Comm141
Prof.
Lee
ELECTRONIC
MUSIC IN CONTEMPORARY FILM SCORING
I
Overview:Aesthetics
of Electronic Music
With
the advent of electronic music technology, composers gained access to a
virtually unlimited world of musical possibilities.Digital
manipulation now allows the composer to create unique sonic combinations
and timbral colors unimaginable just a few decades earlier.The
impact of digital music technology on the film industry has prompted many
economic and aesthetic changes in the film scoring business. Contemporary
film composers (the 1980s to the present) have at their fingertips an ever-expanding
regiment of musical and extra-musical possibilities.At
the threshold of this new aesthetic, digitally-mediated music has prompted
the development of a specialized vocabulary that reinterprets both the
acoustic space and the traditional role of sound in musical composition.
One
of the most fundamental concepts of electronic music composition is the
idea of the soundscape, or the perceived spacial environment of a sound
recording.Compositional techniques
in electronic music often involve transformations of the aural landscape/soundscape.The
idea of sonic transformation is similar to the concept of morphing, which
involves the gradual synthesis of two or more sounds in a recording in
such a way that the listener perceives a linear, continuous flow of sound.Individual
sound characteristics like timbre and amplitude may vacillate during this
process, taking on characteristics of the original sounds.Composers
systematically morph instrumental sounds to create qualities impossible
to achieve on a specific instrument (for instance, the unbelievably high
register of the soprano in The Fifth Element was created using synthesizer
technology and male/female voice morphing, to be discussed later).Aural
transformations tend to have a dreamlike quality because they are removed
from the concrete; they are also ambiguous in nature because of their lack
of contextual cues.
Many
of the electronic sounds used in film music are acousmatic as well; that
is, the sounds cannot be identified in relation to their sources. Instead
of being associated with their original sources, like the familiar sound
of traditional musical instruments, these “sound-objects” can be analyzed
based on their intrinsic musical properties.Film
music composers add acousmatic sounds to electro-acoustic and purely electronic
soundtracks to evoke a sense of disorientation in the listener.Acousmatic
sounds are often interpreted as symptomatic of industrial society and a
general lack of emotion; thus, their popular use in technologically-oriented
films (sci-fi, etc.).Another aspect
of electronic music composition is musique concrète, or music made
from pre-recorded sounds.The assimilation
of extra-musical sounds into a musical context takes place regularly with
technology like sequencing, sampling, and quantizing (to be discussed later).
II
Electronic
Film Scoring:Aesthetic and Technical
Considerations
There
are three ways to conceive of electronic music:as
an imitation or re-creation of acoustic instruments, as a means of creating
unique non-acoustic sounds, and as a blend of electronic and pseudo-acoustic
sounds.Acoustic re-creations in
film music are very common--traditional orchestration applies to the scoring
of acoustic re-creations, but the resulting sound takes on new aural colors.Composer
William Goldstein observes, “I think that whatever success I’ve been having
with electronics is absolutely due to my orchestral background, because
everything I do here I think of in the same terms I would use if I were
writing for an orchestra.It’s just
that the colors are different colors” (Karlin and Wright 394).On
the other hand, synthesizers have the ability to do what no other instruments
can do, and many composers exploit this fact.Synthesizers
free the inherent limitations of acoustic instruments, creating an endless
source of expression for the composer.With
the aid of sequencers and related technology, the humanly impossible becomes
possible.Unique combinations of
known sounds and altogether new and unexpected sounds add a satisfying
feeling to any dramatic situation (reminiscent of Chion’s added value
theory).Some of the most innovative
work in recent film music incorporates hybrids of electronic and orchestral
sounds.Electronic and traditional
orchestral writing both add dramatic nuances to the film; oftentimes, the
synthesis of the two create a unique sonic landscape that complements the
film’s visual moods.Noted film composer
Jerry Goldsmith suggests:“I’ve been
using electronics for twenty-five years now.But
I’ve never seen it as a substitute for an orchestra.I
believe it will someday be an accepted section in a symphony orchestra”
(Karlin and Wright 395).The idea
of an electro-acoustic orchestra seems distant at best, but Goldsmith’s
vision is not out of the realm of possibility.Recent
use of electronic and orchestral hybrids (see examples in part III) has
escalated, and now well over 50% of film scores incorporate electronic
elements (Karlin and Wright 420).
The
draw of electro-acoustic hybrids in film scores (and purely electronic
scores) originates in part from the emergence of the low-budget, independent
film.Hollywood’s exclusive studio
system opened up to accept fledgling filmmakers on account of their “uncorrupted”
and creative artistic visions.This
change in the studio system, which essentially veered away from the “summer
blockbuster” and other worn out formulas, made a considerable impact on
the film music business.Composers
were now being hired to score independent films, but the producers’ low
budgets could not support the high costs of recording a studio orchestra.Faced
with this impediment, composers sought financial refuge in electronic music.Many
composers began constructing their own home studios in which they could
experiment with sounds and even record with professional quality.Electronic
music adapted even more readily to the production of TV soundtracks, since
TV production schedules rely on a hectic weekly turnover.
Though
the ideal use of electronic scores would be to satisfy a composer’s artistic
vision, economic forces often relegate composers to a strictly electronic
palette.Electronic music composition
provides a more expedient and cost-efficient means of producing film (and
television) scores on demand.William
Goldstein comments on the relationship between economically and aesthetically
motivated scores:“Certainly, economically,
in the real world, there are going to be a lot of scores done this way
because people don’t have the money for an orchestra” (Karlin and Wright
420).According to Goldstein, these
scores will certainly be delivered if a composer is “eager for such an
opportunity” (Karlin and Wright 420).This
ideological split between artistic and economic motivation may have contributed
to the general sentiment that electronic scores have less value than orchestral
scores (similar to the difference between high culture and pop culture).Now
that successful composers like John Williams have incorporated electronic
elements into their prodigal orchestral scores, the legitimacy of electronic
music as a method of film composition has received proper recognition.
Scoring
films with electronic music (and electro-acoustic hybrids) is a science
just like any other, incorporating technology and individual expertise
to create the desired product.There
are many steps involved in the production of electronic film scores, many
of which will be outlined here.One
of the first priorities for a composer working with electronic music is
the task of finding and editing sounds.These
sounds are often archived in expansive libraries or factory patches on
synthesizers.The composer should
determine what sounds he/she is looking for before entering the recording
studio or meeting with musicians; doing so saves valuable time and money
at later stages of production.Electronic
parts are usually recorded, mixed and sweetened separately from the studio
orchestra; doing so saves the composer time (which is already limited)
and gives more freedom to live electronic ensembles.
Special
sounds (also referred to as colors) can really enhance a score--often a
composer will have a certain sound in mind after he/she reads the film’s
cues.All of these unique electronic
sounds must be described on the score so that the designated performers
can interpret the sound as it was originally conceived.Unconventional
metaphors are often used to describe these sounds, like the following examples:“Sparkly
chord, beautiful, rich, Vangelis-like” or “the sound of an oboe playing
underwater” (Karlin and Wright 396).The
first description may be interpreted by a synthesist as “Phase shift a
CS-80 string sound with something that pings, and add a delay device to
the sound” (Karlin and Wright 396).Generally,
the composer must give a detailed and exaggerated description of the sound
if the sound does not already exist in a familiar sense (as either a common
musical instrument or a synthesized patch).
In
any case, electronic sounds must still match the desired mood of the filmic
image, whether the given sound displays empathetic, anempathetic, or anti-empathetic
characteristics.As defined by Chion
(and Lee), empathetic music is congruent with the mood or space of the
image, anempathetic music is indifferent to the mood or space of the image,
and anti-empathetic music is oppositional to the mood or space of the image.(the
third section of this essay will explore the relationship between electronic
music scoring and the mood of the filmic image more thoroughly).
If
the composer does not create the electronic sounds individually, he/she
must hire synthesists to produce the desired sounds.Other
than the actual production of sounds by the synthesists, an electronic
music composer effectively creates the “instruments” for which he/she is
composing.These electronic colors
begin to stimulate new compositional solutions, as noted by Maurice Jarre:“In
electronic music, because there are limitless possibilities, you can’t
always exactly indicate what you want like you can with an orchestra, especially
since you don’t even know all the possibilities.But
you can imagine when you compose what kind of sound you would like
to write” (Karlin and Wright 397).
Unlike
the lush textures associated with orchestral film scores, electronic scores
are more suited for simplicity.Because
of electronic music’s unique potential for doublings and creating attention-grabbing
sounds, simplicity goes a long way.Electronic
music is also more likely to be atmospheric and textural than orchestral
music-- these characteristics explain its popularity with directors.In
fact, directors often request electronic scores because they believe that
electronic sounds will complement the action on the screen without being
too distracting.There is definitely
a link between electronic music, atmospheric effects, and simplicity--a
relationship that accounts for the rising popularity of electronic scores
in contemporary film and television music.
Many
of the technological innovations discussed in terms of aesthetics up to
this point are produced using one or more of the following:sequencers,
quantizing, samplers, and drum machines.Sequencers
record information played directly onto a keyboard in real time, but they
can also slow down the tempo and be programmed step by step (which is equivalent
to note by note programming).Using
a sequencer, composers can layer many different electronically produced
sounds on top of one another in an orchestral manner.The
majority of electronic compositions contain several tracks of sequenced
information which can, when layered in relation to time, create the overall
effect of an “electronic orchestra.”Quantizing
is a useful technique that synchronizes repetitive notes and figurations
with a given tempo/beat.Techno music
is notorious for using quantizing in highly repetitive rhythmic loops and
precisely executed electronic backgrounds.Samplers,
which are often used in drum machines, convert an acoustic sound into digital
(electronic) sound, allowing the user to manipulate the sampled sound to
his/her preference.Samples are
either recognizable in relation to their source or unrecognizable in relation
to their source (crossing over to the realm of audio art and acousmatics,
as mentioned earlier).Modern advances
in sampling technology allow programmable dynamics, making high-end samplers
less machine-like and flexible.Drum
machines basically take sampled rhythm and percussion sounds and layer
them temporally (using a given tempo/beat).The
use of drum machines (and a rhythm section in general) gives film scores
a contemporary feel.Most film action
sequences utilize drum machines to sustain the frenetic pace of the moving
image; however, their most notorious contribution can be heard in the trance-like
pulse of techno and industrial music (the use of techno and industrial
music in contemporary film scoring will be discussed further in section
III).
III
Examples
of Electronic Scoring in Film
There
are countless examples of electronic film music from the early 1980s to
the present--this analysis will focus on four examples in chronological
order:The Abyss (1989),
The Fifth Element (1997), Run Lola Run (1999), and Being
John Malkovich (1999).One might
notice that all of these films are related to science fiction or modernist
portrayals of society; it is not a coincidence that electronic music saturatesmovies
of this genre, for their subject matter incorporates the industrialized,
dehumanized sounds of the electronic revolution.
Alan
Silvestri’s underscore for The Abyss provides the perfect complement
to this ominous underwater thriller.Silvestri’s
score incorporates both acoustic and electronic elements seamlessly to
evoke both a sense of awe and frightful anticipation.The
reviewer cited here thought that the first half of the soundtrack, which
contains mostly electronic music and electro-acoustic hybrids, was the
most “monotonous.”The last three
tracks of the CD are mainly orchestral in nature--the reviewer praises
these tracks as “the best pieces of music he [Silvestri] has composed in
his entire career.”These statements
reveal an interesting attribute of electronic film music:it
does not command as much of the listener’s attention as orchestral music,
probably because it is unconsciously associated with “new age” musical
trends, which often function as background filler or once-removed atmospheric
effects.One must not forget that
Silvestri’s score was, first and foremost, meant to complement the visual
film
and the many moods associated with these images.
Eric
Serra’s underscore for The Fifth Element (1997) demonstrates another
mature hybrid of electronic and orchestral sounds, though Serra leans toward
modern musical trends like techno and industrial music in his eclectic
compositions.Three tracks in particular
point to Serra’s musical influences in techno, industrial, and the sampling/morphing
of pre-existing sounds.Track #4,
named after the movie’s protagonist, Korben Dallas, utilizes drum machine
and sampling technology to create a musical representation “with attitude.”Musical
and non-musical elements are paired to create a propulsive beat-oriented
groove; Serra’s use of the low-register bass line is also indicative of
industrial music.Track #8 is similar
to #4 in that musical and extra-musical elements are used simultaneously;
however,this track includes the
melodic lyricism of orchestral strings.Track
#10 combines just about every element of musical and non-musical (similar
to audio art) practice into one take, creating a DJ-like presentation that
jumps abruptly from mood to mood--and believe it or not, there is actually
a visual sequence in the film complementing this strange amalgamation of
sounds!Track #15 combines drum
and bass-oriented music with sampling and an advanced form of vocal morphing.Here
Serra has taken a soprano and sampled her voice, spreading it out over
the notes of a synthesizer so that she can reach an impossibly (or in this
case, inhumanly) high vocal register.During
a brief but ear-opening segment of this track, Lucia di Lammermoor’s voice
(the alien soprano in the movie) is also morphed seamlessly from the low
register of a man’s voice into the middle register of the soprano’s actual
voice--a very innovative effect, indeed.
Run
Lola Run did not receive much publicity when it was released in 1999,
partly because it was a foreign film (German).Composed
by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil, the soundtrack for this
movie is composed entirely of techno music.Needless
to say, drum machines, samplers, and quantizing all play a large role in
this type of music.The relentless,
kinetic rhythm of the score matches the frenetic pace of the movie, which
depicts a race against time.Through
the endless beat of the soundtrack, the viewer/listener is more easily
drawn into Lola’s subjective world.Therefore
in this case, electronic music takes on a function directly related to
the pace and rhythm of the film itself.
I
have included the last movie, Being John Malkovich (1999), because
the soundtrack includes one of the most innovative international electronic-oriented
artists, Björk.Her contribution
to the film is called “Amphibian,” and it (appropriately) takes on two
different forms at the beginning and the end of the film.“Amphibian”
displays many of the same musical idiosyncrasies that Björk has built
a reputation out of, like combinations of orchestral and electronic sounds,
techno/industrial beats, and both recognizable and acousmatic sound sources.
The
progression of films analyzed in this essay seem to indicate a growing
relationship between contemporary electronic music trends and film music
composition.Moreover, some of the
most compelling examples of the synthesis of electronic and orchestral
music exist on the rich emotional landscapes of film.The
future of film music composition will undoubtedly incorporate very diverse
musical and extra-musical elements in its search for a more expressive
form of aural communication.
Works Cited
Karlin,
Fred, and Rayburn, Wright.On
the Track:A Guide to Contemporary
Film Scoring.New
York:Schirmer Books, 1990.
Emmerson,
Simon, ed.The Language of Electroacoustic
Music.London:Macmillan Press,
1986.
Clemmenson,
Christian (1989).Review of Alan
Silvestri’s The Abyss.Filmtracks[Online].Available:http://www.shef.ac.uk/~cm1jwb/abysscd.htm
(Accessed 4/9/00).