Whenever some short subject in the documentary or self-help/instructional category was made in the 40’s-60’s there was this particular style of music that gave it some kind of friendly, light, non-confrontational feel. I have never heard a name for the style or genre. Have you?
The only composer/performer I can name whose style approaches what I’m trying to describe is Leroy Anderson. His compositions have/had some of that flavor, including:
Syncopated Clock
Serenata
Belle of the Ball
Jazz Pizzicato
Plink Plank Plunk
Trumpeter’s Lullaby
Forgotten Dreams.
There were usually strings and light percussion instruments like xylophones or marimbas. The arrangements made “elavator music” seem upbeat. But there was surely a style marker on them. You can still hear that style in some commercials and documentaries that are trying to evoke that 50’s feel.
Anybody know what I’m trying to describe here? Does it have a standard name?
“Library music” is a very broad term, and includes much more than the specific definition given in the OP: “some kind of friendly, light, non-confrontational feel” and “usually strings and light percussion instruments like xylophones or marimbas”.
“Library music” is just as likely be a piece used over a chase scene, or in a horror movie, or during a tender romance.
Also known as “production music.” John Krisfaluci (whose Ren & Stimpy used a ton of it, mostly from the KPM/Associated library) calls it something like “weekend afternoon music,” or something like that. The idea that it’s light and fluffy. Of course, in Ren & Stimpy, it was mostly used in an ironic fashion.
Yes, but if the OP is looking for a primer or a place to begin looking for the type of music she’s asking for, “Library Music” is the overarching thing that she needs to be looking for.
I gather that there may be several terms for the category. Somehow I had it in mind that the “light and frothy” aspect had a more definitive name, but I’m content with the labels already mentioned. That is, unless somebody has something more specific for that “Ren and Stimpy” music. That’s a good example of what I’m referring to.
Thanks, but that may be a bit too broad, whereas Production music - Wikipedia isn’t quite descriptive enough for the Wiki alone to solve the problem of the OP.
mobo85 satisfied my curiosity for the specific sound. If there’s a more descriptive name than “production music” for that particular sound, I’d like to know. But I mostly revived the thread to post that YouTube has examples of what I had tried to describe in the OP long ago.
Excellent! Right on the money. The pizzicato strings are an important ingredient, and it’s the lilt to the music itself, too.
In more “serious” settings such as sex education and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack the music had less lilt but it was still upbeat and non-threatening. Always B&W things with no-name actors in period clothes and hair.
I wager YouTube even has some examples of those things, too.
Well, “Muzak” is not exactly what you’re looking for, but it comes pretty close… that’s the term I would use to try to convey the general idea. As typically used, it’s basically synonymous with “elevator music”.
What about that “Tip-Toeing Elf” music? The kind they play on Desperate Housewives, when Susan is, say, spying on Mike and about to fall and get a bucket stuck over her head?