Valentine's Day, Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 10:20 am

talkingherrmann mailing list***************************************10-13-09:Talking Herrmann: 'Night Digger' on TCMReply by: Bill Wrobel ()______________________________________________________________________Kevin:I don't know if my annoyance comment about the overuse of the harmonica in thisscore is interesting, but I just don't feel it's a good fit. Probably a "lonely" solo hornwould not fit because Billy was a murderous sick fella! Hmmm....how about the oboe D-Amore? It would be a possible signature sound (rather darker than the standard oboe) tooffset the viola D'Amore for the Neal character. Odd pairing! Maybe even thebass/baritone oboe. I don't know of a best or more fitting substitute. All I know is that Icringe when I hear that harmonica played in this score that throws a monkey wrench intothe otherwise "romantic" elements of this score as played by the soli strings and harp. I'drather hear the motorcycle motor sounding instead. The only worse instrument Herrmanncould've replaced it with would be the bagpipe! But who knows...maybe Billy was a Scot,so it would fit!Herrmann was clever in most of his scores and had terrific sense of fitting instruments,but here, in this score, I feel he misjudged. He was clever in that monster baby horrorflick, It's Alive, when he used the tambourine percussive effect to simulate the rattles orjingles of a baby association. The theremin effect was a good fit back then in DTEST(although he overused it there too). Associating the Billy character with a harmonica didnot work for me--a bad fit. Not very clever either (unlike the usual Herrmannsensibility). Perhaps if the film was called TRAIL DIGGER set in the Wild West, andBilly was a murderous Bronco Billy on his four-legged stallion instead of two-wheeledone, then maybe the harmonica would fit!Maybe a contra bassoon or a contra bass clarinet would be a better fit associated forBilly. I am reminded here of the murderous "Jack the Ripper" character in CIMARRONSTRIP's "Knife in the Darkness" episode. Far more menacing an association than theharmonica. An "empty soul" is not necessarily a killer._______________________________________________talkingherrmann mailing list**************************10-13-09:Talking Herrmann: Herrmann Approaches to Tension and DissonanceReply by: Bill Wrobel ()122