There are four main ways I think professional music editing helps you to perform better and score more highly.
Firstly, if your music contains a bad edit – a clunky change or a glitch in the rhythm – the judges and the audience will notice it. For just a second or two their attention will be on the music, not on you, and that will reduce the impact of your skating. A professional editor will make sure this never happens, so that the judges and the audience only have one thing on their minds: your skating.
Secondly, professional editing can allow a collection of mismatched parts to sound like a coherent and beautiful single piece, never losing its rhythm or emotional intensity. That makes it easy for you to perform a flowing, continuous program and tell the story you want to tell.
Thirdly, older music (pre-1990s) often has a large difference in volume between the quiet parts and loud parts. If you turn up the quiet sections so you can hear the beat and keep in time, the loud sections will blow your ears off! I remaster the music so that you can hear all the details, all the time. You don’t have to hunt around for the beat, you can just relax and concentrate on your performance.
And lastly, sound systems in ice rinks and sports arenas are usually awful, and the acoustics are even worse, so you need the clearest sound you can get. I have a degree in physics so I understand rink acoustics, and I use specialist mastering software to tailor your mix specifically for ice rinks and sports arenas, so that your music will sound as loud and clear as possible in every different rink you visit.
A good performance is the sum of many elements – mainly your athleticism and hard work, of course, but also factors like costume, hair, presentation and music. If you’re spending time or money on a costume, a choreographer, hair or makeup, it’s important to make sure your music doesn’t let everything else down. My fee is a small price to pay for music you can depend on, music that will impress, music that will help you to perform better.