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Compared to writing tracks for Kendrick, I’d wager that writing music for ads doesn’t feature high on any composer’s bucket list. But when needed, these talented artists will dig deep to find that extra inspiration needed to elevate commercial music. “Yeah, I mean, I’ll do ads, but what I’m really interested in is…” 

I’m fortunate enough to compose everything from songs to film scores, yet I also happen to really enjoy (and want to create) music for advertising. Weird, right? The thing is, it’s not just about loving it – it’s about improving my craft. Unlike musicians who have a certain window of popularity in a given style, I’m able to reinvent daily. This is why writing for commercials is guaranteed to make you better. Fast. Not just a better composer, but a better producer, engineer, player, musician and listener.

You’ve got to cover so much ground stylistically and the timelines are crazy. Oh, and you have 30 seconds (if you’re lucky.) So you gotta make it count. Draw people in, keep them there, or your client is already skipping to the next track on the list.

Then almost unconsciously, you realize how these skills transfer seamlessly to other formats, like songwriting, film/tv scores, video games or even themes for cartoons.

Take this one we just wrote for a new kids’ show called, Hop – released on HBO Max, Cartoon Network, and soon on CBC. We only had 20 seconds to work with and needed to include a hook. Or, in ad speak, a branded opening.

My thinking started with “What would Tom Waits do if he wrote a track for a 5 year old?” Well, things got weird (in a good way) from the get-go. Being a bass player, I figured I’d start there. I restrung my bass with flat wound strings and played it with a guitar slide. Using the slide, I could play a really simple repetitive line in an interesting way. Then I wondered, “What else would a 5 year old throw in the mix?” Well, she’d start banging on stuff. So that’s what I did. I added homemade percussion using whatever I could find. Then a few more toys for some melodic content. I even added some field recordings of kids playing, yelling, laughing. That’s how we made this theme. Check it out:

For any fans of Arthur out there….this is creator Marc Brown’s first new show since Arthur’s unbelievable 25 year run, with co-creators Tolon Brown and Peter K Hirsch. Very cool to be a part of it.