Last Updated on 17 July 2026
Hearing impaired subtitles don’t just include what the people are saying. They are also used to describe sound effects and the background music being played. These music descriptions are all generated by humans, not by AI.
I generally watch TV shows and movies with subtitles on. While watching The Traitors, I’ve noticed that they use a variety of music throughout the show. I started making a list of the different music descriptions I saw, and the quantity is impressive.
Sometimes the music description is just [blank] music and sometimes it has more description, like this:
- [style] [effect] or [style] [instrumentation] [effect] or just two different adjectives
- Dramatic music
- Dramatic beat
- Dramatic music sting
- Dramatic music swells (or builds)
- Dramatic ambient music
- Dramatic fateful music
- Dramatic intense music
- Dramatic bagpipe music
- Dramatic choral music
- Dramatic electronic music
- Dramatic orchestral music
- Dramatic piano music
- Dramatic soundtrack music
Here is a list of all the general descriptions I’ve seen, with one or two adjectives:
- Adventurous music
- Bright music
- Brooding music
- Calm music
- Calm intense music
- Chilled music
- Chugging blues rock music
- Clandestine music
- Curious music
- Dark music
- Dark brooding music
- Dark dramatic music
- Dark overbearing music
- Deflated music
- Dramatic music
- Dramatic orchestral pop music
- Dramatic rumbling music
- Eerie music
- Eerie ambient music
- Eerie serene music
- Emotional music
- Epic triumphant music
- Fateful rock music
- Funky music
- Gentle music
- Gentle ominous music
- Gloomy music
- Haunting music
- Heavy percussive music
- Hopeful music
- Intense music
- Intense dramatic music
- Intense rock music
- Intense suspenseful music
- Intriguing music
- Lively music
- Melancholic music
- Mellow somber music
- Mysterious music
- Nefarious music
- Nostalgic Music
- Ominous music
- Organ music
- Pensive music
- Pensive ambient music
- Pensive instrumental music
- Plucky music
- Poignant music
- Punchy dramatic music
- Quaint music
- Rhythmic dark music
- Rousing music
- Sad music
- Sad dramatic music
- Shrill horror sting
- Sinister music
- Slow dark music
- Soft dramatic music
- Soft somber music
- Soft synth music
- Soft vocalized music
- Somber music
- Somber bouncy music
- Spooky music
- Steady music
- Suspenseful music
- Swirling dramatic music
- Tense music
- Tense awkward music
- Tense blues rock music
- Tense emotional music
- Tense ominous music
- Tense pulsing music
- Triumphant music
- Upbeat music
- Upbeat dance music
- Upbeat fateful music
- Upbeat jazz music
- Upbeat percussive music
- Upbeat rocky music
- Uplifting music
- Urgent music
- Whimsical music
