Music in Video

Overview:

Adding music to a video is like seasoning a great meal. The right music can add depth and emotion unlike any other medium. Take some time  over the next day or two and listen to the music that underlines almost any video production. Whether it's a commercial or a full length movie, if you isolate the background music you will be able to hear how it builds the right emotion or theme. 

Without that "spice" most productions are flat and emotionless 

Below are two clips from the International Space Station.

                                                         

                                        One with music

One without

Here's an example of a few pictures with a little bit of music thrown to it.

H/T (attribution) to George Thorogood "Bad to the Bone"

Free Music 

The free music archive is a great place to explore music for your videos without any fees. I would encourage anyone using this site to contribute. Remember, everyone needs to eat.

Licensing 

The recording industry has a great licensing site at www.riaa.com to help you decide what music and or video you use and how it's paid for. 

Attribution

the act of attributing; especially : the ascribing of a work (as of literature or art) to a particular author or artist.

Unless you are an idiot or an egotist; attribution should be an important part of your work. It allows your viewers to understand the sources important to your production. 

This also allows them to independently research your sources and should validate your work.

   Remember, everyone needs to eat.

I Need A .........??

Sometimes, our need to communicate goes beyond the mere written word.

Compilation:
Our desire to share concepts, opinions or simply express an idea requires the use of as many of our senses as we can capture.
Sometimes we want to use great visuals with wonderful music to underscore the message that we wish to create. This is often seen in awards presentations, anniversaries and remembrances.

Other times, we wish to communicate a strategy or differentiate ourselves from our competitors. 

Back in the 1990's a small regional grocery chain sought to differentiate itself from a mega chain super center. The mega chain had all it's meat centrally cut and packaged.  The small chain answered with a series of commercials highlighting their service and quality. In a blatant  conceptual ripoff of the famous Burger King "Where's the Beef?" commercials; the small chain started a "Where's The Butcher?" campaign. (Imitation, the best form of compliment) A series of commercials were produced complete with a little old lady portrayed in the competitor's  stores looking for the butcher, finally finding one in the their store.
Attribution to: Standing Up To The Giants   Harps 40/29  H/T to Randy Mullikin  of the Mullikin Agency .

Tutorials 

On screen videos are often used for individual and groups training. 

Whether it's flash cards in Powerpoint or an overview of MS Excel formulas. On screen tutorials provide a viewer paced instruction or review.
This works great for training in common formatting issues with MS Word or Powerpoint.

Tools & Toys

If you want to create a video, compilation or a simple tutorial there are a number of simple free tools available.

Apple users have a number of native apps built into their systems and I guess I'll leave apple to describe and train on them.

Windows users have a few good program available natively or through downloads.

Windows Movie Maker This is always a good start for simple projects. Cropping, image rotation, transitions along with narration and music can all be accomplished with this program.

Windows Screen Recorder  This is a great little tool for creating tutorials, highlighting pc issues and capturing online events. Microsoft really tries to hide this utility and I've never understood why.

Photo Story for Windows has been around for years and is still a nice tool for video.  

If your looking for something more professional you might wander over to wondershare. Their video editor is one of the best tool and values out there.  Wondershare