Friday, January 12, 2024

Creating a Village Video can follow many viable directions. One common direction, is to share your creation with a lot of viewers. Ideally, the viewers will enjoy all of it because they want to experience it all, right to the very end. Audio can be an important aspect that entices viewers to keep watching, rather than fast-forwarding or stopping. There are many ways to include sound, some very simple, others more complicated and time consuming. Typically, audio for video falls into three categories, Music, Sound Effects and Ambient Sound.  

Music, from just a single song to an effort heavily edited, sets the tone, and establishes a feeling about your village.

Sound Effects are a single "noise" to match an action on screen. For an example: show a church bell and add the Gong sound. They can be subtle, or over the top, in your face, or even comical. You choose how you want your video to be perceived.

Ambient Sound is the total sound of what you hear, if you were to stand in the middle of a scene and close your eyes. The "noise" of things, such as cars or horses going by, children playing, train sounds, river sounds, street vendors hawking their wares, etc, all at the same time. Ambient Sound adds depth, provides a more realistic feeling, can cover edit points, and is also a great bridge between scenes. Basically, it's the "icing on the cake".

So, it's your video, you choose the direction, but whether you just tell your computer to do it all for you, or work with individual segments, if you consider the audio track(s), your village video will usually be enjoyed more. For those looking for components or segments, this page is another resource for your Village Audio. And, of course, don't forget to share your finished project here with all of us.

We're here to try and help, as another source of

"Inspiration, Information & Fun"

Let's start with sound effects, or ambient sound. These are the noises/sounds happening in your village. There are many available but my favorite in my collection came from Department 56 back in the "Golden Age" of villaging. In 1992, they released an accessory #5524-7.

I still see a lot of these available on eBay. The "snowbank" speakers were a neat touch. A few years after the "Village Sounds" was retired, D56 gave away the audio for free on their website. This is generic enough to work with most villages, but is totally awesome with any Dickens Village.

LEMAX

also has posted a nice selection for your village videos, described as:

"Enhance your village, or add to your holiday decorations,

with these free Christmas and Halloween MP3 sound effect files."

MP3 Christmas & Holiday Sound Tracks

                              1. Merry Gentlemen Christmas Carol

                              2. Joy to the World Christmas Clock Tower

                              3. Deck the Halls Express Cable Car

                              4. Santa's Workshop Melody

                              5. Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

 And Sound Effects For Halloween ...

1. Spooky Town Ghostly Encounter

2. Spooky Town Storm Night

3. Spooky Town Torture Time

WICKLINE

We've been fortunate to know the Wickline family, and their awesome music, since the early 80s. To help spread more Christmas Spirit, our friends are sharing their Christmas album for free. Enjoy these wonderful Christmas recordings with your Village Video, or play them while experiencing the rest of TVC, then please check out their website  HERE to see their full catalog.

Merry Christmas from The Wicklines

Click on the above album cover to see music choices.