Instruments used??
Can anyone identify the instruments being used when the Mom and son are murdered?
"Well, I done seen just about everything, but I ain't never seen your boy, no way, no how!"
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Thanks lol but I meant instruments used in the music for that scene.
"Well, I done seen just about everything, but I ain't never seen your boy, no way, no how!"
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Hey CS,
Saw your post and it sort of struck up some interest. First off, I absolutely love this movie. And Thomas Newman's Composition and soundtrack for this movie is nothing short of absolutely brilliant. Being a musician, I can truly appreciate his compositions, not to mention his use of some very old, but unconventional instruments in his music.
When you asked about the instruments of that particular scene, I knew exactly what you were talking about. Someone else has suggested tubular bells, which did seem feasible, but to a point. Most tubular bells I've heard have been high in pitch or register. There was something about these in particular that give them a more baritone sound. The musician that handled a lot of percussion on this is named Michael Fisher. I looked at the soundtrack to see what all instruments were used. Nowhere are tubular bells mentioned. But, under the various instruments he used, which could makes these sounds are a pang glocken, wands, and "found metal". Seriously! lol. And if you google "pang glocken", the soundtrack for Road To Perdition comes up immediately. So, Fisher could've built or designed an instrument to get that lower register. And it not to be confused with a glockenspeil. As for the "found metal", who's to say he didn't build himself some kind of custom tubular bells that get that lower register, while still getting that wonderful sustain that's achieved.
No synthesizers were used at all on the soundtrack. So, that particular instrument and sound is true and pure. I don't know if you were wondering out of general curiosity, or if this is a sound you're trying to recreate yourself. Listening to it several times, whatever it is, it's a very resonant metal. My first guess would be bell brass. And struck with a felt or wooden mallet, I could see where that sound could be achieved with maybe a custom-made, baritone-type tubular bell of some sort.
Don't know if that helped, or just confused the hell out of you even more. But, thought I just throw my two cents in. Worth taking the time to talk about that particular piece of music, that's part of a wonderful creation by Newman. Take care.
Hey thanks!!! The reason I asked is because I was doing a paper on this film for my music class and could not figure out what this instrument was :(. Anyway thanks for your analysis and I 100% agree with you. This film is beautiful and I have more of an appreciation for the score.
"Well, I done seen just about everything, but I ain't never seen your boy, no way, no how!"
Hey, my pleasure. What a great movie and score to choose for a paper in your music class. What I like about Newman, and especially for this movie, is that he writes parts for more non-traditional or seldom-used instruments in a regular music score. If you listen, and see the list of instruments used, a lot stem back to that of Celtic descent, and instruments you would hear Celtic bands today use. But, his subtleties with those, along with more popular instruments makes for some beautiful music. And the tone for this movie...this hauntingly beautiful feel that the movie itself has, I feel his score really helped set the mood for the film itself. Thomas Newman is really underrated for what he's done, and deserves far more praise as a composer than what he's received. Anyways, take good care, man!
shareThe percussion instruments heard during the murders include the pangglocken, a set of dome-shaped cymbals arranged vertically and usually made of steel. Also included were musical wands, and found metal objects of no particular description, possibly hit by said wands. Newman is a fan of musical, and especially percussion, experimentation, and his work here seems to have much in common with his score for 'American Beauty'. For instance, the murder of Finn McGovern is accompanied by what sounds like a plain old contra-bassoon, only deliberately overblown, or possibly played with a split reed ('It's not me, it's the reed'). Elsewhere in the score, a maraca is apparently played, with a sponge (or perhaps a sponge-tipped wand). I cannot even attempt to describe this, never having conceptualized it myself. These days you can record just about anything.
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