In many dialogue scenes, particularly where the characters have a definite sense of give and take, the music must also be able to move forward, hold back, wait, and then move again—and I think the best way to achieve this flow is by employing free timing, an approach to scoring which is becoming more and more infrequent. This method does not use a click; it uses streamers and punches to help the conductor coordinate music with the key arrivals in the scene.

I’ve worked on projects where I’ve been sent the script before it’s even been shot, which can be helpful when understanding what the story’s about but really since film music to me is dictated by the tone of the film, how it’s shot, how it’s acted, the pacing of the film, it’s really much better to start with the music once you’ve seen the film because the pacing of the film is going to determine what kind of music you’re talking about. Even how the characters are shot, and what kind of lighting, will all determine what kind of music as well.

The popular piece "Streets Of San Francisco" composed by Patrick Williams for the television show of the same name, has been so listened to by fans on YouTube and numerous other music streaming sites, that Mr. Williams made the decision to re-record the song during the recording session for his latest released Big Band album entitled "Aurora". The song features the greatest players in the world, including: Tom Scott, Peter Erskine, Dean Parks, Tamir Hendelman, and many more. The track has been exclusively released on iTunes. You can find the track HERE

In my last blog, I spoke of some of my childhood musical influences, and this week I would like to focus on Johnny Mandel, the film composer, and what he has meant to my musical sensibilities. Many years ago my dad came home from work one day to announce, “I’ve just had the...