Music for memorial and tribute videos

Tracks for tribute and memorial videos

• Under the opening photo and the name on the title card

  Ethereal Healing Pads · 1:00 · Ambient · Calm · 59 BPM

• Beneath recorded memories from family and friends

  Quiet Expansive Close · 1:00 · Ambient · Calm · 81 BPM

• For a celebration of life with happy photos and laughter

  Road Trip Fingerpicking · 2:52 · Acoustic · Calm · 108 BPM

• To lift the later photos toward the present day

  Felt Piano Awakening · 3:17 · Classical · Calm · 75 BPM

• A soft close under the last photo and the dates

  Tender Ambient Piano · 0:30 · Ambient · Calm · 68 BPM

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

What a tribute asks of its music

A memorial or tribute video is watched by people who are already feeling a great deal. The music does not need to make them sad; it needs to give them space. The most fitting tributes use music that is gentle, steady and warm, so that the faces in the photos and the voices in the recorded memories stay at the center.

That usually means fewer instruments rather than more. A single piano, a guitar played softly, or a small string group leaves room for the images. Big orchestral swells, heavy drums and strong melodies pull attention toward the music and can feel like they are telling people how to feel. When in doubt, choose the quieter option and let the photos do the rest.

Pacing a tribute slideshow

Tribute videos are often slideshows of photographs, sometimes with short clips and recorded messages. Give each photo time to be recognized: four to six seconds is comfortable, longer for group photos where people will look for themselves or for someone they love. A three minute tribute holds about forty photos at that pace, which is usually enough. If you have many more, consider a longer video split into chapters rather than speeding everything up.

Keep the rhythm of photo changes calm and consistent. Change on the start of a musical phrase when you can, and avoid quick runs of photos except perhaps in a lighter middle section showing holidays, parties or a favorite hobby. Slow pans across a photo help it breathe, but keep them subtle so they do not compete with the faces.

• Opening: a single strong photo and the person’s name, with the music beginning quietly.
• Middle: life in order, from early years to recent ones, with the music steady underneath.
• Close: the most loved recent photos, then a final image held while the music resolves.

Recorded memories and readings

Short recorded messages from family and friends turn a slideshow into something deeply personal. When someone is speaking, keep the music very low, or let it stop altogether for the most important lines. A gentle pad or held chord underneath is enough to keep the video from feeling empty between messages. The speech setting on the create page keeps dialogue in the video while the music around it is replaced, so recorded voices stay clear.

If the video will be played at a service where someone also speaks live, think about where it starts and stops. A tribute that begins with a few seconds of music before the first photo, and ends with the music fading out after the last image, is easier to introduce and to follow with a reading.

Choosing warmth over sadness

Many families ask for music that feels like the person. A life full of travel might suit warm acoustic guitar with a little movement; a love of classical music suggests piano or strings; a big personality and a house full of laughter can carry something brighter in the middle of the video. Music in a major key, played gently, often feels more comforting than a slow minor key lament, especially when the photos are of happy times.

If the person had a favorite song, you might play it at the service itself and use calm instrumental music for the video, so the two do not compete. Describing the person in the direction, for example a gardener who loved summer evenings, or a teacher with a dry sense of humor, gives the music a starting point that is personal rather than generic.

Clips, home videos and natural sound

Short home video clips bring a tribute to life in a way photos cannot: a laugh at a birthday table, a wave from a boat, a few words to the camera. When a clip has the person’s own voice or laugh, keep that original sound and drop the music right down, or let it pause, so everyone can hear it. Those few seconds are often the most precious in the whole video.

Clips without useful sound can play under the music like moving photos. Keep them short, five to ten seconds, and place them between groups of still photos so the pace changes gently. Avoid clips with loud background noise, such as wind or a busy restaurant, unless the moment itself matters more than the sound.

If you are combining several clips filmed on different phones over many years, the picture quality will vary. That is fine. Steady, gentle music helps tie very different footage together, and viewers care far more about the person than about the resolution.

The ending matters most

People remember how a tribute ends. Hold the last photo for longer than the others, eight to twelve seconds, and let the music settle on a soft final chord or fade gently as the screen goes to black or to the dates. Avoid endings that stop suddenly or build to a loud finish. Each music generation in Sonilo gives you two versions to choose from, so listen to both endings with the last photo on screen and choose the one that feels kindest.

Practical details before the service

Watch the finished tribute on the screen and speakers it will be played on, if you can. Venue systems are often much louder or much bassier than a laptop, and music that seemed quiet at home can feel heavy in a hall. The music has its own volume control before you export, so it is easy to bring it down a little. Export a copy for sharing online as well; many families send the tribute to relatives who could not attend.

Keep a backup on a memory stick and on a phone, and test that the file plays on the venue computer before the day. These small checks are what let everyone focus on the person rather than the technology.

How to make music for memorial video

1. 1

   Put the tribute together

   Arrange the photos, clips and any recorded messages in order, and export the video from your editor or slideshow app.

2. 2

   Choose a gentle preset

   Pick Gentle piano, Celebration of life, Strings and light or Under spoken memories, or describe the person and the mood you want.

3. 3

   Generate and listen to the ending

   Generate on the create page, where the credit cost is shown before anything runs, then choose the version whose ending fits the last photo.

Questions before you start

Music for other kinds of video