Audi R8 original commercial (youtube)
Audi R8 re-scored commercial (download)
When I first saw this commercial I was just a neutral TV-watching consumer who viewed advertisements just as anyone else would. For this reason I thought that this commercial was a good choice, as I could write music for it from the perspective of a neutral end-user, but also with my new knowledge of compositional techniques.
The commercial has a clear concept, which is the image of the car being built up part by part over time until it is complete. This gave the opportunity for the music to follow the same path, building up in layers until the piece sounds like a complete song when we see the finished car.
So the music begins with a few synths rolling over each other giving it the feel of a ‘liquid factor’, as Bartosz described it. There are no recognisable melodies, because there are no visible parts of the car, and the synths leave an empty feeling in the dark room, but then a bright brass swell accompanies the lights turning on, conveying the feeling that something big is happening. Another synth enters to represent the smooth movement of the shadows that enter the scene at 00:10.
A sharper lead synth enters the engine is inserted into the car, symbolising the main driving force behind both the music and the vehicle. The melody is not played too prominently and the mix is still thin, involving just bass and lead synths, as we still only have the shell of the car before us. The addition of wheels to the car is accompanied by the synths that were used for the moving shadows earlier, but played an octave higher. These synths link the image of the wheels with the smooth movement of the shadows earlier, basically giving the impression that the drive will be as smooth as the shadows are. The mix thins out even more as the car is raised up and we see its underside, then the synths fade out and leave some tense but quiet strings fading out with the lights.
In the scene where the room is dark, the music changes to be clear and properly structured for the first time, rather than having the flowing uneasy ‘liquid’ feel from earlier that sounded like it could go anywhere. The sudden clarity and cooperation of the melody and bassline represents the precision of the lasers working on the car, and the clear definition of the key and the obvious direction that the music is taking gives a strong, safe and reassuring feel to the viewer, as the almost-finished product is shown being precision engineered by the lasers.
The lights return to the room, again accompanied by the brass swell which is voiced with more high notes this time to sound a lot brighter and more triumphant as we see some revolving pan shots of the vehicle being attended to by shadows, which are accentuated by more brass swells. The smooth synths return as the final touches are being made to the car, so that for the first time we have all layers of the piece playing at the same time, signalling that the car is complete.
As the camera pans round the car for the final shot, the main motif is played as the front of the car comes into view, then the layers fade out leaving just the fading strings again, creating a sense of suspense with the resulting silence. This is resolved when the car lights suddenly flash on very brightly and the music re-enters in full force accompanied by a rock drum kit, delivering a very upbeat and exciting atmosphere for the final still shot of the car. The main motif is heard again accompanied by a triumphant brass swell as the car’s logo and model name appears on screen, and a bright piano pedal enters, suggesting that there is even more to come, even as the music and picture are fading out.
In conclusion, I think that this music serves the concept of the commercials very well, seeding a catchy musical theme throughout and then presenting it gloriously with the Audi R8 brand name at the end. The directions that the music takes during the advert directly relate to and augment what is happening on screen, and the DSP used creates a sense of space in the scene that is gradually filled by a build up in instrumentation which represents the building of the car.
Feedback on the advert was mostly good, with a lot of viewers commenting on the effectiveness of the motif, and some people noting the contrast between this and the original advert, as the two are so different. Some people preferred this version as it had a more modern and upbeat approach, while some people preferred the slower, calmer feeling of the original.
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