Cardoni Keeps The Music ‘Fun And Fresh’ For ‘Miami’

Composer Jeff Cardoni joined the CSI: Miami crew with co-composer Kevin Kiner during the show’s second season, and the team has been scoring episodes of the show ever since.

Bill Brown has composed every episode of CSI: New York since the show began in 2004, but Miami started out with a different composer, Graeme Revell. Cardoni and Kiner took over during season two, but not before they proved they were up to the job. “Myself and I believe 5 other composers were given an episode on a Friday night and asked to demo the episode for Monday,” Cardoni explained. “I believe they watched them without names and I got a call the following week and told that they liked what I did. They were going to use my music for the next episode, but because of the magnitude of the show, were going to do another demo, myself included, for the next episode. It was at this time that Kevin and I were put in touch and decided to team up for the next episode, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“I remember the first episode, ‘Bait’ (Episode 209), because it was a huge break for me in my life,” Cardoni continued. “I had recently sold my house, we had a young son, and for crazy reasons we were temporarily living at a hotel down by LAX while trying to find a new place to live. So I remember sitting in my car outside of the hotel when I got the call saying that they had picked my demo. It is something that I will never forget and a truly Hollywood moment. The little guy got a break and I really have to give the producers credit for really judging us on the music, and not the typical political and credit oriented decision process. It was truly a moment that my whole life had led up to, and I don’t forget how lucky I am for a day!”

Once Cardoni and Kiner were on board, they were able to approach their job without a strict set of guidelines for how the show’s music should sound. “I believe they were open to new ideas and to see someone else’s take on it, as opposed to repeating what was done,” Cardoni revealed. “In all honesty, I wasn’t that familiar with the music of the show, or [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation] for that matter and purposely didn’t watch them so I would try and come up with something unique. My goal was to use as many organic acoustic instruments as possible and manipulate the sound, as opposed to a totally electronic direction.”

“Once it was determined that Kevin and I were going to work together, we had a lot of conversations about sound and what it should be,” he added. “I was, again, strongly for using organic instruments and specifically a lot of Afro Latin / Cuban percussion elements that give you the vibe of Miami. Obviously we had certain parameters that we had to fit this in, but that was the original plan. And also to keep it fresh and constantly evolving. The sound of the show has constantly changed over the seasons, and a cue from Season 2 would sound terribly out of place in Season 7. That constant exploration of sound keeps our job fun and fresh.”

Cardoni and Kiner share the work, but they team up for every episode. “We will spot a show, and then one of us will usually come up with a melodic idea for the episode, depending on the story and we’ll share it and work it into our individual cues,” Cardoni said. “We’ll then split the show in half and go to our respective studios to write. We try to mix it up, but oddly, Kevin tends to excel in the really programmed electronic stuff, where as I gravitate to the more emotional cues. It’s kind of the opposite of what you would think, if you looked at us and our backgrounds.”

One of Cardoni’s most memorable scenes to compose was the departure of Khandi Alexander (Dr Alexx Woods) in the season six episode “Rock and a Hard Place”. “Probably the one I get the most emails about is the episode when the coroner Alexx Woods leaves at the end, her final episode,” he shared. “That was a crazy one as they were going to use a song but decided not to, so I got the scene, a four minute scene, at 11pm on a Tuesday and had to write something for the next morning – for a main character’s departure. The scene was totally dry, no temp music, so kind of scary to watch this huge sequence totally silent for 4 minutes. It was a case of just going with instinct, and I still get emails from people who really like that scene.”

The music for Miami has “constantly changed,” Cardoni said. “The show constantly changes. Season 2-4 were more dramatic, talky, introspective. Then we had a few years of full on action, car chase, shoot em up stuff. Last year was a great mix of both, and really excited to see what Season 8 has in store.”

Cardoni isn’t sure exactly what it is that makes Miami so successful, but he’s glad to be part of the team. “I look at it that we’re really lucky to be a part of something this huge,” he said. “I mean, CSI:Miami was the most popular show worldwide last year! That’s crazy! It’s a once in a lifetime thing and I’m just enjoying the ride for all it’s worth. I would say it’s just being in the right place at the right time. CSI Vegas just came along at the right moment and it just took a life of its own. As far as Miami in particular, I think it’s so popular worldwide because it’s escapist entertainment – you see vivid colors, beaches, beautiful people in bikinis. I can imagine for someone sitting in an igloo somewhere dreaming of something better, an hour with Horatio Caine [David Caruso] beats watching the news…”