The Importance of Sound and Music in a Project
Music helps defines a piece of media. And without a theme, logo, or soundtrack, media just wouldn't be the same. Music makes you remember images and messages. And more importantly, it evokes emotion and influences your audience. Image epic films like Star Wars or Jaws without the musical themes. Commercials wouldn't be nearly as effective without the jingles. And the music in game apps are half the fun. So it's clear that sound and music are highly important when creating media or producing a project. But then comes the hard part, finding the perfect music to make it all work.
Your Approach
Finding the perfect song or soundtrack can be more challenging than you think. You might have this great idea of how it will sound, but how do you get that out into an actual composition? There's the more traditional approach, which is to hire a musician or composer who can customize the sound and feeling that you want. But first you have to find one, get your idea across to them, and then wait for the product. This is time consuming and expensive. In a perfect world, we'd all have a genius musician friend who can whip up a high quality soundtrack. Unfortunately, that's not the case. You need a time efficient and budget friendly solution.
Royalty Free Music
Luckily there is an answer. Royalty free music gives you the convenience of finding the best music for your project without sacrificing quality or comprehension. You find the music you love on your time and a cost that fits your budget. Forget about waiting on musicians to compose something you may or may not like. You can search for the exact mood, genre, and instrumentals that you want. You pay per track and receive lifetime usage of the song. There isn't really a better deal than that. Do avoid using copyrighted or commercial tracks in your project, even if you have the perfect song in mind. If you do use a copyrighted song, your project will be removed from video sites like YouTube or you will run into legal issues. Another reason why royalty free music is the way to go: all the legal licensing is taken care of so you don't need to worry about it.
But now that you know how to purchase the music, you still need to find the song or soundtrack that's going to define and personify your project. And with thousands of songs to choose from, where do you even begin?
Defining Your Sound
Define what you want your project to sound like early on. You have to consider how the music and sound will shape the mood and overall feeling of your piece of media. So you must consider how you want your project to sound before moving into the editing stage. Remember that the music you choose will really drive forward your message. Think about how you can energize a scene with intense music cut along with the shots. Or how a slow orchestral ensemble can evoke deep emotions. Music can and will set the tone for the message you are putting out. Determining that mood early on will make the music selection process much easier on you. Again, by searching on royalty free music sites allows you to filter by mood and genre to help you find the perfect track.
Instrumentals and Vocals
So you've defined the mood and how you want to enhance emotions and the viewer's experience. Now you need to focus on the details. What type of instrumentals are you going for? Do you want vocals? To answer these questions, you need to contemplate other elements of your project.
Consider the differences between real, live instruments and digitized tracks. Live bands and orchestras give a more authentic feel. And if you want that sound with a tight budget, buying royalty free music is accessible and affordable. You and your audience will be able to hear the difference between real instruments so opt for that instead of MIDI or digitized instruments. But there is also a benefit of using electronic and synth music especially if you are setting your project in a certain time or you are creating a futuristic feel. Again, your music selection all depends on the mood and style you're going for.
If you are working on a commercial or marketing campaign where voice overs are essential, you want to avoid using vocals. Vocal tracks underneath instructions or information can be very distracting and hard to understand. Remember - you want to use music to enhance the viewer experience and get your message across. But vocal music can be effective in films and long takes or montages. But you must consider the content of the lyrics. Use the lyrics to your advantage to make a scene more powerful and coordinate with your message.
The most important thing you can remember about finding the perfect music for your project is to pick with purpose. Don't settle for music that might work. The sound associated with images is a powerful tool, use it to your advantage. Now you know that you can find that perfect soundtrack with the convenience and comprehensive searching of royalty free music.
