How I Use Music | Thoughts on the Creative Power of Music
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- My thoughts on music as a tool for inspiration and storytelling
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about -
Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He currently is based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe. Johnny's visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University and an MA in international peace and conflict resolution from American University.
press -
NYTimes: www.nytimes.co...
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Vox Borders: • Inside Hong Kong’s cag...
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sound design is the most underrated aspect in story telling, its all about conveying the tone/emotion
Also knowing the difference between music (the subject of this video) and sound design (a different topic altogether).
WHAT??? YOU MAKE YOUR OWN MUSIC??? WOW!
It is the most hight level of skill for s filmmaker
@@FrancescoPaggiaro i know right!
No - Johnny is constantly thanking and linking to the musicians who write the music for his travel pieces! So this was weird - I know he makes music for himself (from previous videos) but - so far anyway - he picks/buys/contracts music from other musicians. If it wasn't the middle of the night I'd go get examples but just look at the descriptions under all his (and Iz too) videos and see his music credits. Maybe he's changing - who knows?
This guy is very brilliant. One of the best in his field.
I started using musicbed because of this video. I use to spend hours and hours trying to find the right music for my videos, in all sorts of different places. This just makes my editing life so much easier!
You’re an amazing multimedia journalist ! What stuck with me was the back and forth between thinking and feeling music
No one:
Me:the orange jacket😍🥰😍🤩
Hehe, it is waiting in the background
😂😂😂
cmon, it's like the first thing I noticed :)
"I approached Uniqlo for this video..."
Me: instantly notices OP-1 and thinks "oh... he really does make music"
same xD
Holy shit Totally missed it until I saw this comment
samee dood, i was kinda surprised ^-^
well ok yeah, but he seems to download other folks' music more, so i'm confused
You’re such a thoughtful content creator, damn! I love how you described all of this and categorizing music into thinking vs. feeling. I can’t listen to anything other than abstract beats/consistent rhythm-type stuff while I work, or else I get pulled into the music and distracted. Some friends listen to classical music, or singer-songwriter stuff to work but I absolutely cannot. I try to explain this to some people but I think unsatisfactorily 😆.
th-cam.com/video/O0ljg4Zyr58/w-d-xo.html I listen to this when I work.
I enjoy your videos a lot! Each has a perfect balance between the speaking part, visuals, and the piece of music you have selected. As a video editor, I know how important music is, and also, I know how hard it is sometimes to find a good piece of music! Everything in your videos is on point! Besides the learning part, I’m always inspired after watching!
u inspire me bro. every video u make every single animation, transition and storytelling u do is inspiring ... I personally thank every sponsor you get. I hope you become a millionaire and continue doing what you love. Cheers.
Man, I have a deep appreciation for the way you see the world and approach challenges Johnny. Truly is inspiring.
This video is brilliant! So cool watching the layers build. Makes me want to learn more about recording my own tracks
Just noticed you’d left a comment about music on my film untethered, appreciate it. I of course now wish I’d done some better tone matching, but always space to grow.
Some of these concepts you don’t think about as a viewer, but so much goes into the formulation of these videos. Music is integral to your videos; it helps paint the perfect picture.
The first track that you played on abstract beats is exactly what opens my latest explainer about Singapore’s rapid growth, and I felt all the same things you just described when I chose it.
Great video man I love that more people are spending time on thinking about how music draws out emotions in TH-cam videos!
Andy Burgess yeah it’s pretty cool to understand what’s behind a video!
Johnny you're a huge source of inspiration. You really gave away the special sauce that makes your videos feel so balanced. Love your work.
I love that you show us. Where some say or tell, you show and do. So great!
Seriously, this may be one of my favorite videos! I love how much you’ve been sharing different sides of your content. Love this!!!
This was one of the best quarter of an hour of my life used in quite a while. Thank you very much!
Top 10 video in my entire life. This explains a lot of the missing pieces to story telling I’ve been missing. Thank you Johnny!
Johnny, I started my TH-cam about 10 months ago - and I already feel like I've made a lot of progress since then. But since recently finding you, my inspiration & ideas have skyrocketed. Thank you!
After I noticed that this video is almost 18 minutes long and about only 'music', decided to skip and watch the piece, instead, ended up watching for the entire duration with a sense wonder. You such a legend Johnny! ❤️🙏⚡
I love this video!!! I drive myself crazy searching for music for scenes in my videos and I feel like I’ve ran through every song on Epidemic sound. Tone matching is important to me and I enjoy storytelling. I love your videos, music choices and storytelling from Vox to your personal videos. Thank you!!
What you explain here (using music to active parts of your audience's brains to match with the displayed content) is probably the main reason that makes me watch your videos until the very end. Not saying that the content itself isn't good enough but the music helps to not get bored regardless of the content. And finding out that some of that music is really produced by you is a cool fact.
I never even thought about switching back and forth between logical and emotional. That makes so much sense and that's something I'd very much like to start incorporating into my videos.
2 minutes in and I know this whole video will be a stellar creation of power through word and music. Mad props
The change-up at 14:30 opened up my mind and my ears. It was the perfect way to demonstrate the use of music paired with visual elements! I'll be sure to incorporate these tips in my compositions! Thanks for the intuitive tips, Johnny.
Johnny Harris, i'm not gonna lie. You're among the top educational creators on TH-cam!
I love your description of inspiration as allowing you to see something that doesn't exist. I've definitely heard songs that instantly created video intro in my head, or watched a video that allowed me to visualize an entire App, or had a dream that let me see myself giving a particular speech. Then comes the scramble to get the idea down into a less fleeting format so I can attempt to make that vision of the future a reality.
Videos - Beautiful
Music - Dope
Style - On Point
Goodness Bro!
Tom Fox your music is awesome! Love it!
i wish your channel were bigger, honestly, you and your wife are one of the single most inspring content creators i look up to as a media student.
Im so grateful you’ve put this great info out for free. Thank you Johnny!
As a person who finished music school on piano class, I 100% understand your vision on how music influences your mood and your story that you wanna tell.
Great video! Something I need to do more of
The amount of research you do for your videos is enough..
An Atlas Pro comment with 14 likes and one reply? That feels like a sin.
only 2 replies and 21 likes?! make it +1!
Thanks for sharing Johnny! I’ve definitely fallen into the trap of mismatching music to tone, the way you compose your videos using a mix of narrative and music is great! It inspires me to create more narrative in my own work.
I revisited this video just because I got stuck searching for music. Your filters helped. Thanks a lot!
It's not enough that your cinematography, animation, and overall video-producing are amazing, now you're telling us that you made the music as well!?
Man, how long will it take to be at your level 👏🏻
Tip 1 is like so obvious but so underrated. The first video I created publicly last week was purely this scenario. Listening to epidemic on shuffle at the park with my dog and heard a song and boom ran with it. Music is like the combustion of fuel to get the creative rocket off the ground. You burn most of it there but once your airborne there’s no stopping you. Thanks for this video man.
The whole thinking Vs feeling idea for music has opened my eyes to a whole new way or story telling and ways to go through life in general
you should make podcasts. i think u’d be great and i would definetly listen
The intro about inspiration was so profound and insightful. It changed me. seriously.
Software developer here, trying to explore my story-telling and less logical, more creative side of me. Nice channel, thanks. I rarely sit through the whole video that is about things that are not important to me, but there is something in the way you present/tell/share the info in your vids that makes me want to stay.
Hey, I'm from Peru and I'm so happy that you've been here.
I’m not musically inclined but I’m so fascinated with this concept and how you explain it is very interesting and informative!
I am not even the whole video through, but i will for sure, please continue uploading such videos I hope this inspires you, to inspire us.
This was awesome!! I’ve always enjoyed how melodic your videos are and getting a glimpse into work thought pattern when making a video.
Thank you Johnny!
LOVED THE VIDEO...SO NEEDED THAT EXPLAINATION...WITNESSED IT A HUNDRED TIMES BUT NOW I KNOW IT....INSPIRATIONAL INDEED AND BY YOUR MEANING OF INSPIRATION!!! FOR STORYTELLERS THIS DETAIL IS THE BIBLE AS I UNDERSTOOD AND THANX AGAIN!!!
Man, this really hit the heart, and the mind. You just get it. And tip 1 was what I needed to get over, to even start our very first family vlog. So much appreciation for that Johnny! -Jonny.
We were so interested in hearing you explain how you choose music, because this is the one thing we spent most of the time on when we're editing our videos. UGGGHH. Sometimes it is infuriating, but once we find the right piece, it feels AMAZING. Though we have done oh-so-many mistakes choosing the music for our videos, we are pleasantly surprised to see that we quite naturally compose our stories trying to balance thinking and feeling parts. Now that you explained the theory behind it, we will be much more aware of what we're doing. So, thanks! We always watch your videos a couple of times so we can internalize all the information.
Damn, now I know why the music in your videos are so unique and fitting because you made it yourself! I aspire to be half as good as you, man. Kudos!
That was so inspirational. It set my mind to think about music in a different way. Especially coz I am in the process of learning more about video, audio and settings a mood for it to match with a story. Just recently discovered you on TH-cam and am a fan of you almost instantly.
Thanks for sharing and teaching the community. This is insightful, and it offers me an opportunity to reflect and make adjustments. Also, it inspires me to go and mess around with stuff and just see what happens! Thanks!
Love the idea of going back and forth between thinking and feeling in a video. Now I'm going to notice that everywhere and try to incorporate it in my pieces!
This is such an insight into how your videos make me feel something. What a treat to see your process.
Loved the way you broke down music into two categories. Thank you for your insights. Yes, everything you said made perfect sense.
Thanks for these tips Johnny! Filipino Dyslexic Architect fan here from London
Intense. Simple, and almost an innately understood concept. Yet, intense. You've got a wonderful way with words and structure (by no means a very easy task, with such a "fuzzy" topic). Loved the video, as always! Looking out for more related content.
Go back and forth between thinking and feeling. Really inspiring !
you are incredible at explaining things about the creative process. those are often extremely hard to put into words, let alone mixed media.
please tell more!
this guy is simply the BEST TH-camR. no doubt
When you introduced the idea of feeling vs thinking... I stopped listening when the feeling music played, then instantly focused when the thinking music played. That was cool.
This video gave me some ideas on things to think about when adding music to my projects. I have been binging some of these videos and noticed how music added a lot to the final result. Sometimes very suddenly and other times with a lot of impact
Man, i always feel so focused and entertained with your videos, now i understand a bit more on how you do it! Just amazing work, keep up!
I had a similar experience when I was in London about 10 years ago. It was early on a February morning and it was cloudy and slightly foggy as I was getting on a boat on the Thames. It was the weekend so the city was still pretty quiet, and the song "Martha Triumphant" from Doctor Who came on my iPod. And it just seemed so perfect for the setting I found myself in. To this day I still associate it with London mornings.
Please do a video about libraries where you can download background music and talk about copyright rules. Moving pictures combined with music, what we call media, is something many of us want to be "masters" of, to evoke strong emotions etc and create an audience to our stories.
This is the video I needed to watch. I always (even though I only made 2 videos as of now) struggle to choose the right music for my video. Thank you so much for this. I can totally feel the though process underneath.
I am so glad I stumbled upon your personal channel as well. What an inspiration (yeah, quite and constant feeling). I wish I`d be able to learn to make content in the complexity you do it.
I needed this so much. I always struggle with the kind of music I need to use in my videos. This helped me get some musical sense inside my thick skull. Thanks
Super great video. I haven’t heard anyone else talk about this topic in the detail that you went into and it’s really inspiring
Making videos for work and finding Nuggets of gold in this video. Thanks Johnny!
wasn't the music, but there was something inspiring about this video! I lately started using music to describe a journey, but never thought about intentionally creating a "rhythm" between the head and heart parts of the story.
So cool. I never thought about the "thinking" and "feeling" categories with music. So fun to learn about storytelling with you as an upcoming artist
I'm not a person who does videos or anything like that but I think all of this will help me more consciously choose what music I listen to. Sometimes it matters more to choose sth specific like when you study or you're in a bad mood and stuff. Music can help but i usually chose it by instinct and it doesn't always work. But i think i can adapt this feeling vs thinking music to my playlists and favorite artists and use this knowledge in this moment when I'm lost. Thank you
Man, you inspire me with every single video you upload. Big thank you!
Awesome video Johnny, after this video, i can really see how photography, drone usage and music come together so well to show ur true talents as the person you are, keep up the great work.
Plus you make and explain things so simple and in a informative manner that everyone watching gets what your tryng to explain, many thanks.
Without a doubt the Johny is the best filmaker in the TH-cam community
You are an AWESOME PERSON! I WATCH ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS, AND I ALSO MESSAGED YOU REGARDING MUSIC, AND YOU REPLIED AND HELPED ME OUT!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU ARE AWESOME!
I know the Johnny Harris, I watch his videos but the timing of suggestion this video. Thank you Yotube Algorithm and Johnny Harris
Ave Maria by Vavilov is probably my favorite 'rendition' of Ave Maria. It's so surreal and in a way, ethereal, but it's a very modern song contrasting to its operatic and hymn style, which we associate with the classical and angelic songs that were sung 300 years ago, but this was written around the 1970s which is crazy to me. This song really just slows down time and holds your breath for a second.
Music is eternal and transcends all of space and time.
Hey, how you brought you thinking music back in towards the end was brilliant obviously.
Your videos are art.
I’m a writer poet dreamer former homeless junkie veteran who won’t be killed. I finally have some say again in weather I’ll live longer.
So I’ve always been a feeler. But my thinking didn’t know it yet.
Anyway come to the new year’s parade in Philly and the red carpet is your guy’s
I see some of your vision I’m just catching up. I was a Sr in high school when 9/11…. I didn’t progress for 18 years…. But I’m still here.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🤝🙌🏻🙌🏻
very nice video. I will try and implement all you said into my own work. I especially like the "mentally tired" piece you said. Where you change gears when you feel the viewer is just starting to get overwhelmed with information and how you then play some "feel" music to let them mentally rest a bit.
Oh wow that’s so cool! Love to see your entire process 🙌🏼
More of this -> Simply amazing stuff! My videos needed your help!
So, i have made few explainers on my other channel, i always used to add some music in the end. Just considering the overall feeling of it. I have always been a fan of Johnny 's way of Telling stories through video. This made it all clear as to why i liked Johnny's videos everytime, while my own videos felt like weird after export
I think you just have put words (and provided a basic framework) on what I was trying to achieve intuitively with music in my own editing. In the past I watched one of your video and I tough to myself that you used music in a way that propelled the story and I said to myself I must try to emulate that. And now you give us some of the keys to it, thanks.
I appreciate this video. This is how I find inspiration for the stories I write. I turn on some feely music and the story tells itself in my head. Maybe I’ll need to start introducing some thinking music in between that.
I believe I have always knew that music caries to tone of the video but separating them that way makes it easier to understand how and when should you use each type of music, thank you for this video and thank you for the month of free music!
Definitely my favorite content creator on TH-cam!
This is so funny, I always love your music choices and I am editing a video right now and trying to find a good song for it and I went to your channel to look through old videos and see how you use music and you've just uploaded this!! Perfect timing
Johnny is a true renaissance man
You are amazing! Thank you for existing. Your videos are deeply engaging N production top notch
Absolutely amazing job Johnny! I genuinely feel the imaginary dots connecting in my head 😂 inspiration comes in many forms and for me, it’s you and Iz 🙏🏼🔥
This reminds me of Iz’s series of “Ugghhh I hate this but it’s super useful”
Johnny bro, you should launch an exhaustive, comprehensive course on TH-cam video making/ documentary making/ vlooging / mapping / music/ score /story telling / script writing/ perspectives and paradigms shifting/ hooking-holding-waving-delivery in story/ narrative, etc stuff.
That'd be a fun project.
This is AMAZING ! Thank you for sharing your inspiration ❤🎉
This the best video of really simplifying the explanation of the best use of music. Thank you 🙏
Awesome video Johnny, love the analysis of using thinking and feeling music and the examples in your vids. You strike the right balance!
You speak about Creativity and there is an OP1 in the Background.
I see which bubble you are into, sometimes :'D
Love it!
I understand this completely. I make music as well, and I know exactly what you mean about inspiration. I have to envision it in my head first, then try my best to replicate it, it turns out better/worse than what I was trying to make because usually it's not exactly what I want haha. I produce Future Bass and Chillout using mostly jazz chord progressions especially 7ths and 9ths because they are my favorite. So, I'm an editor, music producer, (aspiring traveller), and music lover. I've never felt more connected to a contact creator before, thank you so much!
I love you and Iz. Oh My.. This is really helpful, i've already subscribed to Musicbed months ago. Upon watching your videos and Iz', im really inspired to use music better. Just commenting here and wanting to tell you how I carefully listen and watch how you make your videos. Thank you.