CNN World Sport’s new international sound
DALLAS — Stephen Arnold Music was called upon to provide an international-sounding composition for CNN World Sport’s new show theme. The direction was an indie sound that would appeal to an world-wide audience.
''The creative brief was for this theme to be fat and powerful, but not in a traditional rock way,'' explains Stephen Arnold, president of Stephen Arnold Music. ''We went to work on a sonic brand that would have a toughness to it, just like competitive sports has. This is not the sound of entertainment, culture or news — it needed to be an edgy cut with athletic attitude.''
Using guitars, basses and live drums in its Dallas studios, Stephen Arnold Music (www.stephenarnoldmusic.com) created a series of modular themes that could be easily cut into :03, :06, :09, :12 and :15 promos for CNN World Sport. The production team created effects to give the bass-heavy composition a rhythmic, experimental sound common to the hard-edged alternative indie music currently populating the world’s iPods.
''The music for CNN World Sport was definitely not your typical request,'' Arnold notes. ''We love the challenge of finding a great hook — one that can appeal to a broader international audience. This project required its fair share of experimentation, but when everything came together the result was a sports theme that’s fresh, different and inspiring.''