Music?

Music?

by Sylvia Currie -
Number of replies: 3

What are your thoughts on using music for explainer videos? My first thought is it takes away from the voice, but I'm noticing background music is used a lot.

In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Music?

by Jamie Billingham -

My opinion on this is that music in explainer videos is like seasoning. Use it appropriately and make the goal to make it unnoticeable.

The upside of using it is that it can mask some of the white noise that you can get in the background in voiceovers. Kind of like sugar masks the taste of medicine lol

Bumpers can be good too - I think - fade in and fade out music is a good way to signal learners - much like the sound and sight of the HBO fizzy screen or the sound of the opening credits of Game of Thrones makes me tingle with excitement (yup, I do love my TV). Bumpers are especially good if you are doing a series of explainer videos.

Another upside is that it helps evoke emotion - tempo and tone can change the mood.

Having said all that - like a good soundtrack - you shouldn't really notice it and a 2 minute explainer video may not need music to hold it own.


I'm curious about what other folks think about this????

In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Music?

by Asif Devji -

Hi All -- having gone through some of the sample videos I found two that were effective (for me):

  • the Kurt Vonnegut explainer on story arcs
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ&feature=youtu.be)
  • the Tech Insider explainer on the depth of the ocean
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwVNkfCov1k&feature=youtu.be)
In both cases, I found the videos effective as explainers because:
  • they jump right into the concepts they are attempting to explain
  • they mimic human conversation
  • they use graph-type images to illustrate the concepts they are explaining
My sense is that learners turn to videos for micro-learning -- concentrated bits of knowledge that they can apply immediately.

If this is true, then don't added frills like general introductions, music, graphics for the sake of graphics (rather than those that provide added information to support the explanation of a concept), or cute animations actually dilute the concentrated knowledge that the learner is after?

These added frills may work great for entertainment or persuasion (i.e. advertising) -- which work by distraction -- but may actually work against learning by adding unnecessary noise that the learner has to do cognitive work to filter through to get to the information that they are looking for.

That would be my take on this. Thanks.