…by Slung Low.
As is usually (= always) the case, the production schedule for Mapping The City was quite… tight. Some of these lessons I’ve learned from previous shows and have been confirmed and strengthened through the experience of scoring Mapping The City; some are brand new or unique to this show.
And all were extremely valuable.
1. Prepping cues in QLab makes for speedy plotting sessions, rather than providing just the raw files then talking through in and out points, cross-fades and relative levels.
2. Breaking down enormous tasks (like scoring a 3+ hour-long show) into bitesize chunks allows for sanity. I decided on this show to approach the score by categorising cues into
- stings (short, once through, beginning, middle, end),
- underscores (infinitely loopable, continuous, sit happily under dialogue)
- one off longer dramatic pieces (for a climactic or especially heartfelt moment).
Then sub-categorise these by tone and/or purpose.
Then looked where the overlaps were and planned out which cues would be reused throughout the show.
3. Mustn’t forget to schedule time to rehearse singers. Ahem.
4. If I completed the day’s task ahead of schedule, and the future schedule didn’t look fraught or front-loaded, I stopped work on the project for the rest of the day. Caught up on admin. Went for a walk. Watered the plants.
This had the strange effect of reducing procrastination during working hours. For some reason I felt there’d be plenty of time to catch up on RSS feeds if I completed the present tasks, almost as a reward for concentrating and creating the best work I could, rather than working for a set number of hours.
Similarly, I would just keep working if a task took longer than I’d scheduled.
5. You never know if a cue will work until it’s in situ. Expect to factor in time for revisions.
6. Write as if you expect unparalleled greatness from the playback system; be flexible when it has its temperamental moments.
7. Schedule enough time at the start of the project to hang with the makers and creators. Get a feel for the overarching structure and setting, the tone and direction. Chat. Daydream.
8. Provide underscores as infinite loops, create more than you need, write stings that will happily sit over the top of the underscores or equally so on their own.
9. Don’t be afraid to repeat cues. Feels like cheating, but actually provides sense of coherence, anchoring, cohesion.
10. Keep an eye on your key signatures. It’s not so easy to repeat cues from earlier or later on, should the need arise in the 11th hour, if they’re in wildly different keys…
11. Don’t ever rely on people with ‘perfect pitch’ when you need to accompany with computer sequenced samples. There is no way they’ll match and you waste time tuning one or detuning another.
12. Do hold out for the best recording musicians you can get. 🙂