Music for nature videos that leaves room for the wild

Tracks for nature videos

• Under a slow pan across a forest at first light

  Dreamy Harp Meditation · 0:45 · Jazz · Calm · 60 BPM

• While a deer, fox or bird slowly comes into frame

  Dreamy Piano Romance · 3:16 · Classical · Emotional · 108 BPM

• For a wide mountain or valley reveal from above

  Heroic Epic Crescendo · 2:50 · Cinematic · Inspiring · 118 BPM

• Beside rivers, waterfalls and waves on the shore

  Dreamy Harp Fantasy · 2:30 · Classical · Calm · 99 BPM

• A long, steady bed for a relaxing nature video

  Dreamy Anime Pads · 0:30 · Ambient · Calm

Library tracks are free for personal use. Commercial use needs Pro or above. More tracks like these in the music library

Let nature be heard

The biggest difference between nature videos and almost everything else is the natural sound. Birdsong, wind in the trees, a river, rain on leaves, the crunch of snow: these sounds are part of what viewers come for. Music in a nature video works best when it frames them rather than covers them. A soft bed that rises between moments and steps back when the forest is speaking feels respectful of the place.

This means choosing music with space in it. Long held notes, slow pads, sparse piano, harp and gentle woodwinds sit comfortably alongside natural sound. Busy drums, bright synths and dense arrangements fight with it. Even in a dramatic landscape film, the music should feel like it grew out of the scene rather than being placed on top.

Pacing to the footage

Nature footage is slow by nature. Wide shots of landscapes, long takes of animals and slow camera moves all ask for patient music. Shots of eight to fifteen seconds are common, and the music should breathe at the same rate. A tempo between 60 and 80 BPM, or music with no strong beat at all, matches this pace.

Change the music when the footage changes in a meaningful way, such as moving from forest to open plain, from day to night, or from calm to a storm. Small changes, such as a new instrument entering or the harmony shifting, are usually enough. Big musical moments should be saved for the biggest images, typically a wide reveal or the moment an animal does something remarkable.

• Landscapes: slow, wide, with long builds toward the big view.
• Wildlife: patient and curious, building as the animal appears.
• Water: flowing and steady, with harp, pads or soft piano.
• Weather and storms: darker, with low strings and rising tension.

Wildlife moments

Wildlife footage often involves a long wait followed by a short moment of action: a heron catching a fish, a bear crossing a river, a bird landing on a branch. Use the music to build gentle anticipation during the wait, with soft plucked strings or mallets, and then either lift it for the moment of action or drop it out so the real sound of the moment takes over.

Be careful not to make animals seem more dramatic or dangerous than they are. Tense music under a perfectly calm fox gives viewers the wrong impression. Let the animal’s behavior guide the mood: playful music for young animals at play, calm music for grazing, more urgency only when something truly is happening.

Landscapes and aerial shots

Wide landscape shots, especially from drones, are where nature videos can carry the most emotion. Strings and slow drums that build over thirty seconds or a minute can turn a sweeping valley shot into a moment people remember. Line the biggest musical arrival up with the widest view or the moment the camera clears a ridge.

After a big moment, give the music somewhere quiet to go. A long fade into the natural sound of wind or birds is often more powerful than another big build. Viewers need time to take in what they have just seen.

Narrated nature films

If you narrate your video, keep the music well below your voice and use sparse instruments in a lower register. Narration in nature films is often slow and thoughtful, and the music should match that tone. The speech setting on the create page keeps dialogue and narration in your video while the music around it is replaced, so your voice stays clear.

Let the music pause or thin out during important information and come back between sentences. Natural sound can fill the gaps too, which keeps the video from feeling empty when neither voice nor music is playing.

Relaxation and long videos

Long nature videos made for relaxation, sleep or background viewing, often thirty minutes to several hours, have different needs. The music must be steady, without sudden changes or loud moments that might startle a viewer who has drifted off. Very slow ambient music with soft pads and occasional piano works well. Natural sound can be louder than the music in these videos.

For long edits, generating music for the whole video avoids audible seams where a short loop restarts. Video length limits depend on your plan, so very long relaxation videos may need to be made in parts and joined in your editor with a gentle crossfade.

Seasons and places

Different seasons and environments suggest different sounds. Spring suits light woodwinds and bright plucks; summer suits warm guitar and open harmonies; autumn suits piano and cello with a touch of nostalgia; winter suits sparse piano, bells and cold pads. Deserts suit wide drones and hand percussion; oceans suit flowing harp and pads; mountains suit strings and slow drums.

Describing the place and season in the direction, for example a misty pine forest in late autumn, gives the music a strong starting point that fits your footage.

Recording natural sound on location

Good natural sound makes the music easier to place. When you film, record a minute or two of clean ambience at each location with the camera still and nobody talking: the forest, the stream, the wind on the ridge. These recordings can be laid under your edit to smooth over cuts and to fill gaps between the music, and they make the whole video feel more immersive.

Before you publish

Watch the finished video with headphones and on a phone speaker. Natural sound that seems balanced on headphones can disappear on a phone, while music can feel too loud. The music has its own volume control before you export. Each music generation gives you two versions to choose from; for nature videos, the quieter and more spacious version is often the better choice.

How to make music for nature videos

1. 1

   Upload your footage

   Upload the edited nature video with its natural sound. Sonilo reads its pace and the moments where the footage changes.

2. 2

   Pick a preset

   Choose Forest morning, Wildlife encounter, Epic landscape, Ocean and rivers or Relaxation, or describe the place and season.

3. 3

   Generate and balance

   Generate on the create page, where the credit cost is shown before anything runs, then balance the music against the natural sound before exporting.

Questions before you start

Music for other kinds of video