Home Depot 2004 Olympics

[searching gm]

i think the Kostia song sounds a lot alike the one from the Home Depot commercial as well. if it is, there is bad news. the cd it is recorded on is no longer in print. i've looked many places but they no longer sell it.

 

[isnadd]

The Home Depot ad is definitely 100% absolutely for sure the Kostia song "Winter Ride" from his record Suite of St. Petersburg, A Piano Portrait. It was released in 1994 on the Narada label. The entire CD is very good so it is worth buying.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[kaydaren10]

Originally posted by isnadd@Sep 4 2004, 04:52 PM
The Home Depot ad is definitely 100% absolutely for sure the Kostia song "Winter Ride" from his record Suite of St. Petersburg, A Piano Portrait. It was released in 1994 on the Narada label. The entire CD is very good so it is worth buying.

Good luck.

Steve

Actually, it's not Kostia's song "Winter Ride".

I don't know how you can be 100% sure, but I contacted the company (The Richards Group) who was responsible for putting the commercial together. This is what they said:


Thank you for your interest in the music that plays during The Home depot Olympics commercial! We, The Richards Group, are the agency that handles the
advertising for The Home Depot. We are extremely pleased with the results from this spot and the positive feedback it has generated. In response to
your inquiry, the music is an original score that was produced specifically for that spot. It was created by our music company, Earhole Studios. If you have any additional questions, please contact Tom Wiebe, the Executive Producer at Earhole Studios. His e-mail is ---------.

Again, thanks for your interest and have a great day!

Bethany Padnuk
Brand Management
The Richards Group

 

[isnadd]

Wow..that's a real surprise. Does anyone know where the Home Depot ad is available to view online? I only heard it during the Olympics and I'm guessing they are not showing it any more, but, the few times I heard it I made a real note of the music...and then when I heard Winter Ride I thought for sure that was it.

Steve

 

[Kostia]

Hi, guys!

To everyone who is interested:

Thanks for taking interest in my music. To clarify the confusion regarding Home Depot Olympic spot - yes, I was the one who composed music for it. As for "Winter Ride" - the piece used for this spot was NOT the "Winter Ride" but other piece of music composed specifically for this occasion. It is true that it is reminiscent of "Winter Ride" but it is just a superficial "likeness" - to begin with - "Winter Ride" is composed in 3/4 time signature while Home Depot spot - in 4/4; the melody line is entirely different as well. What is similar - texture and a key - f#-minor. That was done on purpose - I "designed" this piece after "Winter Ride" keeping some non-essential elements.

I am glad you liked the spot - I was really happy with it as well - it had a lot of class. It was very engaging visually and "the message" was very personal and inspiring. I, personally, liked the fact that it wasn't a "commercial" in usual sense of this word. From audio stand point I thought guys at the Earhole Studios in Chicago did a phenomenal job recording and mixing the piano! If you are interested - the piano used for this spot was European model of Yamaha Grand Piano (8.2 ft., I believe - that is a very rare model for US).

To anybody who cares to know what other spots I composed music for are being "played" and National TV currently - I composed music for LEGO "Alfa-Team" TV and Cinema spots as well as for Trident "News Stand".

Thanks!

Kostia

 

[elambo]

How about that! All this interest in finding out who was responsible for this music, then the actual composer replies, but it sits without further responses. I'm very surprised.

I have to add one thing about this commercial - there is a website that most ad folks go to which helps them track info about commercials, past and present. Type in a search keyword, like "client" or "product" etc. and it lists everyone responsible for the ad's creation. For this past month, this very Home Depot commercial was the most requested. This was during the Olympics where a lot of other great ads were running as well. I think it's quite a compliment.

I'm not even sure Kostia knows this yet -- Congratulations Kostia.

And for anyone who's interested in Kostia, he is an absolutely phenomenal pianist and (obviously) composer (I recorded this commercial and acted as producer, which wasn't so necessary in this case). To watch him play is almost surrealistic. I hear the notes coming from the piano, but I'm amazed that there are only ten fingers responsible for all that sound. And he's an absolute pleasure to work with. Professional to the core. This project went through many stages to get to the point where it finally landed, which makes it even more special that it was honored as the most requested ad of the entire month. The response has been similar from everyone who's seen and heard it. It's quite amazing how many people have called and written to ask about it, many hoping to get copies of the sheet music. Good luck trying to play it! I can't...

(Kosita, I'll send you more info about the "most-requested" honor)

-EL

p.s. - the piano is from Japan actually, but sounds amazing in the States.