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Pre-show beds with melodic theme elements


sfomspphl

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My favorite pre-show music beds have urgency and distinct repetition, but instead of just repeating that they have melodic theme chapters that add some suspense to hook the viewer into a storyline. 

 

Trying to think here - is that pretty much extinct today? Everything I see for pre-show teases seems to be just repeating a basic rhythm and no theme, almost hiding anything melodic absent a brief signature at the beginning or end. No storytelling via the music. 

 

KTRK late 80s / early 90s (News Series 2000) 

 

 

KCRA mid 80s - early 90s - Where the News Comes First 

 

 

WLS late 80s. (News Series 2000) - repetitive at the start but builds to a crescendo in the second half

 

 

 

KPIX early - late 80s - Signature - pretty wild and active 

 

 

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IMO it's no different than what's being done now for music beds. Times have changed some... synths and drum kits have replaced bass guitars and high hats, but there's nothing in these tracks that stands out as particularly special or adding extra drama to me. If anything, some are so bland and sparse they're actually dragging the energy down (I'm looking at you, WLS). Gari used to deliver "full" and "bed" versions of tracks. Now most companies provide stems to allow local stations to pick their mix with the amount of melody and instrumentation they want.

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18 hours ago, qunewsguy said:

 some are so bland and sparse they're actually dragging the energy down (I'm looking at you, WLS). Gari used to deliver "full" and "bed" versions of tracks. Now most companies provide stems to allow local stations to pick their mix with the amount of melody and instrumentation they want.

 

LOL yeah I think WLS was dragged kicking and screaming into even having music beyond an open and close, so went with the minimalist bed for most of the scripted part. 

 

I guess what i'm getting at is repeating chords for a preshow and maybe a stinger to bookend is standard now and was pretty standard back when music packages came on the scene in the 80s. But some producers / directors / management / consultants went with more varied melodic theme elements for the preshows, and don't see that much at all anymore.  Also get the impression more stations just go with one cut for most elements of a newscast despite the wider variety of packages, maybe that's not the case. 

 

18 hours ago, WWUpdate said:

Speaking of KPIX and Signature, I've always thought that this particular preshow tease was simply perfect -- great music, great writing, and great anchoring (but horrible picture quality):

 

 

 

 

Yeah it has a nice pacing to it and that funky Telesound track. The news director who started that format at KPIX had a quote about a good newscast having the ebb and flow of a great night of making love. The other cool thing was the 6pm and 11pm had different cuts for the preshow - differentiating them. I like it when stations put some thought into distinguishing the dayparts (different theme styles for morning, evening, late). 

 

They changed the look and pacing of the newscasts that spring. It was also around the time KGO cleaned up its act, got on the O&O look, put Pete Wilson and Anna Chavez together, and pulled ahead from a dead heat in the ratings. KPIX never really recovered ratings after that - even now distant to KGO. How much was CBS in the gutter, hard to say, but they had the 49ers benefit for several more years. 

 

I'm the one who got that particular tape on the trading circuit. It was from my parents' VHS drawer, from the end of my mom's recording of some movie special that night.  It cut off before the start of the newscast. Not sure where it is now, maybe still there - the drawer is in the same spot. 

 

 

 

 

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