Stock Music - The Home Recording Studio

25Apr 2025 by Jon

The Secret Sauce Behind This Hip Hop Track

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Recording, Recording & Mixing, Sampling, Sound Effects, Stock Music

I recently released a video about a track that brought me some real success. As a composer for Motion Array, I can tell you—it’s a tough marketplace to crack! The bar is already high just to get accepted as a composer, but once you’re in, each track you submit goes through a strict review process. There is one genre, however, that never lets me down. In the video (linked below), I break down my Upbeat Funky Hip Hop track, which earned Motion Array's highest stamp of approval: "Staff Pick". https://youtu.be/Ef-ZdSMNUyU This style of Hip Hop thrives on chopped sampling, so you'll need some sweet-sounding samples to pull it off. That’s where Vintage Vibe comes in—a sample pack loaded with over 50 soul and jazz-inspired guitar loops. These loops are perfect for adding warmth, groove, and authenticity to your beats. You can…

14Sep 2022 by Jon

How to Produce High-Energy Hip-Hop (90s-Inspired, Sample-Based Workflow)

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Sampling, Stock Music, Techniques

High-energy hip-hop is a hugely popular style in sync licensing, stock music, and modern production, and it’s also one of the most fun genres to produce. In this tutorial, I break down one of my own high-energy hip-hop tracks, showing you the sounds, samples, and production techniques I use to capture that upbeat, vintage-inspired feel with a modern twist. 👉 Watch the full video breakdown here https://youtu.be/cin_4NJPx1c What Is High-Energy Hip-Hop? The style I’m focusing on here is heavily influenced by 90s hip-hop, particularly sample-driven records that blend funk, soul, spoken word, and turntable-style rhythms. Common Characteristics of High-Energy Hip-Hop Strong influence from 90s hip-hop Largely sample-based Vintage, dusty, or lo-fi flavour Funk and soul samples Tempos typically between 90–100 BPM Spoken-word and vocal phrase samples Scratch-style sounds Repetition balanced…

06Sep 2022 by Jon

How to create 60 second edits like a pro

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Sound Effects, Stock Music, Techniques

Do you compose Stock Music or Production music? Then you need to create edits of your tracks. In this guide, I show you how to create 60 second edits like a pro! Why do I need to create edits? So, you've created your track and you want to upload it to Stock Music Libraries like Pond5 and Audiojungle. However, if you want to maximise your chances of selling, you need to create some edits. Here's why: Edits add value for the customerCustomers may need longer than the track you have created - this is why we make Loop editsCustomers need short, concise edits for certain mediums30 or 60 seconds is a common length for TV or Radio commercialsYou can sell edits as separate tracks (on certain libraries), increasing the potential…

26Feb 2022 by Jon

How to get your music on Pond5’s Subscription Service

Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Stock Music

****UPDATE**** As of June 2022 Pond5 automatically includes all your music in their subscription service. Watch MY LATEST video below for up-to-date information! https://youtu.be/d1VqqZFNIu0 For music composers who are already selling tracks on Pond5, you may be aware that customers can sign up for a subscription service. However, Pond5 don't make it obvious how to submit your music to sell through subscription. Here I explain in detail, the steps I took to contact Pond5, how to present your tracks for submission and how quickly I got accepted. Watch the video for more information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnYUWbHxuRM Click here for more Blog posts.

01Oct 2021 by Jon

Free Tools for Composers

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Sampling, Sound Design, Sound Effects, Stock Music, Techniques, Virtual Instruments

There are many free plugins and sample libraries available if you know where to look. But what might surprise you is just how good some of them sound! As a composer for production music libraries and I use these free tools in my own compositions. So please try them out for yourself and have fun! In addition, check out my latest video. I'll show you how to create a cinematic percussion track using an amazing FREE sample library. https://youtu.be/kurh2D9Qh3E https://youtu.be/kurh2D9Qh3E Spitfire Audio, Labs. Let’s start with Labs by Spitfire Audio. This huge collection of high-quality instruments has to be heard to be believed. Labs covers a vast range of instruments from mandolins to synthesizers. Furthermore, the collection is growing all the time. So why not check them out! Kontakt Player…

Category: Stock Music