composeralex
Member
I just wrote these posts on "ethnic music" in films and wanted to share it here, too. 
(As a side point, isn't all music "ethnic music"?
)
If we define “ethnic music” as music that has an association with a particular culture, geographical location, and/or time period (whether it’s a realistic/culturally accurate/historically accurate/sensible one or not), usually produced on contextually-significant instruments which, again, are usually outside of our standard Western symphony orchestra.
Furthering my previous point, a banjo, fiddle, electric guitar, rap beat, or even a saxophone can all be used to make “ethnic music” indicative of various places and cultures within our own country. (And Calix was absolutely right about the TON of musical traditions in Africa!)
Here in the West, we’ve basically “Hollywood-ized” music from around the world to build particular associations between cultures/races/characters/genres/places/etc. and musical instruments/sounds/tunings/styles/etc.
There are many approaches to using “ethnic music” in films.
Here are a few, from relatively minor to major.
The Western symphony orchestra is the primary ensemble of instruments used in our Western films. This is more or less the standard palette for film composers, or at least the most common starting point.
THE ORCHESTRA AND CONTEMPORARY “AMERICAN” MUSIC
* Here in the USA, we have many “ethnic” musical associations. I named a few earlier. Some within the orchestra might include:
> Our association of flutes/fifes and snare drums with our war history (such as used in battles throughout The Patriot, scored by John Williams). Sometimes it’s more of a stylistic approach to our historical American music, though, such as with Randy Edelman’s score to Gettysburg.
> Our association of a solo trumpet (and/or a solo bugle) with feelings of nobility and heroism (such as Apollo 13 by James Horner and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine main title by Dennis McCarthy).
> We often associate a full trumpet section with action and adventure (such as Luke Skywalker’s theme in the original Star Wars trilogy, Indy’s theme in the Indiana Jones films, and Superman’s theme in the Superman films, all scored by John Williams.)
> We often associate a full brass section and snare with patriotism and the American spirit, especially if it’s primarily “functionally tonal” in nature. A couple great examples of this are Air Force One, scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Joel McNeely and Independence Day by David Arnold. Another example is U-571 by Richard Marvin.
The list goes on and on, but these are just some basic examples!!!
THE ORCHESTRA AS “ETHNIC” MUSIC
* Michael Kamen exclusively used an orchestra, choir, and a handful of period instruments to score The Three Muskateers. However, he scored the film in a wonderfully contemporary-classical style, even using many rhythms from traditional/social renaissance dances. (The soundtrack’s track titles even have the past contemporary equivalent: overture, passacaille, galliard, air, courante, bransle, gavotte, estampie, rigadoon, and lament.)
* Jerry Goldsmith mostly used an orchestra to score The Mummy, and his main theme to this film uses the stereotypical “harmonic minor” leaps between the upper notes of a harmonic minor scale to evoke the Egyptian feel. He also brought in some kind of middle-eastern plucked instruments to augment this, but again, they’re all tuned to our Western scale.
* Goldsmith did something similar with his approach to scoring Mulan, although instead of the “harmonic minor” interval, he primarily used the pentatonic scale instead, which primarily sounds Asian (“Chinese” to the ignorant) to the audience.
* Alan Silvestri mimicked Goldsmith’s approach for The Mummy Returns, and although the score sounds almost nothing like Goldsmith’s, it still has that Egyptian feel (i.e. Hollywood “fake Egyptian” feel) to it.
* Hans Zimmer used the same “harmonic minor” third frequently in his score to The Prince of Egypt.
* In An American Tail, James Horner used an orchestra yet created a somewhat Russian-sounding score for the mouse refugees. He similarly created Western-sounding music for the sequel, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (although this is arguably because it’s based on so much of Aaron Copland’s music!).
* Westerns are numerous, at least classic ones, and you can listen to the score to pretty much any movie with John Wayne to hear what I mean. It’s nearly always an orchestra (although there might be a harmonica or something, too). Elmer Bernstein wrote many of these. Some other examples are The Cowboys by John Williams and Back to the Future by Alan Silvestri.
* Horner also created a semi-Russian sounding score for Enemy at the Gates, drawing primarily on Russian composers’ approaches with the orchestra.
* Goldsmith created a Russian sound for the terrorists in Air Force One as well, using nothing but low thirds, interestingly enough ...
* Composer Miklos Rozsa scored Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ almost exclusively with a large orchestra, but he scored it modally (as opposed to tonally), which, in combination with the brilliant orchestration, gave the score an older, much more epic feel, and the audience to this day seems to think that this kind of stuff is wonderfully appropriate for ancient period films, particularly Roman ones.
* John Williams used an orchestra (among other incorporated instruments, such as saxophones) to really help establish the period feel via jazz in Catch Me If You Can.
* Williams used an orchestra very effectively in the Indiana Jones films. In the first film, he used the aforementioned “harmonic minor” interval a bit in combination with some interesting rhythms during the whole part in Egypt (particularly during his and Marion’s arrival there). He also associated this music with the medallion (which was of Egyptian descent). He also used an orchestra, choir, and nothing but parallel minor chords to form his theme for the Ark of the Covenant (which of course represented an entire culture and period of human history). In The Temple of Doom, he effectively used an orchestra for both an Indian “sound” (for the palace, slave children, village, and the evil Thugee cult) and a great Asian “sound” for Short Round. And, he had some nice Italian-sounding stuff for the early portions of The Last Crusade. Irina Spalko’s theme sounds wonderfully Russian for the new movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
* Williams primarily used an orchestra for Schindler’s List and Munich and achieved an authentic “Jewish” sound for both scores. For the former, he often used a solo violin, and for the latter, he used a solo guitar.
* Basil Poledouris wrote a score with heavy “Russian” influence using an orchestra for The Hunt to Red October, although it certainly didn’t hurt that there was a choir singing in Russian during some parts.
* In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Goldsmith actually created an “ethnic”-sounding musical style for the Klingons at the very beginning. This was, in turn, mimicked by James Horner in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock, returned to by Goldsmith in Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (and briefly alluded to for Worf in a couple TNG movies), and further mimicked by Dennis McCarthy and others in the subsequent TV series (TNG’s “Heart of Glory” is a great example).
* Jerry Goldsmith and his son, Joel Goldsmith, scored Star Trek 8: First Contact and created a nice musical accompaniment to the Borg. They used stuff like metal clanks, percussion, and subtle synths to enhance the “bio-mechanical” nature of the villains.
(As a side point, isn't all music "ethnic music"?
)If we define “ethnic music” as music that has an association with a particular culture, geographical location, and/or time period (whether it’s a realistic/culturally accurate/historically accurate/sensible one or not), usually produced on contextually-significant instruments which, again, are usually outside of our standard Western symphony orchestra.
Furthering my previous point, a banjo, fiddle, electric guitar, rap beat, or even a saxophone can all be used to make “ethnic music” indicative of various places and cultures within our own country. (And Calix was absolutely right about the TON of musical traditions in Africa!)
Here in the West, we’ve basically “Hollywood-ized” music from around the world to build particular associations between cultures/races/characters/genres/places/etc. and musical instruments/sounds/tunings/styles/etc.
There are many approaches to using “ethnic music” in films.
Here are a few, from relatively minor to major.
The Western symphony orchestra is the primary ensemble of instruments used in our Western films. This is more or less the standard palette for film composers, or at least the most common starting point.
THE ORCHESTRA AND CONTEMPORARY “AMERICAN” MUSIC
* Here in the USA, we have many “ethnic” musical associations. I named a few earlier. Some within the orchestra might include:
> Our association of flutes/fifes and snare drums with our war history (such as used in battles throughout The Patriot, scored by John Williams). Sometimes it’s more of a stylistic approach to our historical American music, though, such as with Randy Edelman’s score to Gettysburg.
> Our association of a solo trumpet (and/or a solo bugle) with feelings of nobility and heroism (such as Apollo 13 by James Horner and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine main title by Dennis McCarthy).
> We often associate a full trumpet section with action and adventure (such as Luke Skywalker’s theme in the original Star Wars trilogy, Indy’s theme in the Indiana Jones films, and Superman’s theme in the Superman films, all scored by John Williams.)
> We often associate a full brass section and snare with patriotism and the American spirit, especially if it’s primarily “functionally tonal” in nature. A couple great examples of this are Air Force One, scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Joel McNeely and Independence Day by David Arnold. Another example is U-571 by Richard Marvin.
The list goes on and on, but these are just some basic examples!!!
THE ORCHESTRA AS “ETHNIC” MUSIC
* Michael Kamen exclusively used an orchestra, choir, and a handful of period instruments to score The Three Muskateers. However, he scored the film in a wonderfully contemporary-classical style, even using many rhythms from traditional/social renaissance dances. (The soundtrack’s track titles even have the past contemporary equivalent: overture, passacaille, galliard, air, courante, bransle, gavotte, estampie, rigadoon, and lament.)
* Jerry Goldsmith mostly used an orchestra to score The Mummy, and his main theme to this film uses the stereotypical “harmonic minor” leaps between the upper notes of a harmonic minor scale to evoke the Egyptian feel. He also brought in some kind of middle-eastern plucked instruments to augment this, but again, they’re all tuned to our Western scale.
* Goldsmith did something similar with his approach to scoring Mulan, although instead of the “harmonic minor” interval, he primarily used the pentatonic scale instead, which primarily sounds Asian (“Chinese” to the ignorant) to the audience.
* Alan Silvestri mimicked Goldsmith’s approach for The Mummy Returns, and although the score sounds almost nothing like Goldsmith’s, it still has that Egyptian feel (i.e. Hollywood “fake Egyptian” feel) to it.
* Hans Zimmer used the same “harmonic minor” third frequently in his score to The Prince of Egypt.
* In An American Tail, James Horner used an orchestra yet created a somewhat Russian-sounding score for the mouse refugees. He similarly created Western-sounding music for the sequel, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (although this is arguably because it’s based on so much of Aaron Copland’s music!).
* Westerns are numerous, at least classic ones, and you can listen to the score to pretty much any movie with John Wayne to hear what I mean. It’s nearly always an orchestra (although there might be a harmonica or something, too). Elmer Bernstein wrote many of these. Some other examples are The Cowboys by John Williams and Back to the Future by Alan Silvestri.
* Horner also created a semi-Russian sounding score for Enemy at the Gates, drawing primarily on Russian composers’ approaches with the orchestra.
* Goldsmith created a Russian sound for the terrorists in Air Force One as well, using nothing but low thirds, interestingly enough ...
* Composer Miklos Rozsa scored Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ almost exclusively with a large orchestra, but he scored it modally (as opposed to tonally), which, in combination with the brilliant orchestration, gave the score an older, much more epic feel, and the audience to this day seems to think that this kind of stuff is wonderfully appropriate for ancient period films, particularly Roman ones.
* John Williams used an orchestra (among other incorporated instruments, such as saxophones) to really help establish the period feel via jazz in Catch Me If You Can.
* Williams used an orchestra very effectively in the Indiana Jones films. In the first film, he used the aforementioned “harmonic minor” interval a bit in combination with some interesting rhythms during the whole part in Egypt (particularly during his and Marion’s arrival there). He also associated this music with the medallion (which was of Egyptian descent). He also used an orchestra, choir, and nothing but parallel minor chords to form his theme for the Ark of the Covenant (which of course represented an entire culture and period of human history). In The Temple of Doom, he effectively used an orchestra for both an Indian “sound” (for the palace, slave children, village, and the evil Thugee cult) and a great Asian “sound” for Short Round. And, he had some nice Italian-sounding stuff for the early portions of The Last Crusade. Irina Spalko’s theme sounds wonderfully Russian for the new movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
* Williams primarily used an orchestra for Schindler’s List and Munich and achieved an authentic “Jewish” sound for both scores. For the former, he often used a solo violin, and for the latter, he used a solo guitar.
* Basil Poledouris wrote a score with heavy “Russian” influence using an orchestra for The Hunt to Red October, although it certainly didn’t hurt that there was a choir singing in Russian during some parts.
* In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Goldsmith actually created an “ethnic”-sounding musical style for the Klingons at the very beginning. This was, in turn, mimicked by James Horner in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock, returned to by Goldsmith in Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (and briefly alluded to for Worf in a couple TNG movies), and further mimicked by Dennis McCarthy and others in the subsequent TV series (TNG’s “Heart of Glory” is a great example).
* Jerry Goldsmith and his son, Joel Goldsmith, scored Star Trek 8: First Contact and created a nice musical accompaniment to the Borg. They used stuff like metal clanks, percussion, and subtle synths to enhance the “bio-mechanical” nature of the villains.
