Musical Skills!! 37living in the United States. Understanding the style and technical limita-
tions of ethnic instruments helped to achieve authenticity. Each composi-
tion had to change from a native style into an American jazz arrangement,
incorporating the original theme. Because of budget restrictions, the num-
ber of musicians was limited. The solution was to hire three or four native
musicians and six to eight contemporary musicians and to add synthe-
sizers. This combination achieved a rich sound without destroying the
mood.
The commercials aimed at the Russian audience and the Polish audi-
ence required the use of an accordion. In most instances, an American
composer would request the instrument that is commonly played at social
gatherings. This would have been a mistake because generic Polish and
Russian accordions differ; each has a distinct sound. The announcers
spoke the Russian and Polish languages, as the commercials were directly
geared toward an audience that had immigrated to the United States. The
agency assigned a Russian creative for the Russian commercials and a Pol-
ish creative for the Polish spots. Both executives were detail oriented and
focused on achieving an authentic representation of their native music.
The Arabic commercials presented an even more challenging assign-
ment. Four native instruments were used: a nay (a flute made of cane with
six finger holes and one thumb hole); an ud (also spelled ‘‘oud’’—a short-
necked, plucked guitar-like instrument); native drums, which included a
duff (also spelled ‘‘daff’’—a one-headed drum that rattles with a tambou-
rine-type sound when struck); and a darabukka (a one-headed drum
made of pottery, wood, or metal). In addition, the jazz ensemble included
a piano, electric bass, and drums.
The nay player brought nays in all keys. To make the assignment more
difficult, one of the commercials used music composed by Mozart. The
challenge was to begin the commercial with Mozart arranged in an Ara-
maic style and transition into a jazz version of the same music.
The arranger had to understand which compositional devices would
create an Aramaic sound. Aramaic arrangements usually include the mel-
ody performed in unison or octaves. Aramaic music has certain rhythmic
patterns that are popular, much in the same manner that Latin music com-
prises different rhythms, for the mambo, rumba, and the cha-cha. After
experimenting, it was decided to play the first part of the music in a tradi-
tional, ethnic, rubato, emotional style (the film dictated emotion) and then
transition into an upbeat jazz groove with a faster tempo, adding contem-
porary instruments and rhythms. The piano assumed the melody in a jazz
style, and the Aramaic instruments played fills. This musical solution
brought the ethnic feeling of the Arabic homeland into a new life in the
United States. The music evoked the story of the film.
Because the campaign involved a total of twelve commercials (six for
radio and six for television), there was a two-month period to experiment
with the music. This is an unusually long time period to work on a com-