Any tips how to make my strings soond scary?

[N.U.G.]

whattup y'all,

alright check it, I've got heaps of String soundfonts but when I mess with them they always sound happy? :headbang:

Any tips on what I should be doing to make them sound scary (e.g. Alchemist, Mobb Deep etc.)? do I need different sounds or do I need to use the differently?

thanks for any help legends

peace

g outlaw

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

Here's a thought...

A trick someone gave me a couple years ago on how to make stings and organs sound scary is to play them as 'diminished 7ths'. I have no idea what that means, but I do know this:

Play two notes high on the keyboard that are right next to each other and place them lightly in the mix. This is the kind of stuff that film composers do to give a sense of tension in a scene, think of Friday XIII kind of stuff.

Just two notes is all it takes, it really makes a difference in a track.

If you're looking for molodic combinations to make hooks or whatever, you're probably best to make sure your chorsd are minor chords; a C major chord is C, E and G...a C minor chord is C, D# and G. Play the two chords in succession and you'll hear how the major one sounds 'happy' and the minor one sounds 'sad'.

Take care,

Nick

 

[N.U.G.]

cool. thanks for the tip vitaminman, I'll try it out and see how it goes!

 

[tallblkproducer]

I LIKE TO STACK THE STRINGS. STACKING IS BASICALLY LAYERING ONE SOUND ON TOP OF ANOTHER. IT MAKES A MORE FATTER SOUND. LISTEN TO SONGS WITH "SCARY" STRINGS AND TRY TO EMULATE THEM.

 

[N.U.G.]

good advice, thanks tallblkproducer!

 

[Fade]

You ever try adding some Flanger effects to strings? I played around with that once and it sounded aight.

 

[HaZwaiOh]

try tremolo strings. those create a lot of tension

 

[Streetwize]

and symphonic strings

they sound grimey as hell,especially when you're adding it to a type of grimey piano melody

pz

 

[N.U.G.]

great tips guys. I'll be making some scary ass tracks real soon thanks to your excellent advice.

peace

 

[milLion]

if your referring to the mood of the strings -- then yes -- as vitaminman says -- try playing in minor and diminshed chords -- they tend to stray away from the happy sound that you speak of -- the different types of strings that you have actaully will help create a dramatic effect within the mood that you set -- hope this makes sense