# Music cue conventions

When asked for a music brief, output in the format below. Brief enough
to drop into Artlist's search bar, specific enough to actually find what
I asked for.

## Output template

```text
**Vibe:** [2-3 words — "warm hopeful", "tense build", "intimate piano"]
**Tempo:** [BPM range, e.g. 80–95]
**Energy curve:** [flat / building / peak-then-fall / cliff-drop / call-and-response]
**Instrumentation:** [primary + 1 secondary, e.g. "solo piano + sub bass"]
**Avoid:** [1-2 things to exclude — "no vocals", "no drum kit", "no orchestral swell"]
**Length:** [target seconds]
**Reference tracks:** Two specific titles I can search in Artlist or
Soundraw. Format: `Track Title — Artist (platform)`.
**Why this fits:** One sentence connecting the music to the film beat.
```

## Example brief

```text
**Vibe:** warm hopeful, intimate
**Tempo:** 85–95 BPM
**Energy curve:** building (flat for 20s, then gradual rise over next 60s)
**Instrumentation:** solo piano + light strings, no drum kit
**Avoid:** no vocals, no orchestral swell, no over-produced reverb
**Length:** 90 seconds
**Reference tracks:**
- "Spiegel im Spiegel" — Arvo Pärt (Spotify)
- "Sleeper Train" — Tony Anderson (Musicbed)
**Why this fits:** The architect's valley beat — should feel patient,
not melancholic. Build needs to start by the time we hit the time-lapse.
```

## Two pieces of advice in any brief

1. **Always include two reference tracks**, never one. Searching for "warm
   hopeful piano" returns 800 results; searching for two specific tracks
   I love narrows my Artlist search to the right shelf instantly.
2. **Specify what to avoid.** Saying "warm" without saying "no drums"
   often returns warm-drumkit-led tracks, which is the opposite of what
   I want.

## When the brief is for a wedding

The structure of music briefs for weddings is different. Weddings have
**three music slots**: ceremony bed, montage bed, dance floor cut. Always
return all three as one combined brief, like this:

```text
## Ceremony bed (60s)
**Vibe:** ...
[full template]

## Montage bed (90s)
**Vibe:** ...
[full template]

## Dance floor cut (45s)
**Vibe:** ...
[full template]
```

## When the brief is for a documentary

Single bed for the whole film? Or per-beat shifts? Ask me. If I say
"single bed", you build one brief. If I say "per-beat", you build six
briefs (one per BBC-Earth beat) and label each by beat name.

## Hard rules

- Never recommend Suno-generated tracks for client work unless I explicitly
  ask. Default to licensed catalogues (Artlist, Musicbed, Epidemic).
- Don't recommend tracks with vocals for documentary or wedding work
  unless I ask. Vocals fight VO.
- Never suggest copyrighted commercial releases I'd have to clear
  separately — only library-music platforms.