Record a Music Video with Musical.Ly
Musical.ly is a free app for iOS and Android that allows you to record a video on your phone and set it to music to create your own music video. The Android app closely mirrors the iOS version. You can either choose a song first and record a video to go along with it, or shoot something first and then choose a perfect song for it. Learn how to use the controls and features of Musical.ly to start recording your own “musical” and sharing it with friends or the Musical.ly community.
Contents
Steps
Choosing Music for Your Video
- Locate and open the app. Download the free Musical.ly app on your iOS, Android, or Amazon device, then tap the icon for it, which features a red circle and a sound wave image.
- If you’re using an iOS device, Musical.ly requires iOS 7.0 or later on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and can be downloaded through iTunes.
- If you’re using an Android device, Musical.ly requires Android 4.1 and up on any phone or tablet that supports Google Play. On an Amazon fire phone or tablet, you can use the Amazon Marketplace to download the app.
- Tap the yellow “+” button. Sign in and the app will bring you to the home screen. Tap the yellow button in the bottom middle of the screen to start adding music.
- Choose the “pick music” option on the bottom left to select from Musical.ly’s music library or your own music from your device.
- Choose the “shoot first” or “from library” options at the bottom middle or right to shoot or upload a video first instead of choosing music.
- Choose music from the online library. Tap “pick music” and Musical.ly’s online library will appear with categories to browse through or search using the search bar at the top.
- Tap any category in the online library, such as “popular,” “lip-sync classic, ” “rock,” “sound effects,” etc. Scroll through the song options and tap the triangle over the album art on the left to hear the available clip of the song.
- Use the search bar at the top of the online library to search for a specific song.
- Select the song you decide on and you will be automatically brought to the screen for capturing video. Allow the app to access your device’s camera and microphone if you are prompted to do so.
- Choose a song from your own music. Tap “pick music” and then choose the “my songs” tab in the upper right to access your own music instead of Musical.ly’s online library.
- Browse the music you have saved locally on your device in the default “Music” app that came with your device. Tap the triangle over the album art on the left to hear the full song.
- Search your locally saved music for a specific song by using the search bar at the top of the screen.
- Note that only some music is licensed to be uploaded to Musical.ly, so not all of your songs will work with the app.
- Select the song you decide on and to move on to capturing video. Allow the app to access your device’s camera and microphone if you are prompted to do so.
- Cut the music clip to play it from a particular spot. On the recording screen, tap the top button on the right, which has an image of a pair of scissors, to adjust where you would like the song to begin for your video.
- When you tap the scissors button, the music clip will begin playing and you’ll be prompted to “scroll to cut music.” Swipe to the left along the music bar at the bottom to adjust where in the clip the music will start. Tap the yellow checkmark button when you’re done.
- Note that you can only record video to go along with 15 seconds of music, so you will not be able to play the full length of a song.
- You cannot change the speed of the music. The speed controls available at the bottom of the recording screen control the video speed; they will temporarily slow down or speed up your music selection while recording, but it will be played at normal speed in the final video.
Shooting the Video
- Adjust the speed of your video. Choose a speed level from the horizontal bar above the red record button on the recording screen. “Norm” will record your video at standard speed.
- “Slow” will slow down your video, while “Epic” will play it even slower. Note that if you chose a song first, it will play faster while you record the video, but plays at normal speed on final playback.
- “Fast” will speed up your video, while “Epic” will play it very quickly. Note that if you chose music first, the song will play slower while recording, but plays at normal speed on final playback.
- Shoot your video. To start recording, press and hold the red record button that features a video camera image at the bottom of the screen.
- Press and hold for as long as you want to record video. You can pause to adjust what you are recording by lifting your finger from the button at any time. Resume recording from where you left off in the song by pressing and holding the button again. The final video will put these segments together seamlessly.
- Record as many separate segments as you like within the 15-second time period. You can see the segments of the recording time elapsed in the bar at the top of your screen, which will help you determine how much recording time you have left. Tap the green checkmark in the upper right if you want to end the recording before the full 15 seconds are up.
- When you record a segment, a button appears featuring an “x” delete image. Tap this to delete the last segment you have recorded. The app will prompt you to confirm this action.
- Flip between front and rear cameras. Use the button on the right of the recording screen that features arrows in a circle to toggle back and forth between the front-facing and rear-facing cameras on your device for recording.
- If you are recording using one camera and want to switch to the other, lift your finger from the record button, tap the switch camera button, then record your next segment using that camera. You can switch as many times as you like for your video.
- Note that the flash feature is not available for the front-facing camera on most devices.
- Set a timer to shoot hands-free. Choose the third button from the top that features a timer image and the number 5 to enable a timer that will count down from 5 and allow you to record without pressing and holding the record button.
- Once this feature is enabled, you can stop recording the segment by tapping the red circle at the bottom of the screen.
- Use any of the other recording control buttons, like the switching the camera or turning on the flash, before setting the timer to record.
- Turn flash on or off. Use the bottom button on the right that features a lightning bolt image to turn on the flash on your device’s camera. Tap again to disable flash.
- Note that flash only works on the rear camera on most devices.
- Try the “shoot first” option. Record video right away before selecting music for it by tapping the yellow “+” from the home screen and selecting “shoot first” instead of “pick music.”
- Try the “live moment” feature in the bottom right of the recording screen to have your camera take five still photos in quick succession, which will then be played on GIF-style loop that you can pair music to.
- Choose music after you shoot your video by tapping the icon in the upper right of the editing screen.
- Try selecting a video you have already recorded. Choose a video you already have saved on your device instead of shooting a new one in the app by tapping the yellow “+” from the home screen and selecting “from library.”
- Import either a video or a succession of photos to play on a loop by tapping “photo slideshow” or “video” when prompted.
- Allow the app to access photos on your device if prompted to do so.
- You can then adjust your video by shortening it with the bar at the bottom of the screen, or rotating it by 90° using the button on the right.
- Add music after you choose your video by tapping the icon in the upper right of the editing screen.
Editing and Sharing the Video
- View your video and decide if you want to edit it. Once you’ve reached the full time allowed for shooting the video, view your video automatically from the editing screen, which will provide you with several editing features and play your complete video on a loop.
- You can always go back and re-shoot or discard the video by tapping the back arrow in the upper left corner of the screen. Just note that your current video will be lost unless you save it first.
- Select a different song for your video. Once you’ve chosen music and shot a video, tap the circle that shows the album art of the song you chose in the upper right corner of the screen if you wish to set your video to a different song.
- If you shot your video first, you will choose the music for it here to replace the original sound recorded during the video.
- Choose a song from the same menu of online library clips and your own music that you used to select a song previously. This new song will be played along with your existing video in the editing screen.
- Adjust your song by cutting it with the scissor icon button, which appears at the top right below the album art. Slide the bar back and forth to control where the song will begin for your video.
- Adjust sound with the audio mixer. Tap the second button from the top on the right that features three sliders to adjust the level of sound from your video and the music.
- Move the slider to the left toward the music symbol to make the song play more prominently in your video; move it to the right toward the microphone symbols to make the sounds picked up from your own recording play more prominently in the video.
- Tap the yellow checkmark button when you’re done to return to the editing screen.
- Choose a color filter to enhance the image. Tap the second from the bottom button on the right that features an image of three colored circles to access color filters. Choose from a variety of settings to apply to your video.
- Pick from 12 different color filters available, which will preview on your playing video, or select “none” to keep the appearance of your video as is.
- Note that one of the filters, “cello,” must be unlocked by following Musical.ly’s official Instagram account, or at least view the account on Instagram when prompted.
- When you’ve made your filter selection, tap the yellow checkmark to apply it and return to the editing screen.
- Use the “time machine” feature to alter your video. Tap the bottom button on the right that features a timer icon to access the “time machine” menu, where you can make edits to how your video appears.
- Choose the “reverse” mode to play your video backwards. Use “time trap” to play part of your video over again quickly by adjusting the slider at the top of the screen to choose the point you want in the video. Use “relativity” to change the speed of a portion of your video by adjusting the slider at the top.
- Note that the “relativity” mode must be unlocked by sharing a Musical.ly video to Instagram, or at lease opening the dialog box that allows you to do so.
- Add a caption and share. Type any caption you wish toward the bottom of the screen where it prompts “title with #tag @friend.” Then tap “save private” to save to your phone, or “post” to share it on social media or with the Musical.ly community.
- Use hashtags with “#” preceding words so others can find your video when searching that term, and tag friends on Musical.ly by using “@” before their username.
- Choose “save private” to save your video only for private viewing from your profile (note that saved videos will be deleted when the app is deleted unless you also save them to your Camera Roll/Photos). Select “post” to add the video to your profile and share it publically with the Musical.ly community.
- After making either selection, a page will come up that prompts you to “share with friends” and provides buttons to post the video to social media like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Whatsapp, or Vine. Or share the video through email, text message, etc.
Making Duets
- Find a video.
- Go to the person who you want to duet with and choose the video that you want to duet with.
- Next tap the "..." button in the bottom right corner. Then choose create duet.
- Record the Duet.
- Record the video just like at normal video. Then click the check in the upper right corner.
- Share the Duet.
- When you see your musical you should notice that it changes between your video and the other person's.
- It should already saw #duet with @person and then you can put any hashtags you want.
- Then you can either save private or post the musical.
- The lightning bolt button is so that you can see all your notifications, who has followed you or liked your videos.
- if there is a particular person/people you like you can put on post notifications so it notifies you when they have posted a new musical.ly.
Tips
- If you're going to make a video and you don't know what to do press the "search" and press sound, put the name of the song and look at other people's ideas.
- You can create a “duet” video and record a video with another Musical.ly user no matter where they are. Go to the profile of someone who you follow and who follows you, tap the “...” icon, and then tap “start duet now!” To start recording segments along with that person.
Warnings
- Android tablets and some Android phones are not fully supported by the current version of the app. Musical.ly says they are working to make the app fully functional on all devices, but in the meantime encourage you to report issues to support.android@musical.ly.
- Avoid going back using the back arrow in the upper left, or exiting the app, until you’ve edited and saved a video. Otherwise, your recordings and adjustments may be lost.
- People are on the other side of the screen. Make sure your comments are nice. People can report you otherwise!
- Follow the musically guidelines, otherwise musically might delete your account if you are under 13 years of age.
