# Horror Strings



## cliveneal (May 16, 2008)

hello



Im in the process of scoring a 'horror' cue with a building climax and I want to use those frenzied manic strings that you often hear in these types of films. Im not talking about psycho stabs but those whirling chromatic high strings just before the big moment. It sounds like random glissando chromatic figures. I have V.I. orchestral strings and tried using the glissando articulation but it didnt seem to work. Can anyone suggest what articulations/techniques would be best to emulate this type of sound.



Many thanks



Clive


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## bryla (May 17, 2008)

ProjectSAM has something planned called Symphobia. On Chris Heins Musikmesse webpage you can find Maarten doing a demo of Symphobia. It does those things


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## bluejay (May 17, 2008)

For the most part you pretty much need samples of the existing techniques. If not then I imagine it would take a long time with various articulations building this up.

As previously mentioned, EW includes a lot of these effects. So does Sonic Implants Symphonic Strings.

Another possible trick might be to buy the Project SAM Woodwind FX and combine some manic random woodwind sounds with more regular chromatic string runs.


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## Christian Marcussen (May 17, 2008)

GOS also offers some decent FX patches - but on a whole such techniques are undersampled.


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## Ed (May 17, 2008)

Prosonus Orchestra has a bunch of cool fx stuff like that.


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## SvK (May 18, 2008)

Whenever...I'm forced to use those "pre-baked' fx samples.....I'm forced to throw-up in my mouth a little.

Knowing that some other project is using the exact same thing (even if altered a little)
Drives me up the wall.....It's soo "cheap"

But that's how it is.


SvK


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## José Herring (May 18, 2008)

SvK @ Sun May 18 said:


> But that's how it is.
> 
> 
> SvK



Understood. But you don't necessarily need to do it that way. It's the fx part that's important not really the "symphonic" part. And you can make some really effective fx with instruments that you probably have at home already.

So I say. Break out the mic. Start screeching and bangin'. Also, you could drastically change the sound of any of the prefab effects to.

Don't give up dude! Break the mold.

Jose


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## dkristian (Aug 3, 2008)

I like to combine sample-based V.I., libraries, my own violin, and physical modelling patches I've come up with using Applied-Acoustics String Studio, which is ideal for surreal string effects.

Sonic Couture's Scriptorium includes a Gliss patch that could also be useful.

No matter how tempted you are to play a dissonant chord with standard sustained strings and use pitch bending, there's no substitute for horizontal composition when dealing with clusters. Build it one line at a time for complex bends, modulation, and crescendos.


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## synthetic (Aug 3, 2008)

If you're a VSL fan, Appasionata Strings has some runs, clusters and random pizzicato samples. It's a great library overall -- I have Orchestral Strings 1 and I never use it, my strings are 90% Appasionata these days. 

However, for effects in general I agree that Symphobia will be the new go-to library for that.


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## mderrico (Aug 3, 2008)

Here's some free string horror fx:

http://www.gameaudioforum.com/phpBB3/vi ... ?f=2&t=894

The link is in the first post.


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## Dave Connor (Aug 3, 2008)

It's often just a gliss all the way up the fret board ending in a screeching indeterminate pitch. It may start with a defined harmonic chord (aug, dim or cluster) or just approximated starting points which makes it funky and weird from beginning to end. That's what it sounds like to me anyway. I'm surprised there aren't more than a few samples like that out there cause it seems like a pretty simple thing to do and lots of people want that kind of thing.


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## synthetic (Aug 3, 2008)

SvK @ Sun May 18 said:


> Whenever...I'm forced to use those "pre-baked' fx samples.....I'm forced to throw-up in my mouth a little.
> 
> Knowing that some other project is using the exact same thing (even if altered a little)
> Drives me up the wall.....It's soo "cheap"



Wow, can you pick them out? "Oh jeez, there goes Sonic Implants' Cello FX scrape 2." I would think, especially in context, a screech is a screech. Maybe if I was forced to use them all day every day I would look for more material.


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## Christian Marcussen (Aug 4, 2008)

synthetic @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> SvK @ Sun May 18 said:
> 
> 
> > Whenever...I'm forced to use those "pre-baked' fx samples.....I'm forced to throw-up in my mouth a little.
> ...



Well yeah, I can. When I watch TV series, movies and game trailers they jump out, as do individual patches (drums hits for instance). Anyway, I still use them myself as it's the only way to get a decent result with samples.


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## Waywyn (Aug 4, 2008)

Christian Marcussen @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> synthetic @ Sun Aug 03 said:
> 
> 
> > SvK @ Sun May 18 said:
> ...



Ditto!
It may be cheap when working with prebaked fx etc. ... but if the result is smashing, exactly fitting the scene and convinces my customers, I would prefer that rather than trying to build something from multisampled libraries.

I create music for my customers, for people out there who want to enjoy a good game etc. ... and not to please other composers


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