June 20, 2017

To Cry, Sigh or Smile, That Is The Question

What Makes Music Emotional

The wonderful thing about music is how it affects our feelings. And CSS Music has music that can evoke just about any emotion you’re trying to achieve. Whether you want a sad song, something wistful or a track that elicits laughter, we believe you will find an excellent selection from which to choose. Let’s take a look at what goes into making music move us.

Foremost in creating emotional music is setting the mood. A piece of music that’s sad, sorrowful or wistful can be created with a solo instrument. How many films have you seen where a piano plays a simple melodic line to carry the most crucial scenes? You may not even be aware that strings are subtly being added as the scene evolves, moving to its conclusion. Sometimes upward key changes are incorporated to “lift” the emotional impact.

The next element is melody. If you happen across a movie from the 1980s you may notice that melodies were much more prevalent than they are in films today. In fact, some current underscores rely solely on a chord progression and perhaps percussive elements—there’s no leaving-the-theater humming a tune. Not to say that the masters like John Williams, James Horner and Hans Zimmer aren’t writing incredibly lush, evocative scores with terrific melodies!

Finally, orchestrations and production are the glue that binds. And not every piece of emotional music needs to be played by an 80-piece orchestra. Look at unsettled simplicity of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti’s “Twin Peaks Theme” with the eerie vibrato guitar, or the layered synthesizers Vangelis used in “Blade Runner.” More often than not, a well-composed piano piece will always win the day.


Yes, we here at CSS Music love a piece of music that heightens our emotions. And we believe you’ll find a surfeit of wonderfully emotionally tracks in our library for your next production. Type a few keywords like “emotional” or “heartwarming” in our Build-A-Search menu and get out your hankie. 

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