Soundtrack: what it is and how it works in audiovisual media

A soundtrack is the organization of the sound that accompanies an audiovisual work. In everyday use, the term often refers to its music: a featured song, an instrumental theme or a texture that almost blends into the ambience. For someone preparing a film, music video or campaign, the most useful question is what this music allows the audience to perceive in the scene. Before choosing a genre, it is worth defining the relationship the audience should build with the image.

An empty street can seem welcoming, threatening or simply quiet. Music contributes to this interpretation by establishing expectation, duration and point of view. It does not need to be present constantly. A precise entrance and a well-considered exit can say more than accompaniment that fills the entire film.

What work does music do in the narrative?

The soundtrack can bring the viewer closer to a character, connect distant situations or mark a change that the image has not yet revealed. It can also create friction: an apparently joyful gesture can be paired with restrained music and become ambiguous. The decision depends on the work’s meaning and on what the director wants to make explicit or leave unresolved.

This view of dramatic structure and emotional rhythm appears in Berklee’s film scoring training. In a team’s practice, it can become a simple question: in this passage, does the music follow the action, reveal a perception or prepare a transformation?

Music, voice and ambience share attention

Music enters a scene that already contains information. There is speech, breathing, noise and relative silence. When every element demands emphasis at the same time, the experience can lose clarity. A persistent melody beneath a sensitive testimonial, for example, can steer the interpretation more than the person being filmed intended.

It is therefore useful to listen to the edit with and without music. Notice what disappears in each version. If the scene loses an essential relationship when the soundtrack is removed, it has a defined function. If the scene merely seems less filled out, it may still be necessary to decide why the music is there. Sound design helps you consider the other sounds before filling these spaces.

An example of a decision, without a formula for emotion

Consider this illustrative example: a character returns to a house that has been closed for years. She opens the window, touches a piece of furniture and finds a photograph. The scene can emphasize reconnecting with a place, the discomfort of a memory or curiosity about something we do not yet know. These are three distinct approaches to the same visual material.

If the intention is closeness, a small, sparse sound can let the gestures breathe. If it is threat, the music can work with persistence and instability without marking every movement. If it is discovery, the musical entrance can wait for the photograph. None of these choices works automatically. The test lies in the relationship with the performance, the edit and the rest of the film.

This exercise avoids vague requests such as “more emotional.” Instead, the team can say: “the memory should arrive when she recognizes the face, not when she enters the house.” This observation gives the composer a narrative decision and preserves room for an individual musical response.

Songs and instrumental music call for different ways of listening

A song brings words, a voice and associations that can change the meaning of an image. When the lyrics take center stage, they compete with dialogue and on-screen text for interpretation. It is worth reading the full lyrics and testing the chosen passage, even when the team assumes that the audience will not understand the language.

Instrumental music also has an identity and a context. Instrumentation, performance and form carry artistic choices. Removing the voice is not enough to make a piece neutral. When assessing references, describe what interests you: the space between notes, the pulse, the contrast between timbres or the way intensity grows. This description is usually more productive than asking for similarity to a specific work.

Where does the music begin and end?

Marking entrances and exits helps reveal the film’s architecture. Note the first moment when the soundtrack takes on a function, the points of transformation and what needs to continue after a cut. Sometimes sustaining music between scenes creates continuity; at other times, ending it before the image gives weight to the production sound that follows.

Avoid treating every visual cut as an obligation to add a musical accent. A film may need independence between editing and phrasing. Also record the places where the absence of music is desired. Silence here does not necessarily mean a complete lack of sound: it can mean choosing to remain with the ambience and human presence.

How to assess a proposal with the team

For the first listen, follow the entire film. Then return to the passages being discussed. Use the same playback volume when comparing versions and keep each file identified. A proposal perceived as better solely because it is louder needs to be reassessed under equivalent conditions.

• Does the music support the agreed point of view?
• Does speech remain intelligible?
• Does the transformation arrive at the right moment?
• Is there room for ambience, breathing and pauses?
• Does the ending prepare the next scene or conclude it as intended?

Record the response with an identifiable passage and the effect being sought. Questions about permission for use belong in a specific discussion about music licensing for audiovisual work. To turn narrative decisions into a working document, follow the guide to preparing a music brief.

Prepare musical briefing

Source and further information

Berklee Online: Film Scoring 101, a reference on music, dramatic structure, synchronization and silence. The examples and table in this article are illustrative.