Frequently Asked Questions
Everything clients ask before a first session, grouped by what they're booking. If your question isn't here, email info@bigbiterecords.com and you'll get a real answer rather than a brochure.
Working with us
Can you work inside our existing post pipeline?
Yes. We prefer working with .wav stems but we do take OMF/AAF from your editor, work to your locked picture, and deliver to whatever the spec asks for. If there's a post supervisor running the schedule, they keep running it — we just hit the dates.
What do you need to get started?
For picture work: the cut with burnt-in timecode and production sound as separate consolidated files. For music: the cut or the build, any temp you've been living with, and a conversation about tone. For a mix: the session or stems, a rough reference, and the deadline.
Do you need picture before you start?
Not for everything. Themes, palette and sound-design elements can start from a script or a storyboard. Anything that has to hit a cut needs picture, even a rough one, and the final mix waits for lock.
How far ahead should we book?
As early as you can. Bringing us in at rough cut rather than at lock is the single biggest thing that improves the result, because changes are still cheap and the edit can still move.
Sound for picture
Do you write the music and design the sound, or only one?
Both, and that's the point — score and effects come out of the same room, so a trailer hit lands with the cue instead of fighting it. We'll also take on just one if you have the other covered.
Can you deliver Dolby Atmos?
Yes. Stereo, 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos, with stems and the loudness spec your release needs. The stereo and 5.1 versions fold from the same Atmos master, so they stay consistent with each other.
How long does a mix take?
A short film or a commercial is usually a week. A feature or a series episode depends on the state of the material — we quote a schedule once we've seen the cut.
Original music
How does scoring to picture actually work?
You send the cut, we agree tone and references, then we write to the timeline. You hear demos against picture before anything is finished, so changes happen while they're still reversible.
Do you record live players?
Yes, including orchestral sessions on a scoring stage when a project calls for it. Plenty of scores are hybrid — live layers over programmed material — which gets most of the way there for a fraction of the cost.
Do you deliver stems and alternates?
Stems by section, plus alternates and edit lengths where the project needs them. Tell us up front if you'll need trailer cuts or loopable versions; it's easier to write them in than carve them out later.
Who owns the music?
Settled per project in the agreement before work starts. We work both work-for-hire and licensed, and we'll tell you plainly which makes sense for what you're making.
Recording and mixing
Can you mix something recorded elsewhere?
Yes — most of what we mix arrives as sessions or stems from other studios and writers. Send the session, a rough reference and the deadline, and we'll tell you what else we need.
What do I get back?
The final mix in the formats your release needs, the stems that go with it, and a note on the loudness we hit.
What loudness do you deliver to?
Whatever the release calls for: streaming targets for music, cinema levels for film, trailer standards where those apply. Tell us the platform and we set it.
Do you master as well?
We do, and for many projects it makes sense to keep mix and master under one roof. If you'd rather use a dedicated mastering engineer, we'll deliver mixes prepared for that.
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