# Horror Film Techniques



## ruckus (May 26, 2006)

Hey guys, I'm new to the board and to orchestral scoring (been writing rock music for years and have scored films in that way). Anyone responding to my post should keep in mind that I don't know what I'm talking about (as far as scoring for an orchestra) and also that the library I have and am trying to learn to use is IK's Philharmonik.

I'm also a writer/director and will be shooting a Horror film this summer. So, I'm diving right in and going to try to score it too. With that in mind I'm looking for anyone who wants to talk about specifically scoring a horror film. Any tips or tricks when working in this genre and specifically using a sample library to create the soundtrack. For example I searched the posts and found this that Scott Rogers posted:

<<<as a side note, probably the most used, maybe even most over-used aleatoric effect used in film scores is what I call "bug crawling music". It's been used in a million and one horror flicks and psychological thrillers. The effect is achieved by asking the string players to play pizzicato randomly on various strings behind the bridge at a fairly fast clip - or even about as fast as they possibly can. >>>

I love this effect, but I don't believe I have any samples of playing "behind the bridge". Any thoughts or ideas on how to create this effect with a standard library?

Are there any other commonly used effects in horror films that can be recreated with a library?

Also, what is a good source for me to buy horror scores (sheet music) to study? 

Thanks in advance!

-Ruckus


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## ruckus (May 26, 2006)

choc0thrax
<<there are some that have fx including that one that sounds like bugs>>
Could you be more specific? Which ones come with that effect?

Thanks,

-Ruckus


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## choc0thrax (May 26, 2006)

For example SISS(sonic implants symphonic strings) Although that is quite expensive. There could be a cheaper library out there that has them though.


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## PaulR (May 26, 2006)

Patrick de Caumette @ Fri May 26 said:


> My advice would be for you to work with a composer for your film.
> Being a director is already a huge challenge and if it is orchestral music that you want for your film, 3 months of studying orchestral writing is not going to cut it.



And that's putting it mildly. I thought the same thing before I read your post Patrick.

There was a guy recently I can't remember the name - who scored and directed his own film - The Others. Pretty good effort for an Ok - ish watch it once film.

I would get someone in to do the scoring.


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## synergy543 (May 26, 2006)

OTOH, there's Robert Rodriguiez who writes, directs, shoots, scores and edits his films even today! He has an incredible music composition setup with Digital Performer and tons of samples - he gives a tour of it on the Once Upon a Time in Mexico DVD extras and show how to record a music cue. Other good shorts in there too including his 10-minute cooking school. 

Talk about versatile!


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## Patrick de Caumette (May 26, 2006)

synergy543 @ Fri May 26 said:


> OTOH, there's Robert Rodriguiez who writes, directs, shoots, scores and edits his films even today! He has an incredible music composition setup with Digital Performer and tons of samples - he gives a tour of it on the Once Upon a Time in Mexico DVD extras and show how to record a music cue. Other good shorts in there too including his 10-minute cooking school.
> 
> Talk about versatile!



It is possible to write music for film without extensive theory or orchestration knowledge but here Ruckus is talking about scoring for the orchestra.
Not the most intuitive, "I'll throw in a couple of loops and here you go" type of film music. 
I am not a big fan of Rodriguez so correct me if I am wrong but from what I remember he's no J. Williams...


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## Frederick Russ (May 26, 2006)

Patrick de Caumette @ Fri May 26 said:


> My advice would be for you to work with a composer for your film.
> 
> Being a director is already a huge challenge and if it is orchestral music that you want for your film, 3 months of studying orchestral writing is not going to cut it.
> 
> ...



This speaks volumes. Regarding doing it yourself, sure its possible and VI is a nice resource to help you get there, but realize there is a bit of a learning curve. I think it would also be a great learning experience to work with an experienced composer so you can get a gist of the creative and technical process that you can later apply on future projects. 

There is an abundance of composers on VI who might be willing to help you with your project. Ask.


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## fictionmusic (May 26, 2006)

ruckus @ Fri May 26 said:


> choc0thrax
> <<there are some that have fx including that one that sounds like bugs>>
> Could you be more specific? Which ones come with that effect?
> 
> ...



There is an excellent library by Cosmo D which is actually a Cello library but has lots of similar sounds.
Alternatively you could take any pizz sound and play it way out of range (if your sampler allows that) and it would sound pretty close. The effect is more of atonal pitches being played somewhat arbitarily.

Of course you could also get a text book like "Compendium of Modern Instrumental Techniques" by Gardner Read and score those (and other equally bizarre and "extended" techniques) yourself. If you hired a string quartet for that kind of thing, you could easily layer them to get a full ensemble sound. The good thing about Read's text is he gives tons of examples and sources. Extended techniques are the sound of most horror music and while a lot of it can be dismissed as noise, those who are conversant with it can create some wondeful textures.

Quite frankly I think the art is more about writing to picture than orchestrating, especially as so many people have sample libraries and have very little real experience orchestrating for real players anyways. There is no reason in the world why you couldn't write effective music with some libraries, some extended techniques (which is what playing behind the bridge is) and a few players.

Check out Ligeti's String Quartet #2 for a textbook case of those sounds, or George Crumbs's Dark Angels.


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## kid-surf (May 29, 2006)

I'll tell you...


Many horror films "to me" had/have music that is simply NOT very scary. Scary in the "vanilla" sense, many of them IMO.........

Anyway... let me know if you want me to score your film and I'll make the music pretty fuck'n sick. 

Otherwise, I have definite ideas about how to make horror music that's scary but those ideas don't involve much choir. :mrgreen:

I say if you don't wish to hire someone, just wing it. Yet if there's a budget investors may get a little nervous if the screening tanks because the music isn't scary enough.

Good luck!


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