : b.vol, t + secs);
 }
 export const zombieDuck = out => fadeBed('zombie-mode', out);
+// The menu theme is never stopped, only faded — the buffer is already decoded, so fading it back up
+// on the death screen costs nothing and can't miss its cue waiting on a re-fetch.
+export const menuDuck = out => fadeBed('background-music', out);
 
 let sysVoice = null;
 export function say(text, delay = 0) { // fallback when a recorded umpire line is missing
diff --git a/gameplay.js b/gameplay.js
index ca0cddc..840583d 100644
--- a/gameplay.js
+++ b/gameplay.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 // Game logic: ballistics, swings, serves, rules/scoring, AI, and the per-frame update.
 
-import { TUNE, UI, BOSS_ART, APPLAUSE_T, EATEN_BURST, COURT, CONTACT, VOLLEY, ZONE_DEPTH, HOME, P_BOUNDS, TOSS, SHOT_DEPTH, POSE_TIME, BOUNCE_IDLE } from './config.js';
+import { TUNE, UI, BOSS_ART, APPLAUSE_T, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, COURT, CONTACT, VOLLEY, ZONE_DEPTH, HOME, P_BOUNDS, TOSS, SHOT_DEPTH, POSE_TIME, BOUNCE_IDLE } from './config.js';
 import { P, O, ball, score, crowd, G, other, deuceSide, setupPoint, sendBoy } from './state.js';
-import { audio, pock, swish, whoosh, applause, voice, sfx, aww, zombieMusic, zombieDuck } from './audio.js';
+import { audio, pock, swish, whoosh, applause, voice, sfx, aww, zombieMusic, zombieDuck, menuDuck } from './audio.js';
 import { axisX, axisZ, takeFlickAim, touchPX } from './input.js';
 import { W } from './render.js'; // runtime-only cycle (render imports gameplay), same pattern as input/zombies
 import { updateZombies, spawnZombie, spawnRacketZombie, spawnMachine, spawnChapterBoss, zombies, gore, explode, meleeSwipe, extras, parts, pellets, shots, playerGore, eatenBleed } from './zombies.js';
@@ -920,6 +920,9 @@ export function update(dt) {
     const was = G.eatenT; G.eatenT += dt;
     if (G.eatenT < EATEN_BURST) eatenBleed(dt);                     // phase A: they are still tearing at you
     if (was < EATEN_BURST && G.eatenT >= EATEN_BURST) playerGore(); // phase B: you become the gore
+    // phase C: the summary IS the end menu — hand the soundtrack back to the menu theme. Not at
+    // killPlayer: the death itself already has the massacre call and the crowd's groan over it.
+    if (was < EATEN_SUMMARY && G.eatenT >= EATEN_SUMMARY) { zombieDuck(true); menuDuck(false); }
     if (G.shake && (G.shake.t -= dt) <= 0) G.shake = null;
     if (G.boomFlash > 0) G.boomFlash -= dt;
     updateZombies(dt);
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 87a3c53..7ae53e8 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -117,6 +117,6 @@
     <div id="courts"><h2>CHOOSE YOUR COURT</h2></div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=81"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=83"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index 1c425fb..dabd727 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { TUNE, COURT, COURTS, UMP_H, UMP_X, EATEN_RESTART } from './config.js';
 import { P, O, ball, score, G, setupPoint, selectCourt } from './state.js';
 import { update, keyPressed, solveShot, inServeBox, inCourt, forceZombies, splatPoint, deliverTin, selectWeapon, showModal, dismissModal, startDuel, resolveInterlude, flickTarget, startBossFight, endBossFight } from './gameplay.js';
 import { fitViewport, render, proj, RES } from './render.js';
-import { voice, ambient } from './audio.js';
+import { voice, ambient, menuMusic, menuDuck } from './audio.js';
 import { zombies, spawnZombie, spawnRacketZombie, spawnMachine, spawnChapterBoss, piles, gore, parts, pellets, extras, shots, explode, hurtPlayer, killPlayer } from './zombies.js';
 import { cv } from './dom.js';
 import './input.js';
@@ -52,10 +52,16 @@ for (const c of COURTS) {
   b.addEventListener('pointerdown', e => { e.preventDefault(); e.stopPropagation(); start(c.id); });
   courts.appendChild(b);
 }
-function openPicker() { if (intro.parentNode) intro.classList.add('picking'); }
+menuMusic(); // the title screen has a theme. Silent until the first tap on a phone — see loopBed.
+function openPicker() {
+  if (!intro.parentNode) return;
+  intro.classList.add('picking');
+  menuMusic(); // ...and this call is the one that resumes it: the tap IS the gesture
+}
 function start(id) {
   if (!intro.parentNode) return;
   selectCourt(id);
+  menuDuck(true); // the theme belongs to the menus — hand the court over to the ambience
   intro.remove(); ambient(); voice('quiet_please'); // low atmosphere bed starts with the first gesture
 }
 // a tap anywhere on the splash opens the picker; on the picker itself only the buttons act, so a