Device Lexicon: Part 4 - Woodwind Dyads (feat. Finding Nemo)

Having a woodwind instrument play a solo melody is a very common device (if you even want to call it like that) in orchestration. Similarly, woodwind chords are very common. However, having two woodwinds play dyads (= two different notes at the same time) is not that common but can create a very specific sound.

Even moreso, if these dyads add a new dimension to the underlaying harmony by introducing upper structure tension notes to it. Thomas Newman's musical vocabulary is extremely defined through characteristic devices that he keeps using and that define his sound. One of these devices are woodwind dyads.

Today, I want to have a look at this cue from his score for FINDING NEMO.

The excerpt above starts with the string chord entrance at 0:20.

The passage is relatively simple, yet there are some interesting things to observe here. Harmonically, we are in a clear C minor world. Newman keeps moving in diatonic chords between Cm, Bb, Ab and Fm. Only in bar 13 he enters an A natural into the chord with the F7 harmony which is borrowed from the parallel major. Quite interesting with the string chords is the very often parallel motion. When he moves between Cm and Bb all voices move parallel and most of them keep moving like that also in the later progression. This is a typical Thomas Newman device. Also, the low register open voicing in the strings is very common for him. The string chords on their own form relatively simple chords, mostly only triads.

The Oboes however play dyads on top, to be more specific they play thirds. These often seemingly don't belong to the harmony. Most prominent is the d and f over the Cm harmony below. They extend the very basic Cm triad from the strings into a quite rich harmony by adding the ninth and 11th to the chord. Even more interesting is the "resolution" in bar 3 where the Oboes go to a C and Eb while the harmony switches to a Bb triad. The clash between the D from the Bb harmony and the Eb in the Oboes is usually a "no go" (third vs. fourth) but in some cases works really well and adds spice to the harmony. Also, it sounds just very briefly for the length of an eighth note which further diminishes a noticable clash.

Another quite interesting moment is the downbeat of 8 where the d in the Oboe adds the 13 to the Fm9 harmony.

It's quite interesting to play through this passage with only the higher Oboe line as a "traditional" solo which would make it way trickier to not feel this line as if it didn't belong to the harmony. The lower third adds a stability and harmonic justification to that line which makes it way more agreeable for our ear. In this case we could maybe even go as far and say that there are small moments of bitonality with the Oboes and Strings being registrally and texturally so far apart that we easily perceive them as two separate elements.