Page 34 - 2013 Spring

Fig. 9 Fox Scoring Stage Machine Room (right side).
wide under the umbrella of Scoring Stage.
Since the heyday of film and television production, the
industry has become more diffuse and much of the previous studio production has shifted to smaller independent facil- ities and to in-house composers’ studios.
The economics of the Scoring Stage has never been attractive to the financial arm of the film studios. When the simple real estate equation is used, the return on investment for a 100,000 square foot facility for music recording never makes sense. Consequently, the major studios have, over the past twenty-five years, slowly divested themselves of music recording facilities while assuming there would always be someone else who would continue to offer this service. At this date, there are three remaining large Scoring Stages in Los Angeles (Sony/MGM, Fox and Warner Brothers), two in London (Abbey Road and Air/Lyndhurst), none in New York and one each in Sydney, Australia and San Francisco. There are a few large venues around the world, which can be and are used for scoring and numerous smaller studios and concert halls, which are used as needed. Unfortunately, the likelihood of any new Scoring Stages being constructed in the future is slim. Nearly all of the mix downs are now accomplished at smaller studios or dub stages (with Theatrical monitoring). Much of the recording of smaller ensembles is done as overdubs at small studios or compos-
er facilities. The performing ensemble is rarely recorded as one and live in the studio.
The drive for these techniques has arisen from the pop- ular notion that film music must be “produced” rather than only composed and recorded. Pop record production and performers now populate the Film Scoring world. The gener- ation of classically trained composers is fading rapidly. While there is a younger generation of highly skilled musician/com- posers utilizing the orchestral palette, they also rely on over- dubs, sectional recording and samples as part of their “sound”. The classical orchestra utilized for Film Music is becoming a thing of the past, hence decreasing the need or requirements for appropriate large recording facilities.
The industry requirement to record the music for films will always exist. However, it remains to be seen whether this will encompass the large and formalized environment of the Scoring Stage or some hybridization of Concert Hall, Church, Small Studio, Overdub Room and Mix Room/DubTheater.
Appendix/crew titles and duties
Scoring Mixer: Administrative and artistic head of crew. Specifies recording formats, stage layout, microphone choic- es, mix layout and monitoring system. Directs setup and coordinates with editorial and music library regarding
Motion picture scoring stages 33