Music and sound
Music and sound aren鈥檛 just used in musicals. Live or recorded music can add a lot to a dramatic production. Music and sound effects can be used to:
- create mood and atmosphere
- build tension
- strengthen an emotion or empathise the action onstage
- help set the scene
- indicate a change of time or location
- focus attention on to a particular character
When music is played beneath a scene and used to help create mood, this is called underscoring. For example, a scene on a deserted road at night might be underscored by spooky music and sound effects to help create an atmosphere of fear. Watch this clip where composer, Michael Price describes how he uses various sounds to reflect the emotions expressed in a scene from the 大象传媒 drama, Sherlock.
Make sure that the music enhances your drama and doesn鈥檛 detract from what鈥檚 happening onstage. Some plays work best without any music at all so it must never be added for its own sake. A director must consider the style of their production and select music and sound to complement that. Some playwrights specify the music they want to be used in their scripts. The playwright, Tennessee Williams, specified the use of bluesAn African-American form of music. Blues songs are often about hardship but are meant to be life-affirming and ultimately uplifting for the listener. music in several of his plays.
Physical theatre often uses a lot of music to accompany the movement work onstage. As it鈥檚 often closely related to dance, this is important in giving work energy, pace and rhythm.
In non-naturalistic work, music might be used ironically so that it鈥檚 playing against the content onstage. This makes a statement on what is happening onstage. For example, a character has made some terrible decisions and is in despair. His misery is underscored by a very happy piece of music which only serves to emphasise his pain through ironyA literary device where there is a mismatch between the actual meaning and what is implied (sarcasm is a heavy form of irony). Dramatic irony is where the audience knows something crucial of which characters are blissfully unaware.. Using music in this way can be very useful when creating comic work and employing 鈥榖lack humour鈥
This technique is used in the 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs directed by Quentin Tarantino. A brutal torture scene is juxtaposeTo place two or more ideas/images close together to create further meaning for an audience. with the playing of a cheerful pop song, Stuck in the Middle with You, on the soundtrack.