Corey Miller Explains How Music Helps Writing

When asked this week if he has a particular song in mind when he visualizes certain scenes, Miami writer Corey Miller revealed he much prefers silence when he sits down to write.

Every once in a while, however, Miller will turn on the radio, but he's picky when it comes to music. "I prefer instrumental music, because lyrics are distracting when I am searching for a way to arrange my own words. Soundtracks are a nice resource for this. Two soundtracks are great in filtering out distraction: Solaris by Cliff Martinez, and White by Zbigniew Preisner, and have been my recent favorites."

Finding good inspirational music, however, isn't has hard as trying to find the perfect soundtrack for an episode. Much more goes into choosing a song for a certain scene than picking out a funky, techno tune. "To me, it's when the scene is shot and cut together that the song ideas begin to spring to mind. Because now the scene has a new rhythm. Some scenes work better without any music. Some work better with an instrumental score. And some work better with a commercial song (called "source"). But, which to choose? That, too, is very subjective."

"Our Music Supervisor, Jason Alexander, also puts together compilations and distributes them to the Editors, giving them even more choices to draw from. Many times, our Show Runner Ann Donahue hears a song that she passes on for use in an episode. Regardless of where the songs originate, the temp score sets the tone for the episode."

Much like its explosive plots, Miami likes to go all out when it comes to music. A recent episode showcased Madonna's latest hit Hung Up - but getting the rights to play the song wasn't cheap. This, however, "Every show has a music budget which also has to be taken into account. Some songs by very popular artists can eat up a huge portion of an episode's budget. When that occurs, we have to spend less on other songs, or have score replace a source cue."

To learn more about picking out the perfect score for an episode, read Miller's blog.

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