Ask Murray - music facts

All of our questions had a definite musical theme so, this week, I thought I'd regale you with some Murray-Facts about music on the episodes, and how we make each episode sound 'right'.

Justmince asked 'Who selects the background music for each episode?'

Well justmince since you asked…it's a complicated old process! And it's not just music, it's all the sounds of the episode you might never have even noticed!

First, on set the Sound Recordist will get everything they think they need for the bones of the Episode. Along with dialogue they'll get all those little bits and pieces you probably don't even notice - footsteps, doors slamming, atmospheric noises. Then at the end of a shoot, they record what's called a 'wild track' – those noises that we hear in every day life just to make the episode realistic. The director will use this in the edit to give some background noise.

Meanwhile the director will be choosing music for the episode – once they've chosen, they come to me to get permission to use if from the record company, or the singer, whoever owns it.

Maisie58 wondered what music was playing in the pub when Raymond followed Sean Kennedy last week – well, director Stuart Davis came to me and asked for Johann Johannsson and the track Odi Et Amo from the album Englaborn. I checked in with Stuart about why and he told me that he said he loves contemporary Icelandic classical music. The rest of the score from that episode had more from the same album.

While the director is directing, the editor is in the…edit, obviously…putting all the scenes together in order according to the script. They use what's called 'guide audio' – sounds recorded on set – over the top of the images. Once the scenes are all in the right place, the director and editor put the chosen music over the top.

The final step is called the 'dub'. This is where the producer and dubbing mixer make sure the sound on the episode is cleaned up; so there's no weird seagulls, strange car noises in the wrong places etc. Also they can look at making things louder and quieter to match the emotions of the scene. So in last week's episode, you'll notice the noise of Raymond in the Tall Ship kitchen was louder than the other sounds to make it scarier.

So you see, it's a pretty complicated thing to get right! Next time you're watching, keep an ear out for all those extra sounds – now you know how it's done!

Last week I offered ten MurrayPoints for anyone who guessed our mystery location. Well, no one got it right! If you were hanging around Prestwick Airport a couple of weeks ago you might have seen our sneaky crew filming a few scenes for an upcoming episode!

If you are looking for music outwith the show you might be lucky to catch Tom Urie (Big Bob) tickling the ivory keys at a bar in Glasgow on a Friday!