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Leave a Light On

by Doug Elkins

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A few years back, I did a handful of freelance work for a music house in LA named Musikvernuegen. I always got a kick out of that name – reminiscent of the famous Volkswagen campaign ‘Fahrvergnugen’ (or as my brother Adam used to say “Four Fig Newtons”).

From time to time I would get a call to put together some music for Musikvernuegen on a crazy deadline and I would always accept the projects since I like writing on a deadline and well, I like writing for money period. One evening I got a call from Pat asking me to put together a piece of music for a :30 TV spot for one of the leading navigation systems. Due the next morning, of course, but with a spec music budget. The story for the ad was as follows: a father on his way home from work winds through the streets with the help of his navigation system and finally pulls up to his house at sundown. lights on, family waiting with hugs, etc. So, I tell Pat I’ll give it a go and when I get off the phone it hits me that since this is a family man, I’ll grab all the toy instruments I can find around the house (which were plenty) and record them, starting with one toy piano and building into a symphony of toy instruments. I did that for about an hour and then I realized that it wasn’t going to work – my symphony was turning into a cacophony! So, I put away the real toy instruments and sequenced the thing using virtual instruments and then added some live acoustic guitar. It turned out really nice and ended up capturing the essence of my original vision. My track didn't get picked for the commercial, but I got paid and it was a fun assignment. Cue the toy pianos…

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released October 7, 2013
All instruments.............. Doug Elkins

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Doug Elkins Los Angeles, California

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