Virtually Music-Free

I read a fascinating article (Frustrated music lovers have a score to settle by Kevin Cassidy) on the overuse of music in films as a default way of giving a scene that's not working some energy. One editing tip that resonated with me came from veteran composer/editor John Ottman:

When I edit a movie, I edit the film for months without temping it (adding a temporary score). In fact, I get my entire edit together, and there's not a note of music in it because I want to see how much the film can withstand with no music. I only want to score where it's necessary, because why gild the lily?

I love that idea! I find it's way too easy to let music take over a scene. Better to let the scene stand on its own and add a cue only if it really improves the scene.

Sound designer Craig Berkey also points out that there are a lot more tools than just music; it's just that they aren't as well known. As the article mentions:

Berkey's meticulously crafted sonic effects in No Country for Old Men are so key to the film's sparse, elegiac tone that the ingenious interplay of seemingly mundane sounds -- a soft desert wind, boots on gravel, a shriveled candy wrapper crackling with dread as it slowly expands -- take on a musical effect all their own.