We have reached over halfway through the 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-series! Today's episode (which is episode 3) I will be speaking to an amazing sound designer and a musicologist (yes that's a real job) to delve into the delights of the very spectacular sound design involved in the greatest sci-fi film of all time*.
As always, there are spoilers ahead! In addition to ones about 2001: A Space Odyssey there are light to medium spoilers for Odyssey (2026) and Paths of Glory (1957)
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A few notes from the conversation:
• Foley Sound Effects were named after Jack Foley who pioneered recording everyday sounds for the use in films in post-production all the way back in the late 1920s when sound was all brand new and shiny. (In film of course, although there is no evidence to suggest the whole world was absolutely silent before he came along. How could we ever know?)
• Midge mentions the Moog synthesiser which had actually been invented in 1964 but had not proliferated until Wendy Carlos released Switched on Bach in October 1968.
• I seem to have failed to mention the Stargate sequence when talking about dissonance and micropolyphony but the effects are in the background and if you watch the video you'll see it. Apologies.
I am so lucky to have two amazing guests to break down the sound of the film.
Midge Costin is Professor Emeritus of Cinematic Arts at USC and a retired Hollywood sound designer of multiple Blockbuster films. She is also produced & directed the award winning, and very fantastic, feature documentary, Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound. (Honestly this is a very inspirational and engaging documentary and I would highly recommend it!)
Christine Gengaro is a professor of music at Los Angeles City College, she has a PhD in Musicology and is author of the book Listening to Stanley Kubrick: The Music in His Films.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:58 Sound in Cinema
07:59 2001: Before the Dawn of Man
12:21 Also Sprach Zarathustra
18:11 Micropolyphony and what it does
22:18 Silence in Spaaaaace!
26:08 Breathing (in Spaaaaace!)
27:58 POV sound
29:54 HAL
31:42 Cultural context of the cold cosmonaut
34:25 The choice of old-fashioned music
41:55 The twee nature of Waltzes
44:51 Ligeti's lawsuit
48:33 Bookends
53:09 Legacy
56:49 Recommendations
Recommendations
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
Gravity (2013)
Interstellar (2014)
Kubrick: An Odyssey by Robert P Kolker and Nathan Abrams
THE NEXT EPISODE!
The next episode we will be discussing the man behind the movie! Kubrick experts Nathan Abrams and Rodney F Hill will grace us with their wonderful brains! IN the meantime you can watch Night of the Living Dead (1968) as we will be heading for a zombie flavoured detour after the mini-series is over.
*Almost