Public Domain: The Shocking Truth!

Having been some time since I've talked about the issue of music and cartoons. I've mentioned things quite a bit, but let's face it--music and cartoons go hand in hand.

So now having learned something I somewhat referenced in a past post about music. I vaguely touched on Public Domain music. Where I mentioned "the older the better".

Turns out, that's only a half truth. Why? Well let me tel you.

While an old song may be public domain, that really only covers the sheet music, any lyrics.

The catch here is, any recordings or productions made from that music are protected by copyright and belong to that particular creator. And that recording won't enter public domain until at least 75 years after the death of that creator.

So even though an old dusty piece of classical music is up for grabs, every individual musician or group are the rightful owners of their respective recordings. And therefore you cannot use that 150+ year old song unless you go about getting the proper permissions to use it.

Of course you could always time travel 100 years or so into the future, make your toon and then come back.

Space Barbarian Opening

My Space Barbarian opening! It's been up over the Hoot'Nanny Youtube channel for a while. Decided to post it here as well. This would count as my first proper flash animation. Yes, those sound effects you hear are classic Hanna-Barbera sounds. Royalty free sound effects, at that! Well sorta. Boy I got plenty more legal mumbo jumbo knowledge while I was finding suitable sounds.

I can't tell you how many classic cartoon openings I watched while I was huting down proper music for the theme. The theme is also royalty free music. The drums for the title card is an original composition. Not much too it, but I think I did alright for someone without musical ability. 

Til next time, toonsters!

A Sound Idea Redux: Flashkit.com

While looking through my stock music I ran across some catchy tunes that I could not remember where I'd gotten them.

Anyhow, long story short I finally thought to check the file's properties and found they were from Flashkit.com I can't believe I'd forgotten to make mention of such a great resource.

They've got music, sound effects, tutorials of all manner and many other flash related goodies. Most importantly IT'S ALL FREE. Or free-ish. I've not yet found any particular restrictions or anything. Seems many may share the music and sounds for promotion. There are a few royalty free services that offer samples on Flashkit.

And there you have one more resource for your creative needs.