How is the music coming?
- Thread starter L Sass
- Start date
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
The Music Process
Hi Lorrie,
How are you? I still get a warm smile inside when I think of our time at the RT J.
The music is coming along amazingly well. It is my top priority and I work on it with the composers for several hours every day (I actually just finished up today's session before posting this) . We have increased to about 16 composers on this project right now in order to provide a wide variety of rich, high quality, music to accompany the workout. These composers bring an impressive resume to the table as they all score music for major motion movies such as Disney, major hit TV shows, and hit jingles for Super Bowl commercials and such. Working with them so closely has been a rewarding experience for me as I have always had a strong interest in music and how a show is scored and composed from the ground up.
So let me share with you how the STS music process works:
First, I have a meeting with the head composer and we watch one of the STS video workouts (ie: Meso One, Week one, Legs) with NO music and discuss each exercise, each set, and each rep frame by frame (we have been doing this for all 41 workouts…..yowsa, that’s a gazillion frames). During this meeting I will discuss and rate the specific exercise according to energy output. The higher the number I give it the more intensely the music will be scored. Then we watch and listen to the exercise and decide upon instruments to use to bring out the energy of the exercise. The composer asks me “would you consider this a general energy move or a move that calls for specific “punch”? Then we develop a repertoire of songs that fall in categories such as “general energy”, “grunters”, “intensity climbers” etc. Now with a number rating, instruments to accompany the mood, and a designated energy cue, that particular exercise segment (there are several hundred) is put into a quick time video along with specific instructions and sent off to one of the 16 composers who’s musical style best matches what that particular exercise calls for. As you can imagine this is quite a time consuming process but also why we have many skilled composures on this job to move things along with good variety.
The quick time exercise video gets a custom piece of music scored to it and it is sent to me for approval. Sometimes I like it immediately and other times it goes back for a fix or two. Once all the exercise clips with their new custom sounds are approved for an entire one hour workout, they are sent to us on one continuous hour disc to watch for flow and continuity. After that passes the test, they are sent to NFL to be audio sweetened. This is where the sound quality from my voice, to music, to background noise etc. all get smoothed over and evened out. Then we review that FINAL copy and if it passes that’s one more down in the 41 count total J…..as you’ve heard me “sing” on my workouts…”another one bites the dust”.
So there you have it J Oh yeah, that’s right, you asked more……As far as the next stages of editing, while we working on finishing the music we are concurrently working on the last two preproduction steps. So as music is written, scored and tweaked for each DVD, they immediately move into the next two and last steps which are Audio Sweetening (which I mentioned above) and DVD Authoring. Our goal is by the time the music for the last of out 41 DVD’s is finished we will have already finished the Audio Sweetening and DVD Authoring for the other 40 DVDs. By the way, for anyone who isn’t aware of what all of these steps are, be sure to check out our May 18th Blog post to see a complete list of all the steps necessary to make an STS DVD.
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Hi Lorrie,
How are you? I still get a warm smile inside when I think of our time at the RT J.
The music is coming along amazingly well. It is my top priority and I work on it with the composers for several hours every day (I actually just finished up today's session before posting this) . We have increased to about 16 composers on this project right now in order to provide a wide variety of rich, high quality, music to accompany the workout. These composers bring an impressive resume to the table as they all score music for major motion movies such as Disney, major hit TV shows, and hit jingles for Super Bowl commercials and such. Working with them so closely has been a rewarding experience for me as I have always had a strong interest in music and how a show is scored and composed from the ground up.
So let me share with you how the STS music process works:
First, I have a meeting with the head composer and we watch one of the STS video workouts (ie: Meso One, Week one, Legs) with NO music and discuss each exercise, each set, and each rep frame by frame (we have been doing this for all 41 workouts…..yowsa, that’s a gazillion frames). During this meeting I will discuss and rate the specific exercise according to energy output. The higher the number I give it the more intensely the music will be scored. Then we watch and listen to the exercise and decide upon instruments to use to bring out the energy of the exercise. The composer asks me “would you consider this a general energy move or a move that calls for specific “punch”? Then we develop a repertoire of songs that fall in categories such as “general energy”, “grunters”, “intensity climbers” etc. Now with a number rating, instruments to accompany the mood, and a designated energy cue, that particular exercise segment (there are several hundred) is put into a quick time video along with specific instructions and sent off to one of the 16 composers who’s musical style best matches what that particular exercise calls for. As you can imagine this is quite a time consuming process but also why we have many skilled composures on this job to move things along with good variety.
The quick time exercise video gets a custom piece of music scored to it and it is sent to me for approval. Sometimes I like it immediately and other times it goes back for a fix or two. Once all the exercise clips with their new custom sounds are approved for an entire one hour workout, they are sent to us on one continuous hour disc to watch for flow and continuity. After that passes the test, they are sent to NFL to be audio sweetened. This is where the sound quality from my voice, to music, to background noise etc. all get smoothed over and evened out. Then we review that FINAL copy and if it passes that’s one more down in the 41 count total J…..as you’ve heard me “sing” on my workouts…”another one bites the dust”.
So there you have it J Oh yeah, that’s right, you asked more……As far as the next stages of editing, while we working on finishing the music we are concurrently working on the last two preproduction steps. So as music is written, scored and tweaked for each DVD, they immediately move into the next two and last steps which are Audio Sweetening (which I mentioned above) and DVD Authoring. Our goal is by the time the music for the last of out 41 DVD’s is finished we will have already finished the Audio Sweetening and DVD Authoring for the other 40 DVDs. By the way, for anyone who isn’t aware of what all of these steps are, be sure to check out our May 18th Blog post to see a complete list of all the steps necessary to make an STS DVD.
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Last edited:
L Sass
Cathlete
http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZS
Awww - How sweet of you -- me too -- definitely!
OH! MY! GOSH!!! What an amazing process you are going through on the music!! How exciting, though undeniably exhausting, for you. I'm sure you know there is no way we can thank all of you at Cathe.com for all the work you are putting into this. By the time this is ready to launch you know our excitement levels will be over the top, and I certainly hope all of you are planning one GINORMOUS CELEBRATION
. Thanks for sharing that update with us. Don't forget to breathe in there too!
Awww - How sweet of you -- me too -- definitely!
OH! MY! GOSH!!! What an amazing process you are going through on the music!! How exciting, though undeniably exhausting, for you. I'm sure you know there is no way we can thank all of you at Cathe.com for all the work you are putting into this. By the time this is ready to launch you know our excitement levels will be over the top, and I certainly hope all of you are planning one GINORMOUS CELEBRATION
. Thanks for sharing that update with us. Don't forget to breathe in there too! 
jolene_hajj
Cathlete
Wow, that's quite the process Cathe. I'm in the midst of setting up my mini gym in the basement in prep for STS and cannot wait! And, I think I have convinced my husband to do STS as well, which is awesome. I think men will really love this workout too!
Jolene
Jolene
geeesh!
Cathe, how do you do it all?! You must put in a lot of hours to....teach, make dvd's, run your gym, have family time, eat, work out, plan road trips, free time, and much much more! ...oh and don't forget those fun house chores! Seriously, how do you do it all and still be one of the most genuinely kind persons out there?!
Cathe, how do you do it all?! You must put in a lot of hours to....teach, make dvd's, run your gym, have family time, eat, work out, plan road trips, free time, and much much more! ...oh and don't forget those fun house chores! Seriously, how do you do it all and still be one of the most genuinely kind persons out there?!
princessbear
Cathlete
God bless you Cathe - where do you find the time and energy? Thanks so much for all you are doing to make STS the most amazing workout for us!!
Hi Cathe! I also get a warm smile inside when I think about the RT .
Thanks so much for all the efforts you are putting into the STS series, and as a musician myself, I truly appreciate the way you are enhancing the musical experience along with the workouts. The music process sounds really interesting to me. It's great that companies like yours are giving composers and musicians a chance to use their skills in new ways. I am always in awe of composers because they go through tons of training, are super-talented, and there aren't a lot of opportunities out there for them.
I'm looking forward to STS and will appreciate it even more knowing all the hard work that has gone into it.
.Thanks so much for all the efforts you are putting into the STS series, and as a musician myself, I truly appreciate the way you are enhancing the musical experience along with the workouts. The music process sounds really interesting to me. It's great that companies like yours are giving composers and musicians a chance to use their skills in new ways. I am always in awe of composers because they go through tons of training, are super-talented, and there aren't a lot of opportunities out there for them.
I'm looking forward to STS and will appreciate it even more knowing all the hard work that has gone into it.
Sunshine1528
Cathlete
Oh WOW ! Who would have ever thought.
Thanks for cluing us all in on how much time and effort all this really takes. Here we are just "bugging y'all" to get it finished so we can pop it in the DVD player and do our workout, never really understanding what a long, tedious and thoughtful process putting together just an hour's worth of a workout DVD really takes.
Now I know why some of my "past workout DVD's" were so boring !
Thank you, your crew and all others involved for taking so much time and putting so much effort into making our home workouts so much more enjoyable - that is why we continue to be motivated and keep ourselves healthy and fit by working out !
Thanks for cluing us all in on how much time and effort all this really takes. Here we are just "bugging y'all" to get it finished so we can pop it in the DVD player and do our workout, never really understanding what a long, tedious and thoughtful process putting together just an hour's worth of a workout DVD really takes.
Now I know why some of my "past workout DVD's" were so boring !
Thank you, your crew and all others involved for taking so much time and putting so much effort into making our home workouts so much more enjoyable - that is why we continue to be motivated and keep ourselves healthy and fit by working out !
DebbieH
Cathlete
Wow!
It just blows my mind to see all that is involved in EACH DVD, frame-by-frame! They will be so worth the wait. Thanks isn't big enough for all the effort you all are putting into this project. I had no doubt when I pre-ordered the FIRST day that I would be happy, but this makes it even more exciting! Keep "biting the dust"! I am sooo ready! (And, so is Dave!)
It just blows my mind to see all that is involved in EACH DVD, frame-by-frame! They will be so worth the wait. Thanks isn't big enough for all the effort you all are putting into this project. I had no doubt when I pre-ordered the FIRST day that I would be happy, but this makes it even more exciting! Keep "biting the dust"! I am sooo ready! (And, so is Dave!)
Miss Lee
Cathlete
Another thrilled customer!! I'm so impressed and excited about the original music. It's really all I can do to contain my excitement over STS!! I love the music I've heard on the clips so far and I think it really enhances your workouts nicely. I truly appreciate all that you are putting into STS and I have no doubt whatsoever that it will be WELL worth the wait!
JumpHigher
Cathlete
Cathe -- flute part
Hi Cathe --
I hope they let you sit in on a good flute part.
Hi Cathe --
I hope they let you sit in on a good flute part.
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Thanks Everyone!
I'm so happy you enjoyed hearing about the music process and gained some insight on how it all comes together for STS. I think you will be very pleased.
Abbe...I bet this is extra neat to read about with your music background and wonderful talent.
Marla....you remembered the flute Cheers to us flute players! Ps....love your new pic. You look great and your poochie is precious.
I'm so happy you enjoyed hearing about the music process and gained some insight on how it all comes together for STS. I think you will be very pleased.
Abbe...I bet this is extra neat to read about with your music background and wonderful talent.
Marla....you remembered the flute
Cheers to us flute players! Ps....love your new pic. You look great and your poochie is precious.Curious minds want to know...
Have any of the DVDs made it through the Authoring process yet?
Have any of the DVDs made it through the Authoring process yet?
