Master Cylinder, owned, operated and founded by Peter DuCharme, had to disappoint potential clients following the success of breakthrough track "Jung at Heart" for Volkswagen's "Synchronicity."

"When 'Synchronicity' hit, a lot of people started calling me, assuming I was a bigger music house and could do all kinds of styles," says DuCharme. "I can't."

DuCharme is based in Somerville, Massachusetts (near Boston). He began writing songs for ads after creatives at Arnold Communications in Boston heard a remix he did for a friend at A&M Records. His first efforts were for VW radio spots, which led him to writing the music for "Synchronicity." Gerard de Thame of HSI Productions directed the spot.

"[I received] a rough cut. This established the tempo, and the feel was pretty obvious because of the dark, mysterious colors and the worlds going on inside and outside of the car," says DuCharme.

"Near the end of the spot, there are guys throwing boxes -- it was kind of hard to find a visual starting point," says DuCharme. "So I flipped over a guitar track, and it really worked well with the swish of the movement."

Using traditional instruments and sounds as his musical foundation, DuCharme brings eclectic favorites like a theremin or a modular synth (his Korg MS10) into his work whenever it isn't excessive. He recently purchased a vocoder (the gizmo responsible for robotizing a human voice), and generally uses vintage electronic instruments; as such, he avoids using samplers, often the modern composer's best friend. The methodology for his compositions is simple; he sits with a synthesizer or guitar and plays along while watching the visuals.

Things get a bit more difficult when DuCharme has no image to build from, although he says he is generally able to establish a theme by asking a few simple questions.

"Once in a while, a creative will say, 'give me something that sounds like flat ginger ale,' and I ask myself, 'what the hell does ginger ale sound like?'" he explains. "That's when you ask is it fast or slow, happy or sad -- nail those four, and it becomes a fun little exercise."

DuCharme has worked on ads for clients such as Nike, General Mills and Kodak, as well as on several other music projects.

WEB.FILES:
Master Cylinder: http://www.mcylinder.com
Volkswagen: http://www.vw.com
Arnold Communications: http://www.arn.com