Nice piece but.....
Too short.
Not really scary at all but nicely atmospheric.
Unresolved.
Music and fear
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Vlad The Impaler
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Draxxis
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Powderfinger
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mosespa
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In Response To The Question: What Makes Music Scary?
Speaking for myself, I used to be scared witless by the intro to Empty Spaces...I'll use it as an example here.
We have a melody in a minor key. I believe the minor key to suggest darker moods (sadness, guilt, etc.) because of it's claustrophobic movement. One of the dominant tones in a chord (or scale) is the third. In a minor key, the third is moved half a step closer to the root note than in a major scale. This movement closer to the root note suggests a claustrophobic closeness or perhaps even a failed attempt to break free of the root note. Whereas the major third would be a satisfying break from the root, the minor third suggests a failure to break...a falling back, if you will.
The Minor Third has a more dissonant quality than the major third. As does agumented or diminished fifths. Dissonance lends an ominous air to a musical piece due to it's break with comfortable familiarity.
The unknown is the greatest fear mankind faces. When confronted with the unfamiliar in music, it touches upon our sense of dread. Dissonance, almost by definition, is largely unfamiliar to music as it is not a common occurence in popular music. Thus, popular is the familiar or the known and dissonance is the unfamiliar or unknown.
Hence, dread and/or fear.
Another ingredient to add a fearsome quality to music is the timbre of the instruments themselves. For example, a guitar with a thin, cold sound is more likely to sound ominous than a guitar with a fat, warm sound. Perhaps the "cold" sound connotes the coldness of death...or maybe that's just me.
Generous use of reverb creates a feeling of distance...another melancholic feeling.
Odd manipulations of effects can also add eerie sounds. Take a chorus pedal sometime and turn the depth AND speed all the way up, then pick the high E string at the 12th fret and bend it...let it ring out...it sounds a bit like a scream heard underwater. So, here we suggest not only a scream of horror or pain, but drowning as well.
A Flanger can be used to make something sound as if it is swooping down upon someone like a vulture after carrion.
A delay can be set up in such a way to create infinite repeats of something...but the more the signal repeats, the more mechanical it sounds...as the repeats continue, the humanity begins to bleed out of the sound ("stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone..." from Dogs is a good example of this, although they also used gradual changes in EQ to assisst in the losing of the human feel.)
When set for a specific number of repeats which fade into the distance, the delay gives the feeling of a sound beginning close up and then moving away into the distance...*sigh*...more melancholy.
But for my money, one of the most eerie effects one can use is the fade in. It suggests, to me, an unstoppable juggernaut rapidly closing the distance between you and it and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Certain vibrations caused by varying the speed of keyboard oscillators create uncomfortable sounds, as well.
There are probably as many ways to create "scariness" in music as one's imagination will allow. Context also helps create the mood.
Speaking for myself, I used to be scared witless by the intro to Empty Spaces...I'll use it as an example here.
We have a melody in a minor key. I believe the minor key to suggest darker moods (sadness, guilt, etc.) because of it's claustrophobic movement. One of the dominant tones in a chord (or scale) is the third. In a minor key, the third is moved half a step closer to the root note than in a major scale. This movement closer to the root note suggests a claustrophobic closeness or perhaps even a failed attempt to break free of the root note. Whereas the major third would be a satisfying break from the root, the minor third suggests a failure to break...a falling back, if you will.
The Minor Third has a more dissonant quality than the major third. As does agumented or diminished fifths. Dissonance lends an ominous air to a musical piece due to it's break with comfortable familiarity.
The unknown is the greatest fear mankind faces. When confronted with the unfamiliar in music, it touches upon our sense of dread. Dissonance, almost by definition, is largely unfamiliar to music as it is not a common occurence in popular music. Thus, popular is the familiar or the known and dissonance is the unfamiliar or unknown.
Hence, dread and/or fear.
Another ingredient to add a fearsome quality to music is the timbre of the instruments themselves. For example, a guitar with a thin, cold sound is more likely to sound ominous than a guitar with a fat, warm sound. Perhaps the "cold" sound connotes the coldness of death...or maybe that's just me.
Generous use of reverb creates a feeling of distance...another melancholic feeling.
Odd manipulations of effects can also add eerie sounds. Take a chorus pedal sometime and turn the depth AND speed all the way up, then pick the high E string at the 12th fret and bend it...let it ring out...it sounds a bit like a scream heard underwater. So, here we suggest not only a scream of horror or pain, but drowning as well.
A Flanger can be used to make something sound as if it is swooping down upon someone like a vulture after carrion.
A delay can be set up in such a way to create infinite repeats of something...but the more the signal repeats, the more mechanical it sounds...as the repeats continue, the humanity begins to bleed out of the sound ("stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone...stone..." from Dogs is a good example of this, although they also used gradual changes in EQ to assisst in the losing of the human feel.)
When set for a specific number of repeats which fade into the distance, the delay gives the feeling of a sound beginning close up and then moving away into the distance...*sigh*...more melancholy.
But for my money, one of the most eerie effects one can use is the fade in. It suggests, to me, an unstoppable juggernaut rapidly closing the distance between you and it and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Certain vibrations caused by varying the speed of keyboard oscillators create uncomfortable sounds, as well.
There are probably as many ways to create "scariness" in music as one's imagination will allow. Context also helps create the mood.
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ralph38
- Embryo
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Re: Music and fear
Keith Jordan wrote:I am trying to learn how to scare myself with audio () and, more towards my goal, I am trying to find out why there is such a fine line between pleasure and pain, fear and no fear.
Have a listen to my audio clip and then answer the poll and then add some comments!
right click and "save target as..." to save to your computer.
http://www.sonarmedia.co.uk/keith_is_odd.mp3 (1.19MB)
For those interested, I recorded it using Cubase SX using my Yamaha PSR9000 with SM58Mic for some of the vocals!
mmm
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rosm
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I agree with you Syd; it has got scary potential.Syd. wrote:It's not scary on it's own. But combined with some scary images (a film or something) it can be angry.
Nice piece though...
Can music be scary? Depends on your own mood or openness to scariness. I used to think Carefull ... Eugene was scary but now I know it better I don't find it scary anymore. Still think some of the Sysyphus things on Ummagumma are scary.
Mosespa, I'm impressed you made quite a study about chords and scales and scariness. Adding effect can indeed make some things more scary. After reading your post I 'remixed' a tune I programmed in Cubase with random notes and much discordance by putting the same file in reverse on the background. Horrible effect.
Overall: nice hearing some 'homework' from 'forumfamilymembers'.
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mosespa
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rosm
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Avani
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