The Soundtrack in Nontheatrical Motion Pictures

Frank Lewin

Soundtracks in nontheatrical films range in complexity from a simple narration with, possibly, introductory title music and concluding music, to an intricate combination of narration, dialogue, music and sound effects. All soundtracks have in common the fact that their component elements must be edited separately, mounted on reels running synchronously with an edited work print made from the film's negative or original, and finally are re-recorded (mixed) to be combined into a single track. Before the introduction of magnetic tape and the adoption of magnetic film, all sound tracks consisted of positive film, and the final mixing was done direct to negative. Compared with today's tape techniques the process was more time consuming, frequently less satisfactory technically and certainly more expensive.

Print ISSN
Published
1959-06
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J13834