How To Go From "Pretty Good" To "Viral" By Utilizing Music For Emotional Emphasis

Hello fellow steemians, last week I introduced myself here and again more formally with a video here.
Most people who follow my work know that I focus my time and energy on making youtube videos and documentary films that I publish online for Press For Truth an independent media outlet I started in 2006. But what most people don't know is that I'm also a musician and I wrote and performed the score for all 5 of my films.

1. Into The Fire
2. United We Fall
3. The Turning Point
4. The Nation's Deathbed
5. The Toronto Hearings on 911

I don't write this to toot my own horn so to speak (I never do hence why no one knows I play) but rather this is to be used as an educational guide about how to turn a good video into a masterpiece by utilizing music and sounds for emotional emphasis.
Most content creators are unaware of the importance and power of music. They either don't use music at all or they use it in the wrong way...A key area and good example here is volume! Always remember to keep it tasty by keeping your levels nice and low (not too salty as we like to call it). There is nothing worse and more distracting then a video which has music that's too loud taking the viewers focus away from the information and onto other things! And keeping people focused is what it's all about! Keeping your viewer in the moment will take a video from being good to being great!

When I was scoring a scene for my film "Into The Fire" which was showing the black bloc smashing up banks and destroying the city, it obviously called for a more aggressive tone...You'll notice in the video for the track that I wrote to go along with these scenes that I've got my laptop right in front of me...that's because I wrote the song to the scene so therefore I'm watching for visual cues to make sure certain key emotional parts line up with what's happening in the film.

And here's another example of where everything that was going on on the screen called for music that needed to match up with it hence this track "The Whole World Is Watching"

Whatever the scene calls for emotionally, you'll need to equally match that with the right musical vibe. One way to do that is to first ask yourself these cheesy and simple questions...How does this make me feel? What was the subject feeling when he or she was experiencing what I'm watching? You'll be amazed at what comes out when you absorb yourself into the moment in order to feel their pain or excitement or fears...I interviewed a man who told me he had his prosthetic leg violently ripped off of him by the police while he was peacefully joining his daughter in solidarity at a rally during the G20...what came out of me was an emotional roller coaster I never would have thought I could write. I called it Detained:

If you're able and you have the means try to make sure you use solid equipment and recording gear for your finished scores! There are lots of home studios you can find online often right in your area where people offer their services. I went to school for music production at a place called "Harris Institute For The Arts"...I didn't learn shit cause school sucks lol but the point is I met a guy named Drew who years later popped up on my facebook feed offering home studio recording services right when I was about to score my second film "United We Fall"! It was a match made in heaven as he had every piece of gear I could possibly want or need right there at my finger tips for a fraction of the costs of what it would be from a large studio offering the same services

But having access to good instruments and good gear is not the be all and end all when it comes to scoring music for a film or video. The music for my first film "The Nation's Deathbed" was recorded entirely by me from my bedroom in Toronto with a small keyboard and two guitars (electric and acoustic)! It did the trick! Sometimes good audio can be found all around us :) For example I recorded the narration track for my film "The Turning Point" inside my friends car because it had good acoustics! So don't worry too much about the gear per say and focus more on writing good content that fits in and goes along with what the viewer is witnessing on screen.
I wrote a pretty little ditty for my film "United We Fall" and our promo vid for it was recorded in one take with a single mic, albeit from 6 different camera angles which was cool but still it was more about the music and less about the recording.

When it comes to making videos for youtube whether they be full length documentaries or even just short 5 or 10 minute pieces, the proper use of sounds and music can make or break a piece from being pretty good to going viral. At Press For Truth we've created DVD's of all of our films which offer special features including a making of the soundtrack video outlining how I wrote each piece for each film! If you would like to get more in depth with how to utilize music for emotional emphasis check out the following "behind the music" videos for some of my films.

Into The Fire: Behind The Music

The Turning Point: Behind The Music

United We Fall: Behind The Music

For me my activism led to journalism which led to film making which led to a rekindling of my love for music which led to producing PFT content for a living :) If you found this info to be useful please UPVOTE, comment and share ;) I need your help so that I can continue!
Thanks for the love!
Keep fighting the good fight my friends!

Dan Dicks