Composing For Commercials

Learn the techniques that successful “spot” composers use to compose their 30-second masterpieces as they conduct their way through the complex world of creating music for commercials...

To compose music for commercials you need to know a lot about music. That’s a given. It’s also just the beginning. You see, you also need to understand how advertising works and how it’s scientifically designed to motivate us to feel good about spending our hard-earned money. That’s where the music comes in. Music is all about creating feeling. Advertisers know how to harness the power of music and use it to their advantage! The question is: Do you know how to deliver the goods?!

You will, because in this fun, 60s stylized, animated tutorial romp, veteran jingle writer Gregg Fine explains everything you need to know to begin a career as a commercial composer. First you’ll learn about the history of commercials and jingles. Then Gregg explains the inner workings of ad agencies and the different ways you, the professional composer, can interface with them.

He then examines the “must-have” skills that spot composers use to create their short-form scores. From there he’s off to the actual spots and what makes them work, how they’re constructed, and talks about the different kinds of spots!

Then we take a look at the process: the briefs, storyboards and the video. Gregg also explains the pitfalls of the Temp Track and the syndrome called Demo Love and how to deal with the very real expectations of your ad agency clients.

Finally, Gregg takes us through the compositional process. Along the way you’ll learn how to build effective tracks and, at the same time, create catchy Ear Candy, construct solid Transitions and effective Tags.

This tutorial, created using Logic Pro, is a deep look at all the tools a composer must have in their toolkit to compete in the world of spots and jingles. So join Gregg Fine as he explains the fundamentals of this exciting and potentially lucrative craft: “Composing For Commercials.”

Table of Contents:

1. Introducing "Spots"
2. Art+Commerce
3. History of Music for Spots
4. How the Industry Works
5. Skills of the Spot Composer
6. Spot Structures
7. Spot Genres and Styles
8. Spot Endings
9. The 2-Pop
10. The Video Reel
11. Getting the Materials
12. The Brief
13. The Storyboard
14. The Movie and VO Split
15. The Temp Track
16. Demo Love
17. Creating the Arrangement
18. Scoring the Intro
19. Composing the Track
20. Adding the Instruments
21. Creating the Transition
22. Ear Candy
23. The Tag
24. Checking the Mix
25. Organizing and Archiving
26. Splits and Alt. Mixes
27. Conclusion