Cue and instrumental length

[hubert]

Hey everyone,

Yet another question about cues vs instrumentals (and yes, I took the time to read all the QA threads on the subject).

I'm working on a couple of tracks for a listing that asks for the usual 1min30 for cues and 2 to 4 mins for instrumentals.

One of my track is currently just over 2 minutes, which would qualify as an instrumental, but it doesn't have the verse/chorus form. It's more of an A/B/B type of structure.

So my question is: do instrumentals need to stick to verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus form, or does anything that's over 2 minutes qualify as an instrumental?

Thank you!

[AlanHall]

I've wondered this myself for some time, as most tutorials and videos concentrate on the 90-second cue forms. I'm posting in order to get notifications and follow this thread. Thanks for starting it!

[Casey H]

Hey everyone,

Yet another question about cues vs instrumentals (and yes, I took the time to read all the QA threads on the subject).

I'm working on a couple of tracks for a listing that asks for the usual 1min30 for cues and 2 to 4 mins for instrumentals.

One of my track is currently just over 2 minutes, which would qualify as an instrumental, but it doesn't have the verse/chorus form. It's more of an A/B/B type of structure.

So my question is: do instrumentals need to stick to verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus form, or does anything that's over 2 minutes qualify as an instrumental?

Thank you!

While there can be gray areas, generally, instrumentals of 2 to 4 minutes would have "song form" with verse/chorus/(possibly a bridge) structure. I would say your tracks would fall into the cue category. I would shorten down to the max time asked for and submit as a cue.

HTH
Casey

[hubert]

While there can be gray areas, generally, instrumentals of 2 to 4 minutes would have "song form" with verse/chorus/(possibly a bridge) structure. I would say your tracks would fall into the cue category. I would shorten down to the max time asked for and submit as a cue.

Ok thank you, that makes sense. I think I will shorten it down to play it safe, then.