Carlin production music professional#

Dan is an extremely personable, easy going and likeable fellow – qualities that are especially well suited to his job, which requires diplomacy and cool-headedness in stressful situations. He has since worked extensively with composers such as Georges Delerue, Lalo Schifrin, Jack Nitzsche, and others. began his new career editing the music for television, later “graduating” to feature films with DAYS OF HEAVEN in 1978. It wasn’t until 1976 that he decided to follow in his father’s music editing footsteps.

Carlin production music professional#

The company’s name was derived from Dan Sr.’s wife’s first name, Lavony, and his own, Dan – hence LA DA (a title which makes musical sense as well).Īlthough the younger Carlin grew up in a film music environment, and is now, at age 35, a successful music editor, he started his professional life as an anthropology lecturer at the University of Connecticut. Dan Carlin’s father, the highly respected veteran film music editor Dan Carlin Sr., formed LA DA in 1972, after working for years at major studios. In Hollywood, music editors either work for a studio and are assigned by that studio to specific film or television projects, or they can work independently and are hired by individual producers for specific films. Carlin is president of LA DA Productions, an independent company that employs 12 music editors. My interest in spotlighting these “unsung heroes” led to my conversation with one of the busiest film music editors currently working, Dan Carlin. (And, to be fair, often times good musical concepts and suggestions are made by them.) The recording mixer and music editor can greatly affect a film’s music. Directors and producers often have much input when working with a composer and countless stories are told about scores ruined by insensitive or musically ignorant filmmakers. While composers deservedly get the lion’s share of attention, other talented individuals contribute to the success (or failure) of a film score. Most film music buffs can rattle off the top composers’ filmographies and discographies, or can hum every note of a favorite score, but few know about all that is involved with the actual scoring of a film. Text reproduced by kind permission of the editor and publisher Randall D. Interview by David Kraft – Originally published in CinemaScore #11/12, 1983 Dan Carlin discusses the pivotal role of the music editor in creating a finished film score