Why am I a Composer?: What is Temp Tracking?


AFX Industrial (film scores)

Today I'm looking at Temp Tracking a film, what it means and when / why you may need to do it.

The concept is easy - 'temp' stands for temporary and 'track' refers to the music track in a film, but why have a temporary music track at all?

Why original music isn't always better music.

In the 50s and 60s a lot of TV shows started using music from a common pool - a library of recorded music known then as 'mood music'. This was primarily to avoid the cost incurred with hiring a composer and getting a bespoke piece recorded ... So, the producer would choose from a catalog of tunes on vinyl looking for something appropriate for the show. Many of the pieces chosen went on to become minor hits of the time, especially the ones used for the opening and closing credits of the shows. The audience loved them and often asked if they were available in their local record store - eventually the publishers saw the revenue potential and released the pieces. Many of which had become theme tunes in their own right. That's how it happened, music that started out as a temporary solution to the scoring problem just kinda stuck.

Fast forward to 2013 and we see this scoring solution being used more and more frequently. Many Hollywood directors will temp track a film with their favorite composer's score, simply to give them a solid pulse to edit to. Much like music, film making is all about the timing.

One of the most famous anecdotes stems from Jerry Goldsmith's score for the first Alien film. Apparently they'd already temp tracked Alien with a score that Goldsmith had written for a previous film, even discarding his newer Alien score in favor of it. Of course Jerry was hopping mad until they reminded him that it was still ALL his music. I think when he realized they had chosen his own work over his own work it kinda negated the insult.

But let's to get back to the point I made in the title, why original music isn't always better. I deal with a lot of film makers on a lot of different levels, some want to talk to me about it and others simply can't be bothered to discuss music ... However the one thing I do come across repeatedly is the misconception (especially among amateur film makers) that specially written music is better at all costs.

In this hypothetical scenario I get a call from a low budget film production company who need a score in a few days (it happens frequently). I explain there's a contract to sign and then the score needs to be written, but if you pay $X you will get my full attention ... Then I hear those immortal words 'we have no music budget at all'. OK by now a day has passed so I have even less time. I explain that in the best interests of the film, at least for now, it will have to be temp tracked with an existing score. But they are adamant they want original music and now we have two days to go ...

So I'm a bit stuck here, they called because they had heard my work and love the quality of the music - good to know! But when I try to explain that those scores were commissioned and the studio time was paid for and that much time was spent over the mix and production - and that is why they sound so good, it falls on deaf ears. They don't want to pay a penny.

The pre-written scores were available for just a couple of hundred bucks even though thousands of dollars went into the initial production. Ultimately it filters down to your audience. Temp tracking means an audience gets to listen to really well recorded music on your film, while you pay a fraction of the music production costs. Only you know it was music meant for another film. Believe me, with the editing, pitch shifting and time stretching tools available today your audience will think it was specially written. Plus it sounds great because someone else has already paid for it to sound great!

I hope you can see that quite often bespoke music or the idea of bespoke music can actually harm a movie, especially when it is a freebie and done in a rush ... The audience are your prime target and they really don't give a hoot if the music is original or not. Making movies is about pleasing an audience if you are making movies for any other reason then sadly it may remain a hobby. Of course, an audience is also made up of people like you and I - film nerds and fanatics, we need to please them as well!

In the end, a really well written and produced temp track score, that once had a lot of time and love lavished on it will please your audience. It will definitely please them much more than one that's been thrown together in the last few hours of your post production sessions ...

So, if you've run out of time and need to score your film in a hurry consider temp tracking - it's a traditional, recognized and often better way to solve your scoring dilemma. Your fans may eventually find out the score was a temporary solution, - but only after you release a coffee table book to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of your most successful film ;0)

- David.