Pizzicato Strings and Dramedy
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:42 am
FOR ANYONE who attended one of my classes at the Taxi Road Rally last month, or who is reading my latest “genre” book, (or anyone who watched Michael Laskow hosting the TAXI TV show on "Reverse Engineering Music"… you will know that my chapter on dramedy music cues focuses largely on the use of pizzicato strings when entering into the world of writing and producing that particular genre of music for Film and TV. Last night I stumbled upon yet another reason why this “pizzicato string” approach is a valid concept.
So there I was, a cold-one in hand, maybe 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening... flipping through TV channels when I came upon this show I’d never seen before called, “The Great American Baking Show” (ABC) ....I stopped to watch for a few minutes and the first thing I noticed musically was Dramedy Cues using PIZZICATO STRINGS. Yup. I couldn't believe how much was being used... In the next ten minutes I heard: 7 pizzicato-string driven dramedy cues in a row.... SEVEN… IN A ROW… followed by one cue using regular "long-note" strings, then another dramedy cue driven by an Omnisphere “bell” sound and pizzicato strings.... wow... Hooah!!! …..ABC then went to commercial break where one of the ads was a “Tide” commercial using…. Yup… pizzicato-string dramedy music... go figure.
When the baking show came back on, (now entering the light-tension, judging phase), I heard: A marimba tension music cue, 3 pizzicato-string dramedy/tension cues, then back to four pizzicato-string driven dramedy cues as the judges tasted the desserts... I had heard enough…. and switched channels….
Yes, all types of instrumentation may be used in the creation of dramedy music…. but if you are just starting out, learning this genre, you can’t go wrong with pizzicato strings when trying to evoke the moods of; mischief, curiosity, sneaky, playfulness and light humor….
So, there ya go.
deano k
So there I was, a cold-one in hand, maybe 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening... flipping through TV channels when I came upon this show I’d never seen before called, “The Great American Baking Show” (ABC) ....I stopped to watch for a few minutes and the first thing I noticed musically was Dramedy Cues using PIZZICATO STRINGS. Yup. I couldn't believe how much was being used... In the next ten minutes I heard: 7 pizzicato-string driven dramedy cues in a row.... SEVEN… IN A ROW… followed by one cue using regular "long-note" strings, then another dramedy cue driven by an Omnisphere “bell” sound and pizzicato strings.... wow... Hooah!!! …..ABC then went to commercial break where one of the ads was a “Tide” commercial using…. Yup… pizzicato-string dramedy music... go figure.
When the baking show came back on, (now entering the light-tension, judging phase), I heard: A marimba tension music cue, 3 pizzicato-string dramedy/tension cues, then back to four pizzicato-string driven dramedy cues as the judges tasted the desserts... I had heard enough…. and switched channels….
Yes, all types of instrumentation may be used in the creation of dramedy music…. but if you are just starting out, learning this genre, you can’t go wrong with pizzicato strings when trying to evoke the moods of; mischief, curiosity, sneaky, playfulness and light humor….
So, there ya go.
deano k
)
I've finished the CUES now on to the GENRE.
