Stephen Arnold Music » Stephen

Vinyl – It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

Stephen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:15:45 +0000

The funeral for vinyl records was held thirty years ago, but something of a resurrection is under way and we here at Stephen Arnold Music know why.

Nothing sounds like vinyl. An analog recording has a quality, a warmth and expansiveness, that digital just can’t equal.

For those of you too young to remember what it’s like to drop a needle on a record, it’s hard to explain how it turned the act of listening into a sacred ritual, something requiring care and attention, but you may get your turn yet. According to the Wall Street Journal, while CD sales fell 5% last year, sales of vinyl records grew by 36%. Everything old is new, again. Hipsters are buying them like hotcakes.

We never gave up on vinyl. It’s not just the quality of the sound that we love so much, but the fact that an album is an actual thing. Its size allows for artwork that can’t be effectively shrunk down to fit on a CD jewel box. It has a weight that feels like it matters. Nothing about vinyl says disposable.

That’s why we released our own vinyl LP last year, “Sonic Branding”. We took special care to create a package that provided the perfect visual accompaniment to the music it contained. If you have it, but don’t have a record player, run out to Target and buy one (or just pop the companion CD into your player if you must). Put on your headphones (the kind with the RCA jack) and pour a glass of your favorite beverage. We suggest a nice single malt scotch. Then, let those warm tones carry you away on a cloud of sonic bliss.

Don’t take our word for it. Check out these recent articles about the vinyl revival:

A Look Back at 2011

Stephen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:09:09 +0000

2011 was a big year for us here at Stephen Arnold Music. We’d like to thank all our clients for giving us so many great projects to work on. Here’s a quick look back at some of our favorites. Enjoy!

Golf Channel – “Playing Lessons”

CBS Sports – “Tim Brando Show”

HDNet – “kidScene”

To view more of our projects, visit our YouTube channel at youtube.com/stephenarnoldmusic

Mother

Stephen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:18:19 +0000

Every year, around this time, we start to reflect, think about what we are thankful for and what matters most.

I remember when Carol and I first got married, she was getting her masters in Special Ed and her thesis was on autism. We kept 5 autistic boys in our home for a year! Those were such hard times, but great times and so rewarding… it made me realize and prioritize what’s really important.

With that in mind, here’s a great track accompanying an even a better message (at least until the advertisers plug… Oops–did I say that?).

I love the way the space in this acoustic guitar piece allows room for the mother’s voiceover to weave in and out and complement her sense of loving acceptance and hope. The hallelujah vocals provide a subtle touch that drives the comforting feeling of this piece home.

What matters most to you?

– SA

Happy Holidays!

Stephen — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:04:01 +0000

‘TIS THE SEASON for singing 400 various letters of the alphabet, for 100+ TV stations … and in many cases, cramming 20 lbs. of lyrics into a 5 lb. song. We are now officially “Christmased out”… and it’s not even Thanksgiving!

Here are a few fun clips, live from the session featuring the talented (and patient) singer Annagrey.

Be sure to check out the 2^nd clip- when figured out she had sung every letter in the alphabet!

Merry Christmas to all our friends at KAALKAMCKAMRWAWVKARDKARKKAVUKBTVWCIAKCRAKDBCKETKWCJBKEYCKFBBKFDXWCYBKGETKGNSKGWNWDEF
KHGIKIFIWDHNKIVIKJCTWENYKLSTKMBCWESHKMEGKMIDWFFTKMIRKMIZWFTXKMPHWFXPWFXVKMTVWGBAWGRZ
KMVTWGXAKNINWGXAWHAGKOLRWHIZWJETKOZLWJFWWMBDKPLRKQTVWMDTWMNNKRBCWNWOWOAYKRCR
WOLOWOWKKSANWSILWSYMKSNFWTAJWTICKSNTWTMJWTRFKTALWTVOWTVWKTNVWTWOWTXLKTVEWUTRWVUE
KXMCWWSBWYTVKTWOWYZZXETV

Three’s Company?

Stephen — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:36:00 +0000

For those in the industry, you know that mastering a song takes time and effort. Record producer Rick Rubin requested an iTunes-specific master on the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers release, I’m With You. The song now has three formats one for iTunes, one for CD, and one for Vinyl. Although unusual now, this trio of formats, may soon become mainstream. Which format do you prefer – tell us your thoughts! http://bit.ly/qBN4iC

promaxBDA NYC – Promax Gold Award – Best Music

Stephen — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:41:21 +0000

This is a clip from the Promax NYC “Marketing Genius” session this June showing the creative behind

WGNO-TV, New Orleans’ “God Bless Louisiana” campaign.

Finding a Fitting Sound

Stephen — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:03:28 +0000

When it comes to writing music for a documentary series, reality show, film or even the network news, the process is always the same. In order to create a piece that fits your client best, it is essential to determine what sound your client is looking for. It is best to sit down with your client and ask them essential questions such as: What image are you wishing to convey through the music, what is your target demographic and what is your marketing objective? Asking these questions and filling in the details makes it all the easier to give them the perfect sound.

When clients describe in words what they want their show to sound like, certain key words come up and immediately give you a direction in which to go with the sound. Words like “hard hitting” or “family-oriented” automatically trigger certain notes and musical patterns that can be used. In time, you will develop a musical short-hand with descriptive words. Then you add in your skills, your art and your science to convey the client’s image the way they want it conveyed … but do so through music.

When it comes to news music specifically, each station is different but often has a similar goal in terms of sound. For this reason, music packages need to span a range of moods while working throughout the broadcast day. Each package must have morning, breaking news, sports and weather themes that appeal to the same targeted demographic, but does so dynamically. For example, a good news package for NBC would effectively appeal to people all over the county in multiple markets, but not have a generic sound. It should be appropriately fitted to the needs of the NBC station it represents, as well as the demographic which it wishes to reach.

The question that remains is how do you convey an emotion to a certain type of person through music? What one person may see as emotional and heart wrenching, another person might see as sappy and cheesy. They go hand in hand, which is why it is so important to not only know what mood or overall feel each client is going for, but whom they are trying to reach. This is what good music does. It manipulates the emotions – but only works if the intended audience is targeted properly.

The Origins of Sonic Branding

Stephen — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:18:11 +0000

There’s nothing new about the sonic brand, it’s been going on for tens of thousands of years. Think about the rooster crowing, the thunder from the lightning. All these things are basically the foundation of what a sonic brand is: They evoke an emotional response when somebody hears it.

What a sonic brand really does is evoke something in your brain that says, “Hey, go do this,” or “Get ready for that,” or “Watch out!” So when you heard thunder, you’d go into the cave for shelter, or when you heard the rooster crowing you knew it was time to get up and go to work plowing the fields. Or your brain would be able to differentiate between whether you were hearing a snake in the grass, or just the wind.

That’s the relationship from a psychological, scientific perspective of what sound does. It’s interesting because the only way sound can work that way is if it’s connected to something that happens over and over again: It’s the repetition of sound that causes us to say, “I need to go and do this now.”

Fast forward to today when you’ve got wide-reaching sonic signatures, like the ones my company has done for the Weather Channel or CNN Headline News. I don’t think these came about because mankind one day just said, “OK, we’re going to take a sound and exploit it.” It was obviously an evolutionary process. Because it went from being just nature to everything around us: the whistle of a train coming into a station, an alarm clock, a boiling coffee pot, your Blackberry, car keys in the ignition…you name it. If you made a list of all the sound signals you heard throughout the day, from the moment you woke up until you went to bed, it would be unbelievably long – you can’t consciously think about all the ways you use sounds in your life.

But at some point our tendency to associate sounds with events and reactions was recognized as, “We can use this to get people to remember our products or services.”

In the commercial aspect, many times a listener feels like they hate a sonic brand, and they’ll say, “I don’t want to hear that again.” But as we point out in some of our presentations, “Sometimes you love it. Sometimes you hate it. And sometimes you hate that you love it!”

Guitar Of The Month Club

Stephen — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:53:31 +0000

Heard a great unknown singer-songwriter? indie band? We’re looking for them.

Send us a track (stephenarnold@stephenarnoldmusic.com) and each month we will post and everyone will vote. The winner will recieve a very cool guitar from Stephen’s collection.

All entries must be received via email by 30th of each month. Winner will be annouced 7 days later.

Kool stuff from your friends at SAM.

Setting the Tone for the 3D Creative Arts Awards

Stephen — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:54:58 +0000

The 3D Creative Arts Awards Show, the milestone event for the International 3D Society, aired on April 17th on the 3net channel and featured numerous music cues from Stephen Arnold Music, including the introduction, walk-on cues, and special presentations.

With the theme of “Your World in 3D,” the focus of the event gave us a chance to go beyond traditional Hollywood award show sounds. In live event formats like this, we believe the music needs to grab you right away — the cues don’t play for long, but there’s an instant emotional connection.

Winners included Walt Disney’s Tron: Legacy (Live Action Feature), DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon (Animated Feature), and Pixar’s Day & Night (Short Motion Picture/Narrative). Congrats to all! We were glad to be a part of it, and we’re looking forward to next year already.

Check out this montage of the music we did here…