The Art of the Cue

The Art & Techniques of Composing Generic Cues for Use in Daytime Soaps, Music Libraries, or Any “Library” Scored TV Show

Composing generic cues for TV soaps and music libraries can be a lucrative and fun way of utilizing your creative skills. It can also appear to be deceptively simple, and the process is distinctly different from that of composing a song. Richard Sussman has developed a concept for approaching this type of composition in a musical and creative manner to produce what he describes as a “mini art form”.

In this seminar we’ll examine some basic, musical techniques for constructing 2 to 3 minute generic cues. We’ll also explore some of the musical characteristics of the most commonly requested moods: Light to Heavy Tension, Melancholy/Sad, Lyrical/Romantic, Anger, Ominous/Scary (Fear), Action/Danger, Sexy/Funky, Inspirational, Jazzy, World/Ethnic, & MOR (Middle of the Road – Pleasant, unobtrusive...).

We’ll conclude the class with the composition of an impromptu, collaborative cue by Richard and class attendees. The clinic will be presented in Digital Performer (DP), and we’ll take a look at some power DP tips, but the basic principles can be applied to Logic or any other sequencer.

Upcoming Sections Scheduled For This Seminar

Sorry, there are currently no events scheduled for this seminar.