Music is one of the prime story drivers in video.

Especially for commercials.

With only minutes to get the right message across, the soundtrack has a lot of heavy lifting to do.

And its job is never the same.

Sometimes the music is front and center – driving the creative. 

One perfect lyric could be the tagline for a client’s entire campaign.

Sometimes its job is more subtle — but just as vital.

Like music layered quietly under a voiceover to create the perfect vibe for an entire piece.

Whichever its task, it always drives a narrative. 

It always tells some story. 

And it always evokes emotion.

When you hire professional musicians to create a custom soundtrack, you’re inviting them to help tell your story.

It’s a big responsibility. And it’s an honor to be trusted with the job.

It’s also smart of you. Because musicians are great storytellers.

 

Why We Want to See Your Face: The Benefits of Doing A Music Search Together

For us to help you, first we need to understand your story. And we need to understand the way you want to tell it.

How do we do that?

We’ve found that hands down, there is one way that works best.

It’s the fastest, most efficient, and most rewarding way to collaborate on a composition with a client.

What is it?

The simple act of listening together, In Real Time (IRT).

It’s not always possible to meet IRL (In Real Life). But we do have the technology to meet face-to-face — no matter what.

And that’s one of our biggest secrets for success. 

Here’s why…

 

Clear and Honest Communication Wins Every time

It may sound quaint, but there really is no substitute for one-on-one communication.

A little human contact goes a long, long way…

Ever regret having an important conversation via text?

You can’t read tone. You can’t see facial expressions. You waste time going back and forth trying to clarify what you mean. Usually, at least one person ends up frustrated, dissatisfied, and unheard.

That’s what doing a music search without “IRT” is like.

There’s no reason it has to be that way.

We can say that with complete confidence, because —like much of the world — we’ve become recent Zoom pros. We’ve found time and time again that you can collaborate faster “in person” — even online.

That’s because communication flows more easily when you and your music team do a music search together.

You can fine-tune that perfect message… that ultimate tagline… that certain vibe…  until it’s tweaked *just* right.

There’s a flow of creative energy that ebbs and builds when you work In Real Time.

 

Opus Orange has just released their incredible new single, Breaking Mirrors. Mixed by Tucker Martine (Modest Mouse, Sufjan Stevens, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Neko Case and more) and Masterd by Doug Van Sloun (Focus Mastering), Breaking Mirrors is a true indie-rock anthem. Directed by Bernard Chadwick (Loud Forest), the video puts the usually camera-shy frontman, PB, front and center. In Bernard’s own words, the video is “a poetic montage of what it feels like to try to break free from a certain kind of anxiety.” Watch the video below and make sure to like, comment, and share across all social media platforms.

Personnel…

Katie Hampton: Vocals

James Neil: Drums

Alex Strahle: Electric Guitar

Carlen Walth: Bass

Tucker Martine: Mixing Engineer

Doug Van Sloun: Mastering Engineer

Tanner Teale: Artwork

Can You Really Nail the Right Creative on “Just A Demo?” 

We’ll be blunt: Nope. 

You can’t. 

Not with the “traditional” way most people work anyway. 

First off, it’s never “just a demo.”

Or at least it shouldn’t be.

Unless of course you like to waste time, throw money out the window, and dwell in a frustrating swamp of miscommunication. 

But are there some concrete ways to squeeze the most juice out of the initial discovery session for a new project?

We’re so glad you asked.

Because we’ve fine-tuned super successful strategic hacks that save our clients time, money, and frustration. 

Through careful planning, and a meticulously crafted vision… 

Oh, who are we kidding. 

Through trial and error, a whole lot of wasted time, and a bunch of expensive mistakes― we finally figured out what works.

Since PB needs a break from belting misquoted 80s lyrics in the bathroom and Schultz is waiting on his espresso delivery, we figured we’d take a minute to share a few insights. 

Hopefully this sneak peek into our process helps you the next time you’re ready to collaborate on a custom composition for your next project.

We hope these tips help you in the quest for conceiving the perfect creative. We think they can make music-making more productive, more economical, and less frustrating. 

They certainly did for us and our clients.

How one tweak changed everything

Once we made this one, small change in how we approached a project, everything else kinda fell in line. 

In hindsight, it should have been more obvious. 

But since we constantly see so many others still making the same mis-step, we figured it was time to speak up and share some insight. 

Hack #1: Shift the Communication Model

Maybe you’ve already heard this famous quote: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Kinda sums up round after round (after round… after round… after round…) of passing digital files back and forth with a new client.

Being able to translate words and musical descriptions into someone’s actual creative vision is mostly an art. But what if you could turn it into a science?

You can. In fact, that’s exactly what we did.

We created a process so simple, it’s almost silly. 

Look, it’s unavoidable that creating the right custom soundtrack for someone else starts out by playing some twisted musical version of Marco Polo.

But if we only took stabs in the dark, we’d create a lot of unnecessary grief for the whole team. And likely a lot of frustration for our clients.

That’s why we threw “industry norms” out the window and started following our gut instincts.

How? We skip the back and forth demo bullshit and work together with our clients from the start.

Because as you’ve probably experienced yourself, *trying* to interpret what another human means can take a lot of time-consuming trial and error.

Why not start making music in real time, and give instant feedback ―before your hired gun runs miles and miles down the wrong road?

We’ll go a little deeper into our process in our next blog, so keep your eyes peeled for more specific tips on how to start benefiting from this tweak yourself.

Honestly, we’re kinda surprised someone else didn’t think of this before us. It’s a game changer.

Hack #2: Trust Your Composer’s Genius –  It’s What You’re Paying Them For

If you wanted some generic, pre-packaged, boring filler, you wouldn’t have hired a pro in the first place. 

After all, with today’s technology it’s not like you don’t have a hundred other options.

(It goes without saying your go-to team needs to check their egos at the door before they even think about walking into the studio. After all, they’re not creating their own personal opus. Their #1 job is to bring your vision to life. This should be a given.)

But remember, you did reach out to a bona-fide artist for a reason.

Never underestimate their unique ability to help get you where you dream to be. They have a trained ear and particular skill set lost on non-musicians. 

Look for someone who owns that. Humbly.

Hack #3: Don’t Sweat Having the “Perfect” Musical Lexicon.

It’s impossible, so don’t spend too much time stressing over it.

When it comes to describing music, there really isn’t one right or wrong way to do it.

One person’s “brighter guitars” is another person’s “can you make this more pop-y?”

Very few folks share any common definitions when it comes to talking about their musical vision. 

We guarantee your composer has heard the same words you think are vivid, specific, and clear to describe pretty much the opposite of what you actually want.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to stress over finding the perfect descriptive adjective.

Remember, our unique gift as musicians is that we’re blessed with the ability to hear things differently than other people.  

It’s how we bring your artistic vision to life. We have the power to read through the musical lines and dig out that sonic gold you’ve been trying to mine.

Once we get to know your particular vocabulary, we’ll have a shortcut to getting you the sound you want – faster and more accurately. 

But we never make the fatal mistake that any musical lexicon is universal. To get the right track, we figure out our client’s unique dictionary every time. 

Want More Words of Wisdom from Emoto Music? 

We hope those three tips help you birth creative visions faster, easier, and cheaper. 

Want more insight on how to get the best custom commercial music made? Have a mistaken 80s song lyric you need corrected? Need tips on brewing the perfect espresso?

Make sure you’re on our mailing list. We’re gonna be coming at you with more hard-learned tips, unsolicited advice, and commercial music-making gold. 

If you’ve been watching the new PeopleTV show, then you’ve heard some Emoto magic! PB worked with Warner Chapell Music on the new intro theme for PeopleTV. It’s funky, it’s fun and it’s just *perfect* for the show. Make sure to catch it streaming for free, weeknights at 7:00 PM ET. 

Here’s something cool from 2020 we at Emoto can reflect back fondly on – Emoto Alumn (both intern; then staff composer), Ryan Elder, keeps taking the torch higher and higher. We’ve always known his work on Rick and Morty was award-winningly stellar, and in 2020 the show garnered more accolades with it’s 2nd Emmy win for Outstanding Animated Program. We’re just waiting to see what more the Academy has in store for Ryan in the years to come. Congratulations Ryan!

Columbia Sportswear new “Warm Smarter” campaign was a tight collaboration between Emoto Music, 740 Sound and San Francisco-based, 215 McCANN. Produced in real-time on a Zoom final recording session, these spots feature various curious critters crashing on your favorite campsites.

Clif Bar & Company and Emoto Music have partnered again to create Clif’s new “Sustained Energy” campaign, featuring tennis phenom Venus Williams and USWNT legend, Megan Rapinoe. Written by Stuart Rau and arranged by Paul Bessenbacher, the music puts viewers right in the middle of the action. These spots are sure to get you out of your seat!

Emoto Music teamed up with Merkley + Partners advertising agency to develop “Fortune Teller,” as part of Mercedes-Benz USA’s 2020 ad campaign. Co-written by Alex Kovacs and Paul Bessenbacher, with sound design by 740 Sound, Emoto’s contribution fully captures the mystery of the car buying experience. Check out the spot below!

When we’re not closing down Sunday brunch’s, mixologizing (made up) variations on the Vieux Carre or baking sourdough bread from hundred-year old starter, you’ll likely find us at any of the local farmer’s markets. Local, in season and keeping small farmers afloat is one of our many passions. So imagine how thrilled we were to have the opportunity to work with Serena Creative on a package of public service announcements for Food Forward – “fighting hunger and preventing food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people in need and inspiring others to do the same”.

Check out the :60 spot directed by Ric Serena, music by PB, mixed by Durand Trench, location sound by Stan Gonzales!

 

“Artificial Heart” by Emoto artist, Opus Orange, is set to air on 6/19/18 on Episode 503 of Younger. In this episode entitled “The End of the Tour”, Liza faces complications on the “Marriage Vacation” book tour; Kelsey and Zane head to Washington, D.C., to court a speechwriter’s prospective memoir. Look/listen for the scene where Liza finds out that Charles knows she’s been lying about her age. “Artificial Heart” plays out the show and over Darren Star’s end card.

About Younger:

Younger Season 5 is an original show for TV Land starring Sutton Foster and Hillary Duff. It’s created by Sex and The City’s Darren Star, and is reaching the 18-49 male and female audience. Sutton Foster stars as Liza, a forty year-old woman, who lives her life as a twenty six-year old in order to land a swanky publishing job. Younger follows Liza’s newly fabricated life and the friends she meets along the way while adjusting to the millennial city life.

Emoto featured artist Opus Orange and Matt Bowen have released their original soundtrack to the award-winning documentary “My Indiana Muse”. The collaboration between Opus Orange and Matt Bowen has drawn notice from LA Weekly where it was said that:

“The unveiling of serendipitous events surrounding the project, coupled with the film’s original score (composed by Paul Bessenbacher of Opus Orange and Matt Bowen)… touches on inspiration, connection and the journey of our belongings after we’re gone.”

The soundtrack is available for purchase or streaming on iTunes, Apple MusicSpotify, Bandcamp, or Soundcloud.

My Indiana Muse by Serena Creative

Emoto featured artist Opus Orange and Matt Bowen are scheduled to release the original soundtrack of the award-winning documentary “My Indiana Muse” on June 15. The score has already received mention in the March 30 issue of LA Weekly where it was said that:

“The unveiling of serendipitous events surrounding the project, coupled with the film’s original score (composed by Paul Bessenbacher of Opus Orange and Matt Bowen)… touches on inspiration, connection and the journey of our belongings after we’re gone.”

Hear a preview of the soundtrack below or preorder the album on Bandcamp today.

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“My Indiana Muse”, directed by frequent collaborator Ric Serena, has wrapped up its run on the film festival circuit. The documentary, featuring an original soundtrack scored by Opus Orange and Matt Bowen enjoyed great success having won awards at four of its festival appearances.

Below is a list of the awards collected by the documentary.

Broad City is the latest show to license music from Opus Orange’s library. The second of the two tracks, “Take Your Time” can be heard in the episode “Bedbugs,” airing for the first time on Wednesday, Nov. 29th at 7:30pm EST / 10:30pm PST. In this episode #409 “a fancy new bag gives Abbi confidence during unemployment. Ilana and Jaimé deal with an inevitable New York City nightmare: bedbugs.” Previously licensed on October 25th for episode #406 was the single, “When I Look In Your Eyes.”

This will be Opus Orange’s second placement on the half-hour scripted series on Comedy Central adapted from the critically acclaimed web series created by and starring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer as 20-something best friends who are trying to navigate life in New York, despite that their adventures always seem to lead down unexpected and bizarre paths. They have very little money, but they are survivors who aren’t afraid to throw themselves into sticky situations, no matter how messy the end results may be. Jacobson and Glazer both honed their comedy chops at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. UCB co-founded Amy Poehler is an executive producer on the series and joins Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch, Janeane Garofalo, Michelle Hurst, Jason Mantzoukas and Amy Sedaris, among others, as guest stars.

This project for MoMA with WAX Studios in NYC is a promo for the upcoming show “ITEMS: Is Fashion Modern” on display from October 1 through January 28. The show examines the present, past—and sometimes the future—of 111 items of clothing and accessories that have had a strong impact on the world in the 20th and 21st centuries—and continue to hold currency today.

The score uses only sounds from the fashion world – coat hangers, leather belts, scissors, cloth tears, velcro rips, sewing machine, high heels, perfume spray. The sounds were sourced from One Thousand Birds and organized into music by our very own Paul Bessenbacher.

 

Opus Orange’s “The Next World” from the Balance EP has been licensed for an upcoming episode entitled “Irish Goodbye” of the comedy series Younger on TV Land.  In the scene featuring the song, Liza confronts Josh about the lie he wants her to tell.

You can catch the season finale on TV Land:

Wednesday, 9/13, 10 PM
Thursday, 9/14, 1 AM
Saturday, 9/16, 2 AM

About Younger:

Younger Season 4 is an original show for TV Land starring Sutton Foster and Hillary Duff. It’s created by Sex and The City’s Darren Star, and is reaching the 18-49 male and female audience. Sutton Foster stars as Liza, a forty year-old woman, who lives her life as a twenty six-year old in order to land a swanky publishing job. Younger follows Liza’s newly fabricated life and the friends she meets along the way while adjusting to the millennial city life.

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Emoto featured artists Loud Forest and Opus Orange are performing on June 30! Join us for this summer concert at one of our favorite venues as we celebrate the debut of Loud Forest’s latest single “I’m Not Your Girl.”

Show Details:

When: Friday, June 30, 2017 @ 8PM

Where: Legge Alley Projects 93 E. Union St., Pasadena, CA

RSVP Here!

Emoto Music’s featured artist, Opus Orange, released an arrangement of Henry Mancini‘s classic Moon River featuring Kotomi. The song was featured in TuneCore‘s #NewMusicFriday blog. The song is available everywhere including iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud and Amazon or you can give it a listen below.

Kotomi: vocals
Aaron Sterling: drums
PB: baritone guitar, electric guitar, bass, Rhodes

Emoto featured artist, Opus Orange closed out 2016 with a cover of “A Long December” by the Counting Crows. Their acoustic interpretation of this single from 1996 provides a somber reflection of the past year while holding out hope as we all move forward into the New Year.

Listen to their cover of “A Long December” below.

Emoto Music featured artist, Opus Orange‘s song “Queit, It’s Naptime” was used in the short video “Year of the Goat (1991) directed by Chad Rea for New Belgium Brewery Company! This is the second video collaboration between Opus Orange and Chad Rea, the other being the official music video for “Anatomic.”

Emoto Music featured artist, Opus Orange, recently recorded an acoustic EP, Lost Canyon Recordings, on an iPhone while in Sequoia National Park! The EP features three tracks from their album Anatomic and is available exclusively on Curensea.

Check out a preview of the album below with the track “Radio Silence.”

Emoto would like to introduce you to a new way of producing music via cyber session.

A cyber session is a live and interactive recording session sending client video and music from Emoto’s studio in Santa Monica to an agency’s office anywhere in the world – all you need is a computer with Google Chrome and a solid internet connection.

Cyber sessions are great for any music presentation where immediate feedback could save time and get your creatives exactly what they want as the composer reacts to creative direction on the fly.

Schedule a quick demo of a cyber session now – click here.

Emoto Music is proud to have teamed up with Saatchi & Saatchi NY, Goodwill® Industries and the Ad Council to compose original music on a series of new PSAs.  We collaborated with creative director, Michael Sullivan, agency producer Radu Olievschi and music producer Eric Korte via cyber-session – a live, interactive recording session projecting video and music from Emoto’s Santa Monica studio to Saatchi’s NY office.

Goodwill® Industries “A Better Answer”

 

Goodwill® Industries “Bike”

Check out Opus Orange performing their single “Balance” Live at the Eat See Hear screening of Super Troopers in Santa Monica last month (7.26.2014)!

Opus Orange – “Balance”
From the 2014 release
“Balance”

Video shot by: Ric Serena, Jason Fitzpatrick, Jeff Christensen

Buy “Balance EP” now:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/balance-ep/id797187183
Bandcamp: http://opusorange.bandcamp.com

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Opus Orange will be performing in Davis June 21st at Davis Music Festival and in Sacramento June 22nd at Witch Room

The Santa Monica based band is taking a quick weekend trip to Davis in late June to perform for Davis Music Festival 2014!  The following day, they will split the stage with The Memories and Sonny & The Sunsets at Witch Room in Sacramento.

Check out more information about the shows and how to get tickets by clicking either photo or linked venue name above.

We can’t wait to see you all there!