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Lee Wing-Sze

EVER WONDER who comes up with those tunes for TV commercials?

Meet professional jingle writer Adrian Tsing Li-ko, who is also a rising star on the indie music scene. He works closely with his partner and jingle producer Claire Cheung.

They say they seldom write music for radio commercials as the stations usually do it themselves.

Music for TV adverts involves more than just writing music. It has to enhance a commercial's effect and the product's general appeal. After watching rough cuts of a commercial and having briefing sessions with the client or advertising agency, Tsing starts composing music or adds sound effects to emphasise the images.

There are two types of jingles: one that serves as background music while the other is created for a particular purpose.

In Hong Kong, TV jingles are most often used as background music.

Cheung says: 'Advertisers usually have many things to say in a 30-second commercial and prefer to turn down the volume of the music so that it does not compete with the voice-over.' She laments that people cannot usually hear the music clearly during a commercial.

Tsing has created music for a host of well-known products ranging from fast food to cosmetics. He recalls that when he first started out he had trouble with clients because they rejected his music and limited creativity.

'At the beginning, I felt really insulted as my music was criticised or changed by people who knew absolutely nothing about music,' he says.

Sometimes Tsing has to use his experience and get help from Cheung to guess what clients really want.

'Now I think it's quite challenging to communicate with people who don't know about music,' he says.

The most satisfying moment for the composer and producer is when they see the miraculous effects of their music on the advert.

'It's interesting when you see that how much a commercial improves after the music and sound effects have been added,' Tsing says.

What qualifications do you need to be a jingle writer?

Tsing says all you need is to be able and want 'to make different kinds of music'.

'You don't need any qualifications in music. No one has ever asked about my qualifications since I joined the industry three years ago,' says Tsing, a music graduate from the University of Western Ontario.

But a jingle writer must know how to create music with a computer.

'We mostly use the computer to compose the music unless we want to use real guitars or vocals [which is more costly],' Tsing explains. 'You cannot get into this industry if you don't know how to use computer programmes for music.'

He recommends that people who are interested in the field take courses in creating music with computers or learn by themselves if they have the equipment. They should try to create music for different types of TV commercials. Paying more attention to jingles would also help.

'You need to watch more commercials to see how people do the music or sound effects for different products, and how sounds can enhance the images,' Tsing says.

He adds the best way to get into the industry is to send demos to jingle production houses.



Music made to order