Tell great stories with sound: 5 top tips from the experts
The emotional power of sound can convey personality and supercharge your audience’s experience. Learn how music can take your content to the next level with 5 tips from industry pros.
Storytelling. When most people hear that, they think of words, images, or visuals: things you can see, things you can point at. But sound is just as powerful, working behind the scenes to bring stories to life, conveying emotion without viewers realizing the magic in play.
Take a scary movie. Turn off the sound or swap it for something jolly, and it’s not nearly as frightening. Probably looks like a completely different genre — remember when Universal accidentally uploaded a draft version of The Mummy’s trailer?
That’s the undeniable power of sound — it can make or break your content. When used strategically, it can transform your work and create a stronger emotional connection with your audience.
Music as an emotional hook
We sat down for an exclusive chat with Marijn Roozemond, a sonic branding expert, and Christian Schaanning, Epidemic Sound’s resident sound designer. Luckily, they both agree that music and sound are essential for any storytelling experience. In fact, Schaanning goes as far as to say that sound is an act of emotional manipulation, and necessary to incorporate until the point where you ‘get busted’.
No, he doesn’t mean you’ll be arrested for soundtracking your arthouse film with Crazy Frog, distasteful as it may be. He means that when sound is used well, it becomes an invaluable tool for evoking emotion or hammering home a message.
Take this video from Epidemic Sound’s recent Sounds of Adrenaline campaign, produced by Benjamin Gugick. There’s no dialogue, not much in the way of character development. It’s a 45-second slot which, through cinematography and sound, tells the story of the driver. You guess what kind of person they are, the decisions they might make, all jacked up to 11 by Ruzer’s Looking at the Clock. You don’t just hear the sound — you feel it.
Music to influence consumer behavior
Music is also proven to influence consumer behavior. During a study in the late ‘90s, researchers found that shoppers in a liquor store are more inclined to purchase French wine while French music is playing, and German wine when German music is playing. Naturally, that won’t be the case for every single person, but it works well enough — the music acts as a subtle, subliminal cue.
On a similar note, airlines often play relaxing music as passengers board, switching to more upbeat, peppy beats upon arrival. This keeps people calm on their way in, and puts a spring in their step when disembarking — funeral doom metal probably wouldn’t have the same effect. Even if customers aren’t explicitly aware, music helps them associate sound with action.
Need music for your brand’s next project? Whether it’s a multichannel ad campaign, bespoke out-of-home experience, or a video for social media, we’ve got you covered. Dive into Epidemic Sound’s catalog of more than 50,000 top-quality tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations today.
5 top tips for telling great stories with sound
Want to learn how to stir emotion in your next piece of content? Schaanning and Roozemond have five top tips and best practices to make your project sing.
1. Go back to basics with sound effects
If you have access to a large catalog, it’s tempting to mix all the sounds together — you want to create something unique, after all. Resist the urge and work with one sound at a time. That way, your project timeline remains clean, and never feels overwhelming.
Using this approach also lends more appreciation to individual sounds and effects. Even straightforward sound effects can highlight pivotal moments when coupled with the right visual stimulus — one sound might do more heavy lifting than ten.
2. Tell one story at a time
Rather than trying to convey an entire narrative at once, break things down into shorter segments. This allows you to carefully craft and fine-tune the sound for each part, ensuring that every segment serves the story in its own right.
By doing this, you give every moment the clarity and impact it deserves. If one sound doesn’t make something happen, it shouldn’t make the cut.
3. Consider diegetic sound and music
Diegetic sound is audio that comes naturally from your content’s ‘world’. This includes everything from noise picked up during the initial shoot, foley sounds or ADR added in post-production, and music ‘playing’ in the real world of your film.
Non-diegetic sound fleshes out the theme, and is the backbone of many a classic scene — imagine The Good, the Bad and the Ugly without The Ecstasy of Gold. However, diegetic sound is of equal importance, settling the viewer into the scene and sucking them into the story.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is arguably the GOAT of diegetic music, forgoing a traditional score for a jukebox-style soundtrack. Just imagine that famous dance scene without You Can Never Tell playing in real time — it wouldn’t work.
4. Short-form and long-form content need different sound beds
Short-form and long-form content are two different beasts. As such, their soundtracking needs are usually contrasted. Quick pieces like social media posts or ads need sounds that hook people instantly — think of upbeat, catchy beats and riffs that instantly lodge themselves into viewers’ brains.
On the other hand, think of long-form content like podcasts, documentaries, and detailed case studies. These would benefit from gradual, evolving sounds and leitmotifs that can run alongside the narrative, setting the mood and spiking various emotions.
5. Be careful of trends
Trends are the backbone of modern social media — the best viral content succeeds because it taps into the zeitgeist, if only for fifteen minutes. While this isn’t something you should ignore, it’s worth approaching with caution.
Relying too heavily on music-based fads for short-form content can make your output feel generic or short-lived. Think of all the trends that went as quickly as they came — if your content focuses solely in this space, your brand may be seen in a similar light. Plus, if you work on long-form content, the trend might be ancient history by the time your film’s ready for release.
Try striking a balance between current, on-the-button trends, while also considering less time-sensitive elements. You can dial each of these up and down for different pieces of content, but the happy medium flips between viral hits and evergreen content. Paired well, they’ll give your content a lasting impact that’ll stick with your audience.
Sound isn’t an afterthought. Rather, it’s a key ingredient that elevates your content from good to unforgettable. Whether you’re setting the scene with a spooky melody or using a subtle sound effect to signpost a plot twist, the perfect soundtrack makes perfect content.
Your professional content deserves the best. Take your sonic identity, campaigns, and content to the next level with Epidemic Sound.
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