Lots of people have been asking for good music and soundFX sources lately, and that is a good thing because music is paramount to successful animation or video production. When I was a kid watching a scary movie, my dad would always turn the volume down during the most frightening part. I was amazed at how “unscary” … and really downright cheesy… most movies were when you removed the soundtrack. It holds true for dramatic scenes as well, even cliche emotional moments on film can move people (“manipulate” may be more accurate) if the timing is good and they use the right music track. Many clients are surprised that one of the very first steps in production is saturating ourselves with possible tracks and sounds that support the animation. Just like gathering pieces of visual inspiration, we often fill audio lightboxes with dozens of musical scores and compare them to the visuals and then compare the visuals to the sounds, making adjustments back and forth until things feel right.
People tend to believe that the visuals drive everything, but it’s amazing to me how often the visual approach will be radically adjusted in order to fit a great track! The two aspects of sight and sound are intricately intertwined, so to all our self-publishing clients: be prepared to spend some hours searching for the right track!
Oh, and to help you along, here are some of the best sources out there for music and soundFX, in no particular order.
- tunefruit.com
- pond5.com
- videoblocks.com
- sonic fire.com – unique tempo adjustable tracks
- revostock.com
- audiojingle.com
- musicloops.com
- musicbakery.com
- freeplaymusic.com
- digitaljuice.com
Enjoy! And remember what Bob Marley said:
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
-Bob Marley
