Editing American Beauty (1999 film) (section)

===Music===
{{further|American Beauty (soundtrack)|American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score}}
[[Thomas Newman]]'s score was recorded in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref name="weinraub" /> He used mainly percussion instruments to create the mood and rhythm, the inspiration for which was provided by Mendes.<ref name="burlingame" /> Newman "favored pulse, rhythm, and color over melody", making for a more minimalist score than he had previously created. He built each cue around "small, endlessly repeating phrases"—often, the only variety through a "thinning of the [[texture (music)|texture]] for eight [[bar (music)|bars]]".<ref name="fsm">{{cite magazine|last=Torniainen |first=James |date=February 2000 |title=American Beauty |magazine=[[Film Score Monthly]] |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=36 |url=https://archive.org/details/Film_Score_Monthly_Volume_05_Issue_02_2000_02_Vineyard_Haven_US/page/n37/mode/1up |accessdate=May 15, 2023}}</ref> The percussion instruments included [[tabla]]s, [[bongos]], cymbals, piano, xylophones, and [[marimba]]s; also featured were guitars, flute, and [[world music]] instruments.<ref name="burlingame" /> Newman also used [[electronic music]] and on "quirkier" tracks employed more unorthodox methods, such as tapping metal mixing bowls with a finger and using a detuned [[mandolin]].<ref name="fsm" /> Newman believed the score helped move the film along without disturbing the "moral ambiguity" of the script: "It was a real delicate balancing act in terms of what music worked to preserve [that]."<ref name="burlingame">{{cite magazine|last=Burlingame |first=Jon |date=January 20, 2000 |title=Spotlight: Thomas Newman |url=https://variety.com/2000/music/news/spotlight-thomas-newman-1117761178/ |magazine=Variety |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

The soundtrack features songs by Newman, Bobby Darin, [[the Who]] ("[[The Seeker (The Who song)|The Seeker]]"), [[Free (band)|Free]], [[Eels (band)|Eels]], [[the Guess Who]], [[Bill Withers]], [[Betty Carter]], [[Peggy Lee]], [[the Folk Implosion]], [[Gomez (band)|Gomez]], and [[Bob Dylan]], as well as two [[cover version]]s—[[the Beatles]]' "[[Because (The Beatles song)|Because]]", performed by [[Elliott Smith]], and [[Neil Young]]'s "[[Don't Let It Bring You Down]]", performed by [[Annie Lennox]].<ref name="jackson">{{cite magazine|last=Jackson |first=Kevin |date=February 2000 |title=American Beauty |magazine=[[Sight & Sound]] |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=40 |url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803084448/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/291 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> Produced by the film's music supervisor [[Chris Douridas]],<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 24}}</ref> an abridged soundtrack album was released on October 5, 1999, and was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album]]. An album featuring 19 tracks from Newman's score was released on January 11, 2000, and won the [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Steely Dan, U2, Eminem, Macy Gray: Winners of the 2001 Grammy Awards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/23/movies/steely-dan-u2-eminem-macy-gray-winners-of-the-2001-grammy-awards.html |access-date=August 12, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=February 23, 2001}}</ref> ''[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]]'' considered the score one of Newman's best, saying it "[enabled] the film's transcendentalist aspirations". In 2006, ''Filmmaker'' chose the score as one of twenty essential soundtracks it believed spoke to the "complex and innovative relationships between music and screen storytelling".<ref>{{cite magazine|volume=Winter 2006 |title=Filmmaker Selects 20 Essential Movie Soundtracks |magazine=[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]] |pages=110–111 |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/winter2006/line_items/permanent_rotation.php |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>