Clavinova Scores A Hit Jingle

he Clavinova was made for everybody; from the very beginner to the accomplished professional," says Chris Parks while he demonstrates a country jingle written for a steel company. "The sampling of the Clavinova is so 'on' it's almost eerie." For the past 18 months, Mark Remily and Chris Parks, of Remily/Parks in Aberdeen, SD, have written more than 30 jingles for radio ads - most of them on the Clavinova CVP207 digital piano.

"The sounds are so authentic and real that it just blows me away," notes Parks, who writes the music and most of the lyrics, "The Clavinova has terrific strings and woodwinds. Most people can't believe the acoustic guitar sound; it's absolutely the best. The Clavinova is such a terrific tool for what we do."

While they both worked at Pheasant Country 103FM, Remily and Parks wrote a jingle for the local Aberdeen newspaper, which lead to more jingles for town businesses, including the phone company, grocery stores, and computer companies.

Both partners have worked in the music industry for about 40 years. Parks was once a member of the New Christy Minstrels, where artists such as Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes got their start. The jingle writers feel indebted to Engle Music, which allowed them to use a Clavinova for a few months until they could purchase one of their own.

Remily handles more of the business side by playing demos of their work for different companies. Once the client chooses the kind of music they want, he studies the client's trade magazines to find possible catch phrases. He then turns the information over to Parks, who writes the music on the Clavinova. The jingles range from twelve-bar blues, bop, salsa, country and Irish jigs, among a drove of others.

"The Clavinova is so precise, you can tell if you're even two seconds off without looking at the clock," says Parks. "This digital piano is so well programmed, it's made our lives easy."

In addition to their busy schedule of writing radio jingles, Remily and Parks currently work for songwriters, primarily in country music, creating demos. They're also building a Clavinova library. "There are so many radio stations looking for new and decent music to put behind commercials," says Remily. "The Clavinova has helped us immensely; we've been able to start a business and maintain it."