Horror/Zombie Movie Synth Sounds

[stereotactic]

Hello!

Quick question fellas…

I want to get some old skool 80’s horror movie synth sounds on the go, of the George A Romero movie, Dario Argento sort of style… you know, zombie movie sounds! See also Evil Nine’s ‘They Live’ album as a perfect example of what I am after.

My efforts so far are sounding a bit weak… I’m fairly sure a bit of music theory would also go a long way here in getting that ‘sound’, chord progressions etc, though I am admittedly a total dunce in this respect.

Would much rather learn how to make that sound than sample it, I am fairly sure it’s pretty simple, just turns out I am simpler … any knowledge you can drop would be appreciated!

Peace.

[deadly_habit]

i think i asked this ages ago on doa
as i recall a bit of analog drift and saturation is a key starting point
cept i was going more for the sounds like this

[deadly_habit]

you after stuff like this?

[district]

you after stuff like this?

this is gorgeous

[joemakin]

theres an amazing free vsti called cygnus that's perfect for horror stuff.

[stereotactic]

That Dario Argento piece is sweet man, nice.

I was thinking more along these lines though...



There are probably better examples but this is kind of what I mean?

[deadly_habit]

That Dario Argento piece is sweet man, nice.

I was thinking more along these lines though...



There are probably better examples but this is kind of what I mean?

heh that sounds mainly sampled and then just 70s/80s style synth patches
cheers for reminding me about evil nine though
i'm gonna mess with some techniques next few days for that boc/vintage kinda lofi saturation kinda sound via software
will let ya know if i come up with something close

this post http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.ph ... did=587156 might help a bit (some posts from macc in there too)

[cloak and dagger]

There's a free VST synth/rompler called Wraith, which pretty much ONLY makes overly dark, horror movie-esque noises. I actually hated it because of that, but if that's what you're looking for, it might just be perfect for you.

[wub]

Gargoyle is quite good for this sort of thing;

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/686.html

[stereotactic]

Thanks for the suggestions fellas...

I did know about Gargoyle actually, had forgotten about that one!

I really wanted to learn how to make the sound using the synths I have though instead of going and getting a particular synth for that sound...

Be interested in what you come up with Deadly, holler if you crack it!

Peace.

[sully_harmitage]

its ALL about the wobbly pitch...

[wub]

I really wanted to learn how to make the sound using the synths I have though instead of going and getting a particular synth for that sound...

Can you post a YouTube clip of the sort of sound you mean? The synths used in Night Of The Living Dead, for example, are a world apart from the opening synth score in The Thing.

[stereotactic]

Can you post a YouTube clip of the sort of sound you mean? The synths used in Night Of The Living Dead, for example, are a world apart from the opening synth score in The Thing.

You mean like the one I posted half a dozen posts back? Check the Evil Nine track 'Feed on You'.

Oh, great call on 'The Thing' by the way, possibly one of my favourite horror movies but I hadn't thought about the soundtrack for that in respect of my question, props.

Off the top of my head, I think Return of the Living Dead also has the same kind of sound when the zombies all start rising in the cemetary... I can't 100% be sure on that though, I ain't seen it for a while.

[deadly_habit]

yea man i'm mainly messing with saturation, signal degradation, lower sample rates on shit i've made and pitch drifting after that

[sully_harmitage]

Best Zombie theme Ever.
John Carpenter is the king at synth scores in general though.
Those kinda sounds (like the stringy sounds in that evil 9 track) are usually just detuned saw waves, filtered to taste.
The pitch drift makes shit get spooky.
Get some Roland MV-8800 or Mellotron choir samples for the choral pads...

Actually this'll help you:

[deadly_habit]

getting some success with a few diff techniques then this on top
http://www.delamancha.co.uk/unstable.htm

[kwami]

Wendy Carlos

detune, modulate and slowly pitch bend with lots of spacey reverb and a little delay...

[JemGrover]

Actually, come to think of it, Basic64 is quite good for slow, creeping, drifting pads with a lofi feel

[stereotactic]

Nice works guys, thanks!

Haven't been able to get in the studio all weekend as I've had DIY shit to be doing (shudder)... Will get on this later.

This is going to sound noobish, but can someone explain 'pitch drift' and how it is achieved, I haven't heard the term before.

[breakitdown]

Hey - you might like this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dawn-Dead-Unrel ... B00026W85W

It's a compilation of the unreleased incidental music from Dawn of the Dead movie.

Also check out John Carpenters work - amazing stuff.
I seem to remember there was some patches for Blue based on this type of sound - also a few Vangelis patches.