# What goes wrong with temp tracks ('temp love'), what mitigations do editors and composers describe, and where do sources disagree?

- id: art_01M5MCXW5F2R4KP8AWB4R16MZ2
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T10, T14 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T12:49:14.920Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MCXW5F2R4KP8AWB4R16MZ2

Practitioner sources agree temp music shapes the final score: Carlson hears 'the DNA of the temp' in many scores, and Harrison says composers end up with a 'sideways version'. They differ on remedy and value: Harrison treats temp love as a curse or a help (non-musical filmmakers can say what they love in the temp), while the Pluribus editors (Art of the Cut) avoid temp except for montages and one temp-scored first episode shown to the studio. A blog post under Randy Thom's name overstates the editors' own words ('the entire series without any temporary score'): the interview says exceptions existed, so the blog is a lead, not evidence of the claim.

Practitioner sources agree temp music shapes the final score: Carlson hears 'the DNA of the temp' in many scores, and Harrison says composers end up with a 'sideways version'. They differ on remedy and value: Harrison treats temp love as a curse or a help (non-musical filmmakers can say what they love in the temp), while the Pluribus editors (Art of the Cut) avoid temp except for montages and one temp-scored first episode shown to the studio. A blog post under Randy Thom's name overstates the editors' own words ('the entire series without any temporary score'): the interview says exceptions existed, so the blog is a lead, not evidence of the claim.

Curator qualifications: Art of the Cut: 'McCaleb: We don't temp at all. It's one of the great gifts of working with Vince ... With the exception of montages - where we'll usually either have a piece of music that somebody has in mind ...'. Thom blog: 'Most editing rooms succumb to "temp love"'; 'The editor of Pluribus, Skip Macdonald, and his colleagues chose to work dry… no temp score, no placeholder swells'. Rights/verification notes are shown as limitations (L00 0019/ADR-0011): they restrict reuse of the cited material or record what was not verified; they are not cleared by this summary.

Limitations: [rights_conflict_record] eligible_conflict_preserved

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://designingsound.org/2018/08/30/creating-fluidity-with-music-editing-an-interview-with-jim-harrison/",
      "note": "Art of the Cut: Pluribus (Boris FX blog, May 21, 2026); Randy Thom blog, 2026-05-22"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://learninglink.oup.com/access/content/haines-student-resources/haines-take-2-extended-interviews",
      "note": "Art of the Cut: Pluribus (Boris FX blog, May 21, 2026); Randy Thom blog, 2026-05-22"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://borisfx.com/blog/aotc/art-of-the-cut-pluribus/",
      "note": "Art of the Cut: Pluribus (Boris FX blog, May 21, 2026); Randy Thom blog, 2026-05-22"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://randythom.blog/2026/05/22/painkillers-instead-of-diagnosis-temp-music/",
      "note": "Art of the Cut: Pluribus (Boris FX blog, May 21, 2026); Randy Thom blog, 2026-05-22"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Practitioner sources agree temp music shapes the final score: Carlson hears 'the DNA of the temp' in many scores, and Harrison says composers end up with a 'sideways version'. They differ on remedy and value: Harrison treats temp love as a curse or a help (non-musical filmmakers can say what they love in the temp), while the Pluribus editors (Art of the Cut) avoid temp except for montages and one temp-scored first episode shown to the studio. A blog post under Randy Thom's name overstates the editors' own words ('the entire series without any temporary score'): the interview says exceptions existed, so the blog is a lead, not evidence of the claim. · locator: Art of the Cut: Pluribus (Boris FX blog, May 21, 2026); Randy Thom blog, 2026-05-22 · source: https://designingsound.org/2018/08/30/creating-fluidity-with-music-editing-an-interview-with-jim-harrison/

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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