THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Name: Bruce Dukov

Profession: Violinist. My violin was made in 1811 by Nicholas Lupot, who was known as the "French Stradivarius".

Education: Juilliard School of Music B.M, M.M; High School of Music & Art

What is it exactly that you do? I am a studio violinist, primarily a concertmaster (leader or 1st violinist, depending on where you are from) and the Concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Recent films worked on: King Kong, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chronicles of Narnia, Deep Sea 3D IMAX.

Biggest films worked on: Jurassic Park, Titanic, Independence Day, Spider Man, X-Men, Seabiscuit, Toy Story (I & II)

What is your background: After being awarded a Fulbright Grant, I began a career as a concert violinist, based in London. I then decided, I did not enjoy touring and living out of a suitcase, away from my family; a close friend who was a commercial (studio) violinist in London, advised me about the advantages of a studio career, especially in the role of concertmaster, and I made the decision to follow this road. My first major film in London was Alien with Jerry Goldsmith. Since my move to Los Angeles in March 1985, I've performed on just under 1,200 feature films - not counting television movies or records!

What was the best experience you've had? I've had so many great moments in all different genres of recording, it would be very difficult to name a favorite; from Sinatra to Streisand, Mancini to Williams, Mauceri to Boulez.

Without naming names or titles, what is the worst situation you've ever had at a session, and why? I've encountered so many horrible moments in all different genres of recording, it would be very difficult to name a "best nightmare". Sometimes it was due to inept artistic production, other times to an incompetent conductor. Rare moments also included some seriously sub-standard performances by fellow musicians, which made you want to crawl into a hole out of embarrassment for them!

What are you working on now? I'm working with Bill Ross on a motion picture called September Dawn. Sunday is a solo violin and cello day, and Tuesday and Wednesday are orchestral scoring.

Name: Stephen Erdody

Profession: Cello Player

Education: Linden, N.J. public school system; the Juilliard School: B.M. 1975; M.M. 1977

Recent films worked on: Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong, War of the Worlds

Biggest films worked on: Spiderman I and II; Titanic; the early Batman movies; all of PIXAR's movies except The Incredibles

What is your musical background: I played trumpet in Jr. and Sr. High School. After my parents won $5,000 in the New York State Lottery (1969) I went to a music camp where I had my first private lessons. I was about to enter my junior year in High School, and the people at the music camp (Amherst Summer Music Center) arranged for me to study with Harvey Shapiro in NYC. Two years later I was accepted into the Juilliard School, where I continued my studies with Shapiro. I was principal cello of the Juilliard Orchestra for two years, and while there I formed the New York String Quartet with three of my Juilliard colleagues. The NYSQ took a position at UC Irvine upon graduation from Juilliard. The Quartet broke up in 1982. I continued teaching and conducting at UC Irvine until 1992. During those years I was principal cello of the Pacific Symphony, Opera Pacific, and for many of the ballet companies which came through LA and Orange Counties.

In 1984, violinist Endre Granat heard me during a run of the American Ballet Theater at the Music Center, and he introduced me to the Recording Industry in Los Angeles. I was doing many things (teaching, performing concerts, and some - but not too much studio work) at that time in my life, including forming a new string quartet, the Angeles Quartet in 1988. The Quartet disbanded in 2002, but not before winning the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for their Philips recording of the complete Haydn String Quartets (21 -discs, 23 hours long, and 68 string quartets).

What was the best experience you've had? Any recording session with John Williams (playing the cello solos for Angela's Ashes was a dream come true!), any recording session with John Williams and Steven Spielberg (playing the cello solos for Munich and having Steven Spielberg filming me during the recording process was extremely memorable!), having John Williams write a duet for me with Yo-Yo Ma for Memoirs of a Geisha was another thrill, and finally, I would have to say almost everyday having an opportunity to work with some amazingly talented film composers, and play their music with some of the greatest musicians in the world - my cello section could rival any cello section in any major orchestra in the world! When I was recording the main cello solo for Munich, the great cellist, Lynn Harrell, came to Sony (his wife is violinist Helen Nightingale, who plays in the studios, as well) and he could not get over the sound of the cello section - he had never heard a section like ours!

Another great experience was hearing Emily Bernstein play the clarinet solos for Williams' The Terminal, knowing that she knew that she had a few months to live, having just had surgeries, in the middle of chemotherapy, and still playing better than any clarinetist anywhere. I don't know if John knew how gravely ill she was, but I do know he wrote the solos knowing that she was suffering from liver cancer. To this day, I am amazed that anyone could have been going through what she was going through, and yet make those virtuoso clarinet solos seem completely effortless, despite her painful and debilitating illness.

Without naming names or titles, what is the worst situation you've ever had at a session, and why? Quite a few years ago now, probably in the mid to late 80's, I was doing a Disney TV date (quite possibly my first session for Disney) at the "old" Evergreen Studios, which was still a popular studio for TV and records at that time. Todd-AO, where we record quite a lot these days, used to be known as CBS Radford, and before that, Evergreen-Radford. I wasn't working very much at that time (just getting started in the "biz"), so I left for Evergreen two hours early for a 2 p.m. single (I thought I'd have lunch and have some time to warm-up). I got to Evergreen-Magnolia at around 1:30 p.m. and noticed there were no vehicles any where at the studio parking lot - I had a very bad feeling at that point. I called my answering service, Arlyn's and found out I was supposed to be at Evergreen-Radford. As I've said I was new at this, and I wasn't quite sure how to get to the other studio in less than a half-hour (even though it's only about 4 miles!). I had my Thomas Guide, and my 1980 Saab non-turbo and I found the studio at 1:55 p.m. after about 3 wrong turns, raced onto the lot, and got pulled over by one of the security guards in his golf cart, who proceeded to not let me park and go on my merry way. He detained me and threatened to not let me park on the lot that day, and all future dates that I was at Radford. He also notified me that Disney would be told of my "speeding" on the lot. At this point, I was sure "I would never work again". I finally got him to allow me to get to the scoring stage, but at this point I had no idea what to say to Reg Hall, the contractor at Disney. I didn't want to make a bad impression, but I did go to the wrong studio, got reprimanded for speeding on the lot, had been threatened that I would not be allowed to park on the lot ever again, Disney was to be notified of my "behavior", and this was one of my first sessions ever for Disney! I went over to speak with Reg, and before I could say anything he said, "How are you? You look a little frazzled! We're 'on a ten' - there are about fifteen players who are going to be late from another studio date. So, get some coffee and relax!"

What are you working on now? I am working on Jasper Randall's score for Intellectual Property, a beautiful score featuring solo cello and orchestra. Also, I am working on a film with Mark Mancina called August Rush, also featuring solo cello. It is the story of a concert cellist (starring Robin Williams, not as the cellist!) and her young son, who is a composer prodigy. It is a complicated "fairy tale" - the cellist thinks her son has died, but he is living in an orphanage run by Robin Williams. The music plays an integral part in the movie. Mark has written an enormous amount of fantastic music for the movie. They don't start filming until next month, but it has been fun playing some original music of Mark's as pre-records, as well as playing some of the Elgar Cello Concerto and some Bach.

Name: Jon Lewis

Profession: Trumpet Player

Education: Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance - University of Kansas, 1981

What is it exactly that you do? I play trumpet for television and movie soundtracks as well as Jingles, Record Dates, Video Games and a good deal of 'live music' like the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony and subbing on the LA Philharmonic. I also enjoy chamber music playing and am a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Brass.

Recent films worked on: Alan Silvestri's The Wild, Danny Elfman's "Serenada Schizophrana" (for the IMAX film Deep Sea 3D), King Kong with James Newton Howard, Eight Below with Mark Isham, Inside Man with Terence Blanchard, Flicka with Aaron Zigman, Fun with Dick and Jane with Teddy Shapiro, Munich with John Williams, Cheaper by the Dozen II with John Debney and Big Mamma's House
2 with George Clinton, to name the last few that been going on.

Biggest films worked on: Biggest is a relative term. Soldier with Joel McNeely had one of the largest brass sections I've worked with, having three brass choirs of 15 people each. Most of the scores of composers like James Newton Howard, John Williams, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Don Davis and other amazing composers are generally big scores. We recently had a very large orchestra with huge brass sections for The Chronicles of Narnia with Harry Gregson-Williams. Other wonderful, big brass sections from the past were Planet of the Apes with Danny Elfman and the Batman Returns soundtrack a few years ago, also with Danny Elfman. James Horner's Titanic and Troy were also larger brass sections. In general, most orchestras are around 80 players, a wonderful mix of the best of the musicians in Los Angeles.

What is your musical background: I grew up in the Northern Virginia area, outside of Washington, D.C. I studied with the 1st trumpet with the Army Band, Pat Mastroleo. I went to the Univ. of Kansas, studying with Roger Stoner. Moved out to LA in 1981, studied with Jimmy Stamp, Tom Stevens and Tony Plog as well as taking occasional lessons with various teachers in the area. I worked every type of music imaginable in the first several years and played in quintets, orchestras, Latin bands, weddings and funerals and everything else. I also threw newspapers for four long years when I moved to LA. I had some opportunities in the recording scene and in the early 90's I got more opportunities when I started playing for the "Star Trek" TV shows as solo trumpet. That continued until those shows ended and also I was able to play on the "JAG" TV shows for 10 years, from the first to the last shows (for the most part). Through that playing I was exposed to other recording situations and the rest just followed along. Now, I try to keep as busy as I can in the Motion Picture and Television scene and love every minute of it. I also do some clinics and masterclasses and have recently started doing a few solo performances around the United States and in Europe.

How did you get into recording music for film? When I moved out to LA in 1981, it was after visiting in two consecutive Spring Breaks from KU. I was immediately drawn to how beautiful it was in LA and when I started meeting some of the players I was totally blown away. I knew I HAD to be out here. As I mentioned earlier I moved to LA in 1981 and played every imaginable type of job and that experience really helped me in my all-around playing of styles and different playing situations. Over time I met the players and then the next level of being referred by the players brought me into some recording situations.

After many years of having an occasional opportunity to record, I had a great opportunity to play for the "Star Trek" TV shows "Deep Space Nine", "Next Generation" and "Voyager", as solo and first trumpet. Also around that time the TV show, "JAG", started and I had the privilege of playing all 10 years of that show. Those shows allowed me to be heard more and more and I believe lent to my exposure to the contractors. Long story short, I became busy through TV work, which was a wonderful area in our industry. That TV work, unfortunately, has decreased a great deal in the past several years.

What was the best experience you've had? Again, the 'best' experience would be too difficult to nail down but I had a wonderful experience several years ago while recording the movie soundtrack to Star Trek: Generations, with Dennis McCarthy. Though I had played some 1st trumpet on several movies, that was my first really major picture that I was called to play all the first trumpet and solos on the movie. Dennis had brought me into the "Star Trek" TV shows and was really great about writing some really beautiful but very difficult solo work for me. That was a very special movie experience to me. Overall the 'best' experience I have is being fortunate enough to work with the 'Best of the Best' on a daily basis. My colleagues are amazing and I'm in awe of what happens day in and day out with these wonderful Los Angeles musicians. They are the best...

Without naming names or titles, what is the worst situation you've ever had at a session, and why? I don't think I can point out any particular instance that was the worst. Part of the beauty of this business is being able to detach from situations that are less than great and being able to make the best out of any and all situations. That is why the magic is here in LA, in my opinion. There have been some very challenging situations with dynamics between composers and producers or even between players and leaders but all in all, we all take care of business in the best ways possible. I don't hold onto any 'worst situations'.

What are you working on now? I'm taking a break for the holidays, but there are always some great projects coming up to look forward to in the new year!