Herrmann was one of the first to understand that the new recording technology allowed for colors and balances that can't be heard in a concert hall. So, he made a historic turn away from the old, creamy, neo-Romantic style to smaller, carefully chosen ensembles playing fewer but more subtle cues, and he wielded an expanded repertoire of styles. The opening of CitizenKane is as revolutionary musically as visually: mournful strains from an idiosyncratic ensemble including moaning trombones, bass clarinets, and bassoons, plus dissonant vibraphone harmonies and sighing, low flutes. Herrmann was also one of the first to use the eerie electronic theremin—two of them, actually, in The Day the Earth Stood Still.