Spotlight: Simpsons Music 500

Chris Ledesma has been working as Music Editor for The Simpsons since the very first episode.  He has created a new Blog, Simpsons Music 500, where he reports on and reminisces about his job as Music Editor for the show as it approaches the milestone 500^th episode.

What Chris has created is a truly unique and interesting blog providing insight and understanding into a side of The Simpsons production that most fans probably wouldn’t think of.  Readers will find behind the scenes stories, 7 steps of music editing, an interesting conversation about music and the show, and much more.  He has a wonderful story about how he entered the industry and became The Simpsons Music Editor.

Visit Simpsons Music 500

I had the privilege to ask Chris some questions about his job and his blog and he graciously agreed to answer them.  You can see the questions and his responses below.

Thanks Chris, and keep up the amazing work!

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For those who may not know or understand, what exactly does a Music Editor do?

In a nutshell, I’m the technical guy who is the right-hand helper of the composer (the creative guy/girl). We are both on a project from start to finish. The composer creates while I make sure everything is in sync and in balance with the dialogue and sound effects. I can cobble together new music out of old if requested to do so in order to change a cue the composer has written. There’s much more to it than this and you can read all about it in mind-numbing detail on the blog. Just click on the “Music Editing 101” tab at the top of any post. Read that and follow the link to my “7 steps of music editing” and you’ll learn all about it.

 

What made you want to start blogging about your past and present experiences as Music Editor for The Simpsons?

I was never very interested in writing when I was in grade school, but over the past ten years I’ve had this little itch to write. Blogging seemed like a good way to try my hand at it, but I couldn’t come up with a subject I thought would interest others. Then, when I realized we were headed toward our 500th episode this season, I thought I could combine a look back at my career (on THE SIMPSONS and elsewhere) with a look forward to this historic event.

 

How difficult is it editing some of the character singing in the show? Some songs and singing that comes to my mind are “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart”, “We Do (The Stonecutters Song)”, “The Monorail Song”, etc.  It seems like editing something like any of those would be pretty time consuming. Is it?

It’s gotten much easier with the introduction of Pro Tools and editing using a computer. The show has been on the air long enough that we’ve gone through multiple editing formats from 24-track analog tape to 4-track analog tape to 8-track digital tape to 16-track disk recording to Pro Tools. What used to take all day can now be done in a couple of hours with better efficiency and better results. I proud to say I’ve received compliments from various recording engineers about my work method when it comes to recording the singing. It’s very streamlined and wastes very little time on the recording stage. Some of our actors are strong singers, others not so much. None of them are trained musicians but they’re all game for the challenge and wonderful to work with. Sometimes we can record a song in just a few takes, sometimes many. It depends on the difficulty of the melody and being able to sing the words so they can be understood.

 

How much time do you get to work on an average episode before it airs?

In the late summer and fall months, we can get  a little bit ahead of the airdates, so we will see an episode for the first time on a given Friday. The music is recorded two weeks later on a Friday. I edit the music over that weekend and we dub it the following Monday & Tuesday, then it’s finished. So that schedule is 18 days start to finish. In the  winter and spring, the episodes come much faster and we don’t get the luxury of 14 days between first viewing and recording, we only get 7 days. So during those months the schedule is 11 days.

 

Do you get to view the fully completed episode animation and sound, or just the parts involving music? What about the scripts?

Yes, when we see the episode for the first time the animation and dialogue is 95%-100% complete. There may still be a few things here and there that need to be added, but otherwise the episode is ready. All sound effects at this point are temporary and the final sound effects will be added at the dubbing session. I do get to read the scripts as they come out so that I’m aware of any musical needs or requests.

 

Besides editing the music as it fits into the show, are you responsible for editing sound effects as well?

No. Travis Powers is the sound effects editor and has been since episode #1. He also edited the sound effects for the shorts on THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW. There was no music in those shorts.

 

You’ve been with The Simpsons since the beginning of the series.  Do you have any favorites?  (Characters, Episodes, Celebrities you’ve worked with, Songs or Music moments you’ve had to edit)

I always enjoy stories centered around Lisa’s character going all the way back to her first, “Moaning Lisa”. As for episodes, “Three Men and a Comic Book”, “Krusty Gets Kanceled”, “Lisa’s Pony” and “Bart Sells His Soul”. Celebrities –  U2, The Dixie Chicks, the Smothers Brothers, Weird Al, Kelsey Grammar, Tony Bennett, and Anne Hathaway.

 

What’s the best part about your job? Is there a worst part?

Best – Being paid a living wage to listen to great music and laugh all day. Worst – There’s only a “worst” because if you list all the parts of my job, something would come at the bottom of the list. Doesn’t mean I hate it, it’s just at the bottom. That would be every once in a while when I go to the dubbing session and the producers love the music and make no changes or additions. Why would that be my least favorite? While I’m very happy that they enjoyed the music and wouldn’t change a thing, it means I spent over 2 hours on my round-trip commute and 3 hours on the stage essentially doing nothing.

 

Have you ever been invited to participate in any Simpsons DVD Commentaries?  I know I’d love to hear someone involved with the music and/or editing talk about their experiences with certain episodes.

Not yet, but every now and again my name is mentioned in connection with some musical scene. I’d love to be asked. Maybe I should just volunteer.

 

Aside from The Simpsons, have you had a favorite show or project that you’ve worked on?

I’ve been very fortunate to work on almost 20 TV movies produced by THE HALLMARK HALL OF FAME since 1997. I always love working for Hallmark. I was also music editor for Mel Brooks’s most recent movies, “Robin Hood Men In Tights” and “Dracula – Dead and Loving It”. What a thrill to meet and work with a comedy legend. The last epic mini-series broadcast on network TV “War & Remembrance” on ABC in 1988 and 1989. The musical “Gypsy” starring Bette Midler for CBS in 1993. My complete IMDB profile is here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0496536/

 

What’s something you think fans can take away from your blog Simpsons Music 500?

A little peek at the day-to-day workings of the show, focusing on – but not limited to – music, an explanation of what a music editor does, some thoughts on music in general, how it impacts our lives.

 

Last question, can you give any hints about any upcoming episodes? Maybe the 500^th episode?

I haven’t seen the 500th yet. There are already many leaks about the story line out there on the ‘net, so I’m not the best source for “breaking news”. We all already know that Lady Gaga will be visiting Springfield. I just directed and recorded some singing by the wonderful Anika Noni Rose. She plays a nightclub singer named Rita who was very important to Grampa Simpson many years ago. Her episode may air in the late spring, but might be held until next fall.

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Thanks again Chris!