Main Melody In Cues?

[TannerHelms]

Hi everybody! Thanks in advance for helping me out. I was wondering... what instrument do you usually use the most for the main melody in a typical instrumental cue? I'm sure that different genres use different instruments for the main melody. But I can rarely find a sound that isn't obnoxious being repeated over and over again in a cue. Thanks for your help!

[henryvan4444]

Yikes...LOL, that's a loaded question....LOTS of options. I'm about a year into Taxi and just starting to better understand cues and other production music. Use the link below to hear what music is being forwarded by taxi. Find genres that you like and listen and dissect the sounds. This is has been helpful for me to better understand how to construct a music cue. Hope this helps you as well.

http://blog.taxi.com/forward/

Best of luck,
Henry

[TannerHelms]

Awesome. Thanks Henry... didn't even think of that!

[ResonantTone]

Hey Tanner,

Henry gave ya some solid advice. Something else to remember is that some cues do better without a lead melody at all. Every library is different and work on pitching music to differing scenarios, so you may have a cue that is meant to draw attention, while others are meant to simply set the mood and not distract the viewer. Sometimes wallpaper music is the best option, even though it might sound a bit uninspiring by itself. It’s all situational.


If your just getting started, I’d suggest trying to create both until you get a forward that lands you a deal with a library. From there, you can clarify with them a bit more about what they prefer.

Hope that helps a bit! Looking forward to hearing some of your stuff!

Andrew

[MBantle]

Hi everybody! Thanks in advance for helping me out. I was wondering... what instrument do you usually use the most for the main melody in a typical instrumental cue? I'm sure that different genres use different instruments for the main melody. But I can rarely find a sound that isn't obnoxious being repeated over and over again in a cue. Thanks for your help!

I agree it depends on both the genre and your workflow/strengths as a musician. If you are all about getting quick results then the best way is probably to start choosing the instrument or virtual instrument that sounds legit right away and lets you fail and start over again quickly (to give you an example: I am a rather mediocre guitar player so before I decide putting up a mic etc. I try what I can do with virtual instruments). Another thing is arrangement: What used to be a supporting melody or bass line in your A-Section could become a lead melody in your B-section. And, as always, less is more. This is also connected to what is called the 'circle of attention' in other words the same melody can remain interesting if you bring in other instruments/voices as the cue progresses (think of classical music like Pachelbel's Canon in D). And, last but not least try to work backwards. Sometimes your initial 'melody' already seems very simplistic (to you!) but try to make it even more simple in the beginning and show your initial idea only after 8 or 16 bars. This is something I do a lot and it often works really well (think of it that way: nobody will ever know that the melody you present only after 16 bars was actually your initial melodic idea when you started working on the track...).
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Matt