A long overdue update!

I figured if I didn't sit down and force myself to get this typed up, it might be another couple of months before I posted again! I'll try and keep it short but I do have a lot of stuff to get to. Maybe if I could do these on a more frequent basis, the posts wouldn't be so long??!?!?!? :-)


I took a quick glance at my last post to kind of see where I had left things. After doing so, it didn't take long to realize why I hadn't posted in a couple of months. As an update about that story, I finished all of the re-mixes for that library deal and after this weekend, that initial project for them will be completely done. Really, it's been over a year in the making. I'll be very relieved to turn over those files this weekend. As much as it was a kick in the gut to have the library initially say the mixes needed to be re-done, in the long run, I'm glad they did. It forced me to improve. I didn't like it at the time but I'm definitely better for it now.

A couple of weeks back I ended up writing about 16 hard rock/metal cues for a pilot episode of a new TV show that the guys from Viva La Bam are working on. About a week after I wrapped those up, they put out a request for a song that mentioned "bananas" or "going bananas" in the lyrics. They needed it by the end of the day. So as soon as I got off work that day, I went to the studio and started playing around with some ideas. I tried to do something angry and aggressive but it didn't turn out that way. It ended up sounding more like Cookie Monster singing about going bananas. I was hesitant to send it because I thought it was really silly and might be too over the top. Turns out, it was exactly what they wanted and it end made it into the pilot!!!! I don't know when it will air but I'll be sure to let everyone know so they can hear how silly I sound :-)

Time for part 1 of "big" update...

First a little back story to offer some perspective on how exciting this news is to me... Just a little over a year ago I was given the chance to write some cues for a new daytime TV medical talk show. I ended up signing four cues for the show. From the middle of September last year up until now, those four cues have generated a total of ten placements on the show.

Fast forward to July of this year. I had already been working on a new project over the past few months for another new daytime talk show that would be debuting in September this year. While we were in the middle of that project, there were some other projects that ended up taking priority over the long term project, with most of them being of the "we know it's early Friday evening, but we need these by Monday morning" variety. In those cases, you can either suck it up, get the job done and complain later, or you can waste your time complaining then and let someone else get the job done. I chose the former. I was able to hold my head up high knowing that I gave it everything I had. I look back it now and wonder how I got any rest. Oh yeah. I didn't! lol

I felt so blessed to have the chance to work on the project especially since the style of music they wanted was right up my alley - guitar driven pop/rock. When all was said and done I ended up signing 40 cues for the new talk show, 7 others for another new show that will be debuting in a couple of months and 3 more for their general music library. I was beyond excited when I learned that they were going to take all of the cues that I wrote!!!

Due to the nature of the agreement I have with the production company that I wrote the cues for, I'm currently not permitted to say the name of the show that the cues are on. But I can say that the talk show host is a guy and his first name rhymes with "Bate" and the show has only been on the air for a few weeks. You can probably figure it out from there :-) Which leads me to...

Part 2 of the "BIG" update...

Over the last couple of weeks I've been taking it kind of easy. I REALLY, REALLY pushed myself for a three month span that seemed like it would never end. I knew it would be worth it in the long run. But after it ended, I needed a chance to breathe and recharge the batteries, as well as catch up on some other things that weren't music related.

Well, this past weekend I decided to go through the last three weeks' worth of episodes of the show to see if any of my cues were used. I had already seen the first two weeks but none of my cues were used. As with the other daytime talk show I've written for, there were times that it was kind of difficult to hear the music because it was buried so far underneath the voice-overs. I'd say that there were around 10-12 times in which I heard something that sounded like one of my cues but I just couldn't tell for certain. But there were other times that it was clear as day to me when my cues were being used. How many times you ask? I'll tell you... THIRTY SEVEN!!!! It's averaging out to be a little over two cues per show. Most of them have been around 8-10 seconds long, with some being around twenty.

Needless to say, that really recharged the batteries! Within three weeks, I had more placements on this show than all the other placements I've had on other shows combined! I'm hoping and praying that this is just the beginning!

I think this project was, as my Uncle A.G. would say, a defining moment for me. I don't say that because of the 37 placements. I say that because as I was in the middle of the project, I was really starting to learn the difference between writing songs and writing cues for production music libraries. It's a big difference. And I recall a few occasions after finishing up a cue, thinking to myself, that I'm starting to turn the corner on this music library thing. It's not always easy to walk the line between songwriter and composer but this project really helped me see the dividing lines a lot clearer. I've still got a long way to go. I'm nowhere close to being satisfied with my writing, production or compositional skills, but I know I'm heading in the right direction.

Until next time...
- Big Blue