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TV show "The Unit" uses Apple Loops as theme music

P

PreacherKane

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hello everyone. I was watching a trailer for the military show on Bravo called The Unit, when the music came on. Nothing strange there, you are asking, incidental background music.😕
But the orchestral music is a straight up Apple Loop!!!!!!!😱
I've used it myself to make a song in GarageBand!!!!!!!😱

Now as a songwriter and composer (amatuer), should I be apalled that they are using something so recogniseable and cheap as their theme music? Or should I feel happy and not a little smug that the songs I have created and also heard from other MacRumors users is better and wholly original. I feel like emailing the show and introducing the musical director to some real music.😀
I can now hold my head high amonst other songwriters and composers (amatuers) and allow the world to listen to my music because if a well-made American TV show can take an off the shelf Apple Loop as their theme music, myself and every other musician here can make money with our original songs.🙂

Support Your Local Musician on Macrumors.com:apple: 😎
 
Sure they are. But they haven't changed the loop in any way. They haven't added to the loop to make it a full song. It's just the loop.
Can you imagine David Arnold scoring the latest Bond film and saying "Nope, don't need the famous and well known large orchestral piece for the opening chase sequence, I'll just use Fireplace Violins 01 instead."
I should feel happy knowing the songs I create are original but a small piece of me died when I heard the loop. Scoring films and TV is a long and underrated task. I feel the show has made it a little bit harder for original material to be considered.
The Producer will just say "I don't need a high priced composer, do what they did on The Unit, use a free loop."
How will I buy my children shoes then???
 
Don't worry, be happy.

I also like hearing Apple loops on TV. If the pros use 'em, they're definitely good enough for me.

Go :apple:!
 
Trailers frequently use music from other sources and not necessarily music that will be original to the program. Just look at the trailer for the new movie Sunshine. It is using music from the movie Memento, as have many other trailers. And trailer music is not the same thing as the theme music.

According to the Wikipedia, "the show's theme song is an adaptation of the USMC running cadence song, Fired Up... Feels Good."

I'm gonna need more proof. 😀
 
Actually it's Officer Strings.😀
I'm not really angry, just suprised. It's really hard to write orchestral music and when it is finished, there is a real sense of pride. To get into the world of music for TV shows is a combination of luck and being in the right place at the right time. If they use Apple Loops, where do I fit in?😕

Support Your Local Musician on MacRumors.com:apple: 😎
 
PreacherKane said:
Scoring films and TV is a long and underrated task. I feel the show has made it a little bit harder for original material to be considered.
Click to expand...

I don't think we need to worry about real film composers being replaced by loops. Films and TV shows run the budgetary gamut from real cheapos that have to use free loops to multi-million dollar projects that can afford to hire Harry Gregson-Williams or Hans Zimmer. I think the availability of loops simply opens doors for those who can't afford to hire a composer. Those who can afford it still will. Seasoned producers and directors can tell the difference between a live orchestra and a synthesized one, and they will always opt for live musicians (more expensive but much better quality).
Besides, in the extremely unlikely event that synthesized loops ever replaced real musicians, those of us who aspire to wrote film music can still find employment writing loops!
 
THis is the same thing that gets posted every once in a while.

Someone is playing with Soundtrack alot, and also watches tv alot.

They know some loops by heart, from playing them hours at a time while working on a beat, and when they hear it, they automatically know where it came from.

Same with every single show, game, radio broadcast that used the ubiquitous:

rooster crow
door opening/closing
car door
police radio chatter - which is my favorite, E-surance used it most recently:

"75, code 6, one oh five north avenue and fifty-two", everybody seems to use that sound byte.

Porno video is the worst, they use Livetype like a child, never changing a single template or animation...
 
The point I was trying to make was that they didn't use the loop in a song or piece of music, it's just the loop. I write music and I use loops (very handy) but I would never produce a song that was just one loop and say "There, the next musical masterpiece is complete". 😕
Anyway, doesn't really matter. I've been trying to post a reply for days but the Internet connection in the house I'm staying at is really crappy. Everytime I compose a reply then send it, I lose signal. Thanks for listening.😀

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Actually what they've done is amazingly lazy from the Directors point - using a direct copy of a loop without anything else from a program as wide-spreading and common as logic is pretty bad form.

If there isn't a budget for music (which there should be) then it is usual for library music to be employed - but this is in bad taste if you ask me.
 
They probably spent the budget on the weapons.😉
Don't get me wrong, I like the premise of the show and I like the actors involved, just suprised at the use of a loop as the trailer music.
I think all the movie makers and music writers on this forum should get together and make a blockbuster film or TV series. A dramatisation of the 20 year Mac v PC war.😀

Support Your Local Musician on MacRumors.com:apple: 😎
 
dejo said:
Trailers frequently use music from other sources and not necessarily music that will be original to the program. Just look at the trailer for the new movie Sunshine. It is using music from the movie Memento, as have many other trailers. And trailer music is not the same thing as the theme music.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Stargate's theme song seems to get used more than anything on trailers. Kind of ... well, cheap when they're budget is how much?
 
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