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Trying to come up with a way to be financially successful? Consider composing for film and TV. Or, to be much more precise, for film/TV in such a way as to be attractive to ringtones.
Posted by Casper at July 31, 2004 01:34 AMApparently part of the problem lies with the complexity, or simplicity, of the music itself. A successful ringtone needs to be instantly recognizable and have an infectious hook. Beethoven's Fifth works; Glass and company may be a little too subtle to get our attention on a busy street corner. Composer Jean Hasse recognized those limitations when she began composing for the cell phone as musical instrument in 2001. The Oberlin-trained composer has carved out a singular niche for herself by writing hundreds of 20-second ringtones to reflect different moods and attitudes. The elliptical, jazzy little tunes, with names like Ouch, Get Out of Bed and Wait for Me, don't sound anything like typical ringtones, yet they don't sound as if they could be anything else, either. Like any dedicated composer, Hasse has figured out the quirks and character of her instrument: She knows where to place a pause for best effect; she's learned that cell phones will raise the pitch of a melody and that tempos can go astray.