Instrumental listings terminology question

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DanL
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Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by DanL » Thu Nov 02, 2017 4:25 pm

Hi!

I have a couple of questions about the terminology of the instrumental listings. I've tried to find information on the subject through searches but didn't really find what I was looking for.

My first question:
What is the main differences between a plain "instrumental" and an "instrumental cue"? (I thought I knew the distinction earlier, but lately I've started to think that I maybe haven't understood the distinction.)

My second question:
What is the difference between a "stinger ending" and a "buttoned ending"? Is a "stinger ending" when you end your song with a tone/chord with a little longer sustain while a "buttoned ending" is an ending with a shorter tone/chord/hit?

Hope some of you can clarify this …

Dan

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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by Joseph » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:55 am

1) From what I understand, instrumentals are typically structured more like songs with a verse, chorus, bridge type arc. Instrumental cues are usually just an A section with plenty of variation or an A B (with still some variation).

2) These are just synonyms. I think stinger is more common because a few of the libraries I work with refer to them as stingers.

-Joseph

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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by mikehamm123 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:57 pm

I agree, at least in my book a 'cue' is an underscore, mood music behind the action/dialogue. An 'instrumental' is more like a song.

As far as buttons and stingers--suggest you listen to what Mr. Taxi himself has to say about them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bardwFHQ20
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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by DanL » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:18 am

Joseph wrote:1) From what I understand, instrumentals are typically structured more like songs with a verse, chorus, bridge type arc. Instrumental cues are usually just an A section with plenty of variation or an A B (with still some variation).

2) These are just synonyms. I think stinger is more common because a few of the libraries I work with refer to them as stingers.

-Joseph
Thank you for your answers Joseph!

I thought buttoned and stinger endings was synonyms too, but a recent TAXI-lead states that "Buttoned/Stinger endings are highly recommended (stinger's preferred)". That made me wonder what the difference was.

Dan

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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by DanL » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:33 am

mikehamm123 wrote:I agree, at least in my book a 'cue' is an underscore, mood music behind the action/dialogue. An 'instrumental' is more like a song.

As far as buttons and stingers--suggest you listen to what Mr. Taxi himself has to say about them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bardwFHQ20
Thank you for your answers Mike!

My notion of an instrumental cue earlier was just that it has a simpler, less developed musical form, and that it most often has a shorter length than an instrumental. But a recent return, made me wonder if it was more to the concept than that. I think the underscore aspect can be right on target, I hadn't got that earlier, next time I'm doing an "instrumental cue"-lead, I think I'm going to make it more minimalistic when it comes to melodys etc.

I'm going to check the video out about buttoned/stinger endings.

Dan

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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by Len911 » Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:06 am

I found this:
Stingers, stings, sting outs all refer to short pieces of music, usually less than 15 seconds, sometimes as short as 2-3 seconds that accentuate the end of a scene or transition between scenes. I think 5-8 seconds is pretty average. I just had one that was 2 seconds according to the cue sheet.

It can be a short burst of a few notes (like the famous 2 note thing on Law And Order) or a short musical piece with a solid button ending that ends a scene well.

Sometimes it’s easy to create stingers from existing tracks with button endings by editing off the final phrase(s). You can do that yourself and provide those separate edits to libraries if they want them.

The stinger placements I’ve had were not written as such but the music editor for the show did the edit. Occassionally, I’ve submitted tracks to libraries where by the created their own stinger alt. from my track’s end.
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Re: Instrumental listings terminology question

Post by mikehamm123 » Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:04 am

One thing you can do is watch some TV and listen for how the music is used.

What does the music editor want?

A cue ending with a button/stinger ending helps the editor ramp up the mood and then emphasize an action/reveal point in the scene.

My motto: make it easy for him/her to do their job.
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