And that's a common theme in the legendary composer's work — you can hear it in Interstellar and in Sherlock Holmes.

這是這位傳奇作曲家作品中常見的旋律，你可以在《星際效應》和《福爾摩斯》中聽到。

But in Dunkirk, the ticking makes way for an overwhelming orchestra that seems like it's rising higher and higher, but never actually does.

但是在《敦克爾克大行動》當中，滴答聲會變成交響樂，疑似持續往上升的高音，但實際上並沒有。

It's so tense, it makes you cling to your seat.

這個配樂會讓你緊張到離不開座位。

That is because Zimmer is taking advantage of an auditory illusion caused by something called a Shepard tone.

這是因為季默利用了「施帕音」引起的聽覺錯覺。

It consists of several tones separated by an octave, layered on top of each other.

它由分隔八度但同時行進的數個音階堆疊而成。

As the tones move up the scale, the highest-pitched tone gets quieter, the middle pitch remains loud, and the lowest bass pitch starts to become audible.

當音調往上升，音調最高的音階會逐漸變弱，中間音階的音量不變，音調最低的音階反而逐漸變強。

Because you can always hear at least two tones rising in pitch at the same time, your brain is tricked into perceiving a constant ascending tone.

由於能同時聽到至少兩個音階的音調逐漸上升，大腦會誤以為是連續上升的音調。

Loop it all together and it sounds like a piano scale going on for infinity.

把所有音樂串在一起會聽起來像鋼琴的音調持續往上升。

When the transition between tones is continuous, it's called a Shepard–Risset glissando.

當音調之間的變化持續，稱作「無止盡滑音」。

And it can sound really spooky.

它會聽起來非常詭異。

This can happen in the opposite direction too.

這也可以由反方向發生。

You can hear it in the Endless Stairs in Super Mario 64 and in Pink Floyd.

你可以在電玩《超級瑪利歐 64》的無止盡樓梯和樂團平克．佛洛伊德的音樂中聽到這個現象。

It's like a barber's pole of sound, constantly seeming to rise without actually going anywhere.

這就像理髮店的滾筒招牌，線條看似逐漸上升，實際上沒有任何移動。

Put that in a soundtrack and it creates this sound of rising tension that carries the screenplay forward.

將這個現象置入配樂就會製造出電影中跟著時間賽跑的緊張感。

Christopher Nolan loves this illusion — you can hear it in the Batpod sound effect in the last two Dark Knight films and in the music of The Prestige, composed by David Julyan.

導演克里斯多福．諾蘭很喜歡這樣的錯覺 — 你可以在前兩部《黑暗騎士》電影中的蝙蝠車音效和大衛．朱蘭為電影《頂尖對決》創作的配樂中聽到。

Nolan's films are often all about time — how it warps in space, in our dreams, and in our memories — and there's tension that comes with that.

諾蘭的電影大部分都圍繞著「時間」這個主題 — 像是時間如何在太空、夢境，和記憶中扭曲 — 而這會帶有緊張感。

An illusion like this makes that tension palpable — all it takes is clever sound design.

這樣的錯覺讓緊張的氛圍明顯可見 — 只需要巧妙的配樂設計。

I just wanted to give a shoutout to Jason Guerrasio at Business Insider for doing this great interview with Christopher Nolan.

我想對商業內幕的傑森·蓋拉西奧表達致意，因為他貢獻了和導演克里斯多福．諾蘭的精彩採訪。

In the interview, Nolan confirms that a lot of the soundtrack was built around the effect of a Shepard tone.

在採訪中，諾蘭證實了很多電影中的配樂都是圍繞著施帕音的音調而產生的。

And he also reveals that the ticking that Hans Zimmer uses at the very beginning of Dunkirk is actually a recording of a watch that Christopher Nolan owns.

他還透露，漢斯．季默在《敦克爾克大行動》一開始使用的滴答聲實際上是克里斯多福．諾蘭手錶的錄音。