There’s probably a certain sound you have in mind when you imagine what a Hollywood film score sounds like. It’s most likely sweeping and orchestral and bathed in the kind of romanticism perfectly attuned to whisk you away to whatever world you may be watching onscreen. However, there’s also another kind of film score that had a sizable influence in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has also seen a revival in the last decade or so.
These are the kind of scores propelled by the synthesizer, an electronic instrument developed in the mid-20th century and through technical innovations became more and more accessible to rock and pop musicians (as well as film composers) throughout the decades. It’s an instrument that, when it was first introduced into film scores, sounded like something from the future, but due to the technology-obsessed nature of our current reality, now sounds completely appropriate for cinema’s present.
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Perhaps the most crucial early innovator of the synthesizer wasRobert Moog, whose Moog synthesizer became the first commercially available version of the electronic instrument, debuting in 1964. It was then brought into the mainstream in 1968 byWendy Carlos, whoseSwitched-On Bachwas a best-selling album that combined the futuristic sounds of the synthesizer with the very traditional classical compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach. Carlos worked closely with Robert Moog on the project (along with musicianRachel Elkind) to meticulously create these novel sounds, though composing entire arrangements with this still-developing equipment was far from a smooth process, with the album taking an estimated 1000 hours to record.
Due to the album’s success, Carlos was hired by directorStanley Kubrickto score his controversial tale of dystopian hooliganism,A Clockwork Orange. Much likeSwitched-On Bach, it saw Carlos adapting classical compositions to the spacey sounds of the synthesizer, functioning as an extension of the twisted mindset of its protagonist, Alex DeLarge, an avowed Beethoven fan. These electronic interpretations work wonderfully for the movie, not only because the film takes place in a not-so-distant future where you could imagine such an instrument being the norm, but, also, it creates something truly disorienting. As we hear these familiar songs transmuted through the fuzzed-out artifice of a synthesizer, it makes everything feel not quite right. It’s hard to imagine that the film would be quite as jarring if it wasn’t for the odd mix of the film’s divisive subject matter and its strange-yet-refined soundtrack.
While it’s difficult to definitively tieA Clockwork Orangeto either the sci-fi or horror genre, the synthesizer still managed to become a mainstay of both genres due to the film’s influence. Concurrently, the synthesizer was also starting to become a mainstay of many progressive rock bands throughout the early ‘70s. This led Italian horror directorDario Argentoto hire the newly renamed prog-rock groupGoblinto score 1975’sDeep Red. While featuring plenty of synths, the soundtrack is uniquely funky for a horror score, though there is certainly something sinister lurking beneath its tight grooves. Goblin would also go on to score Argento’s most acclaimed film, 1977’sSuspiria, leaning even more into their spookier tendencies with this tale about a coven of witches. The band’s score for 1978’sDawn of The Deadis a little more on the brooding side, evoking the lurching nature of the zombies at the heart of director George A. Romero’s triumphant return to the genre he helped canonize.
Around the same time,John Carpenterwas also starting to explore his affinity for the synthesizer in his early films from the mid-to-late-‘70s. Carpenter never professed to be in love with the synthesizer, seeing it as more a means to an end, since his movies were usually made on a tight budget,stating"It was an ability for one person - me - who’s cheap, to sound bigger than he actually is". He first fell into scoring his own movies while directing his 1974 debut,Dark Star, just because the film was more or less a student film made on a shoe-string budget and Carpenter figured it would be cheaper to score the film himself. He continued this trend of cutting costs by providing a memorably synth-y score forAssault On Precinct 13as well as the chilling mix of traditional piano and synths that make up the iconic theme to 1978’sHalloween.
Despite Carpenter’s tendency towrite off his own scoresas just a way of saving money, you can’t deny that the man has a gift for simple-but-memorable synth lines. ThoughHalloweenstill stands as an iconic contribution to music in horror movies, his scores in other genre films likeEscape From New YorkandBig Trouble In Little Chinaare nearly as memorable. Carpenter would have a rocky relationship with the movie studios over the course of the ‘80s, as his films would only occasionally be box office hits despite their ubiquitous cult status now. When occasionally getting to work on higher-budget movies, Carpenter felt secure enough to hire outside composers, as he did forThe Thing, working with the greatEnnio Morricone. Yet in the end, Morricone provided a score that sounds very much like one of Carpenter’s own, which considering Morricone’s brilliance, speaks volumes to what a knack the director had for what he often treated as a secondary profession.
There’s a repetitive simplicity to Carpenter’s scores that you could also use to describe the work of another one of the more prolific synth-based film scorers of the ‘70s and ‘80s:Tangerine Dream. Starting out as members of the krautrock movement of the early ‘70s, the band moved more into electronic music after getting a hold of a Moog and their work would continue to embrace a cold but arresting use of pulsating synthesizers. They were first tapped to create a film soundtrack for 1977’sSorcererafter directorWilliam Friedkinsaw one of their shows in Germany and thought they were on the cutting edge of this new kind of music. Cutting edge or not, the filmSorcererwasn’t exactly what audiences were looking for at the time, as the film was a notorious box office disappointment that wasn’t helped by the competing success ofStar Wars.
DespiteSorcerer’s disappointing reception, it was still a great calling card for Tangerine Dream, since they were tapped to score other films such asMichael Mann’s moody crime-noir,Thief, andRidley Scott’s fantasy epic,Legend. The group would continue to score a slew of other mainstream films throughout the ‘80s, including 1983’sRisky Businessand 1987’sNear Dark. You could say by this point, the band’s music wasn’t nearly as radical as it was in the mid-to-late ‘70s, as the combined work of these early innovators had made the synth score as common as an orchestral one. Additionally, the synthesizer was also dominating the Billboard charts in nearly every genre, from the dance-pop ofMadonnato the R&B/funk ofPrincetoBruce Springsteen’s heartland rock. There were even a few synth-laden songs that initially appeared on film soundtracks that also became huge hits, such asRay Parker Jr.’s theme fromGhostbustersorHarold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F” from theBeverly Hills CopSoundtrack.
As commonplace as synth film scores were starting to become by the ‘80s, the genre was still capable of something truly singular and mesmerizing. Considering some of the other musicians that have been covered, it’s unsurprising that Greek composerVangelisspent much of the ‘70s dabbling in prog-rock and his own electronic spin on classical music. His first foray into film scoring was 1981’sChariots of Fire, which despite being an odd choice for an early 20th century period piece, won Vangelis an Oscar for Best Original Score while the movie’s title song became a hit single that is now synonymous with athletic achievement. However, Vangelis’s crowning achievement as a film composer came one year afterChariots, when he was hired by Ridley Scott to compose the music forBlade Runner.
It’s probably fair to say that Vangelis’sscore forBlade Runneris the crowning achievement of electronic film scores as a whole since, in 2019,Pitchforkdeclared it to bethe greatest film score of all time. This feels completely earned, since not only is the score otherworldly and gorgeous, but it’s also hard to imagine this extremely influential sci-fi film being nearly as great without it. The appeal ofBlade Runnerand why it has remained so rewatchable over the years (despite audiences being initially baffled by it) is that it cultivates a vibe like no other. While plenty of this vibe is due to the neon-lit rain-drenched imagery and the film’s cyberpunk set design and art direction, it’s all completely sealed by Vangelis’s wispy, ethereal score.
For all the highs that the synth-driven score reached in the 1980s, by the time the ‘90s rolled around, this type of score started to feel a little oversaturated and played out. So overall, movies saw a renewed loyalty to the traditional orchestral score in the more big-budget blockbusters of the ‘90s and ‘00s, while soundtracks consisting of classic hits also became more prominent, whether they were the obscure 45s ofQuentin Tarantino’s early films or the boomer-centric oldies ofForrest Gump. However, by the late ‘00s, the retro appeal of the synthesizer was starting to make a comeback in indie rock and mainstream pop music, in many cases due to the influence of French electronic duoDaft Punk. So it’s fitting that Daft Punk would be one of the musicians to lead a newfound interest in electronic-leaning, synth-heavy music scores at the dawn of the 2010s.
It also feels fitting that Daft Punk’s score for 2010’sTRON: Legacywas key in bringing back the synthesizer in film scores when it’s very much indebted to the original score forTRON, which was done by the genre’s originator, Wendy Carlos. ThoughTRON: Legacyitself was a bit of a bust critically and commercially despite being hyped up as one of that year’s big blockbusters, its soundtrack reached the Top 10 of the Billboard charts. It also coincided with the release ofThe Social Networkthat same year, whose singular electronic score establishedNine Inch NailsfrontmanTrent Reznorand his composing partner,Atticus Ross, as an unlikely film scoring powerhouse. Another film that would firmly entrench the appeal of ‘80s-inspired synths in film was 2011’sDrive, which mixed modern retro-inspired pop songs withCliff Martinez’s atmospheric synth score.
However, this time around, there was a broader depth of how you could use an electronic score. You could do something atmospheric that blurs the line between film score and sound design, such asMica Levi’s chilling score forUnder The Skin, or something more indebted to the retro-futuristic sounds of the ‘80s likeOneohtrix Point Never’s scores for the Safdie Brothers filmsGood TimeandUncut Gems. In the latter vein, you have maybe the most iconic synth score in recent years in the Netflix seriesStranger Things, whose simplistic synth-heavy soundtrack is clearly an homage to the scores of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream.
Also, much likeTRON: Legacy’s mix of electronic and orchestral music, you have the music ofHans Zimmer, who has become one of the most recognizable film composers of the last twenty years and whose scores often combine electronic elements with cacophonous symphonic scores. Zimmer actually began his career at the tail end of the initial synth-score boom, earning an Oscar nomination for his spritely score for 1988’sRain Man. However, he’s continued to go back and forth between more traditionally orchestral and electronic scores, while even reappropriating the work of Vangelis by scoringBlade Runner 2049. It illustrates that the appeal of these things is always cyclical, as just like a repeating synth line playing the same notes over and over again, even if certain sounds start to seem repetitive, they’ll eventually sound new again.
