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graywolf
Commander
Joined: Aug 06, 2003
Member#: 2693
Posts: 527
     
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 Posted:
Tue Jan 13, 2004 10:25 pm Post subject: What makes scary music SCARY? |
 
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So I got the Varèse Sarabande, A 25th Anniversary Celebration cd collection for christmas. I was listening to it in the kitchen while making breakfast for the kids. We got to the Halloween track and the munchkins got a little nervous and asked me to change the music because it was too scary for them.
I always thought it was scary because it was trigering the visaul memeory of the movie. Now while they may have seen Harry Potter, they haven't seen Halloween, so I know that's not the case.
Is it something technically about the way the music is written? Is it some cultural thing? |
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Haurk
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined: Jan 04, 2004
Member#: 4340
Posts: 85
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
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Posted:
Wed Jan 14, 2004 1:41 am Post subject: |
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My Theroy is that since birth we've been hearing one kind of music associated with one type of feeling.
Who doesn't know that songs that goes in minor key are sad and thoose in major are happy (Of course that's not the case with all songs, but most) and Dim Chords in a minor key always sounds spooky.
There is actually certain "rules" which is more guidelines than rules though, you can follow if you want to make your music sound a special way.
And the choice of scale (dunno what the name is in english, a set of 7 notes of which you make up melody and solos etc.) really affects the way your music will sound.
There are lots of theese "rules" for example, if you
end a song with a Dominant Septima chord everyone will expect you to return back to the Tonika, and even if you don't understand thoose words I can assure you will hear the difference if you hear it.
So I'd say you're right, It is something technical, AND it's something cultural, as I have hard to think that people in the arabic world with that kind of music think the same kind of music is scary as we do.
Now I ran out of time, have to go to school  |
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 Trinity3777
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Jun 24, 2002
Member#: 124
Posts: 266
Location: La La Land
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Posted:
Sun Jan 18, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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I think one could come up with a number of reasons that a piece of music is scary. I think that the fear from music comes from silence, or children's voices. Whenever I hear children laughing, or singing, I immediately picture their naivete and start to become fearful for them. With Halloween, I believe there is a lot of metallic sounds mixed with silence in between which leaves the listener not knowing what is coming next, thereby provoking fear or anticipation.
_________________
"When you look into the eyes of a wolf you see into your soul. Hope you like what you see..." Aldo Leopold |
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PeteC 
Commander
Joined: Nov 26, 2003
Member#: 3796
Posts: 587
Location: Evanston, IL
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Posted:
Sat Jan 24, 2004 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting...
I lean towards dissonance and space.
The idea of children's voices... I think
you're right, Trinity. Fear can be the
greatest, in the heart of a child.
_________________
All in the world recognize the
beautiful as beautiful. Herein
lies ugliness. All recognize the
good as good. Herein lies evil. |
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KagayakiWashi
Cadet 1
Joined: Jan 26, 2004
Member#: 4743
Posts: 2
Location: The 93rd Dimension
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Posted:
Mon Jan 26, 2004 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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Whenever I hear screaming, gunshots, stuff like that, it always freaks me out
For me, it's organs, choirs, and strings when drawing out long notes. Bass notes are scary too....atleast, they scare me...so does 60's electronic music...I like it though |
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Majestic
Ensign
Joined: Oct 18, 2003
Member#: 3417
Posts: 21
Location: VANCOUVER BC, CANADA!
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Posted:
Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:45 am Post subject: |
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Scary? pff.... yeah right!
j/k
You get scared when you hear anything that is sudden. A sudden scratch noise, a sudden ring of the phone, door bell, hit on the window, anything sudden will scare almost anyone. The worst are two situations: when you know the sudden sound is coming, like a scream of a lady or a stabbing, etc. The second is when there's nothing to hint anything coming. A perfect example of this is in the movie "Final Destination" where the girl is talking to her friends and out of no where she is hit by the incoming bus. There's absolutly nothing to hint this. That was memorable for me.
anyways, blah blah blah,
Hose. |
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Aibeethoven
Ensign
Joined: Jan 28, 2004
Member#: 4775
Posts: 48
Location: The Netherlands
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Posted:
Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:03 pm Post subject: Scary Music |
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All keys (like Cmajor, Dminor etc.) sound different and the sound makes the feeling. Minor mostly sound sad while major sound more bright. This is only a basic guideline because there are songs in minor which sound brightly and vice versa. The distance between notes of the melody / cords also has a lot to do with the feeling. Small "intervals" sound more scary the bigger ones. Of course also your brain matches pictures etc. with sounds. SO......... |
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Marko
Ensign
Joined: Mar 31, 2003
Member#: 454
Posts: 40
Location: Michigan
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Posted:
Sat May 15, 2004 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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I would have to go with a slowly changing bass background beat or tone... and a rapidly changing, simple higher pitched sound. Or just the bass. I don't know what really provokes that emotion in me when I hear scary music. But I know that it still suprises me to notice that it does. That is what I love about Music in general. |
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Hurr78
Commander
Joined: Feb 12, 2004
Member#: 5061
Posts: 739
Location: Toronto
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Posted:
Sun May 16, 2004 3:19 am Post subject: |
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Well, I would argue that it often has something to do with something being out of place... which is the essence of fright... something is not as it should be, at least as far as our minds' conception of normal dictates. Sometimes it can be as simple as a bit of dissonance, at other times most complicated tricks are used.
Take John William's famous Jaws theme. Throughout the piece, he juxtaposes low bass movement with different melodic movements on the treble side of things. Furthermore, he surprises us: sudden crashes of noise that extend up an entire octave punctuate the steady oscillation of the bass.
Then, later in the piece, he gives us a bright melody that sounds very cheerful when played by itself... but he sets it against the relentless three note bass motif that continues (almost)throughout the entire queue. The two don't fit together! At least, that's what John Williams wants you to feel... and you do! There is a distinct sense of discomfort as you hear the sinister bass backdrop "threatening" or almost "stalking" the happy treble melody.
Of course, this is only one way of going about the art of creating "scary" music... but I think Williams showed himself to be quite adept when he scored Jaws... |
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