SmartSound
Overview
SmartSound is a subscription-based online music library that provides royalty free music to be used as background music to all staff and students of Carroll County Public Schools.
Users can search or browse thousands of audio tracks, and then download specific tracks, smaller segments of a track, or even customize the length of the track needed to include in multimedia projects.
If necessary, users have the rights to edit the downloaded music using any audio editing tool available to them to incorporate as background music in their projects.
Staff and students may also access this site from home for work on school-based projects.
Very important! Although the website provides an option for purchasing additional audio singles, albums, software, etc. to use with their tracks, you are not permitted to use the CCPS login found on this page for this purpose.
Teachers, staff and students are required to follow the guidelines described in the CCPS Smartsound Terms of Use when using SmartSound. Please be sure you read and understand the terms before using this service. If you have any questions about the terms of use for this subscription, please ask your media specialist or contact a member of the ITT team.
Curriculum Connections
Use Smartsound music as background music to set the mood or tone for staff, teacher or student created podcasts, videos or other multimedia projects.
Smartsound works best with Chrome or Firefox web browsers.
Getting Started
Go to: http://www.smartsound.com/
Click on the Login button in the upper right hand side of the page.
3. Input the email/username and password.
Note: If you do not login, any downloaded tracks will include a voice saying “SmartSound” every few seconds.
The email/username for CCPS is: ccpsaudio.
Input the current password which changes every month.
Click here to reveal the current password - available with a CCPS Office 365 account only!
Once logged in, you should see the following screen.
Quicktracks is the online search and music track editor provided by Smartsound.
4. Click on the link that says Browse Royalty Free Music.
There are a variety of ways to browse for tracks. You can enter in a keyword in the Search field, or use the filters on the left of the screen. Once you have found a track, click on the arrow to preview the track.
5. Once you find one to use, click on Customize Track or Customize for more options.
Notice that the track will come in common broadcasting lengths and can be downloaded as is, but it can also be customized for the exact length of your project.
You can also change the track’s variations, and select from different instrument mixes by using the down arrows. Click the playback icon to preview the changes.
6. Once done, click on the Download icon next to the track you need.
7. Select the mp3 format for your track. Then, pay attention to where the track is downloaded, or you may have the option to Save As and download the track to a location you can specify. The download location depends on the browser you are using.
You now have an audio track or tracks to use in your project! If necessary, you are permitted to edit the audio track using any software you have license to use, or edit the audio using any built-in audio tools in applications, such as Movie Maker, Premiere Elements, etc..
Although not required for this subscription, it would be appreciated if you give proper citation to the service and the artist. For the examples below, NoodleTools Express (no login needed) was used to generate the citations, using General Audio Content category with an Audio Clip (Online). The APA example used the database option.
MLA Citation Example:
“A New Day.” Hypnotic Vibe. Composed by Chris O’Brien. SSI Music Publishing. SmartSound. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://www.smartsound.com/royalty-free-music/Hypnotic+Vibe/A+New+Day/>.
APA Citation Example
O’Brien, C. (n.d.). A New Day [Audio file]. Retrieved from SmartSound database.