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COMP TRACKS IN REAL-TIME WITH OUR VIDEO PREVIEW TOOL
| | Fast - Find the right music faster by comping tracks with your video online |
| | Private - Videos load instantly and are never stored on our server! |
| | Multiple Sources - Use videos from your device or videos online! |
Learn more about our video preview tool HERE
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DownloadRoyalty Free Action Music
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Music For Action Scores
Action scenes are the most intense, the most gripping, and the most fun. Choosing music for action scores should be no different, (almost) anything goes, so it should be fun.
There are a couple of ways to approach an action scene, and they are focusing on the action or focusing on the character. You might read that and think if the character is in the action, then it's the same thing, but it's not.
Let's take a look at how to approach it from both sides, and some variations within each approach.
All About the Action
If you want the music to connect purely to the action, then there is one (almost) universal rule; it will be a high tempo. Action scenes aren't just fast-paced; they are chaotic and persistent, with no rest bite. The music should mirror that by keeping constant motion.
The idea behind the constant motion is to make the viewer experience some of the same emotions and mental exhaustion as the character.
No Time to Waste
There are different types of action scenes, such as a good old-fashioned shoot-out or a chase scene. Both of these scenes are high-octane, stressful situations, but the main difference is that a shoot-out could be in one place till it's over, and a chase is about trying to escape quickly.
When you have a chase scene, you should consider the time signature as well as the tempo. Odd time signatures like 5/4 or 7/8 are ideal for chase scenes as they feel like they don't resolve. It feels like the rhythm is tumbling, and that mimics the stress of being chased, with no chance to catch your breath.
Character Traits
Musical choices can be viewed differently, depending on the main character's role. The most obvious one to think about is whether your character is a hero or villain.
For example, are they doing the chasing or being chased. If they are the villain, the music might be darker, with the natural minor scale or minor pentatonic scales working very well. Alternatively, if they are the hero, you can stay minor to show the severity of the situation, but use something like the Dorian mode to suggest there's still hope.
Anti-Action
There is a very effective trick that helps you show your protagonist's innermost characteristics, and it works particularly well for action scenes. The method is to choose music that is the exact opposite of the scene, so you end up with chaos versus eerily calm.
It works for heroes and villains, too. If your hero is entirely devoid of stress/fear or your villain is lacking all sense of empathy/human decency, you should try it out.
For example, you could have some slow tempo classical music playing over a scene of hectic violence. What that does is creates confusion by highlighting how calm and unaffected your character is, while the audience knows that the average person doesn't function that way.
It's a hard-hitting way to highlight a darker side of your character, and it instantly raises the viewers' investment in the character. An extreme example of this, is the use of classical music in Stanley Kubrick’s uneasy classic, A Clockwork Orange.
Whatever approach you take, we have everything you need in our stacked library of royalty-free music, so stop waiting, take action!