Courtesy of MediaStorm's Eric Maierson, here are ten techniques that their team uses when adding music to their multimedia productions. We'll give you the essence, and then point you to their excellent blog for the details (and examples). First and foremost, decide if you even want or need music -- and that's a completely subjective consideration. Many purists believe that, unless you're using music that was actually heard at the scene (i.e. natural sound), it's a violation of journalistic ethics to add it to your video, since your choice of music (and its tempo and mood) demonstrably affects how viewers process and interpret what they're seeing.
If a soundtrack is indeed desired, here are some "notes" to consider:
1. If the music you’ve chosen is not exceptional, don’t use it. ... If you do use music, don’t steal it. ...For details and examples, read the article here.
2. Don’t needle-drop [i.e. play a song from beginning to end]. You’re going to need to cut up your music... Try to avoid using music for the full duration of your work. ...
3. Use music with a strong rhythm...
4. Use music with strong stings [i.e. final notes] to provide a definitive conclusion to a section of your production...
5. Turn off other audio tracks when editing music. ...
6. Keep levels consistent. ...
7. Strategically place imperfect music edits. For example, hide an imperfect edit by lowering its volume and placing a voice track over it. ...
8. Create an interplay between your narrative and music. ...
9. Fade music levels as interview bites begin. ...The fade between music and interview should be smooth enough to not draw attention to itself. ...
10. Learn an instrument. The more you understand music, the more skilled you will become at editing music...
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