Dame Julia Nesbelch, the producer of City Of Wood once remarked when we were discussing a hissy fit thrown by an electric guitarist who’s claim to fame was owning an expensive guitar instead the ability to play it great. “Classic Tiny Talent Time” is what she called it. I liked that expression.
The first tv serial I scored arrived without any sound design. Nobody told me it comes later. I thought it was an enormous vacuum so I filled it wall to wall. When later I heard it back on television I realized what I did was unredeemable. I hid under the mattress. One of many classic tiny talent time moments for me. At that time many people patted me on the back because I was well known, they thought that in itself made the music good but truly it was unlistenable. I could have been so big if only there was a Gemini category for worst music in a sitcom.
And some directors don’t understand a sketch isn’t the final music. It’s a sketch. It’s louder so they can “hear” the musical details not because the music has an evil plan to obliterate important things like dialogue. Certain directors react to sketches precisely like that, they forget the sketch is controllable for them later, in any way they can imagine. It’s like having an actor read lines and getting upset that lighting cues, costumes and make up didn’t simultaneously exist in the audition. Classic ttt.