Comments on: Bebe Barron, RIP

Bebe Barron, RIP

Chinese Jet Pilot — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:10:12 -0800

Best known for the soundtrack to the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet -- the first full-length feature to use only electronic music -- she and her husband Louis Barron recorded the film's pre-synthesizer "electronic tonalities" with electronic circuits of their own invention. She never scored another feature film, but remained active in the avant-garde music scene.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:17:10 -0800

Forbidden Planet was ahead of its time in so many ways.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:24:58 -0800

Thanks for the post, CJP. Louis and Bebe Barron at last.fm. .

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:39:38 -0800

Forbidden Planet was the epitome of so many things, the soundtrack was way ahead of it's time.

By: jtron

jtron — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:48:50 -0800

By: Greenie

Greenie — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:41 -0800

I had the privilege of meeting Bebe Barron during the mid-'80s while I was researching an article about Forbidden Planet. She was gracious, beautiful, and utterly charming. As I recall, she didn't really want to discuss the soundtrack, preferring to leave it to her ex-husband, Louis, to establish the oral history. But she was adamant that she be recognized as a 50/50 creative partner. Last I heard she was collaborating on music with David Javelosa, a composer and teacher in Los Angeles. RIP Bebe.

By: 2or3whiskeysodas

2or3whiskeysodas — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:04:37 -0800

Well, shit.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:57:16 -0800

Thanks for this; I never knew they worked with John Cage, and the claim that they were ignored by avante-garde music historians for so long is sad. That 2nd-to-last link also does a great job of describing what was so amazing about the Forbidden Planet soundtrack: ...the scoring of Forbidden Planet breaks down the traditional line between music and sound effects since the Barrons' electronic material is used for both. This not only creates a new type of unity in the film sound world, but also allows for a continuum between these two areas that the Barrons exploit in various ways. At some points it's actually impossible to say whether or not what you're hearing is music, sound effect, or both. In doing this, they foreshadowed by decades the now common role of the sound designer in modern film and video.

By: jabberjaw

jabberjaw — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:16:23 -0800

An old related blog post.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:32:18 -0800

By: Unicorn on the cob

Unicorn on the cob — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:38:03 -0800

The sound of sci fi... it blew me away when I was young. .

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:23:09 -0800

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:22:51 -0800

Ah man, she was wonderful. If you don't have it, pick up Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 2 for a wonderful interview with her. She discusses (if I remember correctly) how they cut out most of the extremely Freudian bits from the movie--no pun intended--as well as how they created the sounds. Also, and forgive me if it's linked and I didn't see it, here's an NPR piece about the Barrons. Years ago, pre-internet and its easily available bootlegs, I had a two track cassette recorder that I hooked up to my VCR and recorded every piece of music from Forbidden Planet (as well as some of the best dialogue bits). I played that tape until it finally broke in the car. Then I made another one. I think I went through about four of them. Thanks for all the wonderful music, Bebe, and to all of those that collaborated with her. At the very least you lived a full and creative life and for that I will adore you. RIP.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:13:04 -0800

When I finally got around to watching Forbidden Planet, one thing that amazed me was how many of the sounds were identical or similar to Star Trek (original) sounds.

By: sonascope

sonascope — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:06:25 -0800

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:37:38 -0800

♪

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:11:34 -0800

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:12:53 -0800

And, because someone has to... "Id, id, id, id, id!"