With the return of film scoring gears, Hollywood productions are reopening – different

As compensation of 32 32 million in wages for the canceled scoring date due to COVID-19, the Los Angeles music community is pushing for the return of film and TV recordings – but with caution, under strict guidelines.

Still, musicians say, not everyone is ready to go back to work in groups because of the uncertainty of the coronavirus epidemic.

John Acosta, president of the American Federation of Musicians Local 47, said the lockdown in mid-March caused “catastrophic work losses”, and during the remote-recording process – musicians and composers recorded their parts at home to mix with the full score. -Production has solved the dilemma, it is far from ideal.

The reopening of the scoring stage in Vienna, Berlin and London has raised concerns among American Union officials, who are hopeful that the modified activities of the recording facility will encourage operations to return to film and TV scoring in the L.A. and limit the number of jobs outside the United States.

“Legally, people can go back to music production. According to the government, we have the green light to start scoring, ”Acosta said, referring to the music production guidelines for the Los Angeles County Reopening Protocol published Friday. However not all lots of movies are open to business and scoring episodes (especially the biggest ones from Fox, Sony and Warner Bros.) are within this range.

“There are a lot more small operators, independent companies, video games that are starting to start recording again,” said Acosta.

It’s not easy. Musicians play together regularly, sometimes at close quarters. In larger sessions string players share music stands, brass and woodwind players usually have them on the back, percussion players on the back. Recording booths usually include engineers, music editors, orchestrators, technical staff, directors, producers and others.

The new rules will change them all. “Stripping” – the term for recording orchestra sections separately – will become regular, so that string players can be recorded in most sessions in one session, woodwind and other brass players. String players can wear masks but they can no longer be shared because they must be six feet away.

Brass and woodwind players are different because both are known as “breathing aerosols” that can produce not only air but also stems from musicians’ lungs, and this method of performance will now require a distance of nine to 12 feet between players. Officials say, playing the traditional sekki, where everyone sits together, will leave for now, officials say.

Other rules specify adequate air circulation; Sanitizing gear and work areas after each session; Masks and gloves for sheet music distributors; And others similar to the protocol were declared for production. Acosta said AFM officials even consulted an epidemiologist on the recommendations.

But it is for those partners who want to take part. It’s a freelance business, and some musicians may choose to wait until they get a vaccine.

“We’re now allowed to go back to work,” explains Mark Caesar, the first VP of the Recording Musicians Association. “But the impact on people is different. Some people have a lack of husband protection at home ouse Some people have their own health problems. You can’t ask people to disclose their own personal health situation. “

A Fox insider said: “We’re all trying to figure out when we can safely record. Our first sessions aren’t until the end of next month, so we have some time. We definitely want to get the job back, of course safety is the number one protocol.”

The remote-recording trend has been a mixed blessing. It has kept a few musicians working in the last three months, but not everyone has enjoyed it. “It’s extremely difficult,” says one seasoned player. “Sitting down and playing and naming someone else’s file, pressing ‘start’ and ‘stop’ and all of that is a much more time consuming process than being your own recordist, your own engineer and your own music editor. This is a huge learning curve.

Most observers believe that a large orchestral score consisting of 70 or more players is possible but must be recorded in a large recording stage in a few days. And the snooze-related problems associated with recording brass and woodwind players in the studio – an unusual anatomy that could change the tenor of a sound – have not yet been resolved.