Word: used
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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However, despite a historical background of blustering and banging, the modern timpani is an intensely subtle instrument. Depending on the music being played, a timpanist will use from two to five drums, each a different size and in a different register. Each individual timpani can be tuned up or down during the actual performance, so the percussionist actually has a significant melodic range. Formerly, this tuning was done by carefully twisting the screws holding down the drumhead but most timpanis today are constructed to be tuned with a pedal. This is quicker and allows one to tune two timpanis...
...Because the timpani is often so dramatic an element, composers tend to use it sparingly. It's not unusual for Beaver and Ganksheim to sit counting off seventy measures of silence. This doesn't seem to bother them, however. They feel that this downtime helps foster a healthy, laid-back community of percussionists. And of course, if they get hungry they can always cook up a delicious ragout...
...flygirls aren't the Spice Girls, who are they? The Christian tradition on which Jesus Christ Superstar is based (in theory, at least) makes use of the via negativa to define who God is, outlining everything He isn't (e.g., "God is not mortal") and implying that He is everything else. A similar tactic works for the flygirls. They're not the Supremes, exactly, although in some scenes they do alternate their backflips with do-wop backup harmonies. They're not all TLC, despite their crazysexycool attitude and hip-hop flava (they describe their dance style...
...Animation also enables Miyazaki to use an incredibly large cast, including a forest full of spirits that bear a remarkable resemblance to the ubiquitous slanty-eyed alien, but whose chubby cuteness is endearing. Sweeping vistas of mountains, forested and deforested, are perfectly rendered, making it easy to forget that they were drawn. In the hands of a director as talented as Miyazaki animation can create a vivid dream world that engages the viewer completely...
...Unfortunately, the use of famous voices to attract general audiences in America degrades the brilliance of what is, on its own, a wonderful film, and interferes with the creation of a captivating fantasy. Several of the vocal performances are wonderful, such as Billy Crudup as Ashitaka and Gillian Anderson as Moro the Wolf Goddess. Crudup is entirely believable, sounding in turn appropriately brave, vulnerable, and kind. Gillian Anderson's voice is altered here, designed to sound more godlike (the effect succeeds). Her growling tones are menacing and eerie, and her Moro is as intelligently complex as many of the human...