miafka- Heh heh, just kidding. I guess that’s one of the good things about the logo- it’s simplicity.
Once again, thanks for telling us all about this. As someone who freaks out when performing in front of her own family, let alone it being recorded and perfect straight away and all that kind of stuff, I still can’t imagine how you deal with the pressure, but I guess it’s years of experience that helps. You must be one pretty amazing musician. 
Mm, pie and cookies…
ROTFL, the sketches!
Do you all wear Trekkie shirts? 
I’m sorry to hear about Larry Corbett. It sounds like he was a great musician, making your own Cello takes time and dedication… May he rest in peace.
I am glad to be hearing about the scoring sessions on Up. How big is the orchestra on this one?
I can’t wait to be able to hear this score, and I hope that they release Piano solo versions of some of the cues like they did with The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. I know that this is kind of off topic, but do you have any idea why generally, they only release music books if there are songs in the movie? i.e. I can’t find Piano music for Finding Nemo, WALL•E, or A Bug’s Life. Movies like Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Cars have sheet music, although it focuses on the songs, not background scores. I believe that they have just the Monsters Inc. song released, but not with the beautiful scores.
I hope that like Michael Giacchino’s other PIXAR scores, there is sheet music released, as I really enjoy playing this kind of thing.
-C-3PO
As usual, thank you for answering my questions, our resident studio musician, miafka! I really enjoy reading everything you have to write. 
Pie and cookies? Where? Where? (I’m not called rachelcakes for nothing!)
C-3PO - It would also be good if there was sheet music released for other instruments aside from piano. It would save people having to transcribe it.
I’ve just gotten back into that theme music (before I realised it was written by John Williams - the legend), and I found out if you divide the frequency by the wavelength for the five tones, you get the positions in the alphabet for the letters “HELLO”. But you probably knew that already. Like you said, maybe Pixar could do something like that except with the letters “Pixar”. What would that sound like, do you know? Also, “When You Wish Upon a Star” which is Disney’s new (old) theme music, was also used in COotTK, which is now used for Pixar films. I just found that pretty cool.
miafka, what is the most bizarre or funny thing that has happened during a studio recording session? Has anyone accidentally dropped their instrument while playing? Turned up without their instrument? Had a sneezing fit while you were recording? Come on, we know you have some funny stories up your sleeve! 
EDIT: Also, with the WALL•E soundtrack: I know The Soweto Gospel Choir performed for the song “Down to Earth”, but with the song “BnL”, do you know who Pixar got to sing those lyrics?
They do have music arranged for small bands and stuff. Check out this website here. I play Piano, so I’m not really aware of sheet music out there for other instruments as much. Definitely, they have the music I talked about for Piano, and the songs for Guitar as well. Check out this website here if you’re interested: halleonard.com/
The release of sheet music is really cool, and I hope that they do have it for other instruments, since trying to transcribe it, or learn it by ear, can take a while.
-C-3PO
Thanks for this amazing thread miafka. I thoroughly enjoy myself reading these threads of yours.
Just a randomish question: As J.J. Abrhams likes to keep a very tight lid on anything he is working on from Lost to Star Trek, and as Michael G is his composer of choice, have you noticed any of that rubbing off on Michael? Does he encourage you to keep a tight lip on what happens in the recording sessions?
Michael G’s scores are indubitably my favourite scores. They are so rich and textured. I never saw Speed Racer but bought the score because some of those cues were amazing. They are like a story unto their own. I just wanted to mention that I am very jealous that you get to be around these people that so many of us idolise, and I would like to thank you for sharing these experiences with us here at PP.
I have another question (sorry): why is it that they only release a certain amount of tracks or certain number of minutes of the music score onto a soundtrack CD? Why do they not include every cue? With the release of the Ratatouille Cast and Crew CD, they showed it was possible to have a CD with every cue and track on it, so why do they not make it common practice?
And the real kick in the teeth is that a lot of what they leave out are cues that go for 30 seconds or less, so if you added up all the omitted cues together, the CD would only go for another 5 - 10 minutes or more… Sometimes those are the cues that I enjoy the most, or short cues that get lost underneath the sound of other parts of the movie (dialogue, sound effects etc) which is why I would love it if all of the soundtrack was included on the CD.
Miafka,
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
I have a few questions.
Is there a comperable era or style of film music that you can compare Up’s score to? Giachinno’s work on both The Incredibles and Speed Racer really show an appriciation for bygone styles of film score.
Also, are you willing to answer a few questions about the Star Trek score?
For those who didn’t see the Wall-E thread, today the Oscar nominations were announced… and at least it got nominated for best score. We’ll see what happens.
do you have any idea why generally, they only release music books if there are songs in the movie? … Focuses on the songs, not background scores…
Haven’t a clue, sorry. I suppose it comes down to what they think will sell and what they think people will want to buy in enough quantities to make it worthwhile to publish it. Anything you’d find in a local music store would, as you pointed out, almost always focus on the songs in a movie rather than the score (on a rare occasion where a theme and a movie is really popular you might see a piano arrangement of it… for instance, maybe something like the Forest Gump theme…)
why is it that they only release a certain amount of tracks or certain number of minutes of the music score onto a soundtrack CD?
Along the same lines. Don’t know, but I suppose on most films besides the “important” cues there are also plenty of minor, short, incidental ones that normally no one would want to listen to. Of course there are usually plenty of important cues that still don’t get put on the CD too. I suppose someone goes through and selects which ones to place on the CD. On one level you’d think it would make as much sense to put the entire score on a CD for those interested (though it might require 2 CDs), but I assume they do a cost/benefit analysis and try to figure out if all that extra effort (and perhaps the cost of a 2nd CD) is worth the extra sales. The only thing coming close to that would be that on a few rare DVDs now you can isolate the audio track completely and listen to it pure (if I remember right, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is one such DVD, though it’s sadly not a common bonus feature on most DVDs). Actually, if you look at the listing for the Ratatouille Cast & Crew CD, it doesn’t have all the movie’s tracks either. Even though some good ones were added that weren’t on the official soundtrack CD, other cues (that are on the official CD) were taken away to make room. By the way, orchestra members aren’t given the Cast and Crew CDs. We have to buy the normal ones like everyone else. At least we got special Ratatouille orchestra hats (that said “I’m With Le Rat Band” on the back) and Wall-E hats (that said “I Prefer Music” on the back).
with the song “BnL”, do you know who Pixar got to sing those lyrics?
Don’t know. I haven’t checked Wall-E’s credits since reading your question, but often times in movies there will be a “vocal contractor” listed as well as an orchestra contractor. The vocal contractor would be responsible for hiring the singers used in a film. Like us instrumental musicians, you’ll almost never see the background singers’ names listed in the credits – and even in the soundtrack CD pamphlets (where instrumental musicians’ names are finally starting to be listed), you usually won’t see their names either.
Is there a comperable era or style of film music that you can compare Up’s score to? Giachinno’s work on both The Incredibles and Speed Racer really show an appriciation for bygone styles of film score.
I’d say it’s similar.
are you willing to answer a few questions about the Star Trek score?
Sorry, no. We were asked not to say anything about the movie.
Has anyone accidentally dropped their instrument while playing?
Yes
Turned up without their instrument?
I’ve seen colleagues show up at the wrong studio by accident…
Had a sneezing fit while you were recording?
There’ve been times someone just couldn’t hold back a cough or sneeze no matter how hard they tried.
Come on, we know you have some funny stories up your sleeve!
I remember once a musician left their cel phone on, and it rang loudly right in the middle of a quiet take – and without missing a beat, another musician in the room yelled out as a joke “Unemployment office…”
Well, there’s not really too much left to say. But I’ll mention a few random things you may or may not find interesting about the scoring process in general: I suppose much like the actual shooting of a film, a score is never recorded in order. We hop around from cue to cue, perhaps starting with important cues, or doing similar cues successively, etc., but almost never in order. Sessions are called either as a “single” (3 hours) or a “double” (6 hours). A single will typically be 10:00am-1:00pm. A double (all day) will typically be 10:00-1:00 and 2:00-5:00 (with lunch from 1:00-2:00). Sometimes sessions will start at 9:00, but 10:00 is the usual start time. Generally for each hour, there’s 50 minutes on the job and a 10 minute break. This may sound luxurious, but if you think about the pressure of the job, it’s really needed. You have to have 110% concentration. Most of the time the orchestra is recorded together as an entire group. Often baffles (tiny wheel-in portable wall pieces) are used to help separate the sections for mixing, but usually the entire orchestra is recorded playing together. Every once in a great while though (rare, but it happens), they’ll record the sections separately for mixing purposes (have all the brass play, then the winds, then the strings). It’s rare, and I’ve never understood why, but I’ve been on a few movies over the years where this was done, though now I can’t remember which ones they were. And finally, some markings or instructions have different meanings in a studio setting than they would in a non-studio orchestra setting. For instance, in a normal (non-studio) orchestra, if a conductor told you to circle a note (or you circled a note yourself) it would be to call attention to the note and to make sure you play it. However in a studio setting, to “circle a note” means not to play it (to leave it out) – the opposite.
Once again, a very interesting post, miafka. I never realised there was such a big difference between a normal orchestra and a studio orchestra- I sort of assumed they’d be very similar, if not the same, but I guess the music is needed for a different purpose.
miafka: Thanks again for the insight! A great post!
Thank ye, for the information, miafka! I liked that cel phone story and the musician’s quip, even though it’s a bit sad, in a way. You must be excited that a project you worked on was nominated for Best Score at the Oscars. Let’s cross our fingers! I’m always interested in the differences between a studio and normal orchestra. I don’t understand the the need for a circle around a note, though. One would assume if the note is there, you would play it regardless. Anyway, that’s good to know.
You get to start work at 10am? You studio musicians have it too good! (Joking)
Keep up the informative posts!
miafka, I hope you’re still monitoring this thread. As you told us, some of the music for Up has been recorded for a while, but it’s reported that they’ll start it in March at the NY Comic Con. Do you know why they said that? How’s the sessions going on so far? Is there any problem, because they still used the temp score for the 45-min footage at the Con?
I hope everything’s on schedule and the score won’t be rushed. Hope you’re doing well, too.
Hello miafka,
My sincere thanks to you for sharing these detailed accounts and rich information with us! The factoids, stories, and personal data you’ve presented is equally intriguing to fans and beneficial to aspiring music artists. I enjoyed reading every sentence you had to share with us and am eager to read more!
If it is not too much trouble, I would also like to ask you a couple of questions:
1. The theme “Define Dancing” in WALL•E is replayed at least once in the film, namely during the moment where WALL•E first witnesses EVE soaring across the Earth’s deserted surface in utter glee. Did Michael Giacchino create several different versions of this particular piece (“Define Dancing”) before settling on the version that you hear in the film, and were you (among your fellow orchestra members) involved in this constant revision?
2. Once you’ve become accustomed to the basic tone and feel of a particular score, do you refer to videos, images, and/or other elements/materials so as to help you understand that score better? (For example, while scoring Up, did you listen to any instrumental pieces from other films that dealt with similar environments [i.e., the jungle]?)
I’m terribly sorry about the passing of Mr. Corbett, by the way. He sounds like he was a most talented and amiable gentleman, and I’m sure he is missed by the industry.
Again, thank you very much for sharing this precious information with us.
You have no idea how great of a compliment that is…
– Mitch
Wow miafka I’m so thankfull that you tell us about these stuff, I mean Michael Giacchino is my favorite composer and I just love his work. You are so lucky to be working for that man, he is one great composer and I can’t wait for the soundtrack to come out so I can listen to it all day (and night) long!
Ok if I can I would love to ask you some questions
Have you always worked with Michael, does he have the same group of musicians all the time?
Do you think the score for this movie is as good as The Incredibles or Ratatouille?
How is Michael as a person?
When are you done recording?
Thank you so much for answering previous questions and I wish you all the best!
Hi, everyone… just wanted to let you know that the scoring for Up has now finished! Besides the initial two days last December, there were three days in mid-February and three days this week, with today (Wed) being the last day. There’s not really too much to say (as I won’t post spoilers), but I was really impressed with Michael’s score on this one – he really did a great job, just as he did with Ratatouille – and the movie looks great too. No special hats for the orchestra members this time (oh well), though in February Pixar treated everyone to In ‘N’ Out Burger for lunch (a smaller burger chain in California that’s almost like an institution), and for the last day today everyone got their own Up poster. For these last March sessions we pretty much finished the final reel of the movie (including the end credits), and the last day today was basically spent doing a great little song (with the vocalist in the isobooth singing as we played) and a bunch of small fixes here and there – as well as recording some music for Partly Cloudy (very cute!) A video crew also came in again today to film some more, and at the very end Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and Jonas Rivera came up to the podium to thank everyone. As he mentioned at the beginning, Mr. Docter once again said how they’ve been working on the movie for a while now, at what’s generally a slow pace, yet he can come to the scoring stage and have a bunch of music recorded in just a couple of days. Once the movie comes out, everyone can discuss the score… but I really don’t want to say much more about it, except that again, I thought Michael did a great job, and it really helps give a nice flavor to the movie. Only about two more months…
Sorry, I haven’t had time to be on here much lately. Well first of all, Wall-E was Thomas Newman, not Michael Giacchino You can hear that theme used more than once during the movie, but I don’t know about its origins or how the final version came to be composed (remember, we’re not the composers or orchestrators, we just play the music once it’s been composed). It’s a great theme though, isn’t it? That was one of my own personal favorite cues of the film.
As for the other question, in most circumstances we don’t see or hear anything about the movie that we’re recording. So in a way, much of the time we’re playing “blind” (just playing what’s on the page, instead of knowing the back story, or what’s going on in the film). Thomas Newman though, often likes to tell the orchestra what’s going on in a particular scene, which I think is a nice idea. And of course many players can always glance at the screen when not playing (during playbacks, etc) to see what’s going on. But no, we don’t listen to other things, we pretty much just play the music that’s placed in front of us. Occasionally though, a composer or orchestrator might write something in the part so people know what style it should be in (such as writing someone’s name whose style everyone knows, or perhaps a particular style of music). Generally though, we’ve all been doing this long enough where, once we hear the music in the room, we’ll usually recognize the style it should be in and play accordingly.
About the “circle the note” thing, I only meant that (like any other job), every job has its own lingo. And if for some reason someone decides a note shouldn’t be there or shouldn’t be played, they’ll say “circle that note” – which in studio parlance, means “don’t play” that note – but if it were a normal symphony orchestra, it would mean the opposite – “pay attention” to the note. So depending on your situation (symphony orchestra or studio orchestra), the same phrase can have a different meaning. Kind of like the word “deadbeat.” In normal English, this means either someone who is lazy or a person who does not pay his debts. But I’ve heard inside the credit card industry, a “deadbeat” is slang for the exact opposite – someone who actually pays his credit card bill off in full every month (they use the term “deadbeat” because the credit card companies then don’t get to collect interest off of people like that!) So it’s kind of like that with “circle the note” – in a normal orchestra, it would mean to pay close attention to it, but in a studio setting, it means to cross it out or not play it at all. As far as the reason for wanting to delete a note? Well remember no one actually hears the music until it’s played for the first time. So maybe after hearing it, the composer or director will want small changes made, and notes changed or added or removed (circled).
By the way, another slang studio term is “punch” for doing an edit. Say a cue is 150 measures long and for whatever reason they need to re-do measures 60-70. Instead of recording the whole cue again, they can simply “punch in” at measure 60 and “get out” at measure 70. I think I also mentioned what “wild” meant in the Wall-E thread – usually we play with a click-track (clicks like a metronome heard through a headset) and we’ll follow the click, not the conductor. However occasionally they’ll decide to do a cue “wild” (with no click, in which case we follow only the conductor, just as we would in a normal symphony orchestra). A few of the Up cues were done wild as well (without click).
How is Michael as a person?
Extremely nice! Though he’s now shaved off his trademark goatee…
Edited. I combined both of your posts. – Mitch
Thanks for all the info and insights miafka!
Great to catch all your posts about UP! You mentioned Partly Cloudy was cute? How so? I am excited to hear the themes as well, since we played the Incredibles theme back in high school. I’m not entirely used to Michael Giacchino’s style, but it has grown on me.
You mentioned Partly Cloudy was cute? How so?
Oh, I didn’t mean “cute” as in a Strawberry Shortcake kind of cute… I meant the film’s premise was a cute idea. Sorry, no spoilers. 
miafka YOU ROCK! You just made my day, haha!
Thank you so much for letting us know all this! I can’t find words for how excited I am over the soundtrack for this movie! And just one question, does this mean that Michael did the music for “Partly Cloudy” also?
Thanks again!
Once again, thanks for all this information about the Up score, miafka! Must be quite a relief for it to be finished, so you can have a break now. That click-track thing sounds very handy- I hadn’t thought about how you all managed to keep in time with each other, aside from the conductor.
The soundtrack of Up sounds like it might push the film from being ‘amazing’ to ‘extraordinarily good’.