A soundtrack is commonly known as a musical score which underlies visual aspects of a film and what it aids. On the other hand, for French film theorist and musical composer Michel Chion, a soundtrack is all sounds that make a film. This includes music, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, dialogue and Foley.

The film Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a cornerstone for horror cinema. Hitchcock is considered to be one of the greatest directors in cinematic history. His film Psycho received mixed reviews, however, it soon became known as one of Hitchcock’s best films and was praised as an excellent work of cinematic art.

Psycho is composed by American composer Bernard Herrmann, who became most recognisable for the music in Psycho. In the opening credits of Psycho, we hear the first piece of music (Prelude: 2:11), consisting solely of a string section. The instrumentation, at around 155bpm, is very swiftly paced but also has quick, short notes which connotates a feeling of nervous pressure. The music helps to set the tone of the narrative which instantly causes the audience to become aware of danger from the very beginning, before any dialogue or visuals.

In the opening scene, the music (The City: 1:26) sounds more romantic. We see an establishing shot over the city of Arizona, before being introduced to the first two main characters. The composition, although it sounds more relaxed and romantic, still insinuates a similar feeling as to the feeling in the opening credits. This is because throughout the whole film the strings are the only instruments used as the entire soundtrack was composed only for the string section to give it a stripped-down feeling. Herrmann said he wanted to use only strings to match the black and white colour palette used in the film.

The next most intense music we hear (The Patrol Car: 1:10) in the film is once Marion has stolen the money and is about to leave town, before seeing her boss. The score, like the opening scene, is swiftly paced but consists of more high harmonic tones. This quick change into intense music cues a sudden realisation to the fact there is no turning back. The score continues to play as we see her driving, although we don’t physically see her full journey, the music suggests the journey has been long and intense as this situation has been weighing on Marion. According to French theorist, Michel Chion, this is called Spatiotemporal Turntable. He describes “Music can aid characters in crossing great distances and long stretches of time almost instantaneously.(p.81)” When music is used within cinema as a Spatiotemporal Turntable, it seems to have an ability to almost transcend the boundaries of space and time and connect two different points in a linear story without having to physically see the transition.

At the end of Marion’s journey, she arrives at Bates Motel. At this point the music cuts off which suggests to the audience that the danger has ended, and this is now a safe place. The music (The Hotel Room: 2:04) doesn’t return until after Norman leaves Marion, who is looking for a place to hide the stolen money. Each time the money appears the music fades back in. There is a lot of emphasis on the money as Hitchcock has tried to draw the audience’s attention away from Norman, who is the real danger. In the first act, all the attention is draw to the money using audio and visual cues. However, the money has no impact on the story and what is going to happen.

As the audience associates a music cue with the money, when there is no soundtrack the audience assume that nothing bad is going to happen. Just before the famous shower scene in which Marion meets her untimely death, we see Marion calculating how much money she has left. Underlying this scene is a solemn, sustained string section which is then faded out. Once the music fades, Marion makes her way to the shower, which has no soundtrack. Originally, Hitchcock didn’t want any music for the shower murder. According to Herrmann, Hitchcock wasn’t a big fan of Psycho and wanted to make it into an hour-long TV show. Herrmann had many ideas for the score of the film, but Hitchcock told Hermann “do what you like, but only one thing I ask of you: please write nothing for the murder in the shower. That must be without music.’ (Cameron, 1980:132; Smith,1991:237; Hayward 2006:19)” Hermann did eventually write a score for the scene, which became one of the most famous audio tracks in the film.

In the shower scene, as there is no music to imply danger, the audience let their guard down and assume she is safe. As Marion is taking a shower, the only thing we hear is diegetic sound which maintains the ambience. Diegetic sound is sound that comes from a source within the film, such as a radio. Suddenly, the shower curtain is torn aside, and a high pitched, loud screeching string section erupts (The Murder: 1:03). Although we don’t see the knife pierce Marion, along with editing, the music helps piece together what is happening. For the score in the opening credits and in the shower scene, Hermann has used tritones to foreshadow the danger. A tritone is an interval made up of three tones, or six semitones. The tritone is historically know as “Devil’s interval” which links with the evil and horror within Psycho. Essentially Hermann was trying to warn the audience of the danger that was going to happen from the very beginning, and by using related notes in the score, the audience tie together the relation to the music and danger.

After the dreadful shower murder, the music fades out once again. We then see one long continuous shot, consisting of the shower, Marion, and then over to the money hidden in the newspaper. As there is usually a score whenever the money appears, the fact that there is no longer a score, implies to the audience the danger was never the money in the first place and they have been tricked so they don’t focus on the real danger. The camera then moves onto a low angle shot of Norman’s Mother’s house, which suggests this is the new host that the audience now see as a danger.

Acousmetre is a character that is heard on-screen without being physically represented. Acousmatic characters enable a layer of mystery to a film as the spectator only has a voice to help identify them. Once the camera lands on the house, we hear what Chion describes as ‘active off-screen sound’ between Norman and his mother. This is where the audience actively questions what is happening on-screen, and they can only wonder what the character physically looks like. Norman’s Mother is the perfect example of how an acousmatic character can add mystery, suspense and even a shock factor to a film as when the source of Mother’s voice is finally revealed, as we discover that she was in fact Norman all along.

From the shot of the Mother’s house, we see Norman running down to Marion’s room. For a short time, there is another piece of music using tritones. Here Hitchcock is trying to warn the audience of danger once again, however, the music then cuts as Norman is in shock to see Marion’s dead body. This makes the audience instantly sympathise with Norman as he begins cleaning up the mess.

Over the next few sequences of events, Lila (Marion’s sister) and Sam (Marion’s partner) both become increasingly concerned of Marion’s whereabouts, therefore, they call in detective Milton. When Milton first arrives on the scene Hitchcock incorporates ‘passive off-screen sound,’ which Michel Chion defines as “sound which creates an atmosphere that envelops and stabilises the image, without in any way inspiring us to look elsewhere or to anticipate seeing it’s source. (p.85)” A great example of passive off-screen sound is when Milton enters the building, we hear the traffic outside before the door closes again. This helps to reinforce the locale of the setting without distracting from the narrative.

Later, the three characters have figured where Marion is, Milton sets off to Bates Motel. Once Milton arrives, he meets Norman, to which this is no soundtrack. Referring to the money, its clear the spectators associate a music cue with danger or anticipation. As there is no score here the audience assume Norman is not the antagonist and in fact his mother is, which is insinuated as we see a point of view from Milton as he looks at Mother’s house, as a soundtrack underlies the shot. Hitchcock is manipulating the audience and tricking them, for a second time, and pulling the focus away from Norman.

Feeling quite suspicious over Norman’s Mother, Milton decides to investigate the house. When we first see Milton enter the house, we hear an ominous, yet gentle string section (The Stairs: 2:58) which triggers suspense and creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience. While this doesn’t connotate a feeling of any potential danger, it creates a sceptical ambience in the scene to make the audience weary. As Milton enters the house, the score slowly ascends to build the atmosphere, before sustaining on one single, noticeable note for a few seconds. We then see a door crack open before the camera moves to an unsettling birds eye view, in which the same score (The Knife: 00:30) as the shower scene appears, using the screeching of violins to create a bone chilling feel. At this point the mother walks out with a knife, before committing a second murder. This repeat in music notifies the audience that this score is related to danger. Both Marion and Milton did not see the danger coming, which the music represents as it starts instantly as the danger is about to happen with a screeching, sinister sound. It’s not until it’s too late that we notice the petrified look on their faces which insinuates they were oblivious.

After having no luck trying to contact Milton, Lila and Sam head out to Bates Motel to see if they can find Marion themselves. Once in Norman’s house, Lila and Sam separate to look for Marion quicker. The score fades back in (The Cellar: 1:24) but this time, the music has fast paced ascending and descending scales which begin to warn the audience of a threat. The music continues as Lila finds the basement door, to which the music slows and becomes quiet, focusing more on a lower set of octaves. Lila receives a terrible fright as she makes the discovery of Norman’s dead mother. There is no score in this section, until the same score as the shower and the stairs scene begins for one last time (The Discovery: 00:20) as Norman runs towards Lila with a knife, dressed as his mother. At this point, Hitchcock is revealing to the audience that the music has been related to Norman being the danger the whole time. Hitchcock has fooled and manipulated the audience in diverting their attention away from Norman, whilst also hinting at the danger that’s right before their eyes.

The soundtrack for Psycho is critical for building tension and setting the narrative for this story line. Although, the soundtrack does not make the movie great on its own. With careful editing, thoughtful cinematography and a story that works well, Hitchcock was able to make a film that consisted of a narrative with suspense and a plot twist, combined with a soundtrack to pull it all together.