Well, dear readers, I have been attending to the art of making a soundtrack release. Sometimes that art is easy – if one has the complete score in wonderful sound, then the trick is to simply put it in film order and let it play out. Usually that works fine, but not always. With Summer and Smoke, for example, all of the band music cues in the film are in a row – some are edited, some are bumped up together, however they were all recorded as whole pieces. Now, keeping all of those tracks in film order would have resulted in a very bad listening experience and would impinge on repeat playings – and I’m all about repeat playings. So, we chose the best of them, used it where it belonged and then included all the others as bonus tracks. Many films have source music cues, sometimes composed by the composer of the film, sometimes not. I am of mixed thoughts on those and take it on a case-by-case basis. If I feel the source cues are disruptive to the listening experience or that they’re just there as pad (radio music that’s playing very softly, for example), I either include them as bonus tracks or leave them off, especially if they’re just arrangements of another composer’s music.
For That Man From Rio, the source cues were as great as the score cues (and all by Delerue), and I found a way to assemble them where they fit in seamlessly (going out of film order to do so – that album would not have been nearly as good in strict film order, for a whole slew of reasons). There were a LOT of tracks on that album and it was very difficult to put together, since the music was heavily edited in the finished film, but it was a lot of fun to do and the result was, I thought, worth all the effort. That’s another thing one has to deal with – when the score cues as recorded do not match what’s in the film because in a film’s post-production and editing process, things constantly change, directors decide to repeat cues, to edit things together, and all sorts of other things. So, do you keep the cues complete as recorded, do you edit them as in the film? In the case of Romantic Comedy’s main title, as recorded it just went on and on and on endlessly – so, in that instance we edited it just as it was in the film, which is how it played best. But, for other things we’ve left it as the composer recorded it, because the cues seem more musically complete and of a piece than the edited versions. Other times, you have to decide how much repetition you want on an album – in other words, if a cue is repeated verbatim in the film but wasn’t recorded twice, do you include the verbatim repeat? I tend not to.
Then there are stings and little ten-second cues that do not really help anything – some folks want all that, but again I take it on a case by case thing – sometimes I’ll edit the really short cues into longer cues, which is helpful, but if it’s a one-note sting that’s impossible to make fit, off it goes. If there’s room on the CD, I do try to include mostly everything, but if the CD is tight, then I have no problem leaving off irrelevant things. And on it goes, one decision after another.
Last night, I spent the entire evening doing an edit road map for an upcoming CD. This one was not easy – the problem we had was only one reel of the score was found, but because a precedent had been set with another label releasing a VERY incomplete version of X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (only eighteen minutes of music from the film, and more than nine of those eighteen minutes were source cues and not dramatic scoring), I decided to do it, since their release had sold out. In other words, people were thrilled to have even the eight minutes, so no one can really complain now if we’re doing something similar with a similar title. But the good news was that the reel of tape we had had more music than eighteen minutes and all of it was dramatic scoring. This was the second reel (the first has not been found – it’s probably sitting in a box mis-labeled), and most of the music was, in fact, from the second half of the film. But, thanks to the fact that a bunch of cues for the first half had only three or four players, those cues were recorded after the full orchestra left, so not only did we have most of the cues from the second half of the film, we also had some from the first half.
I first watched the film, located what we had and put that in film order. Then I took all the other cues and put them where they made dramatic sense, musically, and where it seemed that the music told a continuous story. It took a while, shuffling things back and forth, but it’s quite a good listen now and for the score proper it’s about twenty-five minutes of music, plus another four of bonus tracks. So, it came out very well, I think – what could have been unreleasable is now musically cohesive and I hope it will make fans of the composer and the film very happy. Its companion piece, which has been out illegally on another CD with very shrill sound, was easier. The previous release had all the music in the wrong order, so I first fixed that – then we were able to get the film’s main title and end title off the DVD – they weren’t included in the non-licensed CD, so it’s going to be a very nice package when the mastering guy works his magic on it.
The second release (both will announce on the same day – our final two releases of the year) was easy/breezy. There was an LP and that’s the presentation we’re doing, so there was no figuring anything out.
Prior to all that, I’d had a fairly nice day. I got a good eight and a half hours of sleep, then misunderstood when a telephonic meeting was going to happen (it’s happening this morning – I thought it was yesterday), so I didn’t get to do the four-mile jog because I was waiting for the telephonic device to ring – I finally figured out I had the wrong day but by then it was too late to jog. And speaking of telephonic devices, mine have been screwy for the last two months, and both handsets’ batteries were not recharging properly and the charge would only last about an hour. That meant that both batteries had to be replaced and those batteries cost about fifteen bucks each. I went to Staples (where I’d bought the phone) but they didn’t carry the batteries for it anymore and it was going to take them nine business days to order them. So, I looked at new phones and found I could buy a loaded AT&T phone and four handsets for only thirty bucks more than the batteries were going to cost, so that’s what I did. The phones are much better than what I had, and I got all of the handsets plugged in and they’re almost through charging as I write this. I’ve begun putting in phone numbers and the best thing is, and don’t ask me how it works, is when I put the numbers in one handset, they automatically go to the other handsets – that was not the case with my old phone.
After that, I picked up only one lonely package, then I came home and did some work on the computer. Then the four Promises, Promises pit singers arrived (three of the originals and one replacement – one of the originals has passed away). Hearing them tear into Turkey Lurkey Time for the first time in forty years was extraordinary and really thrilling. I just sat there with my mouth agape. Then everyone else arrived and we had our stumble-through, which was a little rougher than I like these to be, but still went very well. Hopefully those who were going up on lyrics will have them down by this evening. Melody’s mom had made me an early birthday cake (chocolate and peanut butter) and so everyone had some of that, and someone also had brought cookies.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s late and I must get these here notes posted so I can hopefully get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall hopefully get up after a good night’s beauty sleep. I will have my telephonic meeting (with Cindy Williams) and then I shall do the four-mile jog. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll get ready and mosey on over to the Gardenia for our sound check. After that, some of us will go to Pomodoro for a little snack, after which I’ll return to the club, where I’ll have my prosciutto and melon and then do the show. We have a decent-sized crowd as of now, but I’m hoping by show time it will be all filled up.
Tomorrow will be mostly a ME day as I’ll celebrate my birthday. I do have a three o’clock meeting, but that’s about it – and I’m definitely being taken out for dinner. There will be at least one more birthday dinner next week, with Melody and her folks. Friday is lunch with Jose and then a three o’clock meeting regarding our switch in venues for the next three Kritzerland shows.
Well, why don’t we all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, why don’t we all break out the cheese slices and the veggie ham chunks (our birthday gal is a vegetarian), why don’t we all dance the Hora or the mambo, because today is the birthday of one of our most beloved of dear readers, dear reader Jane, who I’ve known since she was fifteen. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to one of our most beloved of dear readers, dear reader Jane, who I’ve known since she was fifteen. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINES HIS WAY BIRTHDAY CHEER TO ONE OF OUR MOST BELOVED OF DEAR READERS, DEAR READER JANE, WHO I’VE KNOWN SINCE SHE WAS FIFTEEN!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a telephonic meeting, do the four-mile jog, hopefully pick up packages, have a sound check, eat lightly, do a show, and then go have an actual meal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answers we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland after a hard day’s night doing the art of assembling an album.