This week’s Creative Commons music picks are great for soundtracks.
For this week’s Mix Tape, I was going for a theme of Soundtracks. Like from the movies. I don’t know about you, but growing up all I did was buy the soundtracks to my favorite films. As with most things that you buy when growing up, I had my good CD’s and my bad CD’s. Good – Soundtrack to Braveheart and Apollo 13. Bad – Soundtrack to the Mummy and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (I really hate it when I buy a soundtrack and it’s just “various artists”. If I had wanted “Various artists” I would have bought their albums instead!) But I digress. This week was about trying to find some good music that could be great for films but aren’t your classic John Williams-Hans Zimmer type of soundtracks (but man can those guys compose!)
Old Oak Tree by Scott Holmes (CC-BY)
Scott Holmes is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists on the Free Music Archive website. He is able to compose great songs that differ in such tones and feelings that you get such a great spectrum. His albums for commercial work have a lot of varying kind of music to them so anyone should be able to find a pretty dope song to use for their film. For me, I would want to use this song for a reflective moment in either a documentary or a short narrative. Totally recommend checking his other music out or just wait for another mix tape by me!
Epic Song by BoxCat Games (CC-BY)
While this is a short song, this totally brought to mind some of the kinda cheesy music that you loved to hear but hated to admit you loved. Its got a totally video game movie feel to it with its synthesizer and electronic drum beat. Think Double Dragon or the incredible movie Street Fighter with Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia (like I said, stuff you hate to admit you love…..)
Odessa Part III by Alec’s Band (CC-BY)
With this song pick, I was going for a Friday Night Lights-esque type of music choice. Explosions in the Sky was a big influence in the movie and the type of music I love to hear in films. So with Odessa Part III, I was trying to bring some of that ambient feel but keep it a little faster paced, a little more rock n roll. It strikes me as the type of music you might hear in a transition moment, as your character is getting pumped about the biggest football game of his career. One that might take him from his small town to the lights of the big city or crush everything he has worked the last four years for…….
DuneWander by P C III (CC-BY)
If you have the time to listen to the full 21 minutes of this song, I recommend it as you get a nice array of quiet moments with kind of trippy music. I liked it as a song for a moment of darkness that hits your character, whether they choose to go down a path of drugs or bad decisions. But it definitely feels like it could be used to show that your character has changed, and it hasn’t been for the best……
Breaking Dawn by Marcos H. Bolanos (CC-BY)
On the opposite side of that coin (referring to the previous song) I wanted a heroic melody and Marcos H. Bolanos delivered. It gives you a sense of hope, like the character has been able to overcome the bad decisions made in the previous act and make amends. Its a simple tune because the character still has to live with their choices but they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
