#33: Elementary, My Dear Watson
If you’re a film composer, one of the most important parts of your job is to evoke a certain mood, which you do not only through your writing but also through decisions relating to instrumentation. Want something to sound futuristic? Use electronic instruments, like synthesizers and theremins. Want a dream, angelic sound? Try strings and harps.
And if you’re writing the score for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films—films that portray the famous detective as a bit grittier and more physical than many of his more cerebral potrayals—you use a broken piano to evoke the sound of being in a pub. That choice helped really evoke the setting of Victorian England, particularly the less savory parts of London.