Music Review, Sonic Wars
Article Review:
Film Composers in the Sonic Wars
The article, Film Composers in the Sonic Wars, discusses the struggle some composers have getting their work heard and appreciated, how talented mixers can clear congestion from the center channel, fees on film composing and symbiotic relationship between the film makers and the composer. When a composer steps into the studio, more often than not they have an extremely limited time to write the music for a film. Most composers conduct, compose and record in three weeks or less (Pg. 10 Herhson,). One of the goals of the composer in this three week crunch time is, making sure the sound effects and other elements of the film do not collide with the film score. Helping clear the “traffic jams” are talented mixers. A couple of talented mixers are Terry Porter and Shawn Murphy who have worked with numerous production studios. It is their job to make sure music that gets near the dialog or sound effect does not get gobbled up (Pg. 10 Hershon). It’s important in my opinion that these two groups of people work together to make sure the music in the film is functioning well with the character on screen and the sound effects as well as the source music. Another topic touched on in the article was “new use fee”. This essentially is a musician’s fee. A majority of the time musicians are neglected in the credits of the film, making the musician feel inadequate or unappreciated. No matter the film, I feel all musicians should be included in a films credits just like all the film makers are, if the catering company and cooks can make the final credits so should the musician. While reading the article I found it shocking that, most composers are made to feel their work is disposable (Pg. 11 Hershon). Being such a large piece of the puzzle in making a film function, I figured composers would be treated with more respect. Learning composer’s music is often disposed of and not cared for was surprising. Also the director and the
Film Composers in the Sonic Wars
The article, Film Composers in the Sonic Wars, discusses the struggle some composers have getting their work heard and appreciated, how talented mixers can clear congestion from the center channel, fees on film composing and symbiotic relationship between the film makers and the composer. When a composer steps into the studio, more often than not they have an extremely limited time to write the music for a film. Most composers conduct, compose and record in three weeks or less (Pg. 10 Herhson,). One of the goals of the composer in this three week crunch time is, making sure the sound effects and other elements of the film do not collide with the film score. Helping clear the “traffic jams” are talented mixers. A couple of talented mixers are Terry Porter and Shawn Murphy who have worked with numerous production studios. It is their job to make sure music that gets near the dialog or sound effect does not get gobbled up (Pg. 10 Hershon). It’s important in my opinion that these two groups of people work together to make sure the music in the film is functioning well with the character on screen and the sound effects as well as the source music. Another topic touched on in the article was “new use fee”. This essentially is a musician’s fee. A majority of the time musicians are neglected in the credits of the film, making the musician feel inadequate or unappreciated. No matter the film, I feel all musicians should be included in a films credits just like all the film makers are, if the catering company and cooks can make the final credits so should the musician. While reading the article I found it shocking that, most composers are made to feel their work is disposable (Pg. 11 Hershon). Being such a large piece of the puzzle in making a film function, I figured composers would be treated with more respect. Learning composer’s music is often disposed of and not cared for was surprising. Also the director and the
Cited: Hershon, Robert. "Film Composers in the Sonic Wars." Ebsco Mar. 1997: Cineaste. 4th ed. Vol. 22. Pg. 10-11. San Francisco Public Library. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. .