Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/69535
Sonic Branding that same sort of emotion and technical proficiency that you get with live players," he says. "So we brought them in one section at a time, which helped us with our mix. We isolated instruments and layered instruments on top of each other to give us a full sound." Once the anthem was created, Audio- Audiobrain... after record- ing the last instrument used in the Giants' anthem. Audrey Arbeeny is pictured with some of her staff. and Cook to stack and group the sections to get an even bigger sound. "We stacked different takes so you don't get that phased sound," Arnold says. "We also swapped out the mic so you really do feel like, in a sense, you're getting 12 trumpets out of three trumpet players." While we recognize the CNN logo as representing a major news brand, Cook notes that you can't hum the graphics. Music and sound are powerful brand recognition devices, and having a memorable theme song is a way to instantly connect with audiences. Sums up Arnold, "Music is really one of the most powerful memory tools. How did you learn your ABC's? You sing them. And they say that brands that deliver sonically often reach a place in the human mind that visual branding just can't. It's kind of like chewing gum; it gets stuck." AUDIOBRAIN What does 'Big Blue' sound like? Thanks to composer Mitchell Yoshida, it sounds like the slow marching drum beat of giants as they take the field. Low meditative strings bring in the first iteration of the melody to capture the mood: readying for competition. More strings, horns and drums add their voices to fill the track just as the voices of the fans would fill the stadium. Together the instru- ments create the unifying feeling of the New York Giants, their brotherhood, their steady resolve. The anthem, created by Audiobrain in New York, is an audio heartbeat, and the basis for the Giants' sonic identity. Audiobrain (www.audiobrain.com) is an 34 Post • June 2012 award-winning, full-service music and sound production company specializing in sonic branding and interactive audio. Their exten- sive client list includes Microsoft Xbox 360, McDonald's, HBO, IBM and more. Starting in 2010, Audrey Arbeeny, owner/ executive producer at Audiobrain, began to build the sonic brand for the New York Giants to coincide with the opening of their new stadium. There was an in-stadium film that told the story of the Giants, their history, their traditions and their franchise character- istics — leadership, persistence and inner- resolve. "We didn't just arbitrarily write an anthem for the Giants," explains Arbeeny. "We worked very closely with them about what they stood for, what their beliefs are as an organization. We worked with them to come up with an anthem that captures those characteristics in music and sound, and we did it very quietly. There was no big announce- ment that the Giants have an anthem. We wanted it to be natural and organic." The main anthem was recorded and mixed in the stu- dios at Audiobrain. Yoshida com- posed the track using soft synths and samples, and eventually replaced and embellished parts using live musicians. They tracked live strings and horns using Able- ton Live, as well as used samples of orchestral and world drums to create a large cinematic sound. "You can get close with software synth horns and violins, but you never get www.postmagazine.com brain used it as the foundation for hundreds of other audio assets for use in broadcast, in-stadium, iTunes ringtones, radio, corporate events, executive walk-ons and many other touch points. "Wherever there is a presence for the Giants, the goal is to associate the sound of the Giants with that touch point," says Arbeeny. "You think of all the various sonic icons in sports and how steeped in tradition sports are. It seems natural for a team or a league to have this type of con- necting asset to their audience and not very many do it, and do it at a level that we've been fortunate to do it at, and for an organi- zation that really believes in making the best connection with their audience." While the official anthem is orchestral, there are many genre variations, including rock, hip-hop and rock-orchestral. There is also "room ambience," which is a half-hour long expansion of the anthem. Instead of hearing the same two-minute track repeat- ed, the room ambience takes the essence of the anthem and expands on that. "If they're having a corporate function, room ambience is a great way of keeping the vibe going," she says. "You want to make sure that what you are setting up is authentic to the brand or the experience." Other variations of the anthem include an opening theme for Giants Opening Drive Live, a sports show on MSG. The opening theme song uses the central narrative of the anthem, but instead of being deliberately paced and orchestral, it's an upbeat driving rock track. The track can also be heard on WFAN, a full-time sports radio station for the New York City metropolitan area. By using variations of the anthem across many Man Made Music's Joel Beckerman and team creaeted a sonic brand for AT&T.