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Favourite background/instrumental music from k-dramas?

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What are some of your favourite instrumental tracks/background score from k-dramas? Post them here!

It's a shame people mostly call music composers "various artists" on Youtube. I have a lot but here are some of my favourites: 


and the acoustic guitar songs from Eulachacha Waikiki 1:43 16:50 23:30 

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I'm gonna start soft, based on what you posted.
My two favorite tunes from "The Last Empress."

Last Empress - Imminent Plot

Something very strange is happening during this music. It's as if the main rhythm is in one time structure, and the notes on the violin are in another. The effect is striking.

Last Empress - The Emperor Is Innocent

This music could be used in a "Terminator" movie. But in the drama, it is used to highlight scenes of very violent arguments.

My country the new age - Farewell

Even though the drama disappointed me, it contains this most beautiful drama song I have ever heard. A play of genius.

On your list, "Betrayal" music is my favorite. I think you won't be disappointed when I post other music that is in the same style.

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Queen of Ambition.
The whole record is not one of my favourites, however, it contains my favourite piece in the classical style.
In The Beginning (Sad Ver.)

Of course, with such strong music, the drama acquires a titanic emotional strength. A music that has nothing to envy to the best compositions of Ennio Morricone.

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about TLE: there is also another epic music that's not in the OST, in case anyone is still looking for it:

few other TLE music:

and this one feels emotional for me at 1:00

liked a few others but they didn't get released. 


 W two worlds Season 2:
On your list, "Betrayal" music is my favorite. I think you won't be disappointed when I post other music that is in the same style.

 the music composers of The Promise also composed the BGM for Left Handed Wife, some people disliked LHW it's rated low here but I loved it lol I felt the similar makjang on steroids from watching TLE... I get addicted to watching makjangs/melodramas! why do I usually like the unpopular dramas no one cares about :/

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I love this one,  idk why it kinda reminds me of Death Note? I'd imagine if Death Note had a k-drama this would be the type of music that plays when L wants to catch Light

this one starts out creepy/dark but I love the electric guitar in this.

an unreleased track, which I edited myself (please excuse the sound effects at the beginning piano part) it feels eerie and mysterious! wonder why it wasn't in the OST

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I already wanted to see "The Promise" because daily drama is the only way to see an actress like Park Ha Na. But with this good music, it makes me want to do it even more!
Children of Nobody: well seen for the correspondence with the anime Death Note (or Kaiji, by the same composer).
I just happened to look at the links on this page :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6qvce0nUdbC6kR1FY4e5w
There are the channels of my favorite musicians: Lee Roo Ri, Jung Se Rin, Noh Yoo-Rim.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC78Ceoe_XASYxLBzt0AAMYA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn5AV6yrRyrmnbzZ-ijlYqw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiVaVdm7cxQawAoIk7mmXg
I'm very surprised, and it's a good thing that these "Various Artist" show up more under their real name, and post their music.

The first music of Children of Nobody reminds me of Signal. Unfortunately, I don't have the correspondence with the names of the musicians, sorry!

Here, my fav BGM from Signal :


And of course, this famous piano theme by Jung Se Rin:

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I am now presenting one of the best BGM records to my knowledge.


"Sandglass", an iconic drama from 1995, the fourth highest rating in Korean history, peaking at 64.7%. When the drama aired, the streets were deserted.
Composed by Choi Kyung Sik, the soundtrack was not copied, and retains its unique qualities. You can't find this kind of music on today's dramas anymore.
The music creates an indefinable atmosphere, beyond sadness and tragedy. Nostalgic or melancholic, it's impossible to define with words, and it's better to just listen. The whole drama is bathed in this atmosphere and is of a raw, unrefined and very deep sadness. One can only imagine that all this music sounds like the ashes of a dead man scattered in the wind.

OST Sandglass - Main Theme

OST Sandglass - Tae Soo's Theme

And my favorite composition:
OST Sandglass - Yesterday's Tomorrow - Woo Suk's Theme





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I am now presenting my favourite BGM record in the classical music genre.
Hwang Jin Yi.
The record is of extreme density: by that I mean that it contains distinctive music of absolute quality, and in very large numbers. Music that is not only beautiful in the drama, but that can be listened to as one would listen to a Chopin record. This is rare, especially when the genre is classical music, since often classical background music is primarily functional.
A large number of musics are declined in instrumental or sung versions, or with choirs. So I'll post my favorite version for each one. Some songs actually look more like background music compositions, than OST songs themselves.

The dance of crane.

The last part of this composition is actually this:
Hae Uh Hwa. Song version. This is the Main Title of the drama.

Yet another version, with a different musical intro, and the last part with choirs instead of singing:
The dance of the sword

This gives an idea of the wide variety of different versions and arrangements that can be made from a single title on the OST disc. The disc is fatally reductive of what can be heard in the drama.

Ya Hwa.
My favourite composition, it reminds me of the main music of "Once upon a time the revolution" by Ennio Morriconne.

Another version, used in the drama with a different intro, and which I prefer the rise in tension: the passage going from 00:15 to 00:32.

Ung Kwi Ba Ram.

A violinist who liked this piece plays it (it's karaoke violin):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX6Xh-SWwQ4

Nabbeun Saram (Bad person). I prefer the singing version here.

Look At Me. Here too, I prefer the singing version.

꽃날 (The day of the flower).

One enthusiast offers his version on the piano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIrkAHBZjk
Musicians from the conservatory performing this piece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDKZuNx5GpY


Je Ae.

Heartless Flower. It is also my favourite composition. Not only is the music beautiful, but it also reflects the sadness of the main character, her sad destiny.

Musicians performing this piece (maybe students), the tempo is slow and the sound unfortunately very bad. But it's always interesting to see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih23zdeCTCI

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 W two worlds Season 2:
I already wanted to see "The Promise" because daily drama is the only way to see an actress like Park Ha Na. But with this good music, it makes me want to do it even more!
Children of Nobody: well seen for the correspondence with the anime Death Note (or Kaiji, by the same composer).

I'm in the middle of watching The Promise (at around 50 episodes now) and also her currently airing drama Fatal Promise, but I'm more attached to the plot/characters of The Promise. There's also a rap version of "Betrayal" music, I was surprised when it started playing in one of the later episodes 0_0 I've always wanted to see a k-drama version of Death Note, I'm imagining it'd be on OCN or MBC. I haven't seen Signal yet but some of the music does interest me into watching it... but first I'm pretty excited to binge on The World of the Married, since it's ending next week! There's hardly any makjang dramas nowadays unless it's a daily/family drama.

I miss these good old makjang BGM


now this one's not that old (Uncontrollably Fond) but the first 30 seconds of it reminded me of The Innocent Man? the song is supposed to be longer with piano in the first half but the uploader cut it short 

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I also like these ones:

also the Gracious Revenge ending theme song, but they didn't release the BGM OST??

 it's getting late now. Anyone want to recommend me more "makjang" music please post them! :D

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I've managed to find you some Makjang style music!
It's from Miss Ripley, one of my favorite dramas. It's a biopic based on a true story, but the drama has a Majkang charm, thanks to this music:
https://youtu.be/FjPaIZbstZg?t=3001
(from 50:04 to 52:04)
I  like the intro with the accordion (set at 51:40 on this version). There's also a beat and the violins of destiny.
It's a theme we hear very often, 3 or 4 times per episode.

Many other themes are variations of this song :
GLASS.

I don't usually pay attention to the words, but this time I liked it.
It says that love is as fragile as glass. As you can imagine, there's a lot of broken glass in the drama. The main character is well illustrated by this song, and gives the impression that she is also broken glass.

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More Makjang. I guess Hotel King is drama in that style, but I'm not sure.
Fun facts about drama:
- I thought Lee Dong Wook was the best Korean actor after seeing the drama. I was wrong, it's just that he was exceptional only here.
- The drama contains the longest crying fit scene I've ever seen. Endless! But it's successful.

The BGM tracks have a classy side, reflecting the sophistication of a luxury hotel.

Main Title.

Secret.

This is my favourite BGM, which reflects the atmosphere of mystery and conspiracy that reigns in the hotel.

Unfortunately, there is not much other music I like. And often the songs do better in drama to support the scenes or the emotion.

Vanilla Acoustic - Same Place.

In addition to the piano intro, the music becomes particularly interesting from the middle (01.25), A well elaborated piano bridge. There are chords with a jazzy harmony.

Kim Jin Ho - Hurts.

That's the end credits. I like the effect of surprise and contrast, between the classic intro, typical of the Makjang/Hotel atmosphere, followed by a punchy song. It's a song that's hard to get out of your head.
Here is a piano version that allows you to spot the harmony better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsoPXYWVNyI

Melody Day - I'll Be Waiting.

Typically, this song is very good as a BGM on many stages, especially the first minute. Too bad the beginning of the chorus (01:10) sounds a bit too much like "My Destiny" (My love from the star), otherwise it's a flawless one.

Because It's You - The One.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDfJpvcr_Bo
Here, it's the intro that causes an effect during the drama. I don't remember much about the drama, but I think there's also an instrumental version used in BGM. Otherwise, I don't particularly like this song.


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About "Nice Guy." The music is good. I also like the actors, especially Moon Chae Woon and Lee Sang Yeob (convincing villain in "While you were sleeping"). It's definitely a drama that I want to see. I can't imagine being disappointed.

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thanks for sharing. "Secret" sounds eerie, it sounds like it could be used in a ghost movie?

am watching The Promise, that song Promise - Elaine ft. Yoo Noo is playing more often now in ep 50s. I prefer the version without the singing though (as posted above). For some reason I don't really like it even though I usually like rap in k-pop so I like listening to this one instead

It's weird I had the similar experience when watching A Korean Odyssey, I thought "Always You" (OST #8) was a background music until Leesa started singing in one of the last few episodes. They always played an acoustic guitar version of it throughout the drama but never released it - that sucks because I loved it more than the singing version (this is the only scene when there was no talking over the music):

Plus the drama had a lot of unreleased instrumentals as well... like the music when Son Oh Gong took away his name from Jin Sun Mi's memory in ep 1, I loved that one T_T

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Hotel King doesn't have a ghost story!
I don't remember all the details of the story. It starts with the suspicious death of the hotel owner. So his daughter and heiress comes to the hotel, and the atmosphere is really very suspicious. Dark past, assassination attempt, disturbing characters, buried secrets, power struggle. Obviously, heroin is not welcome in her hotel!

The musical version of "The promise" is actually better, but I don't like rap so that's an obvious opinion. It's a pity that the piano sound at the beginning is not used afterwards.

I continue with BGM.
Empress KI!

Main Theme

This music immediately creates shivers, and you hear it very often in the drama.
From 00:50 onwards, there is a nice dramatic surge.
I love this whole theme. It has many different parts. The beginning can be used in a scene to create a thrill. The middle in imperial and grandiose scenes.
There's a bit too much spoiler in the MV, but I think it's well done. The youtuber put a filter that reinforces the contrast and gives a sad and tired aspect to the characters. And of course, he chose only sad and tragic scenes.

Opening Title

It's not the style of music I like, but it's so played that I've gotten used to it. There are a lot of variations throughout the piece, which are used in various scenes. The beginning of the theme has a grandiose side to it that hints at a more exciting drama than Game of Thrones.

Thorne Love.

That's the song used in the end credits. So not exactly a BGM, then. Besides, when the song is used during the drama, it doesn't go down well. On the other hand, as credits, it's perfect.

Empress Ki - I Love You.

Conversely, this song is very good as a BGM song. There's an instrumental version.
I'll stop there with the songs, because on the whole, the majority of the songs are good. Some bits here and there are rearranged and used in BGM. Some whole songs go very well.

Even though it's one of my Top dramas, I don't like the other BGMs as music to listen to. But it's effective during the action!

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