Use music to complement visual material

This Standard is about presenting music so that the audience hear it in the way intended. For incidental music that means enhancing the mood, atmosphere and specific action. For source music it means creating an authentic sound. This Standard should apply to anyone who is involved with using music to complement visual material.

1. develop approaches to music with clients that take account of

   their vision and ideas

   2. agree the role of music and what it is to communicate with

   appropriate people

   3. develop ideas that help tell the story

   4. choose music that is capable of realising agreed ideas

   5. select material that meets production requirements, including the

   intention of the script, and are of a sufficient duration for required

   sound

   6. manipulate sound tracks to achieve level, balance, tonal quality,

   perspective and dynamic range that best communicates the

   required emotion or acoustic authenticity

   7. create a balance between music and other sound

   8. edit music to fit and complement visual material

   9. make critical judgements about, and control, audio quality against

   expected artistic and technical standards

   10. verify that music works as intended with edited visuals, checking

   your findings with colleagues and clients

   11. check that material is in a format and medium suitable for the

   required sound and equipment being used, converting between

   formats or media where necessary

   12. make sure music can be acquired and incorporated within agreed

   budget and schedule

   13. comply with copyright laws and conventions and pass on any

   relevant information about material to appropriate people

   14. maintain security for files and other materials in line with company

   requirements

   15. keep accurate records of material you use and its sources

   16. return loan material by agreed deadlines and in a condition

   acceptable to lenders

1. the client or production requirements, including any script

   requirements

   2. the technical and artistic requirements, including any technical

   specification

   3. the timescales, deadlines and other operational constraints of the

   production

   4. how to collaborate and cooperate with clients in creative

   conversations

   5. how to assess audio quality to expected artistic and technical

   standards

   6. how to source music and the impact that this can have on

   schedule and budget

   7. sound treatment and equalization

   8. how to manipulate and extend sound

   9. how to calculate timing

   10. characteristics of tonal quality and perspective

   11. the effects of different types of music on mood and emotion

   12. how people hear music in different settings

   13. the differences in quality between live and recorded music and

   how to approximate the sound of live performance

   14. the use of mono, stereo and multichannel sound to realise

   creative ideas

   15. how to create the effects of music in different acoustic

   environments and played on different equipment

   16. the importance of audibility of dialogue especially with regards to

   the impaired hearing of an ageing population

   17. how music can affect the clarity of other sound

   18. capabilities of and procedures for using sound recording

   equipment

   19. current viewing standards and current professional, national and

   international standards of delivery and expressions of best

   practice for the range of platforms and content

   20. what copyright laws and conventions apply, how to get releases

   or licences and the impact that these will have on budget

   21. documentation and labelling requirements

   22. company systems for storage, back up and security