# Happenings sonic brand guide

## The sonic idea

**A beat that makes room for real life.**

Happenings sounds like the warm anticipation between deciding to go and walking
through the door. The core music language is contemporary lo-fi hip-hop: tactile,
social and lightly propulsive. It must feel made for Happenings, not selected
from an endless “study beats” playlist.

## Brand qualities translated into sound

| Brand quality | Sonic expression |
| --- | --- |
| Human | Fingered or lightly imperfect timing, room tone and acoustic detail |
| Useful | A clear pulse, simple arrangement and space for speech |
| Social | Call-and-response fragments, shared claps or subtle group texture |
| Trusted | Stable low end, calm transitions and no manipulative tension |
| Alive | Small variations, forward motion and a restrained lift rather than a drop |

## Core palette

### Rhythm

- **Core tempo:** 72–88 BPM.
- Soft, dusty kick and snare with a defined but unaggressive pocket.
- Light swing or human timing; never sloppy enough to distract.
- Restrained percussion made from tactile sounds: keys, paper, table taps,
  steps or a door latch.
- Sparse high-frequency detail. Avoid constant trap hi-hats.

### Harmony

- Warm Rhodes or Wurlitzer-style electric piano.
- Seventh and ninth chords used simply, with an open, modern voicing.
- Soft guitar, muted keys or a small analogue synth layer when useful.
- Harmonies should feel curious and gently optimistic, not sentimental.

### Bass

- Rounded electric or analogue sub-bass.
- Short, supportive phrases that leave room for voice and mobile speakers.
- No aggressive distortion, festival sub drops or long cinematic booms.

### Texture

- Subtle room tone, city air, footsteps, crowd murmur or venue detail.
- Very restrained tape softness or vinyl texture.
- Texture must create tactility, not simulate nostalgia as a gimmick.
- Field sound should come from, or plausibly belong to, the pictured place.

## Three music modes

### 1. Discover

**82–88 BPM · curious · lightly propulsive**

Use for Today, Near me, event recommendations, festival programs and short
social edits. Lead with a crisp pocket, warm keys and one memorable melodic
fragment. The feeling is “let’s go,” not “watch this ad.”

### 2. Belong

**72–82 BPM · warm · intimate**

Use for memberships, member cards, community stories and the quieter moment
after an event. Reduce percussion, bring human texture closer and allow harmony
to carry the emotion. Never become sleepy, sad or overly nostalgic.

### 3. Organize

**80–90 BPM · clear · capable**

Use for organizer workflows, explainers, check-in and operational stories. Keep
the arrangement drier and more rhythmic, with fewer decorative layers. The
music should make work feel coordinated, not corporate.

For identity, verification, payments or a sensitive support moment, remove the
beat entirely when it competes with clarity. A quiet confirmation tone or room
sound is often enough.

## The three-beat sonic motif

The Happenings mnemonic is a compact three-part gesture inspired by the phrase:

**Find it. Join it. Belong.**

- Duration: approximately 1.2–1.8 seconds.
- Shape: two short rising notes followed by one warmer, longer resolving note.
- Rhythm: short · short · held.
- Timbre: tactile key or muted mallet, soft percussive click and warm low layer.
- Character: recognizable at phone volume, calm enough for tickets and member
  cards, musical enough to close a campaign film.

The motif may appear as a full mnemonic, a two-note notification fragment or a
harmonic cue inside a longer track. Do not pair it with a swoosh, cinematic hit
or voice saying the brand name.

## Music brief for a composer or generator

Use this structure:

> **Use case + duration + tempo + emotional shift + groove + instrumentation +
> space for voice + ending + exclusions**

### Core Happenings bed

> 30-second original lo-fi hip-hop instrumental for a social platform about
> real-world events and communities, 84 BPM, moving from quiet curiosity to warm
> forward momentum. Dusty but defined drums, restrained swing, warm Rhodes
> chords, rounded bass, one simple three-note melodic idea and subtle room tone.
> Leave generous midrange space for spoken voice and captions. Finish with a
> clean, calm resolve that can hold the Happenings sonic motif. No vocals, no
> samples, no trap hi-hat pattern, no EDM riser or drop, no corporate ukulele,
> no excessive vinyl crackle, no imitation of a named artist.

### Member story

> 20-second intimate lo-fi hip-hop cue at 76 BPM for a story about being
> recognized by a community. Soft electric piano, brushed dusty drums, warm
> short bass notes and one tactile venue sound used as percussion. Begin with
> slight hesitation, then open harmonically when the member is welcomed. Keep
> the arrangement sparse beneath dialogue and end with the three-beat
> Happenings motif. No melancholy piano, no nostalgic cassette cliché, no
> vocals, no dramatic build.

### Organizer explainer

> 30-second clean lo-fi instrumental at 86 BPM for a concise product explainer.
> Dry kick and snare, muted keys, minimal bass and small percussive details with
> a steady capable pulse. Keep the arrangement modular for six short edits and
> leave space for continuous voiceover. End on a deliberate button, not a fade.
> No stock-corporate chords, no funk slap bass, no festival energy, no vocals.

## Voice, music and field sound

- Dialogue and voiceover always win. Duck music by approximately 8–12 dB when
  speech enters, then restore it smoothly.
- Remove competing melodic notes from the speech range before simply turning
  the entire track down.
- Use field sound to locate the viewer: a bicycle passing, a wristband tear, a
  ticket scan, a door opening or a room settling.
- Do not layer generic crowd cheering over an intimate or unproven event.
- A silent half-second before the sonic motif can make the close feel more
  confident than a louder mix.

## Delivery standard

Keep a 24-bit, 48 kHz WAV master and deliver an AAC version with the final MP4.
For a web/social master, use these internal targets unless the destination has a
stricter requirement:

- approximately -14 LUFS integrated for a music-led final mix;
- approximately -16 LUFS integrated for a voice-led final mix;
- true peak at or below -1 dBTP;
- no clipped stems or limiter pumping;
- a deliberate final tail or cut, checked against the picture duration.

Platform normalization changes. Measure the delivered file and verify the
current destination specification instead of relying on a remembered limit.

## Required audio package

Deliver lossless masters and clearly labeled alternates:

```text
happenings-sonic-logo-full.wav
happenings-sonic-logo-short.wav
happenings-sonic-logo-notification.wav
happenings-music-discover-30s.wav
happenings-music-belong-20s.wav
happenings-music-organize-30s.wav
happenings-music-bed-no-melody.wav
happenings-stem-drums.wav
happenings-stem-harmony.wav
happenings-stem-bass.wav
happenings-stem-texture.wav
```

Include tempo, key, composer, rights owner, license scope, creation date and any
approved source recording in the handoff metadata.

## Do and do not

### Do

- Write an original, recognizable pocket with room for people.
- Let venue sound make the picture feel physically present.
- Use the three-beat motif consistently and sparingly.
- Deliver stems so speech and short edits can be mixed properly.
- License every composition, performance, recording and sample for the intended
  territories, duration and paid-media use.

### Do not

- Sound like generic study music, hotel-lobby jazz or startup advertising.
- Use uncleared samples, recognizable loops or an imitation of a living artist.
- Add EDM builds, festival drops, cinematic booms or relentless trap hats.
- Overuse vinyl crackle, wobble or nostalgia effects.
- Make trust, verification or payments feel playful at the expense of clarity.