— What's up guys? How's it going? My name is Joe Penna, AKA Mystery Guitar Man
and I have a lot of music in my videos, so I am here to talk to you about
the creative use of music in your videos and shows.
We'll chat about how to use music to further engage audiences
and finding the sweet spot in your show to place your music.
[YouTube — Creator Academy]
[Watch this scene without music.]
[Boring, huh?]
[Let's add music!]
[♫Music♫]
[Using music creatively]
—In part 1, let's talk about how to use music creatively.
[♫Music♫]
Music can add emotion, rhythm, and energy to your videos
and can create the illusion that the pace of your show is moving faster or slower.
Creating good rhythm and energy in your videos is so important
to the level of engagement, particularly in the medium
where attention spans are super short and audiences are ready to click away at a moment's notice.
Think about what pace your show idea requires.
Are you making a drama, or a comedy, or a horror, or even a vlog?
Music can really help intensify moments of suspense,
horror, drama, and comedy by creating emotional reactions.
[Drama]
[Comedy]
Believe it or not, music or a score in particular,
can tremendously increase the production value of your show.
You might wanna use music in your video in places
where you want to see an emotional response from your audience.
It is also OK to think of music as a supplement to make up for a potentially weaker scene.
Remember that fans love to be swept away
and that they are willing to let you manipulate their emotions with music to do this.
Suspense, for example, is a great emotion to magnify with the use of music.
[♫Music♫]
You can also introduce music in parts where there is a large transition taking place for the character.
For example, a character moving from one city to another
or starting a whole new life. Something like that.
Also consider using music in parts where you need to increase the tension or up the pacing of the show.
For example, there is a short film that I just got done shooting
that I thought some parts were a little too slow.
We placed temporary music into it and I realized that those parts were fine.
[Finding music you can use.]
Now let's talk about finding music you can use and researching effectively.
Before you begin researching, first, decide what type of music you need.
This goes back to the emotion that you're trying to get from your audience
or where in the story you'd like to increase the level of engagement from your fans.
There are several different sites online and the library is dedicated to helping you find royalty-free music
either for a fee or for a very discounted cost.
These libraries have an incredibly intuitive tagging system
that helps you find the type of music you're looking for quickly and efficiently.
But before you go down with these sites, sit down and make a list of the following.
First, your show's genre.
Second, the mood that you're trying to convey.
Third, the theme of your show.
Fourth, instruments that you like.
And fifth, the length of time that you need the music to run.
Once you've made this list, you're ready to start searching online.
I try to find the right music in two different ways.
One, is I put the scene to loop in one monitor and then I start playing a bunch of songs
in the other monitor so that I can see what fits best.
Or another way, before I start editing, I actually find the right song that I wanna use
and then I cut to that song.
I make so many different types of videos that the music that I use for my videos
can be very different; from dubstep to something more classical.
You know, very different. And when I can't find what I like, I just try to make it myself.
[♫Music♫]
You can also work with independent musicians or bands to license music for your videos.
There are tons of talented musicians and composers
who are trying to get their work out into the world, just like you.
Try connecting with these artists and offer to feature their music
and include them in your show in exchange for licensing to their music.
A good place to start searching is on college campuses that have music programs.
Lots of students lend out their music to further their education
and to begin creating a name for themselves.
Open mics are also a great place to meet up and coming artists
who are talented but haven't made it big yet. So they're accessible to you.
I've worked with some indie artists who created special music for my videos.
It was great, because they created something that was unique and fit the video perfectly.
[Including music in your video]
Now let's talk about including the music in your video.
You can select where the music will go in your video
by spotting your show and auditioning pieces.
After you have completed the editing of your show,
run through it several times, marking the places where you feel that music would be beneficial.
Jot down the time code
and then begin to place music in the selected time codes.
Once you finish your first pass, watch your show from beginning to end as an audience member would.
This is important because it will allow you to experience the music.
Determine after this first pass if your emotional beat was conveyed.
If not, no worries. Lay down another piece of music and do it again.
You can either use music that fits the pace of editing or edit to the music.
You don't have to have your show completely picture-locked before beginning to think about your music.
In fact, often times, it is beneficial to lay music down that has a beat
or a tempo that you like and then cut your picture to mirror that beat.
[♫Music♫]
All right. So let's finish up by talking about the difference between source music and score music.
Source music is music that emanates from the world of your show.
It can be music that's playing on the radio or the television, the live band that you're filming.
Anything that is inside the world that you are creating.
Source music can be used to let us know in what time or period your show is taking place.
For example, 1950s music is playing and your audience would have a sense of time and space.
It's also a clever way of defining the nationality or location of your story.
A singer singing in Arabic could potentially tell us that your story is happening in the Middle East.
Another example. I just shot a short film that takes place in Mexico.
So I wanna make sure to use a lot of mariachi music for the happy scenes
or a lot of just eh... guitars and guitarrons, and using those instruments
that they use for their music to just make my score.
Music can completely change a scene.
[The original score]
[or...]
[New score adds wonder]
The score defines the emotions of your film.
It helps fans interpret the intentions of your characters in your story.
Well thank you so much for watching this lesson on using music creatively.
My name is Joe Penna AKA Mystery Guitar Man.
If you wanna check out some of my short films and how I've used music,
you can check that out right there
or you can check out some more Creator Academy videos right there.
Bye!
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