Tomovox Radio Jingles Experiments: "Tune In Radio Jingles" WRLR 98.3 FM
0There was a point, when I was collecting KenR jingle CDs like mad, that I really wanted to figure out the nuts and bolts of constructing a radio jingle. You listen to these mini masterpieces and you're struck with how vast a difference there is between a radio jingle and popular music.
The one thing that stood out in my mind about radio jingles: 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. The musical arranging; the the musical styles; the playing from the musicians; the vocals/harmonizing- in a radio jingle, everything is 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆.
Not so much nowadays, but in the sixties and parts of the seventies, a jingle writer had to be familiar with so many different styles, so many genres of music - a jingle could sound like Alexander's Ragtime Band, a Lawrence Welk number, maybe something from south of the border - but for the most part, the majority of jingles that I like (from the sixties) are based on the Big Band Era.
To effectively play all those varieties of musical styles required top-of-the-line musicians and vocalists. Many of the musicians and singers had performed for years with various Big Bands or were seasoned studio musicians and vocalists.
What's interesting is that listening to these jingles actually sharpened my playing- especially when it came to playing trumpet, sax and trombone. Not that I'll ever play any better than a 10th rate amateur, but I noticed I learned to play these instruments a lot better than I ever had in all the years before I started collecting jingles.
Then there are the vocals. Singing vocals for jingles is 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅. Listen to any of the classic PAMS jingles of the sixties, or any of the other jingle producers for that matter; those were singers who were pros. They weren't the vocals you heard on a Pop, Rock or Soul record. The harmonies were sophisticated jazz harmonies or aligned with choral singing. Jingle singers did the type of singing that they tried to teach in high school but I always felt was so boring. Now I have the utmost respect for these singers.
I know there are technical terms for what these people are doing. I know there is a method of voicing vowels and consonants in a very specific manner so that the blend of five to seven voices is seamless, watertight with everyone beginning and ending at exactly the same time. 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆.
There is also the method of "stacking" vocals- the singers would sing a take, then sing the same thing again, maybe four times or more with all the tracks being mixed together. The stacking of the vocals gave a hugeness of sound that would never be possible otherwise.
So with all of these things in mind, I really wanted to try doing jingles of my own. I have zero musical training, and even less ability! But it was all for the fun of trying something very different from what I was used to. The results would never stack up against anything even the worst jingles done by professionals. Still, its a exercise, a way to learn to stretch out as a musician and singer.
I had an idea for a theme, using the word "tune" in as many ways as I could and I used a local radio station, WRLR as my imaginary client! I had to figure out how to do musical arrangements that would allow for a variable logo- the ability to sing WLS, WABC, WPOP, WQAM, WTIX- any bona fide radio logo over the top of my own musical arrangements. So the logo melody for WRLR was one that I don't thing has been used elsewhere.
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