This week’s challenge is to create a jam that evokes the suspense, psychological unease, and dramatic intensity characteristic of Bernard Herrmann's film scores (e.g., Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Taxi Driver).
Bernard Herrmann's film scores are known for their:
• Dissonance and Chromaticism: While essentially tonal, his music uses heavy chromaticism (movement in half-steps) and dissonance to generate anxiety and unease. He frequently employed the tritone (the "Devil's interval") and chords that resist traditional resolution, such as half-diminished or dominant-seventh chords, keeping the listener perpetually on edge.
• Ostinati and Motifs: Instead of long, lyrical themes, he built cues around short, repetitive musical cells or motifs (ostinati). This repetition gives the music an urgent, hypnotic, and agitated quality, perfectly reflecting the characters' obsession or paranoia (e.g., Vertigo).
Deep Register Focus: He often favored darker orchestral colors, utilising instruments in their lower registers, such as bass clarinets, contrabassoons, and low brass, which contributes to the brooding, ominous atmosphere.
Usual rules apply:
You have from NOW until 19.59pm UK time Monday to create a jam
Keep your jam under 5 mins
Jams will be played on the Hardware Jams Channel at 20.00 UK time on Monday
Don't use copyrighted visual or audio material (for example, just sticking a techno beat under the Psycho theme1)
Support each other
HAVE FUN!
Hardware Jams
This week’s challenge is to create a jam that evokes the suspense, psychological unease, and dramatic intensity characteristic of Bernard Herrmann's film scores (e.g., Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Taxi Driver).
Bernard Herrmann's film scores are known for their:
• Dissonance and Chromaticism: While essentially tonal, his music uses heavy chromaticism (movement in half-steps) and dissonance to generate anxiety and unease. He frequently employed the tritone (the "Devil's interval") and chords that resist traditional resolution, such as half-diminished or dominant-seventh chords, keeping the listener perpetually on edge.
• Ostinati and Motifs: Instead of long, lyrical themes, he built cues around short, repetitive musical cells or motifs (ostinati). This repetition gives the music an urgent, hypnotic, and agitated quality, perfectly reflecting the characters' obsession or paranoia (e.g., Vertigo).
Deep Register Focus: He often favored darker orchestral colors, utilising instruments in their lower registers, such as bass clarinets, contrabassoons, and low brass, which contributes to the brooding, ominous atmosphere.
Usual rules apply:
You have from NOW until 19.59pm UK time Monday to create a jam
Keep your jam under 5 mins
Upload your jam (ideally to YouTube) and complete the Google Form here
forms.gle/iPBeWFsd6j6T4zG69
Jams will be played on the Hardware Jams Channel at 20.00 UK time on Monday
Don't use copyrighted visual or audio material (for example, just sticking a techno beat under the Psycho theme1)
Support each other
HAVE FUN!
4 days ago | [YT] | 19