Evoke Deep Feelings with Intense Music

How to use intense music

Using intense music for YouTube videos

Intense music can take your YouTube video to the next level while keeping your viewers fully engaged. Of course, before you search for the perfect intense music to add to your video, you’ll want to be sure such music is a good tonal fit for your content. A makeup tutorial, cooking lesson, or light-hearted interview likely would not benefit from intense music, unless you are going for a humorous response in viewers (i.e. if your video is titled Most Intense Makeup Tutorial Ever). In general, heavier sounding music will intensify the viewer’s sense of conflict in a scene while songs with fast, unyielding beats will add energy. If you have created content that is intended to be viewed as dramatic, serious, or epic, then intense music will be an invaluable tool in your editing process.

Using intense music for gaming

Video game music can directly affect the player’s emotional experience of the game. An intense song can increase the player’s heart rate, cause their palms to sweat, and ultimately may make a specific gaming challenge that much more difficult because the player now must also contend with their own physiological response to the musical intensity. When adding music to a video game, it is important to keep in mind that the gamer’s actions will directly affect the length of the song. If the gamer’s character dies and the scene restarts, so too will the music.

Alternatively, the gamer may fly through a series of challenges and arrive at a major battle quickly, a scene change which may require a corresponding change in music. Because of the variability in the time it will take a given gamer to complete a task, it is key to have a few different musical elements ready to go. You will definitely want a main loop, a short and repeatable section of music that can play over and over until the gameplay changes. Transition music will signify to players that the gameplay is shifting. Stinger music can be played to represent an important event in a game. Have fun with it and your gamers likely will too.

Using intense music in trailers

In a trailer, you only have a few minutes to make a powerful first impression so you want to be sure to catch and hold your audience’s attention. Intense music is a powerful way to create a mood that will help your trailer stick in the minds of viewers (and get them excited about the release of your feature!). Try to sync up your visual editing with the strong beats or rhythmic shifts in the music. If you come across a song that matches the tone of your trailer, you can use it as a guideline when editing. Make sure you hit the key transitions so that the music and trailer complement one another. This will create a cohesive feel for the trailer and enhance your perceived professionalism in the eyes of viewers.