Traces
of Soundtracks
Concept
The relationship between music and cinema is a perplexing
and confounding one. The film and recording industries technologically
and economically fostered the advent of sound film over
50 years ago. Yet this fundamental merger of the visual
and sonic is built on frustrated working ties between producers,
directors, composers and sound editors. For example, directors
can be ignorant of the role of sound and music in a film,
while a composer may fail to realize the nature and purpose
of their contribution to the film's story. Communication
breakdowns have led to regrettably conservative soundtracks.
Despite this miasma of confused strategies and artistic
dilemmas governing so many developments in the production
of film sound, an influential and inspiring terrain is perceivable
for adventurous composers, musicians and listeners. This
has nurtured over the last 30 years a fascinating and vibrant
music culture imbued with the sonic qualities of soundtracks
and their subsequent ties to experiments in 20th Century
composition.
Many primed contemporary listeners are instinctively aware
of this cinematic terrain, as they are aesthetically primed
in its undercurrents and nuances whenever they surface in
a film soundtrack. But for many, a vagueness persists in
tracing precise connections between these musical events,
their lineage in the cinema, and the legacy inherited from
avant garde composers.
My series of broadcasts is designed to explore and celebrate
these connections - to render them apparent by tracing the
cross-currents which shoot back and forth between atonal
cellos, analogue filters, tape splices, low frequency rumbles,
bursts of noise, vocal breaths, guitar feedback, reverberation
texture and digital editing. By tracing these connections,
a wonderful sonic map will be revealed which can expand
one's sono-musical sensibilities and excite listeners to
comprehensively audit film soundtracks.
Outline
The ultimate format for this series would be an ongoing
series of radio broadcasts tracing relationships between
innovations in 20th Century music, film scores and film
sound design. Each broadcast would:
(a) acknowledge crucial moments in the progressive development
of film sound;
(b) discuss the transformations which occur when pre-composed
music works are appended to a fictional story; &
(c) reflect on the cultural legacy left by cinema's successes
& failures in accommodating 20th Century music.
The programmes will not presuppose a background in film
history, but will be weighted towards a listener who has
a keen interest in listening to 20th Century music (orchestral,
electroacoustic, experimental rock, ambient, etc.).
There is no particular order or sequence for these broadcasts
as yet. Flexibility is ensured and programmes can be timed
to match national events or situations.
To test this series viability within this listening formast,
an introductory 4-part programme series is envisaged. Each
will focus on a key 20th Century film composer. A range
of artistic styles and cultural perspectives would be covered
by profiling the following 4 composers:
(1)
Bernard Herrmann (USA)
(2) Ennio Morricone (Italy)
(3) Quincy Jones (USA)
(4) Toru Takemitsu
