Chapter 10
Music, Mimesis, Memory
Introduction: Traveling Backward in Time
When I first started designing sound at Michigan State University, I apparently raised enough of a ruckus that people wanted me to come to their classes and explain what I was doing. That, of course, would be difficult, because I really didn’t have a clue. But I found an old tape in the sound closet that taught me a lot about how music works in the theatre. It contained recorded scenes from Elia Kazan’s Death of a Salesman. More importantly, it featured Alex North’s provocative score. The play opens with a haunting flute line underscoring Willy’s return from one of his many trips. Immediately we make a connection between the haunting flute line and Willy. We already feel ...
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