Waltz in the Fourth Dimension - The Sound and Music of Donnie Darko

Waltz in the Fourth Dimension:The Sound and Music of Donnie Darko

This paper's purpose is to explore the use of music and sound in the motion picture Donnie Darko. And although this film is classical, it veers toward formalism in its use of closed framing, surreal special effects, and its subject matter. With that in mind, let's begin with the film's score.

Music

The film's original score was composed and performed by Michael Andrews. In the soundtrack's liner notes, the film's director, Richard Kelly, describes the music as retro-futuristic. He goes on to explain that it is retro because of the use of musical instruments built in the 1960's and 1970's. But it is also futuristic because of its utilization of synthesized sound.

The synthesizer makes even ordinary sounds, like water running or bird calls, seem distorted and strange. This is perfect for a film like Donnie Darko where the everyday and the ordinary are made into extraordinary events. For instance, in the film when the umbilicus or "liquid spears" begin to appear, the composition "Liquid Spear Waltz" is heard under the sound effects (I'll discuss those a little further on in the paper). In the composition we hear a piano, cellos, and human voices.

But there is no traditional singing in this song. Instead the voices begin as a low hum that could be mistaken for machinery running. As the song continues, the voices increase their volume and layer into a minor chord, giving the impression that something is not quite right here. Even the human voice is taken and changed in this film's original music to become not the comforting, soothing sound we'd expect in a waltz, but instead, the voice becomes inhuman, warning us that the future the liquid spears represent is not meant to be seen by us.