One of my favorite movies is “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” (The title’s really dumb, though. I remember asking people if I’d missed part one and two.) Anyway…it’s an example of how music is truly a universal language. I’ll never forget my admiration for the keyboardist at the Devil’s Tower welcome site (I’ve been there twice now) playing those familiar five notes (if you don’t remember, try G A F F(octave below) C). That’s when all the little UFOs were flying around. Then there’s the awesome entrance of the huge mothership. Just amazing. And she takes control of the music and it’s a fantastic duet between the human’s synthesizer and the mothership. In reality, I think it featured a tuba and an oboe.
As I’ve watched it several times over the years, though, one of my favorite parts doesn’t even involve the UFOs or aliens. It’s when the French scientist and his translator are trying to convince the military officer not to send away Richard Dreyfuss and the other witnesses who had previous encounters that left them with a strange longing to come to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Of course, since Dreyfuss and his friends are not part of the government response team, they have no business there or even the right to know what’s happening. As a final plea, the scientist, through his interpreter, yells to the departing officer, “But these people were invited here!”
I think music is like that. It’s what makes copyright such a ticklish issue. I’m for intellectual property rights mind you, but I think the music existed long before any one of us did. If you can capture it and express it really well, God bless you. Do yourself a favor. Go play one of your favorite pieces on your instrument.
Peace from Sinclair Sound. We sell musical instruments.
