RECORDING June 2022 - 69

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everything together and keeps the momentum
going. Cues like that are so versatile, and I will
go to them first every time.
You talked about things heading a little more
towards score. Let's talk about that. Are you talking
about a traditional type of score, a new type
of score? Tell me anything you know about what
types and why and how they are being used.
True. I think it's really exciting, because I think
it is leading to this really cool sound in shows
that I'm seeing in the last couple years, especially
with these bigger-budget streaming
platforms. They're asking us to use music in
more of a score sense and move a little more
away from sort of the more traditional style of
comedy where it's like very pizzicato... You
know, pizzicato strings, and that's what comedy
sounded like in unscripted television
forever. It's starting to feel a little stale. So
now, instead of having a pop cue with a great
lyric just played over a transition, maybe now
we're starting to see that pop cue sneak in
under dialogue and come up for a few
moments with a really evocative lyric. As your
cast is staring into each other's eyes thinking
the things that the lyric is telling us, and then
you bring that back up for that really great bigswell
moment over your transition leading us
into another scene, and then it takes us out of
the scene. So, it's using our unscripted music
in a way that you've seen more in film or
scripted television.
So that must make the choices harder, because
now you're dealing with lyrics and you're looking
for lyrics that in some cases-maybe not all-
are very relatable to the storyline. Do you find
that you need more time? Is it harder because
you have to have to search more diligently?
Yes, in an ideal world you get the actual lyrics,
and you can search the lyrics. Otherwise,
you're sitting there listening to the music,
which I've said is really difficult to find the
time to do. And what you're trying to do is
find something that has the instrumental
that's still driving the scene, and then trying to
layer the lyric on top of it. And, you can't have
the lyric be too on-the-nose. If I'm saying, OK,
Laurel Ostrander walks into the room and I
choose a lyric that says, " She's an editor. She's
great, " it's gonna be ridiculous and you're
going to find yourself laughing at it and it will
take you out of the scene. And I love to search
for music and using music in this way. What
you're trying to do is find something that is
sort of a universal theme or universal
emotion, but with really creative lyrics.
As an editor, it's another tool in the tool kit of
RECORDING June 2022 69
a way for me to tell the audience something
about a character or about a moment of the
scene. If I can find a lyric that really, really
says something evocative enough in that
moment, then I'm gonna do it, yeah.
When you start getting notes back from either
the executive producer or the network people,
can you give some examples of types of notes you
might get and how you have to deal with that to
solve the problem?
Well, the worst note is, " Meh, " and that tells
you nothing! But sometimes you'll get a note
that's like, " I felt bored, " or " The scene drags, "
or " The scene felt slow. " And one of the things
that you can do to address a note like that is to
go to your music and find something that's
maybe more uptempo, maybe is more dynamic
and really comes in with an amazing punch, or
a braaam if you're looking for an orchestral,
intense kind of a thing, or a lyric that's either
less on the nose or more on the nose and look
at ways of wrapping your cut around that. But,
you know, we talk about how editors typically
think in terms of mood or emotion or tone,
and the notes that we get are typically the
same way. You're usually not going to get a
note that says, " I really think that we need
horns instead of strings here, " or " Let's go
with something more legato. " It's never that
specific, so you really have to interpret and figure
out how you can take that note and
apply it.
VIDEO REVIEWS
Don't miss Part 3 of this interview in next
month's TAXI Insider!
VIDEO REVIEWS
Video Review:
AKG ARA
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr. reviews
the AKG ARA Professional
Dual-Pattern USB Condenser
Microphone, with a
special guest appearance
of the AKG Lyra Ultra-HD
Multimode USB Microphone.
VIDEO REVIEWS
Video Review:
RME UCX II
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the UCX II
40-Channel Advanced
USB Audio Interface
from RME.
Check out all the
video reviews at
recordingmag.com/video-reviews
Video Review:
MACKIE ONYX16
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the Onyx16
Premium Analog
Mixer with Multitrack
USB from Mackie.
Video Review:
RADIAL EXTC-STEREO
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the EXTC-Stereo
stereo stompbox reamper
from Radial Engineering.
Video Review:
IK Multimedia Total
Studio 3 Max
Associate Editor Alex
Hawley reviews the
Total Studio 3 MAX
from IK Multimedia.
Video Review:
AUDIX A133
Microphone
Associate Editor Alex
Hawley reviews the
A133 Large-diaphragm
Condenser Microphone
from Audix.
Video Review:
Focal Alpha 80 Evo
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the Alpha
80 Evo 8 " active
2-way professional
loudspeaker from Focal.
Video Review:
JZ Microphones
Signature BB29
Editor Paul Vnuk
Jr. reviews the
Signature BB29 from
JZ Microphones.
Video Review:
Focusrite ISA 828 MKII
Classic ISA Preamp
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the ISA 828MKII
Classic ISA Preamp
from Focusrite.
Video Review: Focal
Clear MG Professional
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.
reviews the Clear
MG Professional
headphones from Focal.
Video Review: TZ
Audio Stellar X3
Associate Editor Alex
Hawley reviews the TZ
Audio Products Stellar
X3 Microphone.
Video Review: Aston
Microphones Element
Editor Paul Vnuk Jr.,
Associate Editor Alex
Hawley and Contributor
David Blascoe review
the Element from
Aston Microphones.
http://www.recordingmag.com/video-reviews
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