Scoring With Opus: Supernatural Thriller

(fantastical music) (neon light flickering) (eerie string music) (ominous music) (ominous sounds) (TV static) (ominous music) Hi, this is Ryan Thomas with EastWest, here with the next video in our Scoring With Opus series. And I'm so excited about this one because I'm a huge horror movie buff myself. And in this video, we're gonna show you how to score a scene from a supernatural thriller, which is my favorite sub-genre of the genre. And we decided to drop it right before All Hallows' Eve becaus

e we want it to be seasonally appropriate. Now, if you haven't seen any of the other videos in the Scoring With Opus series, basically what we do is show you how to use all the instruments that come with ComposerCloud, which includes the brand new Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, to score real scenes complete with dialogue and sound design. So having said all that, let's just go ahead and dive right in. Now, I think you have to be really careful when you are scoring a horror film, especially on

e in this sub-genre, because it's very easy to cross that line between what is musically appropriate and what's just campy. So you'll notice that in some of the better representatives of this genre, the soundtracks tend to be quite minimalistic. They're gonna be a little bit more texture based. And the orchestral elements that you hear will be used in more non-traditional ways. And that style of writing is gonna present some challenges. Number one, the sounds that you choose have to be perfect.

You're not gonna be able to layer them with anything to hide the fact that, you know, maybe this isn't the best sound for this particular moment. And number two, the mix has to be on point, again, because any imperfections in the mix are going to be very obvious because you have so few elements. And then number three, of course, the composition itself has to be really carefully constructed. So let's go ahead and check out the intro to this and then break everything down. (eerie string music) All

right, let's go ahead and stop there and break everything down. And we're starting off with the new 18 Violins Patch from Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition. And it is then joined by the Solo Cello actually. And I have the Soft Mood enabled for these, and I have the Sul Pont Tremolo Articulation enabled, which is gonna give you this really eerie, sort of scratchy texture. So, let's just listen to the strings in isolation. (eerie string music) So everything about this writing is just supposed to b

e mildly unsettling. You don't want any really strong emotions, not yet. So, you just have the violins sitting on this single note and it's the articulation that makes them interesting. And then the Solo Cello is just gonna be playing these chords with these very subtle dissonances. So again, nothing too crazy going on there. Let's go ahead and add the woodwinds, as well as the orchestral percussion. So, the bass clarinet here is just gonna be doubling the cello. And again, you know, you'll noti

ce that we're using it here somewhat non-traditionally, because typically you don't have, you know, three bass clarinet players in an orchestra. And then you just have the large tam-tam here on these two notes and they're just gonna ring throughout this entire phrase, creating a little bit of an atmospheric bed for the rest of the instruments. So let's listen to this altogether now. (eerie string music) So again, that gong there is just gonna create a very subtle atmosphere for everything else.

And the bass clarinet is just gonna add a little bit more of a darker texture to that cello line. So let's go ahead and add our non-orchestral percussion. And in this instrument group, we just have the waterphone kind of playing these random hits to add to the ambiance. And you also have this transitional element that I will get to in just a moment. And then, let's also add the sound design and synths instrument group. And we have this Warped Piano from Ghostwriter, a really, really cool patch.

So let's go ahead and just listen to everything together. (eerie string music) (ominous music) So that's actually all there is to the intro, composition wise, but there is one more element that we need to cover. And you may have noticed this sort of ripping effect that's transitioning into the next section. I'll let you hear that in isolation. (ripping sound effect) And that was actually created using some layered percussion from Stormdrums 2 and 3, and this is what the original hit actually sou

nded like. (drum sound effect) So from there, I just bounced it in place and that's gonna create an audio file within Logic Pro that we can then manipulate. You just select the audio file, go down to functions and select reverse. And now we have a reversed hit. (reversed drum effect) But it wasn't quite gritty enough, so I just added one of the distortion pedals from the Pedalboard Plugin in Logic Pro. (ripping sound effect) So, that's pretty much it. It's a very simple process, but you can use

it on pretty much any instrument to create these cool hybrid transitional elements. Let's go ahead and move on to the next section. And as you probably already saw, this is where we introduce the ghost. And we needed something of a theme for this character, but we're working with a supernatural thriller. So you don't want something with a strong melody or really anything melodic at all. So, I think it's better in cases like this to opt for something a little more along the lines of sound design.

So you give the character more of a signature sound than an actual theme. So let's go ahead and give it a listen and then we'll break it down. (ominous music) All right, let's go ahead and stop it there. And we are gonna start with what is actually the signature sound for the ghost. And we're just using the Distorted Cello from Ghostwriter. So much amazing content in Ghostwriter, especially for this application. And we do need to talk about some of the processing because this is actually an imp

ortant part of the sound. So first off we have this EQ Filter, that's cutting out all the frequencies above 810 hertz. And then we have this pitch shifter from Logic Pro that is taking 50% of the signal, tuning it down an entire octave, and then mixing it back into the sound. So let's see what this sounds like by itself. (ominous music) Such a cool sound. And just to show you what the pitch shifter is adding to it, I'm gonna let you listen to it with and without the effect applied. So, this is w

ith the pitch shifter. (ominous music) And then this is without. (ominous music) So, not quite the same effect. All right, let's go ahead and move on to the percussion here. And we just have these filtered Godzilla Hits that are gonna be adding some punch to the beginning of that Distorted Cello. (ominous music) So that's just the hit by itself. And then this is the hit with the cello. (ominous music) So again, just adding some punch to that entrance there. All right, now let's go ahead and add

the alpenhorn. And the alpenhorn is kind of doing this call and response with the cello. So whereas the distorted cello is doing a bend down, the alpenhorn is gonna be doing a bend up. Let's go ahead and give that a listen. (ominous music) Just such a cool sound. And as you can see, we are using the pitch bend to create this sort of wavering effect in the alpenhorn. Now, I should point out we aren't really doing much in terms of processing to the actual instrument itself. However, we are sending

some of the signal to a stereo delay, and you can see all the settings here. And the significance of the delay, is that because we are using the pitch wheel to create these oscillations in pitch, the delay is essentially gonna give the main signal something to clash with. So of course, what this delay is gonna do, is catch certain parts of the note, freeze it, and then cause it to delay across the stereo field. As it's doing that, you have these pitch oscillations in the original signal that ar

e gonna be clashing with those reverberations. I'm gonna turn off the delay and let you hear what it sounds like without the delay. And you'll hear exactly what I'm talking about. (ominous music) And then here's with the delay. (ominous music) So again, that delay is what's causing that clash in the various tunings of the alpenhorn. And it gives you that really unsettled feeling that we need for this section. So let's go ahead and move on. And we'll start as this character is exiting the car and

all we needed in this section was just some suspense and some tension building up into the next part. (ominous sounds) Okay, let's go ahead and stop there. And we're gonna start with the strings, as well as the alpenhorn, because the alpenhorn is kind of working with the strings in this section. And you have the 11 Violin Clusters from Symphonic Orchestra, along with the alpenhorn, just creating this suspenseful texture. And then you have the cello coming in with these notes that are gonna be b

ending up at the end of each note. (ominous music) And I should point out that we are also doing a pitch bend in the 11 Violin Clusters. It's not gonna be a super noticeable effect, but you'll definitely be able to feel it as just a little bit of added tension. Now let's go ahead and add the percussion. And there is quite a bit going on here. You've just got these random hits in the puili sticks, as well as the Chinese lion drum hits. And you've got some textures going on in the waterphone. So l

et's hear how all this sounds together. (ominous sounds) Okay, now let's add our sound design and synths, and for this part, we are bringing back in the Warped Piano from Ghostwriter. (ominous sounds) Okay, and then the last thing that we need to cover is this reverse gong hit. And I already showed you how to create those reversed hits. We didn't do this any differently and there are no added effects. So this is truly just a reversed gong hit from the gongs actually in Stormdrum 2. And it sounds

like this by itself. (reversed gong sound) So that's it, nothing too crazy. Let's go ahead and move on to this next section. And up to this point, you really haven't had much of note going on in the sound design track, but in this section, I think you really just need to let the music take a backseat because nothing is creepier than the sound of TV static. So, let's give this section a listen. (ominous sounds) (TV static) (ominous music) And I think this is a great illustration of how sometimes

what you don't write, is just as important as what you do write. So we have the music pulling back for one of two reasons. Number one, we want the TV static in the sound design to be in the forefront of what the audience is hearing, because it's creepy sounding. Number two, we need that music to pull back so that we can provide maximal contrast between this section and the next scene, where you have the ghost showing up behind the character. You want maximal impact and to achieve that, you need

contrast. So let's go ahead and break everything down. And all you have in this section is just a little bit of light percussion and that little piano roll at the beginning of the phrase and everything just kind of carries over and lingers until the next section. So let's start off with the percussion. And we've got this cymbal scratch, a gong effect, and then some waterphone textures going on. (ominous sounds) Nothing too crazy going on there. And then you have this piano part and I deliberate

d about this part for way too long, because it does straddle the fence between what's appropriate and what's kind of cheesy. It's a little bit of a throwback, I think, to the horror soundtracks of the nineties and the maybe early to mid 2000s. I decided to just throw it in there anyway, because sometimes it's nice to have a familiar element in a soundtrack. So let's go ahead and give it a listen. And I'm using the Steinway D from EastWest Pianos for this. (ominous sounds) And that's actually all

there is to this section. So let's go ahead and check out the next part. And of course the music needs to be dramatic here because this is supposed to be the scariest part of the scene. (ominous music) So you can hear that we've reintroduced the ghost's theme here, and we've added quite a few other elements as well. So let's break it down and we'll start in the strings. And we just have the tremolo basses joining some violin effects from Symphonic Orchestra. And, these two notes here are the vi

olin effects. And then these two notes here are the basses. (ominous music) And of course, we timed it so that this effect here, (eerie string music) is ending right as the scene is ending. Okay, let's go ahead and move on to the brass. And we just have some brass effects adding some very bold, but also ominous textures. This note here is gonna be the Effects Hell Patch from Symphonic Orchestra. This one is going to be the Six French Horn Clusters. And, these notes here are gonna be the Low Bras

s Fast Crescendos, both of these from Hollywood Brass. (ominous music) All right, now let's go ahead and add in our percussion. And there's not actually a lot of content here. We just have these Godzilla Hits from before. Although this time, there's no filter. So you get a lot of that high-frequency energy from those hits. And we also have this ripping effect from before. And let's hear what everything sounds like together. (ominous music) All right, and then finally, let's add in our sound desi

gn and synths. And we have this really cool patch that we're introducing from Ghostwriter, which is the Reversed Vocal Cascade. And I'll let you hear what it sounds like by itself, so that you can get a sense of what it's adding. (eerie sounds) Just kind of this creepy, eerie texture. And now, with everything together. (ominous music) And that's actually all there is to the piece. Again, fairly simple, but you don't want to go overboard when you're dealing with these kinds of horror films. Now l

et's check out the reverb setup, as well as my general mic position philosophy. 'Cause I know we're gonna get some questions about it in the comments. And I have most of these reverbs pretty clearly labeled. The strings are being sent to the String Verb, brass is being sent to the Brass Verb and so on and so forth. Now, most of the percussion is being sent to the Northwest Hall and I like the Abandoned Abbey for any instrument that just needs a really long reverb tail. It's almost more of an eff

ect than a reverb. And then everything gets sent at least in some amount to the Digital Hollywood Hall with the 2.7 second tail. Now, in terms of the mic position set up, this piece is a little bit wonky because we are using the orchestra in more non-traditional ways. So in a situation like this, I would say to let your ear be your guide, experiment a little bit. And of course, you know, that close mic is gonna give you more definition. And the mid, main and surround mics are just gonna give you

a better sense of the stereo image for that instrument. So, that is actually gonna do it for this walkthrough. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe and hit the notification bell because subscriptions don't mean much anymore. Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one.