(Information
on Herrmann provided by Steven Smith)
Obviously, Bernard Herrmann's job title for this film had to change from Composer to Sound Consultant since there was no orchestral score used in The Birds. Herrmann acted as an advisor to Remi Gassmann, an avant-garde composer, whose Trautonium electronically generated simulated bird sounds, like squawks, and wings flapping. Herrmann and Hitchcock agreed that "the realistic sound of bird cries would create a musiclike rhythm and pace. Sounds would be 'orchestrated' in terms of tempo and dynamics." [16] Herrmann was quite proud of his role, and considered himself a codirector.[17]
(Trautonium)