Post 9

When trying to create the soundscape for avatar, the creators tried to incorporate the music from the na'vi with the music of the human world. There are many parts in the movie in which the music will be mixed since the movie is about the interaction and mixing of the two races: human and na'vi. But there are also times when it is very clearly na'vi and other times when it's clearly 'human'.

The parts that sound like the na'vi culture are parts in which there isn't that much of a melody. There are sounds of traditional drums, like hand drums and more rhythm with less melody. There are also voices chanting in the na'vi language. The chanting is what sings the melody most of the time. It's usually more quiet and there are less instruments during these parts. There may be a flute that plays with the voices and drums.In trying to create the "outworldly" sound, the drumming was pretty genius, I have to admit. Since the language of the na'vi has stops in the sound it went really well with the drumming. Also, the na'vi lived in trees. Drums would be used as communication and calls. The timbre of the voices is also strange. It doesn't sound like anything from the cultures currently so it sounds "outworldly".

The parts that sound like 'regular' music are the portions that use modern instruments: orchestra instruments in this case. It all just sounds very normal and familiar to your ears. Those are the parts that are the 'human' portions. There is usually no singing for these parts. In the movie, these parts are played during the portions of the film that do not involve the na'vi, which is only a small portion since the film is pretty much all about them. In general, this part of the music is louder and more grand than the 'na'vi' parts but there are quiet parts. It has a more..sinister feel to it.

In much of soundtrack has mixed 'na'vi' and 'human' music. So you have the singing and the drumming and the orchestra all going at once. Or you have the orchestra quiet and a singer singing in a strange timbre with a simple melody. Or you could have he orchestra playing and singing with a little bit more complex melody. There are parts where the singer is just singing sounds and no words. In these parts, her voice was probably modified to have a very open sound, like she was singing and her voice would go on forever. This also contributes the "outworldly" feel along with the fact that the melody she is singing is very simple and she is not singing any words. Her voice is very calming while the accompaniment that comes later (the 'human' portion) seems so "rough" in a sense, hitting your ears in an intruding manner of sorts.