Classiclips^TM Royalty Free Classical Music

Integrating Royalty Free Music in Film and Video

Background music is an important component of most video and film productions. Royalty free classical music can be used to greatly enhance your production without danger of copyright infringement. Most commonly, the music is matched to the video. In a music video, the situation is reversed, video clips are selected to match the music. The extent to which the music is integrated with the visuals can vary greatly. There are three levels:

1) The music matches the mood and tempo of the action, but is not related to specific events.

2) The sections and/or phrasing of the music are synchronized with events and transitions in the visuals. Major films operate at this level in the extreme, with custom music written to a cue list based on the actions. The mood of the music darkens in anticipation, then a strident chord marks the appearance of the villain.

3) The rhythm of the music is synchronized with the action. This usually involves dancing or animations such as Disney's Fantasia.

The extent to which level 1 is satisfactorily achieved is very subjective. But, if less than half the viewers find the background compatible with the visuals, the video cannot be considered very successful. In a video lasting more than a few minutes, it is unlikely that a looped audio clip will be compatible with all the scenes.

The technical difficulties grow rapidly as we move up through these levels. Thus, most amatuer videos stay in level 1. However, with the increasing use of non-linear editing systems, amatuer videographers should be thinking about using of level 2 effects such as changing music clips at some transitions. Without a custom score, this has to be done carefully and not too often to avoid distraction. Royalty free classical music can be used effectively for levels 1 and 2.

If a video runs more than a few minutes with music which has little variation in style and tempo, the risk of distraction due to monotony is high. If the audio clips are changed at too many transitions, this is also distracting. Thus the editor must find a happy medium between the extremes.

Classical music, originally created for listening only, has been used extensively in films and videos. We have produced a library of royalty free classical music clips from public domain scores selected to provide a variety of moods and styles to make this great music available to videographers and film makers royalty free, at modest cost and with no danger of copyright infringement.