Temp track

A temp track, otherwise known as scratch music or temp music, is an existing piece of music or audio that is cut into the soundtrack of the movie during the editing process (often for the completed rough cut) before the final mix.

A fully assembled collection of pieces used to temp track a movie is known as a temp score. As the term indicates, this music is designed to be a temporary insert to assist in the production process; however, some films retain temp tracking all the way through to their final, released version. Perhaps the most infamous case of this happened when Stanley Kubrick rejected the score Alex North had written for 2001: A Space Odyssey (without informing the composer), replacing it with temp music from Richard Strauss, Gyorgi Ligeti, and other contemporary and classical composers.

While some feel that having to follow a temp track can be limiting for a composer, it can be a useful tool in finding the right style of music for a particular scene and can be a time-saver for both the composer and director.

A film's music editor is usually the one responsible for creating the temp track during the early stages of the editing process (often even while the production is still in the filming stage). Through extensive research and conversations with the director, the music editor will assemble a pool of potential music from a vast library of options.

Reasons for using temp tracks
In their book On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring, Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright list four common reasons filmmakers use temp tracks:


 * To help with the process of editing the film
 * To make the screenings for the film's producers, studio representatives, network executives, and/or preview audiences more effective
 * To help the director create a concept for the score
 * To demonstrate that concept to the composer