It's a beautiful morning, much like it was yesterday. Yesterday however, turned into rain and thunder. I personally love weather like that, and it reminded of one of my first attempts at writing a show. It was called something like the Dream Visitor, and it had a scene set in a thunder storm in it. While it was fun writing music to make you imagine the claps of thunder interspersed with the flashes of light, it quickly became problematic. This technique however, is one of the main reasons I love musicals, and can also be found in many classical composers and film scores. To create an atmosphere, a mood, an ambience simply with music is a massively powerful tool. One of the most effective uses of this I've ever seen is in the film 'Crash.' Don Cheadle's character Graham is waiting anxiously in a hospital waiting room where his critically injured brother Peter is being treated. The music is urgent, if almost reminiscent, and through it we really feel Graham's love for Peter. After a while, Graham's mother arrives at the hospital as we learn of Peter's death, and it transpires that she blames Graham for his death, after he didn't find Peter as soon as he said he would. She says something along the lines of "I blame you" and as she says the word "you," we focus on Graham's face and unbelievably subtly, and totally beautifully, the music changes. It changes to a feeling of dread, of present conflict and unresolved tensions. It feels like it only changes one, maybe two notes in the whole chord but it's so powerful. I saw the film back in about 2008, and I still feel that is one of the most moving and effective uses of music in a film I've ever heard and seen.
As with the example above, it could just be a matter of changing one chord, or indeed leaving a note out of it. I am a big fan of James Horner's score for the film 'Titanic,' and in this score is the piece 'Take Her To Sea Mr. Murdoch.' I studied this piece at A Level, and is towards the end of the piece I want focus. There is a chord played to a rhythm, with a high string note over the top. This chord however, does not have the third. For those that doesn't make sense to, simply a basic chord is made up three notes, the first (root or tonic), the third and the fifth. Often, it's the third that decides the 'mood' of the chord. It could create the major chord, and create a happy, upbeat, positive or just content feel. Simply by flattening that third semitone it becomes a minor chord, creating a feeling of peril, sadness, reminiscence or regret. It is this third which is used to such effect by Horner at the end of Take Her To Sea Mr. Murdoch. The piece is used when the Titanic has just left the docks and is setting sail. We have a feeling of expectation and pride, but of course we, as the viewer, knows what's to come. Horner acknowledges this simply by leaving that third out. By doing this he creates, in my mind, an underlying sense of tension and leaves it up to the listener to decide the chord is major or minor.
The problem with this blog is as I was writing that paragraph, it made me think of another example! This example does however bring me back to what I first started talking about, The Dream Visitor! This is because this final example is used in The Phantom Of The Opera. Childhood sweethearts Christine and Raoul are on the roof of the opera house, singing of their love for one another and how they will meet later on. They are unaware however, the Phantom is hiding on the roof and hearing their conversation. They sing of how much they love one another but underneath these major melodies, we hear ominous low string chords. The rhythm of these creates a real inevitably, and we know the Phantom is going to let Christine go without a fight. The reason this brings me back to The Dream Visitor is I realised rather quickly that while writing it, I was essentially writing the Phantom of the Opera! Now that sort of thing is frowned upon, so I scrapped that idea, and started trying to think of a new direction for my show. It was when I was in a friends room in halls at college that I found it. The fire alarm went off as a test, and I sat at the piano and started working out a bass groove to fit into it. All of a sudden, The Card Sharks was born! That siren going giving way to the grooving bass is exactly how the opening number of the show now starts.
I've now arrived wear my destination, so this seems like as good a time as any to sign off.
I hope you all have a lovely relaxing Easter and I shall return soon. Take care all. T
Location:Replacement bus.
