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Google Play has arrived, and more than five million people have already watched a retro oddball YouTube overview of the game/movie/book/app-sharing-and-shopping service. As cool as the capabilities of Google’s latest gadget may be, visitors seem equally impressed by the video’s pitch-perfect soundtrack – the work of Headquarters Music lead composers, The Gifted – demanding that the song “Touch Science” be converted into an extended downloadable track.
The eclectic, ambient song accompanies a narrator’s explanation of Google Play as a curious sequence of Rube Goldberg-esque hand cranks, levers, projectors and conveyor belts unfolds across a briefcase on the screen. Challenged by Director Jonathan Zames to create a song that sounded as though it emerged from the machine, Headquarters Music experimented with a range of textures and sounds to determine first what the objects in the box would sound like, then how to make them sound musical. “Our biggest obstacle was making what was happening onscreen – the cranks, hammers hitting out of time, telephone keys – sound both musical and sympathetic to the environment that Jon Zames created. I think in the end we did both,” said Lead Composer James Bairian. The studio experimented with various instruments and arrangements, finally bringing together a blend of synthesizers, tambourines, hand-claps, glockenspiel and found sounds that nailed the piece’s vibe.
“The track had to have an organic, mechanical sound to it, but at the same time, it had to be pretty and inviting, because they wanted people to feel comforted by the notion of this new service,” noted Headquarters Music EP Adam Levin. Lead Composer Louis Castle added, “It was important to select sounds from these disparate sources so that we could mirror the handcrafted quality of the machine. From there, it was easy to extend the piece into a full-length song at Google’s request.”
This Google Play spot is the latest in a long string of Google branding work for Headquarters Music. These pieces headline a portfolio that includes extensive branding work for Burger King and MTV’s spring break campaigns, multiple campaigns for McDonald’s, extensive work for Sony PlayStation, and recent spots from Maxwell House via mcgarrybowen.
This consistent success probably has as much to do with the incredible chemistry between the trio of company principals – EP Adam Levin and Lead Composers Louis Castle and James Bairian – as it does with their tremendous raw talent. “I often feel as though we’ve pulled off the crime of the century,” laughed Levin. “We get to come in here every day and make music with people we love working with, divorcing ourselves from the headaches of the music industry…and we get to take home a paycheck every month? I feel like we need to keep this a secret.”
Plenty of others have been getting paychecks through Headquarters Music as well, as the studio works with a sprawling corps of nearly 50 top freelance composers in specialties as diverse as string and horn arrangement, electronic music, songwriting, touring, production – an ensemble that ensures each client has access to their ideal musical accompaniment.
“We are laser focused on matching each client with their perfect musical counterpart. Maybe more than laser focused. Is there such a thing as a super-laser? We’re that.” noted Levin, whose massive web of connections was forged during his decade as an artist manager in the record industry. “As a business person who operates in the creative world, I’m very sensitive to artistic concerns – both from the agency creatives’ standpoint and the composers’. This ethos sets Headquarters Music apart in what can be a crowded and frantic industry and helps to explain why everyone who’s worked with us has returned.”
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Credits
Client: Google
Spot Title: “Introducing Google Play”
Air Date: March 2012
Agency: Studio G
Writer/Director: Jonathan Zames
Producer Yovel Schwartz
Line Producer: David Dranitzke
AD: Garrett Lowe
DP: Adam Santelli
Cameraman/ Motion Control Operator: Simon Wakley
Lighting: Joe Mendoza
Product Marketing Manager Paola Veglio
VFX/Editing: HOPR
Fabrication/Practical Effects: White Room Artifacts
Practical Effects Supervisor/Lead Fabricator: Don Bies
Music: Headquarters Music
Composer: The Gifted
Music Mastering: Mike Bozzi, Bernie Grundman Mastering
Sound Design/Mix: Sound Lounge
Sound Designers: Marshall Grupp/Tom Jucarone
About
Headquarters Music is a custom music house working in the media of commercials, television and video games. We focus on working with composers who have found success outside the work-for-hire world as recording artists, record producers and songwriters, and bringing their expertise to the world of composition for hire.
More info: TRUST 646 452 3388 (NY) 310 451 5153 (LA) trustcollective.com
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