Jingle Overview:
A radio indent (or jingle) is a short recognisable piece of music used to identify a specific radio station. For this jingle i will take inspiration from classic radio jingles that i remember from the past. The best example i could think of is the BBC Radio 2 indent released in 2013. I like this piece due to its orchestral sounds, recognisable melody and its exiting dynamics and range. The drums also add power and finesse witch compliments the old fashioned orchestra really well witch makes it sound more exiting and up lifting, i hope to replicate some of these features for my own composition.
On my radio indent i plan to use a mix of digital and acoustic sounds. The contrast of these timbres should make for a more interesting texture to make it sound exiting and fresh for the listener.
Musical Tempo And Direction:
A tempo of 136 bpm is generally considered vivace (lively and fast) witch made it a good option for this jingle as its an exiting and energetic tempo. I want it to be vivace because it makes it more exiting witch increases listener retention. This is especially important for radio indents because its important to advertise the radio station through song but also to keep people listening.
Adding exiting dynamics, phrasing and expression will also give the music expression and life rather than just playing the correct notes witch may cause it to sound mechanical. Some musical terms that would send it in the right direction are crescendo (gradually getting louder) or diminuendo (gradually getting softer) i will use a crescendo to build it throughout.
Logic Pro Setup:
Ive set the key to C major partially because its an easier key to work with witch will help make the process easier for me as i don’t have any experience with orchestral music. Ive also saved it very clearly witch it a crucial step in music creation to ensure that nothing is lost. For the rhythm section i used an AI drummer as a guide track. This helped me to establish a solid groove to build up the rest of the melody before adding and designing a custom drum pattern using the Logic drum designer.
Instruments:
Drums- For this song i want the drums to be open and free. To achieve this i will use a lot of cymbals make use of the whole kit. I could also syncopate some beats witch will make it sound more free. This will also emphasise some weaker beats witch is good for the listener retention since its outside the common beat of the music witch will make it sound more unique.
Trumpet Section- The trumpet is used for all types of music, and can release many different sounds and expression to a piece. I will make use of its softer qualities to sit nicely under the louder french horn and be paired beside the trombone section. The trumpets high register means it can clearly articulate melody’s especially in an ensemble.
Trombone Section- This instrument will add to the body of the ensemble. It provides powerful and versatile sounds. There ability to slide between notes (glissando) also adds a distinctive and often comical effect.
French Horn- This is a very versatile instrument and my personal favourite in the brass family. I have used this instrument to develop an exiting sound and cut through the other instruments in the ensemble, the way i did this was by using louder dynamics when playing it in. The horn can also blent with trumpets and trombones to create beautiful, harmonic, full-bodied chords. Composers such as Strauss have also commented on the “horn’s ability to evoke emotions with its tonal depth and expression”. According to Radio Art the horn is some times referred to as the “poetic voice of the Synthony Orchestra”. For all of these reasons i have chosen this instrument to play the main melodic line for this indent.
Vocals- To achieve smooth vocals i will use the “takes” feature. This is when one records the same thing through multiple different takes and switches between the different takes to attain the best sounding track. This is a powerful tool used all the time in music production because it helps to establish a polished product without the use of effects such as auto tune or pitch correction.
The only lyric is FM this draws attention to the the radio name (Radio Bradford FM) because its the only vocal line with mellifluous sound quality. I also collaborated with a media student to present the radio station throughout the indent, this then shows what song will be playing next as well as more information on the radio station.
Misc sounds- To further differentiate this from other pieces i will add radio flickers and radio risers to pay homage to the ‘radios past’. As well as linking to the radios ‘history’ it will also make the jingle sound more roar and live. It will help with the mix of more older and new songs witch may also link to what the radio plays.