RECORDING June 2022 - 65

JUNE 2022
TAXI's Virtual Road Rally 2021
How TV Editors Pick and Place Music
With TV Editor, Laurel Ostrander, Part 2
Interviewed by Michael Laskow
You and I spoke a little bit in emails before today,
and you mentioned how important titles are,
which I've been saying to our members for years.
Don't name a cue " Laurel's Thing " ; that doesn't
tell you anything other than you obviously knew
somebody named Laurel at some point in your
life and they inspired you to write that thing. If
you could come up with some titles on the fly
that might be indicative of the kind of thing that
points you in the right direction and makes you
as an editor say, " Oh, am I glad they called that,
because that's what it sounds like. "
Exactly! Well, I think this is something that
we've been leaning towards in the conversation,
is that we as editors don't have time to
listen to every cue. There's just never enough
time. So, if the cue can tell me from the title
generally what it sounds like, then that's
incredible to me, and also it helps me search.
On the show that I'm currently working on
we're doing a lot of very intense dramatic driving
tension as you're watching people get
horrible wipeouts on obstacle courses. It's
great. So, the cues that I'm hoping for have
titles like " March of the Gods, " something
that sounds big and dramatic and crazy and
orchestral, and that gives me an idea when I
look at it of what it's gonna sound like.
You know, I have seen very silly... Like they are
looking at a comedy cue and it is called
" Hedgehog Hunt, " and when I hear that title, I
think, " OK, I'm thinking [I'm going to hear]
something like little pizzicato strings. " You
kind of get an idea from the title what you're
going to hear.
I think it's great that you even think in terms of
pizzicato strings, because I know editors that
think pizzicato is something you order in an Italian
restaurant. Your mind works kind of like a
musician in that regard, that you know a musical
description for what might be apt for that scene,
which has got to be a great tool to have. Because
Laurel Ostrander at TAXI's Virtual Road Rally.
we can't display this on the screen this morning,
how long might you listen to each cue as you
audition them? Let's say you have to go through
13 cues before you find the one where you go,
" Ding, ding, ding, I think we have a winner. " How
long do you listen to a cue before you know if it's
got a possibility or not?
Well, I think that's something that was really
" Maybe it takes me 10 seconds and I
know right away that this is what I'm
going for, or nope, that's not what I
am thinking of in my head for this
moment. "
-Laurel Ostrander
effective during [past Road Rally presentations
in the ballroom]; To have the screen up and
you could see me actually going through the
cues. I try to listen to the beginning of the cue,
the middle of the cue, and the end of the cue
to make sure that there's enough there, that it's
going somewhere, that it has a beginning, a
middle, and an end. Maybe it takes me 10 seconds
and I know right away that this is what
I'm going for, or nope, that's not what I am
thinking of in my head for this moment; I just
need to move on and cycle through the other
cajillion cues that we've got in the library.
I'm really glad you said about 10 seconds,
because we're always trying to impress upon our
members that in their world, their music is very,
very important, and I completely understand it.
It's their art, it's what they do, it's everything to
them, other than maybe their family. And in the
minds of most musicians who are uninitiated
and haven't seen a panel like this, they might
think that the editor is sitting there listening
from top to bottom, sipping on a coffee and
going, " Wow, that's really cool, " whereas it's
really bam, bam, bam, you know? They've got to
let you know musically what's going on right
then and there. And if you don't know, you're
going to move on to something that's going to
say, " Hey, Laurel, I'm what you need. " So, I'm
glad that you brought that up.
I always wish that I had the time. And there
have been cases where I think that the music
sounds really cool, and I then I will sit and lisContinued
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