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I wonder if any of you know what the term "sting" refers to. I do understand it's kind of an ending, but how is it approached? The reason I ask is that I've been asked (and several others with me, I guess) to add some alternative 'stings' to library music.I don't want to annoy the library too much with stupid questions, so I thought I give it shot here at the forum, where I know there are some veterans in the biz

A "sting" or "stinger" is that one final repeated dominant chord on the last major beat of the piece. Think of the ending to nearly every Sousa march you've ever heard.It's the epitome of the "button ending."

Definition from WikipediaHTH

Thanks!Now it's perfectly clear to me.

Quote:A "sting" or "stinger" is that one final repeated dominant chord on the last major beat of the piece. Think of the ending to nearly every Sousa march you've ever heard.It's the epitome of the "button ending."I think that would be a tonic chord, not a dominant, but otherwise this is a perfect explanation. Sousa - master of the stinger.

Quote:I wonder if any of you know what the term "sting" refers to. I do understand it's kind of an ending, but how is it approached? The reason I ask is that I've been asked (and several others with me, I guess) to add some alternative 'stings' to library music.I don't want to annoy the library too much with stupid questions, so I thought I give it shot here at the forum, where I know there are some veterans in the biz Let me throw one thing into the mix - so to speak - about stingers. With 100% of the library stuff I do, what they mean by writing a stinger ending in not necessarily a real stinger like Sousa wrote, but just making sure that you have a non-fade ending. You know, some kind of musical or rhythmic line that could be used in and of itself as a cue.How a library piece begins and ends is at least as useful to a producer as how it goes in the middle. If you've got a cool ending, it can get you a lot of play. What I mean is that they'll use just the end of a song at times because there are moments where they want the music have a "stop". If you write good "stops" and endings, instead of the producer having to cut a song off to create a "stop" - it increases your chances of getting play.

Quote:I think that would be a tonic chord, not a dominant, but otherwise this is a perfect explanation. Sousa - master of the stinger. ACK! You got me. I can't believe I said dominant.

kelysian and jamesm-- thanks for the answers!chrisbee -- thanks for the extra info; very helpful

I'll throw in my .02 here (and/or beat a dead horse)... As someone who often decides which cut to use in a particular production (I'm a television editor by day)--If I've got a track that I love, and I need it to sting and I get to the end of the track and it doesn't...I'm not going to use that song. I have 200 other CDs I can go to to find one that does.Also, a sting doesn't necessarily denote tonality. I certainly can be the Tonic, but it doesn't need to be. It just has to have a non-disputed "ending".Two examples of different stings in my tracks:4th FloorThings To Do While You're Alive

perhaps we should just call ending a track with a sting, an ending with a BANG go ahead, click on the BANG, see what happens.I think this might be the penultimate stinger