What qualifications do you need? Good musical taste and creativity are very important. The job of music dubbing is to select and compose scores to enhance visual images so that the plot of whatever you are working on has a better flow. The score can either subtly nuance a film or play a significant role, depending on the situation. Having a degree in music education can be an advantage. What sort of person does the job suit? If you are thinking of dubbing TV shows, it will be a great help if you're a TV buff because the more you know the programme you are working on, the better. You also need patience as we watch an hour-long episode for at least four hours before deciding what type of music or musical instrument to use. What's the best way into the industry? Compose original works and send the demos to TV stations. Usually they will give you a video and then ask you to compose the score. Good networking is important. What work hours do you keep? It's flexible, but we try to keep it to around 44 hours of work each week. Usually it takes one to two months for a standard 30-episode drama. Is there a clear career path? Once you master the skill of music dubbing, you can extend your career to include film scoring or other music-related areas. What is the best part of your job? Working in a TV station. I have had to enhance my communication skills because I have to liaise with many people in the production team. It has also widened my horizons. I have to conduct research on ethnic music if I have to compose the score for an epic drama with a Mongolian theme, for example. What is the worst? Not every TV drama is my cup of tea. Still, I have to watch the ones I don't like many times in order to compose the scores. Salary? You can be paid monthly or per project. The salary depends on your experience. Copyright royalties are another source of income. Last word? I try to stay away from using canned music and use original music compositions. It takes more time and budget but I think the hard work is worth it.
