I''ve been writing music for a little while now, but I''ve always wondered how soundtrackers are able to sync their music to picture and have it just sound ''right''. I mean what if an even that happens on screen doesn''t coincide with an even space in the time signature or tempo you''re using? Somehow, movie scores sound "right" and fit the picture at the same time. How is this accomplished?

Frames are the key to this. A piece of video has so many frames per second (the exact amount depends on where in the world you are). If you use a sequencer that can either (a) display time in frames, or even better (b) load a digital version of the video, then you can sync exactly.

You''ll find that with music, there are often big changes in tempo (slowing down, getting faster) or changes in time signature, all of which help to "fit" the music better to the video. You can also help yourself with a little bit of planning. For instance, lets say you''ve got to do a clip which is 11.5 seconds long. If your tempo is 120 bpm, in 4/4, each bar is worth 2 seconds. 5 bars of this will be 10 seconds. Add a 3/4 bar in there somewhere, and you get 11.5 seconds. You now know exactly how many bars, in that tempo, your piece will be.

Here''s an example of what you can do with digital video sequencing - the clip is ripped from a bad sci-fi dvd I''ve got, to which I''ve created the music and aded foley (film word for sfx) and dialogue. (even the computer voice words I made up). The url is http://www.ryerson-sound.com/WMVSamples/Aurora.wmv. (I hope I''ve got this hyperlinking right...)

Any more questions, feel free to post them here or mail me at info@ryerson-sound.com

Take care.

Barry Ryerson
Head of Audio Development
Ryerson Sound Solutions
URL:http://www.ryerson-sound.com

That''s with synth, but for huge orchestral scores on movies, they usually just time stamp for about a week before actually composing anything. Then they will go straight through scoring the entire piece using the notes they had made for each section whilst looking back from time to time at the movie''s different sections to see if they might want to do something different or not.

After it''s scored, they record a live orchestra playing the piece and some use a small time clock with a chart showing checkpoints for where certain spots in the song should cross with the clock, and then there are other composers that will direct while the movie is playing back(thus giving them more of a visual of how the song will overlap with certain scenes).

For synth though, it''s just like Barry said.

Very true, Zack!

It can''t be stressed enough, though, that film music is a different kettle of fish than game music. Sure, they can be made using the same resources and general skills, but game music can be interactive, something that a linear film or cutscene cannot.

A good website for live film music details is here: http://www.webcom.com/%7Eauricle/welcome-fmusfaq.html

Enjoy!

Baz nice post, just wanted to correct ''foley (film word for sfx)''. these are actually two different things: foley is the addition of sounds that were not captured by the microphone (footsteps), where sfx is newly created sounds (gunshots, explosions).

quote: Original post by BazTheHat
Very true, Zack!

It can''t be stressed enough, though, that film music is a different kettle of fish than game music. Sure, they can be made using the same resources and general skills, but game music can be interactive, something that a linear film or cutscene cannot.

A good website for live film music details is here: http://www.webcom.com/%7Eauricle/welcome-fmusfaq.html

Enjoy!

Yeah, got a point there. Music in VGs can be done entirely in real time and change based on what happens at certain points in the game almost seemlessly. As with a movie, it''s all been recorded into one final soundclip and doesn''t have that same flexibility.

Oh well, in the long run both ways have their benefits.

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@anonymous poster: thanks! (makes mental note about usage of "foley"....)

@Zack: Yes, they do all have their pro''s and cons. After all, a cut-scene in a game is, in essence, a film, and could be treated as such. And the boundary line between one and t''other is getting more and more blurred (games in surround sound, using film orchestras, etc...)

Barry Ryerson
Head of Audio Development
Ryerson Sound Solutions
URL:http://www.ryerson-sound.com