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I've been a big fan of 1970's Private-Eye TV shows, like Mannix, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, etc. and have always wanted to try my hand at writing thematic music for a fictional PI show. Since I recently read a book revolving around PI "Cash Register", written by Tai Baker (our own Al-David!), I combined these two and developed this track. "Cash on the Case" It contains 4 short themes, each 45-60 seconds, that might be used in key phases of the PI show: 1. Main Title Theme 2. The Girl (who is she? what does she really want?) 3. The Stalk (careful now--who might be lurking in that dark warehouse?) 4. The Chase (speeding cars or running down a back-alley) 5. Reprise, same as #1, just a bit fast tempo, over the closing credits. I used some RT's, esp for jazz bass and drums, but most of it is midi content, and I used SampleTank3 principally. For anyone who is interested in my methodology and approach, following are more notes. -------------------------------- Seems to me, listening to soundtracks for these shows, esp those by Lalo Schifrin, 45-60 seconds is about all you have to state your case, musically. And you need to use styles and harmonics that evoke/compliment what is being shown visually. Here's a breakdown of each theme and the thought behind it. Main Theme The first few notes have to be a catchy phrase that the listener will always associate with the show and character. Plus, that small phrase is going to be used in other contexts (minor key, slower/faster) throughout the drama to tie it all in. I chose a simple 7th riff as my main hook, stated it right up front, then tried to repeat it in some of the other themes. I used RT's for drums and bass here, but did the rest in midi. I kept the instrument in the vein of a jazz combo (horns/vibes). It runs just about 60 seconds. Girl Theme FIRST, let me state that I'm a complete mysogonist when it comes to detective characters and authors--completely a male realm--sorry about that! So there's always a girl, some mysterious, sexy beauty who enters the story early, invariably introduced by some sultry, solitary sax riff--and so I have that here. And it seems to be based on a minor scale, maybe m9th. Then, as the action warms up a little, it seems like it always morphs into a gentle bossa, and I've done the same. I found the sax phrases in my SampleTank library, and used RT's for bossa drums and bass, otherwise all midi. Runs about 40 seconds. Stalk Theme These kinds of scenes are accompanied by a collection of random rhythm elements (a snare drum, a shake of a shaker) and isolated musical elements, like the piano low notes I used here. And, of course, diminished chord phrases to suggest mystery. I tried to place those main theme notes in there as a tie-in to the overall motif. No RT's, just midi sounds. Length = about 40 sec. Chase Theme RT's for jazz brushes and bass, tempo = 300bpm. Entire sequence chord harmony is Cm7. In order to get the fast solo's for vibes, I used the "Generate Midi Solo" feature and found "Long Phrases, Fast Tempos"..then tweeked some of the notes to get the flavor i wanted. There's also a cool "gliss down" sound that I got out of ST3. Time is about 40 sec. And--to end the 'chase' there's a familiar Cm-maj7th chord. Reprise Theme I just cut out 8 bars of the original track and sped it up a bit..seemed like, at the conclusion of the "show", you'd state the theme with a little more energy and speed.
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I`m going with the Stalk followed by Chase as being the most instantly recognizable in my memories of such shows ( mostly from British 60`s tv).All are thoughtfully composed, well orchestrated and fun. I admire your dedication in learning and interpreting the genre. The detailed breakdown will be useful for MIDI buffs.
Robert
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Thanks Robert. My MIDI toolkit consists of the built-in Coyote sounds--I usually use this when I'm building my track, for convenience sake...later I switch out most of them to either SampleTank3 or a keyboard vst that I like called 4FrontRhode. I have ST4 but have never been able to install it properly. When working with MIDI, I either enter via my MIDI keyboard, but lots of times I'll key-enter into the piano roll tool in RealBand. For this particular project, I really needed brass sounds, and I found several that seemed "acceptable", but there are probably better samples available, but I'm not inclined to spend $$ on them.
In this project, I had a lot of unison notes with multiple brass tracks, and I like to use the "Randomize" feature in RB to avoid making the tracks all completely identical. Sometimes I'll render the midi track to a wav file so that I can add reverb or something, but SampleTank has good functionality to add effects to the midi sounds.
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Hi, Tom. Thanks for setting the stage for this on. If definitely catches the classic cliche detective sound you were aiming for. I had fun listening! The use of MIDI reminded me a bit of the Sam and Max Hit The Road game soundtrack. (They're freelance police, so it has the same vibe as the spec you're writing to). Nice MIDI noir!
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Impressive!
You captured the mood of that type of show perfectly I think, very well done.
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Loved this tune. True Detective cinema music.
Mike B.
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Fun song!! I've also read some "Cash Register" stuff.....fun!! Nice job with everything in this tune.......would work really well for that genre!! Take care. Greg
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Hi Tano ...
Finally got over to hear this. I was out of town all night and just woke up from a very long nap!
I think you captured the several nuances so perfectly. You have a good ear and the ability to create what you hear in your head to a wonderful soundscape for everyone else. I think Cash would be very happy with this. I know I am!!!
You nailed it my friend. And it's a real feather in my cap that my novel was part of the vehicle you used to put this wonderful piece together. Much enjoyed! Great job!
Wishing you the very best ...
Alan
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Hi Tano Music,
This is just amazingly well done... The music send me back to the 70's and brought so many memories back... wonderful piece of work. I am so impressed by your imagination and the skill you showcase here!
Thanks for sharing your gift with us, Will
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Wow. Reading your post and the response to Robert reminds us again that other than MST's we know zip about midi. I can't conjure up the imagination and knowledge required to put a production like this together. So we have very little to offer regarding what you used and how you accomplished it but what an amazing outcome. We've listened several times and man is it ever nuanced. Great mix. It's fun listening and reading the theme descriptions as they play. 70's detective show vibe? Nailed. Great production indeed! J&B
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Clever and really engaging.
Loved it!
Peter
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Man.... That's good. And so cool. I think you did a great job with each of the themes.
Using midi actually worked well.
I have a nit that I want to run by you. In the signature lick, which is epic BTW, the first 5 notes have very minor timing issues. It's the 3,4,5 notes. They seem to be slightly rushed rather than being perfectly timed and swinging. Maybe it's just me and my persnickety ears.
Regardless of that, this is an amazing example of what can be done with imagination and BB.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 02/14/21 02:47 PM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Tom,
Amazing! This is exactly Lalo Schifrin. Many TV dramas for which Lalo Schifrin is in charge of music are also very familiar in Japan, so this work is really fun. I also wanted to listen to a long version of The Girl part that was developed separately from this work. Enjoyed my listen a lot.
Best regards.
Shigeki Adachi
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Thanks, everyone, for listening in and commenting. This was a lot of fun (also challenging at points), and I'm glad to hear that I captured the feel I was looking for. There are elements of it that I can surely tighten up, and I appreciate those suggestions.
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Definitely captured the genre and showcased your arranging skills.
Thanks for sharing.
James
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!
If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Happy Easter! Holiday Hours...
2024 is well underway - it's already Easter Weekend!
Our Customer Service hours this weekend are:
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Regular hours resume Monday, April 1st - no joke!
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!
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There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.
Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed!
Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®
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Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!
We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!
Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.
You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.
See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.
Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist
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