If you think about it, you never watch videos with just your eyes. Your ears are listening too—there’s music, sound effects, transitions, and more. Video and audio go together like peanut butter and jelly, so your beautiful visuals should be accompanied by beautiful audio. If you don’t believe us, try watching a YouTube video on mute and see for yourself. Once you realize how great audio is, keep reading this post to learn how to add music and other audio to a YouTube video.
Sometimes the hardest part of working with audio is knowing where to start. You’ve probably found yourself wondering which song you should use for a video, or what you can do to make your project better. Fear no more—you’re in good hands. In just three simple steps we’ll show you how to take your YouTube videos to new heights.
Step 1: Find the Perfect Audio for Your Project
Searching for good music and sound effects can be a never-ending struggle. Unless you’re a musician, you have to find existing songs that fit nicely with your project. Since YouTube has a strict copyright policy, you also have to find songs that are royalty-free. All of these restrictions can make it seem impossible to find a good song that you can use legally. So what’s a creator to do?
One option is to limit your search to songs living in the public domain—like popular hits from Bach and Beethoven. You can also head over to our library of high-quality royalty-free songs and sound effects. We have music that will fit any mood, sound effects for the craziest transitions, ambient sounds that immerse you in the scene, and so much more. Check out some examples below, then keep reading to see how we put it all together.
Background Music
Download this lazy strumming song.
Download this cinematic track.
Download this night club song.
Transition Sound Effects
Download this whizzing sound effect.
Download this glitch sound effect.
Download this cinematic hit sound effect.
Ambient Sounds
Download this forest ambience.
Step 2: Add Audio to Your Project
Now it’s time for the fun part—adding sound to your project. This is where the video really starts to come together. For this short tutorial, we’re going to use Adobe Premiere Pro, but you can use any editing software of your choice. The process and techniques will be the same across platforms; the only major difference will be the layout of the software. If you’d prefer to use Apple’s free iMovie software, learn the basics of iMovie, then learn how to cut music.
Import Your Audio
Drag the Audio into the Timeline
Adjust the Volume
Add a Fade In and Fade Out
Step 3: Upload to YouTube
The moment you’ve all been waiting for—it’s time to share your masterpiece with the world. Now everyone can watch your film while tapping their feet along to some tunes. If you don’t know how to upload videos to YouTube, follow this simple tutorial to get your final product on the web. You can also explore our guide for starting a YouTube channel to learn more about the ins and outs of this powerful search site.
Click the Upload Icon in the Upper Right-Hand Corner
Drag and Drop Your Video to Upload
Add a Title, Description, and Tags
Click Publish When Your Video is Ready
It’s amazing what sound can do for a video—and now you have the skills and resources to create breathtaking projects.
If you’re looking to make your next YouTube video even better than the last, explore our wonderful world of audio and discover sounds that will take your project to the next level.
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