About

My name is CHRIS LEDESMA and this is my blog about my experiences as the music editor on one of the most-beloved, iconic and longest-running shows in television history:
THE SIMPSONS.

I have had the miraculous good fortune to work on the show since the beginning (of the series, not the shorts on THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW – there was no music in the shorts).

Our 24th season on the air premiered on September 30, 2012 for TV viewers in the U.S. and Canada.

The show reached a major milestone in television history (and in the lives of those of us who have worked on the show since episode #1) on February 19, 2012 when our 500th episode aired.

I’ll write about producing the music for this show, let you in on some of the day-to-day events that go into the post-production work on the show (some mundane, some interesting), and take you to the 500th episode celebration as well as any others along the way.

I’ll also fill you in (using only the best powers of recall I can muster) on some of the highs and lows of my career and involvement with the show since the fall of 1989. I’ll do my best to keep it up and make it interesting. You can also follow me on twitter @mxedtr for the occasional mini-blog or quick update.

The blog currently has posts in 5 categories: MY MUSIC EDITING JOURNEY, MUSIC EDITING 101, THE ROAD TO 500, BEYOND 500, and RANDOM MUSICAL THOUGHTS.

MY MUSIC EDITING JOURNEY tells the story of how I broke into music editing and how I got the gig on THE SIMPSONS as well as some of my other work in “the biz”.

Under MUSIC EDITING 101, I describe the craft of music editing as it applies to
THE SIMPSONS or any other film or TV show I work on.

THE ROAD TO 500 is where I will post updates, news and whatever tidbits I can reveal (without getting into trouble) as I work on the current season.

BEYOND 500 will get into the nuts & bolts of the day-to-day work that goes into the show’s music.

RANDOM MUSICAL THOUGHTS are just those. I took up the piano by ear at about the age of three, so music has played an important role in my life for a very long time. Sometimes I just want to vent or shoot the breeze about something musical that tickles or annoys me.

I recommend that you start with the first entry and read forward from there. I promise, this is not a trick to get you to read my entire blog (although that would be nice of you). Each new post builds on information given in the previous post – bits of my personal & professional history, the language of film making and music editing, etc. Newer posts will have better context if you read the earlier posts.

Feel free to leave questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I hope you’ll enjoy the blog, share it with your Simpsons-loving friends, and come back often.