"There's music in the sighing of a reed;
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres".
Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto XV, Stanza 5.
Directors Brief
“The music should be dark, slightly reminiscent of Halloween or Psycho”.
A musical analysis was performed on both pieces. A conclusion was then made on what would be considered common elements. This then influenced the compositional decisions.
Psycho
Bernard Hermann
1960
The City/Finale [From Psycho]
Score analysis of Psycho
Bernard Hermann made a bold decision that the score would be strings only. Writing for a five-piece string section (violin 1, violin 2 , viola, cello, double bass).In this score he uses ostinato to create a fast pace. Hermann introduces the murder leitmotif four times. The use of leitmotif to unify the musical cue. He uses stabbing chords which glissando up at the end (Timm, 2003). The score makes great use of dissonance. It is well known that Hermann championed the work Charles Ives. The murder scene is atonal. A well know decision he made was to instruct the musicians to perform con sordino with the sole exception of the shower scene. The texture for the shower scene is polyphonic as different rhythms and pitches are used.
The key take away from this is:
• The use of strings
• Dissonance.
• Fast pace.
• The use of ostinati.
Halloween
John Carpenter 1979
Score analysis of Halloween
“My major influences as a composer were Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone (who I had the opportunity to work with on The Thing). Hermann’s ability to create an imposing, powerful score with limited orchestra means, using the basic sound of a particular instrument, high strings or low bass, was impressive. His score for Psycho, the film that inspired Halloween, was primarily all string instruments.” (Carpenter, 27/11/19.)
The rhythm of the song is in five-four. This gives a feeling of uneasiness. The register is wide the low bass is contrasted by the synthesizer parts. The intro is the key of B minor (Aylictal, n.d.). The tempo is 140BPM is allegro. A leitmotif is used here very effectively.
The key take away from this is:
• Allegro tempo.
• A wide register.
• An uneven time signature.
The two pieces above were used as starting points for the piece.
Suspense
From the directors’ brief and the reference track analysis above the genre will be suspense. The sound is supposed to tell the viewer something is going to happen. In the modern era sound design is also another tool. Hit and swells are key to this genre (Michelmore, 02/12/2019) as are strings. Hermann’s skilful use of strings in Psycho (1960) has clearly influenced the genre. String effects such as tremolando, half step trills and glissando are clear tropes. These can be used to great effect in this genre.
Video Clip Analysis
The video piece has a fast pace throughout. The interior and exteriors are dark. The genre is steampunk which combines Victorianism with science fiction. The clip also has elements of fantasy.
Foley
Foley was important in this piece because the composer often will score with Foley already utilised. For the sword, crossbow and musket Foley I found the original effects online. The slit throat effect was found on the free sounds website (“Slit Throat.mp3 by ketamineface,” 02/10/2019). The shattered glass was also found online on free sounds. After due consideration the decision was made not use footsteps. It too attention away from the string ostinato. As shown below the Foley was dragged onto the defined hit-points. Another decision was made to not use any dialogue. As mentioned earlier it created too much distraction.
Compositional Decisions
Modulation
Metric modulation is used when the character chases the minister these were time stretched to demisemiquavers. The piano part was influenced by the Halloween main riff. It was programmed using a sequencer.
Hit-points
(Please note only key hit-points are described here)
The approach to hit-points was to treat the narrative above all. The leitmotif as mentioned earlier is giving the sense of dread and suspense. The first hit-point of the character running and landing on the roof serves to add suspense. The decision was made to leave a gap of silence where the character jumps in the air. When his leg lands the leitmotif plays for the first time.
The music is still strong and to counter this a guitar glissando with delay and reverb plays.
When the guard then looks up the leitmotif is played on the woodwinds in a call and response.
When the character is about to kill the guard some tremolando is used as well as guitar glissandi, the leitmotif plays again on the brass.
When the character looks at the minister the suspense was created by the use of string effects
When the door is blown open a synthesized bass hit and a crash were used.
Finally, when the minister dies the leitmotif is played, again by the brass.
Structure
A map of the hit points was created which tracked intensity over time. Hit points were used first. These were tagged, in studio one the markers can be converted into arranger regions as seen below. The piece is in free time, the decision was made to not make any tempo changes. A challenge for this piece was to separate foreground and background. In Halloween , Carpenter makes great use of foreground and background by utilising both the high and low register. In the assignment is where the low brass plays the leitmotif. Complexity (Belkin, 2008) the element that has the greatest level of activity attracts the most attention. As the intensity mapped over time, the complexity increases also. The opening scene where the character is traversing the rooftops, the instrumentation is at its lowest activity. The string ostinato is playing with the leitmotif being played in the woodwinds (clarinet and oboe) and brass(low brass, French horn and trombone).
Leitmotif
The character is a sort of antihero. He is a traitor, terrorist and murderer to the state. To the player he identified a vigilante. The Octatonic scale (s-t-s-t-s-t-s-t) is used a basis for the leitmotif. The intervals of minor third, tone and semitone help to give character a dark undercurrent.
Variations of the Leitmotif
The leitmotif develops throughout the piece as the clip advances, this is to assert a sense of thematic unity while avoiding repetition fatigue. (Phillips, 2017). The first real variation is where the woodwinds play in call and response. When the guard is assassinated from above in the foreground as the leitmotif is play brashly the first violin plays an unresolved version. In the corridor the guitar next play another variation. The use of rests and a higher register is used here. Finally, the leitmotif is played at the end reverts back to the original.
The final Piece
I was very happy with the final product. There was so many decisions to be made and I am confident with how these decisions turned out. The more passes I made the more I added and the more elements I took from the final mix.
Attached is the YouTube video.
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