Tim Jones, Are You Smarter Than A Class Full Of Fifth Graders?

What tv show has the best music? That’s an easy one! It’s Chuck of course. All that music comes from the mind of Tim Jones.

My name is Al (you may know me better as agent52) and I am a music teacher in Massachusetts. My fifth graders have been studying composers this year. They wrote reports on all the famous composers you might expect – Beethoven, Bach, Stravinsky and Ives (okay, maybe you didn’t expect that one!). Then we got talking about how music is used to influence your emotional response in a movie or TV show. That lead to what follows.

I asked Mel if she could put me in contact with Tim Jones, composer for the music we listen to on Chuck every week, so my students could interview him. Have you ever REALLY noticed how good that is and how it influences what you see and feel? Try re-running a current episode, but close your eyes when you do it. You will be amazed by what you hear.

Tim graciously agreed to be interviewed by a bunch of fifth graders, so they set about coming up with some questions. These kids are 10 – 11, but they asked some pretty astute questions. Tim’s answers are just as interesting and give quite a bit of insight into the life of a working composer in the world of weekly scripted TV.

Al: A quick question from me before I give you the ones from my students: it seems that there is more music in this year’s episodes than in the past. Is this so?

Tim: Al, We’ve always had anywhere from 35-38 minutes (or more) of music in a 42 minute episode. I think the difference may be a few less songs, which means more score. NBC has always wanted almost wall-to-wall music. I don’t always agree with that, as it can diminish the effectiveness of the music. Silence is as important as sound in a score. Most really effective film scores use silence in a way that heightens the music when it comes back in. ‘Jaws’ is an excellent example. When Captain (Shaw?) tells his story about the USS Indianapolis, there is plenty of foreboding silence. Check it out, it’s pretty cool.

Now from my fifth grade students…

1. How long does it take you to write a piece of music?

Tim: This is an excellent question, and one to which I have several answers…

I have written music in a few minutes and I have written it over a period of weeks. Sometimes, inspiration for a piece of music is quite sudden. In these instances, music pops out of my head almost fully formed (from somewhere else). Sometimes I feel like just writing something down that is already done. I’m working really fast just to capture the idea before it goes away. Other times, I find that the inspiration for a piece of music (a theme or sequence of notes) can happen and then I spend time (using my knowledge of music theory and experience matching music to film) to craft that idea into the finished product.

On Chuck I sometimes have as much as 15 minutes of new music to write for an episode. I usually have about 5 days to complete the music (including revisions and rewrites from the Producer’s notes). That translates to 3 min / day of finished material (which is a lot).

2. How old are you?

Tim: I am 38 years old. (John Williams was 40 when he wrote ‘Jaws’ for Steven Spielberg)

3. How many instruments do you own (and do you use them as part of your job)?

Tim: I have: a B Flat Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Electric Cello, Digeridoos, dozens of ethnic flutes, Drums of all shapes and sizes, a piano key accordion, over 20 guitars (acoustic and electric), hammered dulcimer, bagpipes (Irish and Scottish), recorders (alto and soprano). I’ve lost count… Well over 100 things that make noise of one type or another. I use these things all the time. Just about every film and episode of Chuck that I write has me playing some of my live instruments.

4. How do you handle your everyday life with your work schedule?

Tim: I try to get up and go to bed at about the same times everyday. I get up with the kids in the morning (I have two kids. My daughter, Tess, is 8. My son, Finley is 6.) I’m usually in my chair composing by 9am. I work till lunch then take a break. I then work till dinner (around 5 or 6). If I’m on schedule for the day (meaning I’ve gotten my 2-5 minutes done for the day) I can stop working. Sometimes, I work after dinner till about 9-9:30 when my eyes start to close on their own. The times I have to work till 11 or 12 in the evening make me extremely grouchy! 😉 I’m not a composer that works best at 4am. I’ve written much better stuff at 10am than 10pm. That’s just the way that works for me.

5. What’s the shortest deadline you’ve ever had to work to?

Tim: I had to rewrite the big fight scene where Chuck flashes on intersect 2.0 (episode 222 ‘The Ring’ where he uses Kung fu on the bad guys then says ‘I know Kung fu’) in about 12 hours. That was stressful.

6. How old were you when you got the idea to become a composer?

Tim: When I was in Jr. High (seventh grade in Arizona), I bought my first synthesizer. I thought I wanted to be a rock star. You’ve probably never heard of them, but the synthesizer band Depeche Mode was a big deal in 1985. I didn’t connect the idea of writing music for film until college.

7. Did you go to school to be a composer or something else?

Tim: I started college at the University of California at San Diego, which is in La Jolla, CA. It’s a great school. I was a dual major in Music and Electrical Engineering. Nobody (my parents) thought that music was a viable way to make a living so I was hedging my bets with the ‘useful’ major of engineering. Eventually, my parents and I figured out that I wasn’t a particularly gifted engineering student. In my junior year of College (with only 2 semesters to go) I transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.

This was the best thing I could have done. I was like a sponge, and the Boston program had a major in Film Scoring! I was hooked. I am, however, very glad that I had the experience of a large university in San Diego. Once I got to Boston, it was more like a small, professional school. It was good to have both experiences.

8. What is the worst music you ever composed? 🙂

Tim: I once wrote music for a film called ‘Attack of the Sabertooth’ about a giant tiger that eats a bunch of scientists at a research facility in Fiji. That movie was so bad that it wasn’t ‘released’ on DVD… it Escaped.

9. What is your favorite Chuck episode and why?

Tim: I particularly enjoyed the episode in season 2 where the Buy More is taken hostage at Christmas time. I really enjoyed using the Chuck theme in the orchestration style of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. I also made an homage to ‘Die Hard’ that was a lot of fun (Beethoven’s 9th symphony)

10. Do you write all your own music or do you model it after the style of other composers?

Tim: You know, it is impossible to create in a vacuum. I’m continually influenced by music that I’ve heard over the course of my life. However, I try to find a unique way to communicate through my music. Plagiarism is as illegal in music as it is in the printed word. Even when I’m asked to do something ‘like’ another piece of music, I try to filter it through my own experience. So, the answer is: I write all my own music, but I can’t help being influenced by all the things my brain has heard and cataloged over the years. That ‘Barney’ song is really hard to get out of your head you know?

11. Are you a gamer?

Tim: Sadly, yes. I’m pretty addicted to the ‘Call of Duty’ series and now the ‘Modern Warfare 2’. I actually find that gaming is a good way to relax my brain between composing sessions. There is something about it that uses a different part of the brain and I’m able to come back to composing with less burn-out. I know that’s a little weird, but true…

12. Do you write music for anything else besides Chuck?

Tim: I wrote some music for the new Universal film ‘Wolfman’ that comes out in February. I worked for my friend, Conrad Pope, who is a wonderful composer and also happens to be John William’s orchestrator. I wrote the score for a film called ‘Smokin’ Aces 2’. Not a great movie and certainly not OK for 5th graders. You can tell your parents I said that… 😉

And a bonus question!

13. Do you like pie?

Tim: No, Cartman I don’t like pie. I LOVE it! My grandmother makes a pie called ‘Black Bottom’ pie that is worth the drive to Arizona. Chocolate custard with a cream custard layer on top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings… Mmmm, I’m getting my car keys.

Ladies and Gentleman, Thank you for the great questions! I’ve enjoyed sitting and thinking about the answers. I hope my responses will help you in your exploration of modern day composers. People really do make a living writing music, but you have to really want it and be willing to sacrifice some comforts along the way. For me, there is no more gratifying job in the world. I never really had a ‘Plan B’. Have an awesome school year and be sure to thank your teacher for going the extra mile for you. He is obviously a teacher who cares a great deal about your education. Plus, he’s cool!

Kindest Regards,

Tim Jones

There! I’ve been called ‘cool’ by Tim Jones. My street cred just went way up.

(For further information on Tim and what he does, please see the excellent interview from Chuck vs the Podcast.)