Last year I made a video about how bagpipes are used as warpipes in How To Train Your Dragon. Like this: Except those aren't bagpipes. And that's not a fiddle either. Or not just a fiddle. But I'll explain that later. I put a lot of research into the video, but I couldn't have known everything because some of the answers just weren't out there. Until last fall when John Powell and Omni-Music Publishing released the official scorebook for the first movie. And the release of the deluxe album included a booklet with the missing pieces of the score's background. So when I started this video I thought it wouldn't have a main focus, that it would just be kind of a followup to the bagpipes video. And then I realized a common thread between all the new information I planned to cover. It's all the surprising cultural influences that shaped the score. Everything from Medieval and Celtic instruments to Icelandic pop music. Even some Middle Eastern. Somehow that got in there. This video covers just what I wanted to highlight, plus a preview of upcoming videos at the end. And since I only know about these instruments through research for this video, I'd recommend checking out my sources for more information. First I want to revisit the question of "Why Bagpipes?," which I don't think I really answered last time. But I have better answers now, anyway. The score booklet from the album says when Powell started writing the score, he based it off of Scandinavian folk music which he describes as being kind of cold and warm at the same time. Almost like the landscape itself with the saunas and ice dips. I don't think he actually got very far before Jeffrey Katzenberg said to him: "Can't you just throw some Enya at it?" Now, Powell knew Enya is Irish, not Scottish. But that comment made him realize he wasn't accounting for where these Vikings actually live. And Celtic music brings a warmth and empathy that he was missing. Now that Scandinavian element works for scenes like this: But I agree they needed that Celtic flair in places like this: So as part of the Celtic angle he added bagpipes as an essential part of the score. And Dean DeBlois wanted distinctive sounds in the score, anyway. Plus the bagpipes and Celtic music allowed Powell to pull from the music of his childhood; the Scottish folk tunes he grew up learning from family. Which is why he believes composing is a matter of taking music from the past, music that's touched the composer, and turning it into something new and original. Another reason for the bagpipes is compromise. He had a problem with one of the themes he wrote, which he calls the Fate Theme. You might know it as this one. It's kind of the closest thing there is to Hiccup having his own theme, since it represents his growth towards choosing his own path as a dragon trainer instead of a dragon killer. Powell wrote the Fate Theme and realized the harmonies wouldn't sound Scottish or Celtic at all. In fact, it sounded more like Middle Eastern and traditional Jewish music than anything. So he threw some Enya at it and used the Celtic sounds as compensation, just to push it in the right direction. And this track has more interesting sounds I'll cover later, but for now let's move on to The Downed Dragon. Because I think it's time to put this to rest. Plenty of videos and articles have said bagpipes are first introduced into the score in this scene. Some have said it's the drone, some have said it's the melody. I thought bagpipes were used for the drone, but it's mainly the hurdy-gurdy, which is a Medieval instrument similar to the bagpipes. Both are designed can basically be a one-man-band by playing both a melody and a drone at the same time. Rob Scallon: "It has very much a bagpipe sound, with the drone string behind it." But in this case it's only playing the drone. Next is the melody, which you'd think is the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle, but it's actually the gadulka, with only the root notes accented by the Hardanger Fiddle. The gadulka is a Bulgarian fiddle descended from Medieval and Byzantine instruments. Apparently they're a big part of Bulgarian music. The gadulka and the Hardanger Fiddle resonate more than a normal violin because they have extra strings called "sympathetic strings" below the regular ones. Also, this part plays later with different orchestration and when you hear the grace notes I think it's a giveaway that it's not a violin. Finally, on top of everything else is an electric guitar, which might seem out of place, but it was already written into Test Drive at this point, so it was already going to be part of the score's DNA. Plus, the guitar is only used in the score to boost the bass instruments, like the hurdy-gurdy. So it never draws too much attention to itself. All together, this unique combination of instruments sounds like this: Coming back to New Tail, this track has one of the most insteresting combinations of instruments in the score. In my other video, I suggested this sound came from bagpipes: But that's not bagpipes either. This time the hurdy-gurdy plays the melody, doubled by something called a yayli tanbur, which is a Turkish long-necked lute played with a bow. It's Turkish, but somehow it's closely related to several Indian instruments. If you know why (somehow) you can let me know in the comments. Also used in this track is the sopilka whistle. The sopilka isn't the only whistle used in the score, but it's really the main one. You'd think the sopilka is Irish, but it's actually Ukrainian. That surprised me until I found out there's actually a very direct connection there. You can also hear some drums in this track. This is how you spell the name, and they're called "dolls," or "doles," or some even say "dolu?" I've looked into it and asked around, and I think it just depends on the region. They're Indian, and India is a big place with a lot of languages. Anyway, dhols are Indian double-sided barrel drums played with sticks. I think they're a standard part of John Powell's percussion kit, and they're some of the main percussion instruments in the score. Finally, several of these instruments appear at the end of this track. First, the hurdy-gurdy drone and the dhols. Then the sopilka starts the melody. And at the end of the melody when Toothless takes off, the dhols REALLY get your attention. I could go on a bit more about this section, but it's time to move on to Forbidden Friendship. Forbidden Friendship is one of the most important tracks in the score. The scene is four minutes with almost no dialogue, motivated by the score. It's the percussion that catches everyone's attention: the slate and glass marimbas. But what inspired that choice of instrument? The answer is it's in the temp. A temp track is a temporary music track placed over a scene while it's in editing. It can help set the tone and pace before the score is written. I should mention temp tracks can cause problems. Studios often don't own the rights to the temp track, and directors sometimes get so attached to it they basically force the composer to plagiarize. Or sometimes they force the composer to repeat something they did before instead of encouraging something new. I should also say requested that they didn't temp the sequels with music from the first, but that may be a video for another day. But in this case, the temp really inspired the cue that was written after it. There are clear similarities, but it's not as copy-and-paste as a lot of scores get. And as far as I know this is the only cue in the series strongly influenced by a temp track. And this temp isn't even from film score. It's another cultural influence that helps the score to stand out, not blend in. Plus, the temp was co-written by someone who wrote an original song for the soundtrack; Jónsi. I've mentioned in another video Dean DeBlois is friends with the Icelandic singer Jónsi, that he directed a documentary for Sigur Rós, Jónsi's band. So Dean DeBlois chose the Sigur Rós song "Odin's Raven Magic" for the temp track. As you can tell from the title, Odin's Raven Magic was inspired by Norse poetry, and it heavily uses marimbas! They almost went with the actual song here because it fits so well, but Powell got them to let him try writing something instead. And you can really hear the similarities from beginning to end! The temp could be why parts of Forbidden Friendship sound almost like pop music, like the hosts of the Art of the Score podcast have pointed out. It's mainly in the strings and the bassline, and then the chord progression toward the end. Coming back to the marimbas, a few months ago I re-scored Forbidden Friendship with You're So Cool from True Romance, just because they both feature marimbas. And then someone told me it's already in the trailer for the first movie. Unless it's a coincidence, this shows marimbas were always meant to be part of the score to the point where they put another marimba track in the trailer. And I think that's influence Jónsi and Sigur Rós had on the soundtrack early on. This is only a fraction of the instruments used in the score, and only some of the exotic sounds John Powell uses in his work, which I've touched on before. So I'd love to make videos about his work on other things like Call of the Wild and Solo: A Star Wars Story. I've also learned more about the themes in the score, like the Fate Theme! So I'm planning a video where I explain them, how they were written, how they work in the story; it's not all what people think! I'm also planning some Indiana Jones videos, because I know a lot about the scores, and more How To Train Your Dragon. (I have a list). So please like and subscribe for more, comment your thoughts, Find me on Twitter and Reddit @FilmScoreMoreYT, check out the subreddit for the How To Train Your Dragon scores (r/HTTYDSoundtracks), and you can find me on Discord as Film Score and More. So thanks for watching, until next time!