I worked on the film score for a movie opening today called Hellboy. Its a sort of fantasy/sci-fi/adventure film filled where a demon is summoned by the Nazi with a little help from Rasputin and the Americans get the demon first and raise it to become an good ol’ American guy. Yes a sweet family film. When it came time to do the music I knew a theremin had to be in this film. Not just for the classic “spooky” feel but also for a feeling of fun and uniqueness. We recorded the score in Marin County California and the badass Robby Virus lives up near there so we were in luck to have him on the sessions. He was AWESOME! Every time you hear the theremin (5 or 6 times in the film, including the end credits) you are hearing single takes. No splicing and dicing with Pro Tools or pitch correction. He came in a blew everyone away. We had an orchestrator on the show who wouldn’t show up to the theremin sessions because he thought it’d be a nightmare, a “cat in a blender is what that will sound like”. Robby blew everyone away. Please see the film this weekend if you get a chance. The better opening weekend it has the better chance for a sequel to a film where the theremin gets a great shot. If you want to hear a sample for Robby’s beautiful playing go to www.marcobeltrami.com and click on the “Music from Hellboy music samples added to samples page” link. The B.P.R.D. (alt mix) cue features a couple of great solos. Listen to that ending section of theremin and string orchestra! Melts my heart everytime. Also a CD is coming out next week of the score and features Robby on a few tracks!
Sweet!
