SEARCHING FOR MUSIC
our search interface and uncompromising quality standards should help you quickly find effective and original music for your production; we can also edit and mix music directly into your soundtrack, or create new bespoke music just for you
music pieces are selected by requesting changes to the sample which you previously heard. this achieves faster and more interesting results than browsing lists by genre type, and is much closer to the way a commissioned composer and director/producer would interrelate. one or more excerpts are played from each piece: you can hear these using the "samples from this piece" buttons. full-length (but lowered audio quality) free versions of each track are available for testing by clicking the "demo" button
the search criteria describe the 'pure' elements of the music and emotive words such as "happy" or "unsettling" etc. are deliberately avoided. it is the combined qualities of the music working alongside your production which will ultimately determine the mood
if you want any help please
contact us - perhaps including a description or link / samples of the production which you are working on
BRIGHTNESS
how high-pitched the music is - reduce this setting for low and deep music
SATURATION
how many instrument lines play simultaneously - reduce this setting for sparse and solo-instrument type music
FORCE
the power and strength of the music - reduce this setting for soft and gentle music
FLOURISH
how animated or varying the parts which make up the music are - reduce this setting for even and steady sounds
PACE
the speed of the music - reduce this setting for slow music
STRIKE
the abrasiveness and separation of the sounds which make up the music - reduce this setting for smooth and combined textures
SWEEP
how much the music moves over time from one place to another - reduce this setting for continuous and maintained moods
AUTO-PLAY OF AUDIO WHEN SEARCHING FOR MUSIC
each audio sample is presented as a new page when searching for music and therefore with an individual, bookmarkable link. note that these links will still expire over time - the safest way to store pieces you like is instead via
selections
ideally, as soon as the page is loaded, the audio sample should automatically start to play - however
many web browsers as a general feature (especially those running on a mobile) deliberately block the automatic playback of audio / video / media files.
in these circumstances you can still play our audio samples by using the audio control on the page itself or simply clicking the "START AUDIO" button; the musicway audio samples are deliberately very small (e.g. 200 KB) so there will not be much to download
it may be possible for you to change your web browser's behaviour (i.e. avoid having to do this 'extra click' each time a new sample is loaded) - some possible references are listed below. in most cases these references describe how to deliberately block auto-play - so you will be looking to do the opposite for ourselves
CHROME -
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-autoplay-videos-on-sites-in-google-chrome/
EDGE -
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/stop-videos-from-auto-playing-edge
FIREFOX -
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-autoplay
SAFARI -
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/ibrw29c6ecf8/mac
PRICING AND LICENCE OPTIONS
the following options are available for every piece on musicway -
MP3: high audio quality mp3 download of the full mix
(does not constitute a right to use the music within a production)
SHEET MUSIC: full score as well as instrument parts,
professionally notated and optimised for print-out
(does not constitute a right to use the music within a production - however performance as
'pure music' i.e. not linked to a production is permitted)
PRODUCTION LICENCE:
professional audio downloads and the right to use this piece within
a single specified production, forever (this includes advertising material as well as
unlimited copies / performances). new versions of a production (e.g. sequels) will normally require a new licence,
hence where these are envisaged to guarantee the music's continuing availability consider an exclusive licence option instead
SEMI-EXCLUSIVE LICENCE:
professional audio downloads and the right to use this piece within
an unlimited number of your productions, forever (this includes advertising material as well as
unlimited copies / performances) - providing these are released into the public domain within five years of purchase.
during this five year period the piece and any which share thematic material with it will be withdrawn from musicway
(i.e. no licences issued)
EXCLUSIVE LICENCE:
professional audio downloads and the right to use this piece within
an unlimited number of your productions, forever (this includes advertising material as well as
unlimited copies / performances).
this piece and any which share thematic material with it will be permanently withdrawn from musicway (i.e. no further licences ever issued)
EXISTING LICENCES
all music listed on musicway has always only been available to licence via ourselves.
for each piece the number of productions thus far licensed to use that music is displayed within the 'details' section on the find music page:
to request further details about these please
contact us
purchasing a semi-exclusive or an exclusive licence does not invalidate any productions which are already licensed to use that music;
it does however prevent additional new productions from using it
AUDIO RECORDINGS / INSTRUMENT TRACKS
professional audio recordings, both of the full stereo mix (as heard on the website)
as well as separated instrument tracks,
are available to download as part of any licence purchase.
the instrument tracks are isolated and pre-mixed meaning it is easy to use them solo or in combination
to recreate the sound of the full mix but with desired adjustments
you are free to re-record or edit (e.g. loop / modify) our music, providing the intended usage is the production
for which you purchased a licence. if you wish to make changes, but have no previous experience in this area, then
free editing software
is available which you may wish to try
for details about the audio format
click here; alternatively please
click here if you have queries about the downloads themselves
DOWNLOADS
when placing an order on musicway (this includes any of the licence options as well as the MP3, sheet music and also the free demo) the associated downloads / audio files will always be issued within a "ZIP" file. this stops your browser automatically playing (rather than storing) the downloaded files; it also reduces the size of the downloads and helps you to manage the multiple files (e.g. various instrument tracks) which are often included
ZIP files are essentially folders containing one or more files and are so common that your computer will probably open them just by clicking - if otherwise it will guide you through the process of extracting the files. if you do however have any problems then the following resources may be helpful:
www.b1.org - universal (i.e. Windows, Linux, Mac and Android) software for extracting ZIP files
www.extract.me
- online extractor (i.e. no need to install local software)
as ever please
contact us if you have any problems
AUDIO EDITING SOFTWARE (FREE)
the following free software can be used to edit / loop / modify the musicway audio tracks:
www.audacityteam.org
[windows, mac or linux]
www.ardour.org
[mac or linux]
www.wavosaur.com
[windows]
please take care whenever downloading free software: double-check what you have selected before clicking 'download'
AUDIO CONVERSION SOFTWARE (FREE)
in addition to
audio editing software,
the following free utilties will convert musicway recordings into different audio formats (e.g. 16 bit) should that be necessary. please
contact us
if you require any assistance
www.rarewares.org/others.php#srcdrop
- see example instructions below
www.voxengo.com/product/r8brain
sox.sourceforge.net/Main/HomePage
please take care whenever downloading free software: double-check what you have selected before clicking 'download'
using SRCdrop to convert to 16 bit
- select the 'generic' version to download
- open / extract the downloaded file: it contains a single application called "SRCDrop"
- double-click to run the above application: a small window will appear called "Drop Files Here".
you need to drag audio files inside that window, and new versions will automatically be created
(and saved to the same folder where the original files were stored)
- before you do this, right-click within the "Drop Files Here" window, select "SRC Resampling Options" - we suggest the
options displayed in the screenshot below
- to close the application afterwards, right-click the "Drop Files Here" window and select "Exit"
SHEET MUSIC
both 'full score' as well as separate 'instrument parts' documents are provided in pdf format:
sample full score
sample instrument parts
recommendations:
- set your printer to print at the highest quality available matching the type of paper you are using
- whether you are using 'A4' or 'Letter' (US) sized paper, always set 'page scaling' to 'none':
the print area has already been optimised to fit both sizes
- each instrument starts on a new page within the 'instruments part' hence use the page numbers if you wish to print specific parts only
SELECTIONS
each time you search for pieces on musicway the "recently browsed pieces" list updates automatically
you can also create 'permanent' selection lists (e.g. for pieces to review next time you visit, or share with others working on your project)
to create a selection list, you must first have an "ID": you'll probably only need one of these and it could be the same as your e-mail address
please note that anyone entering your ID will be able to browse and update your selection lists, so if confidentiality is a concern we suggest you use an unusual name for your ID
once you have an ID, you can create selection lists, add pieces to those lists (or remove them from those lists) - and all of this is remembered for next time you vist the website
selections are not linked to orders or payment