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I have pretty good ears. For years I wondered what the strange percussion instrument played in the opening credits music of the movie _High Noon_ was. The same part was played by things such as drums in other versions, but the sound was distinctly different. Even the version Tex Ritter released later used a different instrument.
I finally got a CD with the sound track. The pamphlet included had a great deal of information on the movie and its production, including the music. That odd, eerie percussion is actually more interesting than I had imagined.
The Hammond Novachord ( http://www.novachord.com/ ) was the first commercial keyboard synthesizer. Introduced in 1938, its career was cut short by the War. Even today, though, there are fans of the instrument.
So, how did it come to be used in a Western? Dimitri Tiomkin wanted something particular for the title music, and was willing to experiment to get it. Pianist Ray Turner discovered that if he set the switches on the studio Novachord a certain way and struck the keys in a certain way the result was an eerie, percussive sound.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
I finally got a CD with the sound track. The pamphlet included had a great deal of information on the movie and its production, including the music. That odd, eerie percussion is actually more interesting than I had imagined.
The Hammond Novachord ( http://www.novachord.com/ ) was the first commercial keyboard synthesizer. Introduced in 1938, its career was cut short by the War. Even today, though, there are fans of the instrument.
So, how did it come to be used in a Western? Dimitri Tiomkin wanted something particular for the title music, and was willing to experiment to get it. Pianist Ray Turner discovered that if he set the switches on the studio Novachord a certain way and struck the keys in a certain way the result was an eerie, percussive sound.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
