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TRILLING_TALES

                                             May 20, 2011
                                             May  5, 2012

  From the Doc Savage story,
  "The Thousand-Headed Man" (1934)
  by Kenneth Robeson:                           p. 14, Nostalgia
                                                Ventures edition



   "It was a trilling note with an exotic quality
   which defied description.  Pitched very low,
   it might have been the product of a wayward
   breeze, except that there was no breeze.  It
   permeated all of the room.  Ranging the
   musical scale, it possessed no definite tune."

   "The trilling sound was a characteristic exclusive
   to Doc Savage-- a weird note which he unconsciously
   made in moments of mental excitement.  It came when
   he had made some discovery of importance; sometimes
   it precoursed a plan of action.  It could mean many
   things."


             Apparently, this odd tick was intended
             to be a radio-friendly piece of schtick,
             but to me it seems like an incredibly
             difficult thing to get right.

             And even in the magazine stories, it
             often seems like a contra-survival
             trait... creeping about in a strange
             setting, with bad guys lurking about,
             Doc Savage will suddenly start making
             this wierd-ass, easily identifiable
             noise.



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