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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We continue our student music series with Kate performing her own arrangement of Feast of Starlight by Howard Shore. The song comes from the soundtrack of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Kate created the arrangement by ear (i.e., nothing is written down), so (unfortunately) sheet music is not available. Note: This song is NOT part of the free background music series as we do not own the copyright to the composition.
This is the tenth song in our music series featuring students at SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School in Hong Kong. The purpose of this series is allow students to share their love of music while helping them develop their talents as performers and songwriters (and arrangers!). To view the whole series. featuring originals and covers in English, Cantonese and Japanese, you can go to: Student Music: Original Songs and Covers.
Piano: Kate Kwok Piano arrangement by Kate Kwok Music by Howard Shore
Video Production: CMe Creative Media Studio at SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School (Hong Kong) Music recording and video editing: longzijun March 2015
Technical Information
Electric Piano: Yamaha Clavichord Recording software: Cakewalk Sonar X1 Studio
Please support our students by viewing the video, sharing it, liking it or commenting on it. Every little bit of support helps. You can download an mp3 version the performance here: https://app.box.com/s/c6nl4syx5n0wdxfyu50fs51xly2zdby9
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.
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.
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.
These two songs, Arpology (Ambient Version) and Arpology (Frenzied Sax Version) are based on the same concept: synthesizer arpeggios (played on a Korg Micro X) going through the exact same chord progressions but with different instrumentation, timbres and tempos. Background Music 14: Arpology Ambient Version (6:10) Tempo: 71 bpmDuration: 6:10 Background Music 14: Arpology Frantic […]
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.
Longzijun 