NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER The way many great relationships get started, Dylan and I were introduced through a mutual friend. I was excited when I first saw the final cut of "The Letter". Relating to the movie wasn't difficult since I have been dumped many times in my life, and I realized this movie would require a lot from the composer, including the influence of my sad personal experiences. It seemed I was already partially qualified for the job. The rest of my background helped as well. I studied violin and conducting at Butler University and have had some wonderful musical experiences around the country including teaching, performing, and conducting. I'd always wanted an opportunity to compose for a project like this, and this seemed to be a perfect fit. The nature of the movie excited me - silent, black and white implied a stark and involved score. The main melody on which the score is based came from the idea that the music should be amorphous and without a semblance of real time; influenced by the confusion of the main character and his movement non-chronologically through flashbacks and delusions. The black and white made me think the color of the instrumentation, as well as tonality needed to reflect the visual character. So I decided that one instrument, the violin, would be used to create the wash of sounds throughout the movie, and one main tonality, e natural minor, would provide the tonal center. I wanted to explore a few concepts of counterpoint that I'd developed through my undergraduate studies; counterpoint that didn't involve notes moving with each other in time, but rather notes being rhythmically displaced - never quite lining up with any perceived tempo. This allowed the ability of the music to flow with the action of the movie; lining up quite nicely with the events as they happened on screen. It gave it an improvised quality that matched the quality of the main character's thoughts. The other, more rhythmic moments throughout were based on confusing measure lengths, such as 23 beats per measure. This gave the music a strong rhythmic, yet awkward feel that might lead one to want to hum along at some point, but never quite succeed due to the confusing rhythmic patterns. I wanted the music to sound original as well as be able to stand on its own. The recording of the music was a total experience in itself. Perched on the upstairs hallway of my home, many sleepless nights and days were spent fighting the software I was entirely unfamiliar with using for music recording and editing, as well as fighting the sounds of cicadas and crickets as they chirped away the hot summer nights and days. I had to resort to hanging mattresses over the windows and on the walls to attempt to reduce the sounds of insects and cars. There were plenty of moments of cursing, ranting, and violent hair-pulling that occurred off the air as large delivery trucks, Abram tanks, and 747's taxied by the adjacent streets of my home in what I thought was a residential area Indianapolis. All in all, it was a marvelous time for me, and a wonderful experience that I hope to duplicate again with the same group of talented guys and girls. They have the drive to accomplish anything, and I truly hope to be a part of their continued success. Bravo everyone! Dean Williams January 12th 2003