Composing music for commericals

As the thread states I'd love some tips/tricks/knowledge on composing commericals, anyone out there got any experience in the field?

A friend of mine has a production company that does like car commercials, hotels, etc etc and looking to cut his current partner loose and make it "all in the company" style = he wants to involve me.

I know music theory, a novice at the keys and stuff like that Im mainly looking for tips regarding structure, developement and such, but all tips welcomed!

Great topic... I do dabble in areas of music other than the normal channels. (Theme music, jingles, scoring, etc.)

Most of everything I learn about making music for commercial use I actually learned from watching the old Jaime Foxx Show.

The most important thing to remember is keep things SHORT and CONCISE because you don't have 4 minutes to prove a point like with traditional music. Next is know the product that you are scoring for. You wouldn't drop a hard hitting 4-on-the-floor house track in a laundry detergent commercial. Maybe a car commercial...

Just like with film, editing and scoring can change the entire mood of a commercial.

Just check out some REMIXED MOVIE TRAILERS on youtube. My favorite is horror movie trailers remixed to look like romantic comedies.

And @Wal-Martian, the amount of times you here the AMEN BREAK on TV is astounding!

yeah and even impeach the pres you hear... i forget the one, but once I remember hearing a commercial with just the break looping and no other sounds or anything playing except the break looping... who the hell got producer cred for that one! haha.

mr_debauch wrote:yeah and even impeach the pres you hear... i forget the one, but once I remember hearing a commercial with just the break looping and no other sounds or anything playing except the break looping... who the hell got producer cred for that one! haha.

Great tips both of you!

Ive never bothered about sample clearances, so not very knowledged in that field: do you have to clear breaks?

Great question about clearing breaks....

I believe that there is a threshold for the length of a piece containing a break. It may be 15 seconds before you need clearance.... Most commercials are 30 seconds in the states so there's that.

I think The Winstons chalked up the AMEN break as a loss... (meaning they don't usually pursue litigation, but this is hearsay.) The James Brown estate on the other hand...would probably like a word from you.

That was the rule a long time ago. Now it's everything a lawyer and his team can find als long as they can make money on it.

You can't pluck a bald chicken. That's what we say in Holland.