Hello everyone,
first, thanks to Mr. Fox for organizing this competition. I really liked the theme and the picture you chose to inspire us.
My experience this month:
I had a lot of fun writing this month's song because I had a vague idea how to write a dreadful song. I knew I wanted deep bowed Basses as a foundation. Also, I wanted dissonant string stabs like in the "Psycho"-Soundtrack. Drums were not so important for the feeling of the song, so I went with slow but heavy Taiko Drums from Native Instruments' Action Strikes. I added the piano, doubled it and decided to detune it some cents on one side to give it a little "off"-feeling.
For the first time, I experimented with the MNTRA MDALA engine. The user interface is a little strange and needs to get used to. They had two presets that I used as background effects, the monster's breath and the dissonant metallic pad.
What the song was missing was some musical idea. I first experimented with my electric guitar, but it changed the atmosphere of the song too much (think of the guitars on Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs"). I then experimented with the "Trumpet 2" from Native Instruments' "Session Horns Pro" but found it not haunting enough. In the end, I decided to go with the "Mute Trumpet" from "Session Horns Pro" (again) and ran it through Unfiltered Audio's "BYOME" with the "Simple filtered delay"-preset to give it a little of an unearthly feeling. And yes, it is the blues scale again (pentatonic scale + tritonus), so the melody will probably sound familiar. The horror part for me was playing a blues scale on the keyboard starting from c# (in the second part).
Feedback:
I will not comment on the mixes, as they all sounded great to me. The feedback is from a subjective listener's perspective.
A Future in Noise - Behind The Scenes
The song with its different parts sounds like the soundtrack to retro Halloween cartoons or a silent movie like "Nosferatu". The orchestral parts sound very classical.
The singing saw is a great idea for a Halloween theme, and its sounds fit perfectly to the song. It works best with the piano accompaniment.
I'm a little disappointed that the steps and the water drops aren't integrated later in the song.
All in all, a great soundtrack that fires up one's imagination of what is happening behind the scenes.
becsei_gyorgy - Ghostly
The song starts with a mixture of calming and disturbing sounds and noises and builds up tension slowly. The part after the sudden pause around 2:09 introduces a choir and melodic elements which don't really connect to the ambience before. I imagine someone slowly exploring an abandoned sawmill (metallic sounds) or an old church (choir) in the middle of dark woods.
Doc John - Behind You
Spooky! I like how you integrated the Foley sounds into the musical structure of the song. The hovering guitar sounds otherworldly. The combination of dissonant and harmonic sounds is masterful. I'd imagine it being the soundtrack of a ghost film with jump scares or a slasher movie like "Chucky" or "Scream".
Esteve Corbera - Crescendo Terrorific
Haunting! I like how the Foley sounds are integrated in the song. I like the glockenspiel melody against the dooming background drones. The upwards going chords increase the tension. The ending keeps me hanging in my chair: Will there be a loud effect at the end? I kind of expect it even after the song ended, which is good; it keeps the listener tense and engaged even after the end of the song.
I think of it as a soundtrack to a "murdered girl haunting the house she was murdered in" type of film.
VCA-089 aka Infravolt - Blinds
Unnerving! It builds up tension in the first part. I really like the masterful drone sounds and the drums and percussion. My main concern is that to me, the harmonies are meandering a bit around without leading somewhere. Partly that builds tension, but when the chords repeat, they leave the listener hanging.
I think the distorted bass sounds quite industrial together with the drums. Therefore, this song would be a great soundtrack for a horror game, a slasher flick or especially a Sci-Fi-Horror movie like the "Alien" films.
My Top 5:
Again, the songs were very close in quality and I liked them all, so it is difficult to rank them. The ranking is based on my gut feeling.
► Show Spoiler
1. Doc John - Behind You
2. Esteve Corbera - Crescendo Terrorific
3. VCA-089 aka Infravolt - Blinds
4. becsei_gyorgy - Ghostly
5. A Future in Noise - Behind The Scenes
How do we go from there?
