FILM, TELEVISION & MEDIA COMPOSER

ARTICLE PREVIEW - Library Work - An Introduction to ’Production Music’ Pt 2

Last month, we explained how the business of production music works. But if you want to get into it, you’ll need to learn how to make stings, cut-downs and the other elements of a usable library track.

Full article published in Sound On Sound February 2008

OK, so you have been briefed to write some production music, or you want to write something as a pitch to a production music company. “What makes good production music, then?”, you ask yourself. The answer is almost anything, as long as it’s good. As I said last month, in addition to a good tune and very high production values, a spark of originality will often help.

Usually I start out to write a track as if it is destined for a top-selling CD. At this stage I don’t worry about specific timings and usually write something about two and a half to three and a half minutes long. I often use a standard form, which introduces a theme, follows it up with variations or solos, then restates the theme, sometimes with a breakdown either after the first theme or before the last.

Last month, we saw that it’s crucial to be able to offer versions of your tracks that clock in at exactly 10, 20 and 30 seconds, and most of the technical issues that are specific to production music stem from this requirement. However, at the composition stage, I won’t worry about making the tempo suit specific length versions. I’d rather concentrate hard on making the music have the best feel. I have found that if you set a tempo purely to make the 30-second or 20-second version easy to edit, you can end up fighting to get the right groove. The mood I’m in when I first compose a piece plays a large role in determining the tempo, and I find this emotional rather than purely technical connection with the music can really pay off in the long run.

I like to think of myself as owning several hats that I can put on as required; in fact, this approach is good for any kind of music production. So sometimes I have on my trained musician/composer/arranger hat and will be concerned with performance technique, intonation, orchestration. Before too long, however, I will put on my ‘bloke in the street’ hat and ignore all the rules about music I was taught at college, or all the production techniques I’ve gleaned from books (yes, even Paul White’s Recording And Production Techniques, which is never too far from reach). This hat comes in very handy for indie, pop or folk but it also can work well for jazzy stuff, especially, which benefits from unexpected or out-of-the-mainstream elements. I have arranged a few covers of classical tunes, and once again this approach can result in something a bit different to the vast stock of classical music that already exists in production music libraries. (There are some example tracks on my web site at — the one called ‘Nutty Crackers’ is a good illustration of this.)