[pianotech] Theme to "Seven Pounds"

[Tom Sivak]

List

Has anyone noticed the unusual musical theme for the movie "Seven Pounds"?  (No plot points will be given away here...so read on even if you plan to see the movie.)

The haunting melody of the theme is on piano, and the piano has the unmistakable sound of a loose hammer flange pin on one of the keys.  You know when the center pin walks out one side, so that one side of the hammer flange is loose?  Often the hammer will arc to the strings, nicking it's neighbor, so that it plays two pitches at once?  

Well, the theme is "D4-E4-F#4-A4" and it repeats several times.   First with a D in the bass, then C#, B, A, etc.  Each time the F#4 is played, you can hear the F4 getting nicked along with it, very softly.  It perked my ears up on the first iteration of the theme, but it's so soft in comparison to the F# that I had to listen again to be sure.

I'm not suggesting that the piano used in the recording was in need of repair and no one noticed.   Certainly this was intentional, and it was definitely ear-catching, at least to a piano tuner.   

What I am suggesting, though, is that this was not a grace note played live the by the player who recorded the track.  The volume discrepancy between grace note F and quarter note F# did not seem acoustically correct for a grace note.  I think the F was dubbed in on a second pass, much softer, creating the loose flange pin effect.   

Reading a bio of the composer, Angelo Milli, I learned that he uses unconventional recording and performance techniques, such as playing piano samples in reverse, or bowing a piano string with a violin bow to create an interesting timbre, so it wouldn't be that hard to believe that this effect was created in the studio rather than at the keyboard.

So if you're going to see "Seven Pounds", tune in to the theme and see if you agree with me: either there was an intentionally loose flange pin on the F# or some unconventional recording technique created the effect.

I would highly recommend the movie, above and beyond any interest in the underscoring.

Hope you all have a great Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!

Tom Sivak
Chicago