It goes without saying... we all know how important sound is to adding emotive power to videos. So much so that in recent years we’ve seen the rise of musically inspired blockbusters make it to our movie screens: think Disney’s Bruno, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Rocketman - the cinematic depictions of Freddy Mercury and Elton John.
So just how powerful is music in your animated video? Well, as HookSounds wrote in their ‘Can I use royalty-free music on YouTube?’ article, “...music is an essential aspect of any video, it helps you to tell a story, create a mood, to connect with your audience and engage viewers. Without music, any video can feel empty.” - and we couldn’t agree more!
When it comes to finding music for your animated video, we know there can sometimes be some challenges. Challenges like knowing where to look for music, knowing which license you need to obtain to use the audio on your video, or even just choosing a certain track. In this blog post, we aim to help answer these questions while sharing our top 3 tips to help you level up your animated videos with music and sound.
TL;DR? We've summarized the points below and created a quick summary video:
- Tip 1. Make sure you choose music that suits your animation and the theme of the video.
- Tip 2. Add sound effects to give your video more dimension.
- Tip 3. Make sure you've obtained the rights to use the audio. Watch our summary video below to catch the highlights!
Did you know we made that summary explainer video above using VideoScribe for your browser? The good news is, for 7 days, you can try VideoScribe FOR FREE! That’s right - with our free trial you can experiment with your own visual and audio creations using VideoScribe. Plus, by using VideoScribe for your desktop, you get access to our completely free audio library. Just choose a track that matches your animation and you’re good to go! It’s really that easy ✨
So, what are our top 3 tips? Let’s get into it…
Tip no.1: Make sure you choose music that suits your animation and the theme of the video
Using music that doesn’t match the mood and theme of your video can be incredibly off-putting for your viewers. Let us put this into perspective for you. In the video below, we have a love letter written by Ernest to his love, Marlene. The same animation, with two different tracks. Watch it for yourself to see just how impactful the right (and wrong) music can be.
The first half of the video shows using a soft, upbeat track (this track is 'Pinch Of Salt' and is available for free to use in VideoScribe). It feels as though the letter is being written with consideration over the cup of coffee. It gives off the feeling that this is an enjoyable process.
The second half of the video uses a harsher track with a heavy guitar riff (which is also available for free usage in VideoScribe, called 'Grumpy Dog'). It feels as though the video is being rushed, as though the letter needs to be written quickly because there are other things Ernest needs to focus on.
As our friends at HookSounds write about their tips in the article ‘How to choose the perfect background music’, and we think it comes down to three key things:
- Know what your intentions are. Ask yourself ‘Who is your audience?’ What do you want to communicate? Genre, instrumentation, and the mood of the track are the main aspects of the music that need to be in line with the visuals.
- Understanding what your video is about. Strengthening the coherence of the audio and the visuals will make sure your message conveys in a straight and powerful way.
- The overall mood. If it’s a voiceover or someone talking directly, you may consider pure instrumental, non-distracting music which is low in volume. The mood you have chosen for the visuals should be constant as long as you use the same music. If it changes, we recommend re-matching the music as well to maintain the effectiveness of your message.
Tip no.2: Add sound effects to give your video more dimension
We absolutely love sound effects and the way they level up videos instantly. Think about creating an animated explainer video with our hand-drawn animation effect. It looks great when it’s being drawn out, but if you add a scribble/pen-on-paper effect, it creates a completely new feeling. Check out what we mean in the example below:
In the first part of the video, we have the post-it notes being written on with no sound effect - just a backing track (this backing track is called ‘Softly’ and is available for use for free in VideoScribe for your desktop). It looks great and the track suits the mood of the video perfectly. But when the second version of the video plays with the pen sound effect, the overall feel is instantly elevated! Do you agree? Let us know what you think in the comments below👇
Tip no.3: Make sure you’ve obtained the rights to use the audio
Sadly, nothing in this world is free and the same goes for music. For you to use music tracks on your videos, you need to make sure you have the license to do so. Our friends over at HookSounds have written a chunky blurb about why it’s so important to obtain the correct right and 'don’t steal the music’. You can read about it in more detail here, but the summary of it all is:
“The music industry is crazy, even when regulated. Now imagine tons and tons of artists that are trying to make a living off of their art every day, and they are continuously being bogged down by people using their tracks for free without their consent. Since the authors own their songs, you need their permission if you want to use them, and if you are looking forward to using a very well-known chart song, you’ll need to be clear on the fact that this will be everything but cheap."
And there you have it! Those are our top three tips to level up your animated videos with music and sound. Hopefully, you’re feeling inspired to create show-stopping video animations (with VideoScribe and our royalty-free music library), or maybe you want to have a look through other music libraries – like our friends over at HookSounds.
HookSounds is a royalty-free music service where you'll find a diverse and exclusive collection of music, intros & outros, and sound effects! They produce all of their tracks with in-house musicians, this is unique about this service, and it means that all of their music is original. They offer different licenses that can adapt to your needs, even some songs can be used for free with attribution.
If you are a filmmaker or content creator, or you just need music for your business, HookSounds has a license, especially for you! Subscriptions offer unlimited downloads and professional support; and if you want to purchase the license for only one track, you can do it! HookSounds' team is always available to give you a hand with their 24/7 support online, and we love that!
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