30 sec and stingers

with industry Pro, Nick Batzdorf

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

Post Reply
ronnie35
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2018
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:56 am
Gender: Male
Location: Albuquerque New mexico
Contact:

30 sec and stingers

Post by ronnie35 » Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:20 am

Hello, Question It has been a few years since I had to do a 30 sec and stinger I need a refresher I am using logic pro x can some one give me a quick lesson to record a 30 sec and stinger

Thanks, Ron :)
Chopin: "Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." http://www.ronschultz.org

User avatar
Paulie
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2664
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by Paulie » Mon Aug 29, 2022 4:56 pm

A 30 second edit should start and end sounding naturally, not abruptly. And, for ads, a "30 second" edit is actually 29.5 seconds, exactly. A stinger is usually 8-15 seconds, and has a solid button ending on a downbeat, no fades. I've noticed a trend where libraries are now asking for some sort of musical effect on the pickup beat for the stinger, something like a cymbal sweep or a short drum fill that leads into the full music.

Hope this helps.
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." Beethoven
http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

ronnie35
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2018
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:56 am
Gender: Male
Location: Albuquerque New mexico
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by ronnie35 » Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:24 am

Thanks Paulie. The problem I am having at the 30 sec point there is no chord there is just a period a stop iIF I GO OVER I end up going past the 30 sec is there something on logic x that can help me get it at 29.5
thanks, Ron
Chopin: "Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." http://www.ronschultz.org

User avatar
AlanHall
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1149
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:46 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Great Black Swamp, northwest Ohio
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by AlanHall » Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:45 am

Ronnie,
Thanks for starting this discussion. As a relative newbie, I too have wondered about this.

Do working composers who target AD music simply 'bake in' a 30 sec (29.5) into their cues, so that it can be lifted out at will? I'd think this would be an elegant solution that saves much time in the long run.
Is it acceptable to time-compress a cut-down that comes in just a hair over the 29.5 mark in order to make it fit? As long as the audio quality doesn't suffer I'd think this too makes for a workable solution.

...hanging on to hear from the masters ;)

ronnie35
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2018
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:56 am
Gender: Male
Location: Albuquerque New mexico
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by ronnie35 » Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:48 am

Thanks I like that idea here is the exact wording from the library. 30 second and 60 second versions need to come to that length. A 32 second track is of little use to a producer creating a 30 second advert! A 30 second track can, however, by way of example, have its last chord struck at the 28 second mark with a couple of seconds to die away. You can be creative with these things, but please be aware of being strict with the track's length. So can I fade so it ends on the 30 sec mark?
Ron
Chopin: "Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." http://www.ronschultz.org

User avatar
Telefunkin
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2479
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:37 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by Telefunkin » Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:40 am

ronnie35 wrote:
Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:24 am
The problem I am having at the 30 sec point there is no chord there is just a period a stop iIF I GO OVER I end up going past the 30 sec is there something on logic x that can help me get it at 29.5
thanks, Ron
There's usually a creative solution to this, and no doubt everyone will have their own way of getting there, regardless of whether they use Logic or any other DAW. If it helps though, what I usually do is use the final section of the track, so I work back from the end to 30s beforehand (using the DAW's ruler set to seconds rather than bars), then chop the track at the nearest bar that gives me just less than the full 30s range whilst still making musical sense. It should sound OK but will probably be a little bit shorter than I'd like. Therefore, I need to add something to make the time back to 30s (or 29.5s if that's the target). I might add a lead-in bar (maybe cut/pasted from earlier in the track), or a drum fill (even if its just a single snare hit 1 beat ahead of the track start), or perhaps both. If that just won't work I might repeat the last few bars or add another final hit to the end with either a dead stop or a ring-out. It just takes some careful editing within the DAW to cut and join the various parts and make them sound like the flow is natural. If after all of that the timing is still a little bit out I might also be able to either extend or shorten the final ring-out to get that last little bit of trim to exactly the length I want. I also use the same techniques to make 15s or a 10s versions if that's what the library ask for.

Hope that helps :).
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

User avatar
ochaim
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 919
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:17 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Re: 30 sec and stingers

Post by ochaim » Fri Sep 02, 2022 12:21 pm

ronnie35 wrote:
Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:24 am
Thanks Paulie. The problem I am having at the 30 sec point there is no chord there is just a period a stop iIF I GO OVER I end up going past the 30 sec is there something on logic x that can help me get it at 29.5
thanks, Ron
in the case that at a bar starts at 30 sec, build the sting ending so it hits at around 28 sec or wherever they suggest. do this even if that last bar is not a full bar. rewrite/edit/modify the melody/rhythm/whatever so it fits but also feels natural.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests