Excuse me if I sound like I'm kissing up here, but I've noticed that my readers tend to have a lot of knowledge about various subjects. Therefore, I'm hoping that someone out there can answer a question for me. (Well, maybe one-and-a-half questions.) Perhaps it has a really simple explanation, one which is just not occurring to me.
I've always wondered about music used on movie and television soundtracks, specifically what Wikipedia refers to as "pop songs heard in whole or part in the background of non-musicals," rather than a film score, or performances in a musical, which are recorded specifically for a film by a studio.
To list just one example, when George Lucas was making American Graffiti in the early 1970s and wanted to use songs like "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets, we all know he had to get permission to use every song, and pay licensing fees for each one, but who supplied the actual music we ended up hearing in the film? I think it's pretty safe to say that Mr. Lucas didn't just put a couple of microphones in front of his stereo speakers and play 45 RPM records from his private collection.
Also... Music used in films and TV is always clear-sounding (except when it comes from a radio or record player in the scene, or something similar). How do they obtain flawless copies of the original material, especially when the song in question is really old, and the master tapes aren't available? I realize that with today's computers and digital technology, they can probably "clean up" a song's sound, but what did they do years ago, before such methods existed, as in my example?
By the way, if you're the enlightened guy or gal who gives me an answer, I'll probably follow up with an additional question or two if I feel a need to further clarify things in my own mind. I'm funny that way. So please sign up for follow-up emails once you leave a comment.
And rest assured, fellow babies, I hate it when someone asks a question just because he or she is too lazy to look up the answer for himself or herself. Therefore, long before I decided to post this, I did all sorts of searches on the internet, but found nothing.
And rest assured, fellow babies, I hate it when someone asks a question just because he or she is too lazy to look up the answer for himself or herself. Therefore, long before I decided to post this, I did all sorts of searches on the internet, but found nothing.
Thanks for your time.
