Sad music is frequently featured in films and video games to set the scene and express feelings and create tension.
People often turn to self-selected sad music when experiencing difficult emotions or circumstances, in an effort to validate and soothe. Unfortunately, listening to such songs may also have negative side effects for some individuals, particularly ruminators and depressed individuals.
1. Mood
When crafting sad music for background videos, setting an appropriate atmosphere is of utmost importance. From dramatic songs to songs with more intimate sounds like piano ballads that build to dramatic crescendos – setting the right atmosphere will convey feelings of sorrow in a video. Layering instruments is the best way to achieve this result – starting with haunting piano ballads can create an emotional journey and match any message within it.
Your song’s mood plays an integral role in its impactful appeal to listeners. Sad music usually features melancholic minor keys that create feelings of melancholy and sadness; however, many songs also employ other techniques to achieve this moody feeling; for instance, changing chords from major to minor can make an unexpected statement about its moodiness; while using reverb can add another layer of melancholia into its soundscape.
When choosing the mood of your music for video production, keep the following in mind. Your chosen mood should reflect the message in your video: If it is about heartbreak, opt for slow tempo instruments such as piano strings and woodwinds; to evoke nostalgia use a slower tempo with instruments such as acoustic guitar and vocals.
Royalty free sad instrumental music can help your videos convey feelings of sorrow without licensing hours of copyrighted tracks. A tool such as Soundverse makes creating emotive compositions easy; simply upload your video files and customize their mood!
Studies have demonstrated that people experiencing sadness or depression often turn to sad music in an attempt to feel less alone and find comfort from it. Listening to sad music may provide that sense of understanding from someone who understands your emotions, providing comfort when feeling isolated or sad. While listening to sad music won’t fix everything for depression or other mood disorders, listening can certainly help lift mood if tried! Don’t be afraid to give it a go if this technique seems helpful – take the plunge today!
2. Tempo
Tempo is an integral component of sad background music. Songs that feature slow tempo tend to evoke feelings of melancholy more effectively than fast-tempo songs due to more time for musical expression, giving slow-tempo tunes a mellow and melancholic vibe.
As well as its tempo, the key of a song can also have an enormous effect on its mood. Minor keys tend to produce sad music as they have more of a melancholic sound than major keys; however, major keys can still produce feelings of melancholy with appropriate chord progressions.
Music that is played too quickly may drown out other sounds or lessen its emotional impact in video productions, so it is crucial that audio and tempo tests of your composition before finalizing its production.
Timing your sad background music correctly can help create an intimate emotional experience for your audience, especially when used alongside film or videos that deal with sensitive subjects like heartbreak or loss. A slower tempo may elicit deeper feelings in listeners while simultaneously drawing out those expressed through visuals.
Though many elements that contribute to making a song successful are subjective and may differ depending on who listens, research has established a link between music and emotions – thus the importance of using various tools when creating your own music.
Soundstripe offers an impressive selection of royalty-free sad piano music and violin music to meet your project needs, at very competitive rates. Licensing our tracks is simple and our flexible licensing terms can accommodate most needs – simply browse our library of royalty-free sad background music to find what best fits.
3. Instrumentation
Instrumentation plays a crucial role in how a piece of music is perceived as sad, as does its tempo and emotion. A musical instrument’s ability to produce low pitched sounds with dark timbre was found particularly effective at producing this sense of sadness; these low sound levels and dark timbre create the impression that something has negatively changed, creating feelings of melancholy.
This study explored 44 Western instruments, asking participants to evaluate their relative sadness as well as assess acoustical properties of each instrument and find any correlations with judged sadness of each one. A correlation was also discovered between assessment of an instrument’s acoustical properties and perceived sadness; results demonstrated a number of these characteristics as highly predictive: their capacity for small pitch movements, darker timbre and ability to play quietly were highly predictive, with instruments like an oboe, clarinet or violin being more likely than triangle, cymbal, tambourine or wood block; their perceived sadness could not always be perceived so easily.
Research found that in addition to these acoustical properties, other aspects of music composition also played an integral role in how it was perceived as sad or happy by listeners. High sound level and major chords were associated with happy music while lower sound level and minor chords were related with sad music. Trait empathy and autobiographical memories could influence how one perceives something as sad or happy but ultimately these feelings depend on each individual listener and what kind of relationship exists between themselves and what particular piece they were listening to.
An effective way to create emotionally impactful on-screen scenes is pairing them with appropriate background music. This gives viewers a sense of continuity while attuning to the emotional context of each scene – such as when Eleven reads her letter to her mother in Stranger Things while its background music represents her feelings of loss and regret.
4. Style
Sad music tends to fall into one of three categories: slow, soft or somber music. Yet it doesn’t need to be depressing or melancholy; finding the appropriate balance between sadness and energy is key when selecting songs for videos that showcase sadness. If your goal is evoking feelings of loss or abandonment, for example, choose songs in minor keys with slow tempos; simply changing key can change an entire piece of music completely, creating powerful emotional responses in viewers who hear them.
To achieve a more melancholy sound, it’s key to arrange your instruments sparsely. This enables each note to stand out and add weight to the melody; having multiple instruments play the same notes at the same time may quickly become tedious and monotonous; too much reverb or other effects can detract from emotional impact of music.
Contrast is also essential when creating a sad song. One common technique involves pairing an instrumental section in a major key with melodic passages in minor keys – this contrast will help evoke feelings of sadness, longing and despair as well as set the right mood for lyrics if any exist.
Search online or use free tools like Soundverse to quickly find royalty-free sad background music for your video project. Soundverse provides an easy-to-use platform with songs for every style or genre imaginable; its website even features many artists and genres like neoclassical.
Brain and music research has demonstrated the correlation between music and emotion, and various ways of expressing sadness through sound. From writing a moving obituary for someone who has passed on to creating dramatic scenes accompanied by appropriate soundtracks for videos, finding an emotional song can create heartbreaking tracks that move viewers. By understanding what makes up a great sad song you can quickly compose one yourself that will emote on screen.