Difference between cue and instrumental?

[Paulie]

New Taxi listing # S210808MS for MAinstream Pop Unstruments and/or Instrumental Cues has this line in it"

"All submissions should be roughly 90 seconds to 2 minutes in length for Cues and around 2 to 4 minutes for Instrumentals (give or take). "

Been gone for a while, this is the first time I've seen the two terms used independently and with different time limits. Is an "instrumental" just a piece following a common song form (I-V-C-V-C-B-C-C-O) that could be used by a topliner, versus a "cue" that is just a standard tv instrumental with the expected changes very 4-8 bars to keep things compelling over time, but without a bridge or overall song form?

PC

[jdkotaska]

Hey Paulie,

You are correct in that an instrumental is typically following a common song structure, minus the lyrics, but often with the addition of melodic instrumentation to take the place of the lyrical melody.

And yes, a cue is a piece of music designed for TV, film, or other, and typically has an ABA', ABA'B', ABB'A', or similar structure.

It seems pretty simple, but it can get confusing sometimes. For example, a recent return contained a comment that my 2-minute, ABA'-structured cue was great, but sounded more like an instrumental than a cue, which I took to mean it was too melodic for their liking.

Hope this helps.

[funsongs]

From The Peanut Gallery - in addition to what Dean wrote:
seems to me a cue's simplicity and format is to be subtle enough as to be used under dialogue - without getting in the way, or distracting from the scene - but mainly in a supportive role,
and to 'set the mood'.
In contrast, an instrumental with "melody-lite" in place of lyrics, might be used to set the mood and make the audience FEEL the scene (that the Director is after) - when there's no dialogue.

I'll wait for confirmation.
Your mileage may vary.