Free Background Music 4: Snacks and Watches

This is the fourth song in the free background music series. The instrumental features synthesizer, piano, acoustic bass, guitar, strings, flute, an Asian fiddle, drums and percussion. There are quite a few different sections with slightly different feels to them.

There are two different versions of the song. The short version (4:42) is the video shown above. The longer version (7:21) of the song has an extended intro with a clockwork-like feel and a longer coda at the end. Here is the long version:

Tempo: 120 bpm
Duration (short version): 4:42
Duration (long version): 7:21

Free Background Music 11: Safe Harbor

Safe Harbor is the 11th song in the Free Background series. This is minimalist. loop-based song with orchestral instrumentation (e.g., piano, cello, acoustic bass, harp, flute, French horn. clarinet, drums). There are two versions. The second version, which is shorter and which is without drums, is shown below.

Tempo: 80 bpm
Duration (Main Version): 5:12
Duration (Version without Drums): 3:48

Safe Harbor – Drumless Version

Free Background Music 43: The Sea Withdrew

1. The Music

The Sea Withdrew is the 43rd song in my Free Background Music series. It is a quiet and gentle piano instrumental that switches between major and minor keys. The song was played on Korg M50 Synth. The composition was inspired by all the problems we have been facing during 2020. It has a sad and somber feel, but includes key changes to major keys in order to show a feeling of hope. The song starts in the key of C minor and ends in C major.  

Free Background Music 42: Drifting

1. The Music

This video features Drifting, the 42nd song in the Free Background Music series. Drifting is a two-minute song built from loops (for the guitar, zither, cello and percussion parts) and tracks I played on a Korg M50 keyboard (the strings, bass, woodwinds and synth parts). It drifts between C minor and it’s relative major (E flat). In this composition, I am mainly focusing on the gentle rhythmic interplay between the instruments. If you like this track, you should check out another of my songs: Ravenchanter (Track 29). It has a similar laid-back acoustic vibe.

Hokkaido Travel Diary: Photos, Video & Free Background Music 41

1. The Music

This video features the 41st song in the Free Background Music Series and is the second video in my Travel Diary series.

As with the other songs in the Background Music series, this instrumental work can be used for free in non-commercial projects and in YouTube monetized videos (that are otherwise non-commercial in nature) as long as credit is provided (‘music by longzijun’). For more information about the terms and conditions for using the music, you can refer to the detailed Terms of Use.

Tokyo Video, Photos and BIXIE (Free Background Music 44)

1. The Music

BIXIE is the 44th song in my Free Background Music Series. It is a lively piece that is influenced by swing, Latin jazz and electronic music.

Free Background Music 5: Mime This

Mime This is the 5th song in the Free Background Music series. It is an alt-rock instrumental featuring electric guitar, bass, synthesizer, drums and percussion. The song is probably best known as the theme song of a popular Dota 2 gameplay channel.

Tempo: 140 bpm
Duration: 2:27

Free Background Music 40: Tale of the Forgotten Forest Kingdom by Kate Kwok

This beautiful and lyrical original piano instrumental is composed and performed by Kate Kwok. It is the 40th song in the Free Background Music series.

Free Background Music 39: Summit by Gary Ames

In this video, I continue the Featured Guest series with this song by Gary Ames. This pulsating and dramatic instrumental featuring digital orchestral strings and percussion is the 39th song in the Free Background Music series.

Duration: 3:36
Tempo: 128 bpm

Free Background Music 38: Somewhere Deep in the Sea by Jessica Yip

Here is the latest addition to the Free Background Music Series. This beautiful piano instrumental is composed and and performed by Jessica Yip. This is a beautiful piano instrumental is a gentle piano song that is suitable for use as a soundtrack for touching, tranquil or nostalgic scenes. As the title suggests, the scene she had in mind when composing the song was a setting deep underwater.

Free Background Music Series 37: Holly’s Theme

Holly’s Theme, the 37th song in the Free Background Music series, is a piano instrumental. The video for this song features dancers from Georgia (the country), Japan, the US and the Czech Republic. I composed this song as part of the soundtrack for a short film my students were working on (Holly is the name of one of the characters). Kate Kwok performed the music and was responsible for much of the arrangement. There is also a bonus track at the end—a one-minute orchestral version of the slow part of the song. This shorter work is the 17th song in the Free Short Instrumentals series. 

Duration: 2:47

Free Background Music 36: Buoyant

Buoyant is the 36th song in Free Background Music series. It is a relatively upbeat song that is built around the idea of contrast. For example, sparse textures are set against very busy parts with multiple melodic lines vying for attention.

This video is a collaboration with Juliana Payson, who supplied the original video footage of her swimming, dancing underwater, experimenting with synchronized swimming skills and doing other kinds of workout routines.

Duration: 4:20
Tempo: 120 bpm

Free Background Music 35: Broken

Here is the 35th song in our Free Background Music series—Broken. It is a gentle and melancholy minimalist piano ballad about the unexpected end of a friendship. For this video, I collaborated with Lee Chan, who choreographed and performed the ballet, and Kate Kwok, who arranged and performed the song.

The mood of the piece is melancholy. The song is influenced by classical minuets and has the ABA structure and 3/4 time signature associated with that form. However, the arrangement is rather sparse and minimalist in style, giving the song a more contemporary feel. This song is about the sudden and unexpected end of a friendship.

Duration: 3:17

Free Background Music 34: I Vow to Thee, My Country

We continue our Featured Guest series with Kate Kwok performing her own arrangement of I Vow to Thee, My Country by Gustav Holst and Sir Cecil Spring Rice (1921). This is a beautiful piano arrangement that evokes a strong feeling of nostalgia.

This song is the 34th song in the Free Background Music series. It is Kate’s own arrangement of a classical work by Gustav Holst. The music originally comes from from the Jupiter movement of Gustav Holsts’s orchestral suite The Planets. Holst adapted his own music, creating this lovely and moving nostalgic song — I Vow to Thee, My Country— in 1921.

Free Background Music 33: Little Hero

Little Hero is the 33rd song in my free background music series. This is an uptempo and lively three-minute instrumental that is suitable for use in projects like Anime, Animation and AMVs (Anime music videos). The music includes a variety of sounds—from orchestral instruments to rock guitar to electronic synth sounds.

Duration: 2:58
Tempo: 134 bpm

Free Background Music 32: The Hidden Path

The Hidden Path is the 32nd song in the Free Background Music series. The full version of the song is 11 minutes long. A seven-minute version of the song is also available.

The song is influenced by some African styles, most notably Juju music. If you are interested in finding out about this music form, King Sunny Ade is a good place to start.

Free Background Music 30: Echoes & Fragments

Echoes & Fragments is the 30th song in the Free Background Music series. It is a gentle and minimalist synth-piano song (performed on a Korg M50 synthesizer and recorded using Cakewalk’s Sonar Home Studio). The name of the song is about memory. As I get older, long-term memories fragment and slip away; sometimes they resurface, bubbling up from the boundless sea of time; sometimes they simply sink and are never seen again. For many memories, I am unsure whether I am remembering the actual event or remembering a story that I once told or that someone once told me. Do I remember the house I grew up or do I simply remember its image from photographs? It seems that a lot of what I call ‘memories’ are merely faint and distant echoes.

The video features public domain footage from NASA.

Duration: 3:00
Tempo: Around 70 bpm

REDIRECT: Free Background Music Songs 24-44

Due to website redesign, the page has moved to: Free Background Music Part 2: Songs 24-44

Free Background Music 26: Almost a Love Story

Almost a Love Story is the 26th song in my free background music series. This is a relaxing, melodic piece. It is a wistful, melodic ballad influenced by the soundtrack music of Joe Hisaishi. The mood is nostalgic but still a little sweet. The guitar, bass, violin, flute, vibraphone, bells and ney (type of flute) parts were played on a Korg M50 while the drum parts are from loops.

Tempo: 110 bpm
Duration: 5:00