Titles of instrumental tracks

[juuso]

I know that titles of songs are extremely important, but is the title also important for instrumental tracks?

I was uploading an instrumental track to Taxi and used a title which makes it easy for me to recognize the piece and instantly know where it came from. I realized that for someone else looking at the title, this title doesn't say anything and might actually seem quite strange. For example the piece that I just uploaded is titled "Reetta dokkari". Obviously that's not much of a name for a classical piece, but does it make any difference? Should I pay attention to coming up with proper titles for instrumentals as well? Or can I just use whatever?

I am mostly pitching these tracks for film/tv placements and libraries.

Thanks for any advice!

juuso

[guscave]

If you're working with music libraries and you want your song to stand out above the tons of other music in the catalog, a good title that matches the style can make a difference.

Let's say you're a music supervisor looking for an instrumental rock song with heavy guitar riffs. From the catalog that is available in the Rock genre category you see 2 songs. One is called "Rock it Heavy" the other is called "Once in Love". They're both hard rock, guitar driven songs, but which one do you think is going to get the most attention before a single note is even heard.

I try to title my instrumental cues as close to the style and feel of the music as possible. Even if it sounds a bit corny. You want to give your music every possible chance to get placed, and the first thing a supervisor sees is the title.

[T&V Marino]

That's a very good question!

YES! A title for instrumental is even MORE important than for a song with lyrics, in our opinion. You have to describe the song in a way that tells the music supervisor what it might sound like. We spend hours finding interesting titles and keeping a list. It started about 3 or 4 years ago and now we have thousands of titles - seriously!

Here's are some examples:

A few years ago we wrote a contemporary, quirky Asian instrumental with hip hop beats. The title: "Fun With Chopsticks"

We wrote a solo ukulele Hawaiian song a few years ago called "Rainbow Shave Ice" Not a lot of people get the title, but if you're from Hawaii or have ever visited the Islands, you will never forget shave ice.

Another solo ukulele piece we wrote is called "Puka Shells." These are little, tiny shells with holes in them that you find on Hawaii's beaches. "Puka" means "hole" in Hawaiian.

One of our favorite titles is a circus track we wrote: "Carnival Lights" It just sounds fun!

Other suggestions:

- Use descriptions whenever possible (bright, happy, etc.)
- Use action verbs (running, seeking, looking for, feeling, etc.)
- Use nouns (shells, carnival, lights, etc.)
- Use interesting language/slang, depending on the genre. One of our hip hop titles is "Just a Player" and another is "Got Bling"
- Use no more than 4 words; 2-3 words are best. Music Supervisors HATE long titles!
- Be creative but not too "over the top."

Good luck!

~ Tracey & Vance