Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl (soundtrack) - Orchestration

Orchestration

For the most part, The Curse of the Black Pearl features simple orchestration. Counterpoint is rare; most of the louder music consists of melody, simple harmony, and rhythmic figures in the low brass and low strings. Sampled drum beats including tom-toms and various cymbals are used ubiquitously in such sections. A very low, rumbling bass line was also introduced into the mix to reinforce the cello and double basses. Quieter sections tend to rely either on the string section or on sound effects. Pan flute, possibly synthesized or sampled, and claves can be heard repeatedly in the eerier cues.

One of the defining characteristics of this score's sound is the use of horn for melody. Nearly all of the score's louder sections feature the horns on the melody, frequently doubled by various string instruments.