INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

JEOPARDY!
AIG TIMES FIVE
NEW MUSIC FOR EINSTEIN
FREE MUSIC
POTPOURRI

JEOPARDY!

TV’s Jeopardy is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than a new radio campaign featuring the famous Jeopardy theme? MONSTER TRACKS was tapped by Oink Ink Radio of New York to produce the first in a series of spots that feature the “classic” Merv Griffin composition. The spot begins with the familiar strains of Mozart…until one by one the musicians find themselves drifting into the familiar Jeopardy theme. The spot concludes with a rousing orchestral rendition of the theme including live strings, brass, and woodwinds. “When Oink Ink first approached me with the project they weren’t entirely sure it was possible to execute”, laughs composer Chuck Butler. “We actually tried marrying Jeopardy to a number of different “classic” compositions before we finally settled on the Mozart. It was great fun to weave together two pieces that I’ve enjoyed my whole life.” You can hear Chuck’s solution by clicking the link below:

Listen to Jeopardy “Classic” Radio now…

AIG TIMES FIVE

MONSTER TRACKS recently composed original scores for five new commercials for AIG Insurance. These direct response spots will be airing in select markets nationwide. What’s amazing is that the spots were shot, edited, and posted over a period of about two weeks; wrapping just before Christmas. Music scoring and mixing was completed during the last five days of this schedule?we were updating and editing music to picture as revisions arrived from editing suites at Telenium and Center City Film & Video.

We worked with two experienced production teams on the project. Director Tom Montgomery directed four thirty-second spots titled “Coins”, “Bubble wrap”, “Delays”, and “Tow Truck”. Each spot had unique musical requirements, but Tom also felt that a consistent theme would help tie the campaign together. MONSTER TRACKS’ Music Director Chuck Butler used a jazz quartet (including University of the Art’s Joe Nero on drums and Ron Kerber on tenor sax) to score the “Coins” spot – this theme became the signature music used to close each of the other spots. “Delays” needed a Muzak-style score (filtered to sound like “on-hold” music)…Butler composed a Jobim-like bossa nova featuring guitar, strings, organ, and sax. “Tow Truck” has a pseudo-ethnic score…something between a French folk song and a Jewish Hora. Marimbas provide a bouncy two-beat, with accordion and clarinet carrying the melody. “Bubble Wrap” is one of the funniest spots we’ve seen in a while (a man wraps his car completely in bubble wrap in a vain attempt to avoid high insurance costs). This spot is scored for pizzicato (plucked) strings, light percussion, and bassoon. Take a look at this spot by clicking below:

Watch AIG “Bubble wrap” now… [QuickTime]

A fifth spot was directed by Chas Kutchinsky of iBOXfilms. This sixty-second spot titled “Rate Rescue” depicts the “insurance police” pulling over a “good driver” and informing him about AIG’s competitive rates for good drivers. The spot is a satire of “police story” style TV, and the music score is reminiscent of TV themes like “Perry Mason”, “Get Smart”, and “Dragnet”. The big-band arrangement was recorded at Baker Sound…including all live brass. Check out the MONSTER TRACKS big band by clicking the link below:

Listen to AIG’s “Rate Rescue” score now…

NEW MUSIC FOR EINSTEIN

“We need a piece of music that is warm, distinctive, urban, sophisticated, and incorporates elements of World Music”. That was the direction we received in creating a new theme for the Einstein Health System. Hope Krosskove Productions partnered with Red Dot Radio to create spots featuring sound bites from actual Einstein doctors. These quotes are woven together over a musical theme that incorporates acoustic and electric guitar, piano, contemporary & African percussion, and a jazzy, “New Age” vocal by singer Patti Balbo. “Patti’s contribution was key to the success of the piece”, recalls composer Chuck Butler. “I went into the vocal session mostly with a sense of what I didn’t want. I asked Patti to try a number of things, but it was her spontaneous idea to “scat-sing” some of the lines I had written for the guitarist. We realized that the approach was unique—not quite jazz; it gave the piece just the right mix of warmth, humanity and “recognizeability”. I think it’s one of the most engaging pieces we’ve created, and so far it seems the folks at Einstein have had a positive response to it.” The finished spots were mixed by Gary Moskowitz at Baker Sound. These spots air in the Philadelphia market; click below to hear both the theme and a complete spot:

Listen to a full Einstein spot now…

Listen to the Einstein music now…


FREE MUSIC

We’ve made a number of improvements to our website, but the one we want to make sure you know about is our Free Music page. Basically, you are invited, authorized, and encouraged to download and use any music posted on this page for just about any purpose (including broadcast advertising). There are details on the site about a few small conditions for use (nothing that will slow you down), but here’s the short version:

• You can use the music for whatever you like…but you can’t resell it (like including it in a music library).

• If you use it for broadcast, you must to report it to us (by sending an email).

• If you need something changed or modified, or you want a higher quality version of the file (they’re posted in mp3 format), or you want to “buy-out” a piece, we’ll come up with a reasonable price make that happen.

That’s it. We’ll be adding material to the site from time to time, so check back often, and enjoy! Go to monstertracks.com and follow the links to “Free Music”, or click here now.


POTPOURRI

We’re pleased to announce that MONSTER TRACKS composer Chuck Butler has been named to the Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composer’s Forum. The ACF is a national organization providing services and opportunities to composers throughout the country. Chuck has been a member of the ACF since 2000, and looks forward to contributing his ideas and perspective to the organization.

MONSTER TRACKS worked with our friends at Winning Strategies of Mount Laurel to produce new music for Cooper University Hospital. Working with producers from Winning Strategies and in direct consultation with the client, we were able to find a musical solution that met the expectations of the advertiser, and creates the right atmosphere for the spots. These spots air on TV and radio in the Philadelphia market.

Sovereign Bank was producing new radio at Baker Sound when they found themselves in need of original music. Fortunately we were able to create the jazzy feel they were looking for on the spot?crisis averted, everyone left happy. You’ll hear the spots in Philly as well as other northeast US markets.

Finally, we hope everyone enjoyed the recent holidays, and wish each of you a healthy and prosperous New Year. Thanks to all who supported MONSTER TRACKS in the past…we appreciate the opportunity to do what we love!