Music in Video

While many video makers seem to concentrate exclusively on capturing a good image - correct lighting, exposure, composition etc, we at Valley Films firmly believe that the sound track is just as important.

Many hours are spent buying the most appropriate equipment, checking the sound setup at the shoot, and doing multi-track composites and clean-ups at the editing stage.

But is this enough?

We don't think so. If you do what I have described above you may well end up with a 'nice little film' that indeed tells its story.

However, you can often enhance your production considerably by the addition of appropriate mood music: sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle - but always appropriate.

So where can I get this music you ask? You could of course look through your personal CD collection and use that fantastic track that your favourite artist produced last year.

Unfortunately in pretty much every country I can think of that would be illegal; and if you intend to promote your video to the public (whether you charge a fee or not) that could get you into all sorts of trouble.

So is there a legal alternative? Of course there is. And it is royalty free (or copyright free) music.

Every soundtrack on one of our videos uses royalty free music - taken from a variety of companies that specialise in producing this type of material for video producers and others.

To find a supplier of royalty free music, you can look for advertisements in your monthly video magazine, or you can search the internet where you will find companies like uniquetracks.com who provide music in a wide range of styles, from the classics of Bach, Mozart & others, through to rock, dance and cinematic themes.

If you make videos but haven't used music on your soundtrack do give it serious consideration. The right music can make scary stories scarier, funny stories funnier, happy stories happier and sad stories sadder.

Go on, what have you got to lose?

Gary Pritchard

On behalf of Valley Films