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Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:39 pm
by gitanosoy
Hi,Just wondering if we have to always come up with titles for songs before submmiting or can we just use the listing code, the reason being is coming up with titles one after the other is a difficult
task...thanks.

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:46 am
by VanderBoegh
Always title your tracks. ALWAYS!!

~~Matt

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:09 pm
by ttully
Hi gitanosoy,

Yes.... what Matt said is very correct!!!!

Also;
A good title will get your track listened to.
And the title should reflect the mood of the track...if possible.

I have done ALOT of tracks...and sometimes coming up with a good descriptive title is the hardest part....
I will listen over and over and over til it finally comes to me.
Then I have to check.... did I use that name already?????

Tim

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:51 pm
by gitanosoy
Thank you all for replying.

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:00 am
by stansongman
Always name them, and try to come up with a title that reflects the mood of the work. A lot of times libraries will rename them if they sign them, but usually they create a title which is a derivative of the original.

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:46 pm
by russellnollen
Agreed with the prior mentioned. I always title my tracks to convey the mood, vibe, or whatever it is that I'm hoping that the music will reflect.

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:42 pm
by mikehamm123
Definitely title it, in a way that will give a clue to a music supervisor what your cue is like.

Sounds stupid, but a good and accurate title can give your song an edge.

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:21 am
by Ted
Hey guys, first post here.

I was once a member of Taxi a long time ago— my demos were awful at the time and it’s a period of my musical journey I’d rather forget. It was my own fault. For the most part I then put music on hiatus. I did go to a Road Rally and it was pretty cool.

However, late last year I suddenly found a new motivation. One day I was bored and playing around with Logic X and texted my brother and said “name a band/artist” and I will try to write and record a short original demo in the style of that band/artist. In one month he issued me probably 30 musical challenges and every time I exceeded my own expectations. My production abilities have improved monumentally compared to where I started. These tracks are instrumental and though somewhat derivative in inspiration, they aren’t clones or rip-offs in any way.

I began to stress out after amassing about a hundred such tracks, knowing that I’d never be able to write lyrics and “finish” all of them as standalone songs.

Then I rediscovered Taxi and I realize that what I’ve been doing last year was pretty much ideal in creating music for film/tv “briefs”. I plan on joining Taxi again very soon and submitting cues for instrumental listings.

My question is this: I have a VERY hard time coming up with titles for instrumental music. Would it be a pro or con to just go ahead and submit my tracks with titles such as “Billy Idol Style Cue”, “Johnny Marr Style Cue”, “La Roux Style Cue”, “ 80’s Genesis Style Cue ”, “Interpol Style Cue ”, “Megadeth Style Cue ”, “Coheed and Cambria Style Cue ”, “Early Depeche Mode Style Cue” etc?

I have most of my tracks listed thusly in my iTunes library so I can catalogue them. My tracks are not over-the-top parodies or anything of the sort. They stand solidly on their own. One likely could listen to them and not necessarily think of the artist they were influenced by. But would such titles perhaps have an advantage with music supervisors looking for a particular stylistic sound with which they are already familiar? Or would using the name of established artists in working titles for tracks be a bad idea for some reason?

Thanks in advance,
Ted

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 4:49 pm
by cosmicdolphin
Ted wrote:
Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:21 am
My question is this: I have a VERY hard time coming up with titles for instrumental music. Would it be a pro or con to just go ahead and submit my tracks with titles such as “Billy Idol Style Cue”, “Johnny Marr Style Cue”, “La Roux Style Cue”, “ 80’s Genesis Style Cue ”, “Interpol Style Cue ”, “Megadeth Style Cue ”, “Coheed and Cambria Style Cue ”, “Early Depeche Mode Style Cue” etc?
Hey Ted

Glad to hear you have found your musical mojo again, as far as the titles go that's a terrible idea.

Your title is the first step in marketing your track to the Library or Music Supe. What impression do you think it will give if you title them that way ? That your tracks are derivative, dated and lacking imagination probably. I'm sure that's not true but the title should make them want to listen to your track.

Mark

Re: Titles for instrumentals

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:51 pm
by Ted
Mark,
Thanks for the reply. In my mind it was either a fantastic idea or a terrible idea. That’s one vote in the “terrible” category. Haha.

Obviously if I were pitching myself as an artist looking for a record contract I’d steer clear of references to other artists. I figured that maybe with Tv/film the whole thing might be a bit more direct. It’s hard to catalogue hundreds of intrumental tracks with titles that don’t sound like some combination of the overly cryptic or generic anyway, best case scenario.

I was thinking if I were a music supervisor who had to listen to to a hundred instrumental cues— all with titles laden with the same buzzwords like “tension” or “suspense” maybe I’d skip to one that referenced a band I already liked. It’s very streamlined that way. Again, to me it seemed like a great idea— but that’s why I asked. I appreciate your answer and will think about it and take it into consideration.


Thanks again,
Ted