The audio portion of your video can change the entire feel of the project. You can access sound effects and music sometimes for as little as adding the name of the composer to the credits in your video. Just be careful to pay attention to the copyright of the music.
What Is Copyright?
Copyright is a legal distinction that means that creative work is the intellectual property of the author or creator unless they have designated otherwise. This means that the creator maintains control of how their work is used, and no one has the right to use it without their permission. A piece of music is protected under copyright law from the moment it is created. When you are choosing music to include in videos, you not only need to think about copyright but royalties as well.
What Are Royalties?
Like copyright, royalties are defined legally and are complicated. Basically, when you play music that someone else wrote, they or their representatives are due a small payment. There are many different types of royalties and trying to figure out who to pay and when would be burdensome, so people just go to websites offering royalty-free music and sound effects when they are creating videos.
Does this mean that the artist doesn’t get paid. No, it means that the creator of the website paid the royalties and has the right to license the music to others. Licenses often require that you agree to give credit to the artist when you use the music in a project.
What is Creative Commons?
Another type of license is through Creative Commons, an organization that enables creators to license their work and allow free use of it under certain circumstances. A Creative Commons license allows for collaboration between creators and users. Creators can decide whether their work will be limited to non-commercial use or if others can use it for ads and other commercial purposes. Most uses stipulate that credit still needs to be given to the creator and a Creative Commons license does not negate the copyright.
Sources of Free Music and Sound Effects
The sites listed below provide free and royalty-free music and sound effects to use in your videos.
- Pond5 has free HD and 4K stock footage and music tracks available.
- The Digital Public Library of America has a collection of over 45 million videos, images, texts, and sounds from all over the US. There are primary source sets on different topics like John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry, the Black Power Movement, and the Beginnings of the American Red Cross. There are also user guides to help you search.
- Pixabay has over 2.4 million stock videos, images, and music suitable for use in video projects. This is shared, copyright-free content that can be used in commercial content when you join Pixabay and accept the license agreement.
- Videvo has more than 500,000 clips, motion graphics, video templates, sound effects, and music tracks available to use for free. The content is licensed under Videvo’s Attribution License or Creative Commons 3.0, and you can use them in multiple projects without having to pay again. Many of the clips are free, although there are premium levels that you can subscribe to.
- The Internet Archive is a huge collection that offers millions of free books, movies, music, software, and websites in the public domain.
- Findsounds has a collection of different sounds to add to videos, from animals and birds to machines, instruments, and vehicles.
- PurplePlanet offers royalty-free music tracks written and performed by Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey. You can use the tracks for free is you credit the musicians.
- SoundBible.com offers free and royalty-free sound clips for download in either .wav or .mp3 format for use in videos, movie scores, or game soundtracks.
- The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads directed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America. Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. The Free Music Archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet.
- The BBC Sound Effects Archive offers more than 33,000 clips collected over the past 100 years. You can also make your own mixes and share them in the ‘mixer mode’ function.
- BenSound requires attribution and limited usage of files unless you buy the premium subscription.
- MixKit has free assets for your next video project: stock music, sound effects, video clips, and Premiere Pro template.
- Browse, download and share sounds with Freesound, a collaborative database of Creative Commons Licensed sounds.
- The Adobe Audio Library has royalty-free sound effects that can be used in videos. Free trial available.
How to Learn Audio Editing and Mixing
Audio editing and mixing can be complicated, and if your goal is to change careers and become a Video Editor, it is worthwhile to learn Adobe Premiere Pro and Audition. Enrolling in a course will help you get started faster.
You can choose between in-person classes or online instruction. Some people prefer in-person learning, but that isn’t always available, so online classes are an option. Live online classes with a remote instructor run very much like in-person classes. They meet at a set time and you can interact with the instructor to ask questions and get help if you need it. The instructor can even take control of your monitor—with your permission—to give you extra help if you need it. You can choose a part-time or a full-time schedule during the day, in the evening, or on weekends. You can also choose where you attend class, from work or home, and you won’t have to look for parking.
When you are preparing for a career change, signing up for an intensive course like a bootcamp or certificate program gets you going quickly. The courses are structured to give you a portfolio of work when you complete all of the course assignments, and this is helpful in your job search. Bootcamps and certificate classes last from several weeks to a few months. When you are finished you will have the skills you need for your new career.
Conclusion
It’s easy to learn video editing and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s video editing courses. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online video editing courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other courses in video editing in your area.