Within the duel scene in Harakiri there are two instances of score, there is a slow buildup to when the enter the field, the long strings punctuated by the call of some animal follows them before the enter the field, the second instance is drums/strings which come in with a shot of the wind swept grass, we don’t see or hear the duel in this moment and it helps emphasise the sense of tension built up by the lack of score up to this point.
In order to work with no input I would have to take multiple takes of a score attempt, because no-input can be so unpredictable it is important that I give myself as many options to choose from and edit. By having a huge diversity of takes I will have my options opened. In my experiments I’ve found the sounds produced by no-input are very aggressive and demanding of attention and so my biggest challenge will be matching the energy of the scene in its silent tension building.
It is not impossible to be subtle with this technique. The pioneer of no-input mixing, Toshimaru Nakamura, manages to produce eerie soundscapes which are totally subtle and provides for me, in a way, a good example of what I should be trying to do and most likely the end product will be.