Acoustica
Cherry Audio

Commercial Project Student's Guide

  Download a PDF copy of this user guide
Introduction 1. Constructing a Music Lab with Mixcraft 2. A Survey of Mixcraft 3. Using Audio with Mixcraft 4. Using MIDI with Mixcraft 5. Mixcraft Video 6. Using Mixcraft's Effect Plugins, Loops, and Instruments 7. Music Composition with Mixcraft 8. Using Mixcraft for School Projects Appendix

STUDENT’S GUIDE

COMMERCIAL PROJECT

NAME:

CLASS TIME:

PERIOD:

TEACHER:

CLASS:

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

  • Computer with Mixcraft

  • Mixcraft’s Loops

  • Headphones or Monitors

SUGGESTED MATERIALS:

  • MIDI keyboard

  • Further Reading Materials

ACTIVITY

Preparing & Shooting The Commercial

  1. First, select a product for the commercial. Ask your teacher whether you will be inventing your own product or selecting a well known product (for example, what could be a competing product for Nike shoes? Or a coffee-chain that competes against Starbucks?).

  2. Brainstorm and discuss the potential marketing and advertising strategies for the product:

    1. What is the consumer demographic? (I.e. is the product targeted to a specific gender or age group?)

    2. What other companies sell a similar product? (How would a new company compete against these existing products?)

    3. Is selling the product dependent on location?

  3. Watch several TV commercials with your teacher or class. Note how the product in each commercial is filmed and how the music interacts with the product:

    1. How is the product portrayed in the film?

    2. Do actors interact with the product? If they do, in what way?

    3. What environment is the product depicted in?

    4. From what angles is the product filmed?

    5. Is there any catchy dialogue or phrasing?

      Additionally,

    6. What is the mood of the music?

    7. What instruments are being used?

    8. Is the music composition simple and accessible or complex and technical?

    9. Are certain musical themes associated with the product or company?

  4. Film a one-minute long commercial showcasing the product. Collaborating with a film class or a film department might be helpful.

  5. One the filming is completed, rip the recorded video onto a computer. If possible, rip the video into .AVI or .WMV format.

SCORING THE COMMERCIAL

  1. Open Mixcraft and use the New Project window to load a template with one video track and four audio tracks.

    Once the New Project window has loaded, remove any instrument tracks, set the audio tracks field to four, and check the video-track field.

  2. Import your commercial into Mixcraft. From the top menu select Video Add A Video File > Select the video file. Currently, Mixcraft only supports .AVI or .WMV file types.

    Delete any unnecessary music or sound effects that might accompany the video. To do this, first you may have to unlink the audio and video tracks. Left-click-hold and sweep-select the video and audio tracks. Release. Now, on either of the tracks: right click > Link > Unlink Selected Tracks. The tracks will now be unlinked. You can now right-click on the unwanted audio track and select “delete.” Be careful not to delete any dialogue or audio sounds that need to be retained.

    An imported video. Note: the linked audio track’s regions have been deleted.

  3. Editing the video. Before scoring, complete all video edits. With Mixcraft, users can remove, arrange, or repeat parts of the video Prior to adding music, complete all video edits to your movie. For instance, you may want to short, remove, or repeat certain areas of the video. Here are some edits that will help:

    1. Splitting video sections: To rearrange segments of a video, start by “splitting” or cutting a movie into smaller video regions. Right click on the movie and select “Split” (Crtl + T). Next, simply drag and move the new region on the track. Try looping a small section of the video for a “stutter edit.”

      TIP: If the video cannot initially be ripped into .AVI or .WMV, it must be converted to one of these formats to be compatible with Mixcraft

    2. Trimming video clips: Trimming videos regions can shorten or extend the region on the timeline. To trim, move the cursor near the ends (beginning or ending) of the video region: a double-sided arrow will appear. Next, click and drag left or right to trim the region to the desired length.

    3. Deleting video: Remove parts of a movie by selecting and highlighting video regions and hitting delete on the computer keyboard. An effective strategy is splitting unwanted movie sections into regions and then deleting them.

  4. Brainstorm music ideas: Before you begin producing music, contemplate which music style would best compliment your product. Pairing a light orchestral arrangement with a commercial endorsing cheese or wine might be a more effective selection than, perhaps, trance or house music. Alternatively, house and trance music might work well to showcase a high-end sports car commercial.

  5. Approaching the commercial’s score: Once you have picked a music style for your commercial, begin creating the accompanying music using Mixcraft’s loops, Mixcraft’s virtual instruments or by recording your own music. In this demonstration, we will use Mixcraft’s loops to build our score.

  6. Mixcraft’s Loops: Mixcraft’s loops are convenient for scoring a commercial. In the Tabs Area, select the “Library” tab and search through the instrument categories. If your computer is connected to the internet, you can preview and download each loop by clicking the green play button next to the file name.

    Mixcraft’s Loop Library is filled with drum and instrument loops.

  7. Loop Arrangement: Because the commercial is relatively short, the music does not necessarily require a complete structure of beginning, middle and end. Often, beginning with an explosive drum loop will suffice for an introduction. Experiment with different loops and arrangements. To start experimenting: simply drag and drop a loop onto an empty audio track.

  8. Product/Company theme: While arranging the commercial’s music, you might want to create a theme for your product. Either compose your own theme or design a Mixcraft loop-based theme. Play the theme at the either the beginning or the ending of the commercial. Write a witty slogan to be sung or spoken over the theme.

  9. Finishing with sounds effects: A great strategy for scoring a commercial is to add sound effects that correspond to specific actions or events on film. A commercial that has a cop car enter the opening shot chasing a speeding Trek bicycle rider might get more immediate attention if the “siren” is blaring – adding sound effects heightens our alertness. Make sure the video track images and sound effects regions on the audio tracks are aligned properly so that sounds coincide with the intended video content. The siren needs to accompany the grand entrance of the cop car not come blaring in long after the black and white has exited the shot.

  10. Mixing Down: Once the commercial is finished, mix down the video by selecting File > Mix Down To… > Select either .AVI or .WMV.