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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 Cinematic Music
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Need Cinematic Music for your Project?
Everyone has heard cinematic music, but most would probably struggle to define it if asked.
It's not that cinematic music is inherently complicated; it's that it's such a broad term that houses so many contrasting genres and ideas.
If you want your video to sound cinematic, but aren't quite sure where to start, we've got you covered.
What is Cinematic Music?
Let's start at the beginning and set a few things straight.
There has long been a misconception that cinematic music means orchestral music, and that's just not true.
Orchestral music can be (and often is) cinematic, but cinematic music doesn't have to be orchestral.
Cinematic music can be orchestra, rock, jazz, or any other genre.
Another train of thought is that cinematic music is original music that is purpose-written for a specific film or scene.
That's not a crazy idea, and productions with Hollywood budgets can go down that path.
But, cinematic music does NOT have to be custom written for a specific scene.
We have amazing cinematic music in our royalty-free music library that might have been written with a particular type of film or scene in mind.
Finally, cinematic music is sometimes thought of more in terms of how it's heard (surround sound), rather than what it is.
Surround sound, from the early days of Eastman Kodak's Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), through to Digital Theatre Systems (DTS) and Dolby Digital are certainly a massive part of the movie theatre experience.
However, fewer composers these days arrange specifically for surround sound, so that can't fully define cinematic music either.
Now that we have cleared up a few things that cinematic music doesn't have to be let's focus on what it does have to be.
It has to add something to the movie from an artistic standpoint.
It isn't just about connecting to the subject, character, or emotion; it's about bridging the gap between film and reality.
Even if the subject is very sad, cinematic music should help deliver the most picturesque version of harsh reality.
An excellent way to sum it up in simple terms is to think of a moment in your life.
Then imagine if you could choose any piece of music that would fit perfectly with that moment to make it more magical; that's cinematic.
If you haven't seen the movie Vanilla Sky, it's an excellent example of reality becoming cinematic.
How to Choose Cinematic Music
As we said, cinematic music isn't just about fitting the scene's subject or emotion; it's about delivering a particular version of that scene.
But, subject and emotion must still come first; otherwise, it doesn't matter how cinematic it is.
There are exceptions when the music doesn't directly match the action or emotion, but going that way has to serve a meaningful purpose, or it will be a big miss.
Start by shortlisting tracks/genres that capture the general feel of your scene.
As you audition tracks with our awesome video preview tool, you'll notice some are more cinematic than others.
For example, let's take a typical bank robbery scene.
I have no experience robbing banks, but I imagine it's a pretty harsh and gritty experience.
Some tracks will capture the stress and grittiness of the situation perfectly, and still not be cinematic.
You might want the audience to understand the severity of the situation, but also feel like the robbers have absolute control.
In that situation, cinematic music can capture the high-octane nature of the content and be super-sleek and cool at the same time.
Now, the reality is that these robbers are in a very stressful environment, but they aren't phased one bit.
In conclusion, cinematic music can be epic, minimal, loud, quiet, fast, or slow. As long as it's music that helps you deliver your version of that reality, you're good to go.