Music Editor

The music editor for a filmed production serves as the liaison between the video and music production crews, helping the composer or music coordinator align their work with the vision of the director. Whether it be added sounds like foley (see Foley Artist), music tra cks, or the composer’s soundtrack, the music editor makes sure that every sound element lines up with what is happening on the screen at any given moment. This process initially begins when editing the recorded video content, finding important moments and transitions that will need to be accented musically. 

After discussing with the director to get a sense of what they envision, the music editor will create a placeholder soundtrack for the film called a temp (temporary) score that is used to help the director and the test audiences to get a sense of what the completed project will be like. The temp score only aims to provide an idea of the final product, so it is often a self-composed collection of tracks with MIDI playback or a collection of pre-composed tracks that fit the needed timings and match what is happening on the screen. This temp score will also provide the critical exact timing cues necessary for the music to match the film; the film’s composer will listen to the temp score and compose their music with these exact timings in mind.

Music editors must work well on a team and have excellent communication skills to convey ideas between the video and musical production sides of a project. Experience with music notation software, recording practices, score preparation, composition, and music theory are necessary for the demands of this role. Degrees in composition, theory, music production, and performance will provide valuable skills for this career path.