TENSION-Based ELECTRONIC UNDERSCORE CUES - pulsing, minimal?

[MattCurious]

Hi everyone

Decided to have a crack at another electronic underscore piece. Striking the balance between minimal and pulsing has proven tricky on this one. Possibly I've over-egged the middle section a bit. Grateful for your thoughts - if anything is too out of whack I can replace the MP3 in the next couple of days.

All feedback welcome. Thanks!

Here's the track: https://soundcloud.com/matt_curious/13- ... ce/s-LEO7Q

Here's the listing:

TENSION-Based ELECTRONIC UNDERSCORE CUES are needed for Non-Exclusive deals by a Music Supervisor-owned Production Music Library with tons of placements in Film, TV, and Commercial Advertising. The Supervisor/library owner is well-known, super well-connected, and he’s been working on top Reality TV Shows (and more) for at least a decade! He’s got a very long history with TAXI, and has been responsible for tons of TAXI member placements. He’s got some time off between shows, so he’s running Listings to beef up his own library’s catalog. Give them find Down-to-Mid-Tempo Underscore Cues that you’d hear in TV shows and films like Drive, Contagion, The Lazarus Effect, Gone Girl, etc., etc., etc. Please listen to the following references to get in the stylistic wheelhouse of what they’re looking for:

“Kick Your Teeth” (Drive) by Cliff Martinez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5BkvuTJEDo

“They’re Calling My Flight” (Contagion) by Cliff Martinez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBY7FnkNI4c

“Amygdala” (The Lazarus Effect) by Sarah Schachner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QHYMaWZFbA

“Still Gone” (Gone Girl) Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUCEKeYNX0

Quoting the Music Supervisor: “Cues should have a beginning, middle, and end section, with a sting style conclusion. Cues should be minimally arranged with not a lot of instrumentation. Tension type Cues to be used under dialogue where there is an underlying tension, drama, or suspense to a scene.”

Please give them pulsing Underscore cues that use fresh, current sounding electronic elements to convey a tense and suspenseful vibe. Your Cues can be sparse, somewhat minimal, while maintaining forward momentum with various percussive instruments and modern sounding synth pads. Some orchestral or acoustic instrumentation can work for this pitch (like a piano part!), but they’re not absolutely necessary. Build your Cue around a central theme that delivers nail-biting, uneasy suspense, while adding and subtracting layers of instrumentation to create dynamics and forward momentum as the Cue progresses. As always, please avoid submitting anything that’s overly frenetic or obviously dated sounding or stiff and MIDI-driven.

Your submissions should be about 1:10 to 2:00 minutes in length, with easy edit points and Buttoned/Stinger endings. Do NOT copy or rip off the referenced composers or music in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a guide for tempo, texture, tone, and vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (Great sounding home recordings are fine).

They offer a NON-EXCLUSIVE deal. You’ll split any syncs fee 50/50. You’ll retain 100% of the Master rights, and the Library will get 100% of the Publishing for any placements they generate. You’ll get 100% of the writer’s share. You must own your Master and Copyright in order to submit for this opportunity. All music will be screened on a Yes/No basis by the Supervisor himself (subject to his availability). Please submit 1-3 Instrumental Cues by no later than 11:59PM (PDT), on Sunday, April 3rd, 2016. TAXI #U160403EU

[Joseph]

This sounds fine to me. Well done, Matt.

-Joseph

[artturner]

I think the cue sounds great...if it were mine, I would question whether or not the piano chords that start around 1:18 are too much for a minimalistic cue. Whether or not they take it from being minimalistic tension to hybrid underscore. But take that with a grain of salt since I don't have any forwards yet.

My struggle with these is knowing when to stop.

Good luck with it!

Art

[sabalsounds]

Sounds right on the money to my ears! Best of luck.

Steven