Hello out there in Filmmaking land!!

On here (and a handful of other filmmaking forums) I frequently see film makers asking "Where can I get free music?" or "Where can I find cheap music?" The answer is production libraries. There are hundreds out there... Google "production music library" and you'll find something to use for free or relatively inexpensive.

As a composer, I do need to politely suggest a few things to consider with your film's music.

A) 98% of all films need music - of some sort... I don't think I'll get much arguing with that one.

B) Stock music is a fantastic option for commercials and TV bumpers.. a very brief segment where you've got one emotion and you stick with it.

C) Stock music, by nature, will never be able to provide a consistent emotional contour that makes audible sense... and here's why:

1) Filling up your film with stock?free tracks will make everything sound different. Chances are, you've bought tracks from different composers who use different instruments, recorded in different ways. This is the audio equivalent to your film starting in saturated color, then going to black?white, then to sepia, then to blue hues, then back to normal... There is no musical cohesion throughout the project as a whole because the tracks you're using were not composed?designed to work together toward the overall big picture.

2) Using various tracks from stock?free sites will never allow for musical theme development. Take John Williams' "Star Wars" score for example.. You know Darth Vader's theme. Every time you hear it, you know Vader's up to something - probably near by... It even shows up in the new trilogy as Anakin starts to turn to the dark side. This is pure musical genius!!... but made possible because the films had continuity within its music. Thematic music is at the core of every powerful film.. If you throw this possibility out the window, your film will never reach its full potential.

3) Musical continuity... You need the same audio quality and same 'sound' throughout your film. Of course, the music ebbs and flows depending on the emotion... but the violins need to sound like the same violins in each cue. Using different tracks from different composers, you'll run in to musical continuity problems that break up your film in places where you need the music to glue it together.

All in all -- if you're doing a super short or commercial, go for the stock! It's faster and cheaper and you don't require any sort of emotional or musical continuity. If you're producing anything over 7-8 minutes, I'd highly suggest hiring a trained, experienced, educated composer.

"But Patrick!" you say "I don't have much of a budget!"

I get it! I think we're all on here because we're looking to gain an edge?exposure etc.. However, I assure you that no composer who is worth anything will do a project for free. If you've got a music budget, spend it wisely. If you don't, offer them SOMETHING.. Cash.. a Starbucks card... a puppy... whatever. Like some of you guys, some of us composers went to school for our craft...

Even if you don't use me... Please consider the massive benefits to using a trained composer. You'll be glad you did!

"The fine art of storytelling through music."
www.PatrickAThompson.com