Silent passages in movies and videos have been passé for a long time. Videos simply catch the attention of the watcher more if they have background music and sound effects.
The well-picked music also helps you to set the atmosphere and feeling for your video.
So, how to add music, ambiance, and sound effects to any video? You will get to know in this article. We tried to hit the broadest scale of programs and cover all platforms.
Some apps on this list are harder to learn. However, they will provide you with professional tools and features. Others are easy to handle to adding music quickly and simply.
Table of Content:
Desktop
- Premiere Pro (Paid)
- OpenShot (Free)
Mobile
Online
- Wave Video (Free)
Desktop
The category of most professional tools. Many desktop apps require time to learn. Nonetheless, they will provide you with many additional features that most mobile and web-based apps can not reach.
First on our list is a tool used by most professionals all over the globe. Premiere Pro gained its popularity mainly thanks to precise processing and a broad range of features, which always are one step ahead of the competition.
The program can be very quickly learned and customized to fit your need plus, If you have other Adobe Creative Cloud programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, or After effects, it works even better.
A significant minus for many people is the price tag of Premiere Pro, and as I said above, it is a tool for professionals. It is non-sense to buying Premiere Pro if you want to do hobby videos with minor audiovisual changes and edits.
However, if you mean it seriously with video production and you want to play with the effects, music, and video transitions, definitely go for Premiere Pro. In combination with After Effects, this giant has no competitor.
Available on: Windows, macOS
Price: $20.99/mo
The best video editing program for beginners. OpenShot is available on all three major platforms and provides you with simple and easy to handle tools and with sufficient amount of advanced features.
It is a great starting point even for professional and video editing students. OpenShot shares many shortcuts and functions with Premiere Pro, so it can be your bridge to more professional and paid tools.
In the video, below you can clearly see how easy it is to add an audio track to mp4.
Available on: Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD
Price: Free
Mobile
Nowadays, smart devices are on a completely insane level, and you can use them for almost anything. Video editing is no exception. As you will see below, these tools are providing high-tech features available everywhere through your little device.
Adobe rocks on mobile devices. Most of their apps are available free on Android and iOS. Of course, these free versions are impoverished by some features.
Nonetheless, these limitations are nothing compared to the competition. Adobe Rush is a poorer brother of Premiere Pro. However, it does not matter. On mobile, it is the best video editing tool right now o the market.
In the free version, you get all the cutting, trimming, sharing, exporting functions, and you can export videos without a watermark! If you decide to subscribe to the premium version, you will additionally get 100GB of cloud storage and sync project across mobile and desktop devices.
Available on: Android, iOS
Price: Free (Premium: $9.99/mo)
If you are allergic to Adobe products, we got one alternative. FilmoraGo is a convenient mobile app that mediates solid video editing. Let us start with the cons. The free version of FilmoraGo is less generous than Adobe Rush, your exported videos have a watermark in the right corner, and you are bothered by ads.
On the other side, Filmora has a nicer and cleaner interface combined with a neat timeline, which is more understandable for beginners. What I personally love most about FilmoraGo is the market with free materials that can be simply used in your videos and templates.
FilmoraGo is overall a great tool. The biggest minus are the watermarks, which will sooner or later force you to go premium or change the app. The biggest savior of this problem is the lifetime premium version for $60.
Available on: Android, iOS
Price: Free (Premium starting at $6)
Online
The online world is the fastest growing industry. Ten years ago, we can not even imagine cutting videos online. These days you can do more than that. Find a place with a good internet connection and start editing online. Online tools can add an audio track to mp4 or add audiovisual effects.
The king of online video editing. I chose only one app for this category because Wave Video is far the best online video editing tool. It is a very convenient platform with tons of templates, royalty-free music, video transitions, animated text, and thumbnails.
The free version has a 15-second editing limit, which is sufficient for TikTok and Instagram videos. However, not enough for YouTube. Unfortunately, like almost all other free editing tools, Wave Video has a watermark.
Nonetheless, it is a small mark in the left corner. You will be pleased with 2 million royalty-free music, one brand preset, and five video embeds in the free version. Premium version additionally offers longer editing time from 15 to 30 minutes and no watermark.
Available on: All Devices With The Internet Connection
Price: Free (Premium starting at $20)
Conclusion
As you can see, in the modern world, you can edit your videos anywhere on almost any device. You do not have to buy expensive professional computers and laptops if you just want to add music or effects into your clip.