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John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth · John Carpenter is an American film director who often provides his films with music himself, mostly with synthesizers. Alan Howarth is an American composer and sound designer from Cleveland, Ohio. Howarth played in local rock bands and opened for groups such as The Who and Cream. From 1976 he provided synthesizer support to the fusion band Weather Report, which took him to Los Angeles. In 1980 came his breakthrough when his music was used for a trailer for a Star Trek film. He then worked on the next five Star Trek films.
Music and breakthrough
Carpenter and Howarth worked together on Escape from New York (1981), Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Christine, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness and They Live, among others. The Main Title of Escape from New York from 1981 belongs to that work. Howarth also did sound design for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist and Total Recall, among others. His team won two Academy Awards for sound effects, for The Hunt for Red October and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He also performs his film music live to film clips.
Influence
The music of this duo is typical of the 1980s: a cold, repeating synthesizer pattern, a sober melody and a menacing bass, made with few resources. The style proved highly influential and returned in later electronic pop music, synthwave and film music. It shows how few notes are enough to build tension.
Listening
Main Title · John Carpenter & Alan Howarth, 1981