How to write Scary Music

1. Your Journey in Dark Music: And though composer's mike here and you are about to go on a new learning adventure, your destination for this journey is to learn the secrets off darkness, tension, distance and intensity in music so that you will be able to compose and create dork music off all styles, from powerful and evil action music to ominous and creepy atmospheric music. Ubell Master Dork music composition. The Foundations of Door music. The Guidelines for Dark Music. The sounds of dark music. Dork music In Action, you will get lots of practical tips, live examples, breakdowns and demonstrations, as well as several opportunities to practice what you learn so that you will truly master. They know that you get My name is Mike, and I am a composer just like you. I started making music back in 1998 and I love to educate, motivate and inspire creative people like yourself. So take action now and start your journey to master dork music composition. Let's begin your adventure right now, 2. The Power of Dark Music: let me first define what I mean by dork music, because I used these shong er term in a broad sense. Here are some examples off styles and moods off dork music, evil and powerful dork underscore thrilling tension, ominous and intends scary Kale's. This means that dork music composition is all about creating an overall mood and emotional response that can be summed up in one word. Tension. But tension can come in many different coolers in music, from shrill piercing harmonics to dark, brooding drones from rhythmic accented power notes to Deep Rich the Gotta notes. Basically, this will cover anything from the dork Vader theme all the way to the Aliens soundtrack, because the true power off dark music is how incredible it is for adding that tension, thrilling anticipation and scary atmosphere. In fact, I would go as far as to say that dark and scary music is one of the most important types off soundtrack music there is. You can test this yourself by watching any scary movie thriller or seen with the evil boss or antagonised with the sound muted all that tension, all the thrill, everything gets lost without that dork tension soundtrack playing over the scene. Now it's time for you to take action. I have a great practice activity for you that will train your audio visual instincts for dork music in relation to high tension visuals. Sit by your piano or MIDI keyboard with a piano or perhaps a string sound loaded. Then start watching a scene in a movie that has some color off darkness and tension in it. Then you simply turn off the sound off the movie and play along on your keyboard. Asked. The scene plays just by improvising. This exercise is, in fact, much harder than it sounds. But the more you do it, the more you will improve your instincts as a composer for how to add tension in a way that suits the visuals. Whether you compose for a movie, TV, serious or video game. So take action now and improvise against visuals. Retention 3. Dissonant Intervals The Core of Tension: dissonant intervals is one of the most important aspects for adding tension in your music, because in every melody, every harmony and every chord, you will have intervals of notes praying either in his serious or in layers, and every interval has its own unique emotion and character. So what is dissonance in music, and how does it relate to the intervals, harmonies and chords to play well? First, you need to realize that intervals are present everywhere in your music composition as soon as you have a pitch. So whether you're playing notes in its serious meaning, the intervals in a serious like this if you're playing harmonies like this, or if you're playing intervals stacked on top of each other to create cords, meaning three or more notes. If you take a look at, for example, a C minor court, you will see that you have an interval from here to here, from here to here and from here to here on those intervals, all created final character when you play them together or as an arpeggio, or however you want to play them. But in essence, you have three different intervals in this court here, and you also need to realize that when you change accord, how you voice the next chord will create an interval in the very movement. So if I go from here to, let's say, e flat minor. So if you take care, this goes down 1/2 step based goes down to have steps like, so we can even go to a major court hair also maybe major on, even though it is a major chord, it sounds that you get tension in the progression because you get 1/2 step or, ah, miners. Second movement here and miners taken movement there. So even though you go from minor to major, yeah, it kinds kind of sounds spooky because off the intervals in the progressions, you need to realize the dissonance can come from the single interval the home harmony, a core and finally the voice leading from one court to the next. Now, in music theory, the terms dissonant and Kanis introduced often, and you can think of these terms as dissonant, meaning unstable or build intention like this, while constant meaning stable, pleasing, resolved, meaning, minimal or notice. And like a simple major court, mind your court because a dissonant interval will have a pool to resolve to a constant one , almost like when you hold two magnets close to each other. They want to pulled together and connect to resolve, so meaning when you hear a dissonant interval harmony record, it is like the sound wants to travel to a more stable place on a perfect example in music is there suspended? Try it cord, which uses either a major second or a perfect fourth instead of the third. So let's take a standard C major chord. But let's switch out third to, for example, the second here, which is a sauce too on. It really wants to resolve to third like this, or if we change the third to the perfect fourth. It is a sauce for cord, so these intervals are soft, dissonant, meaning some tension that wants to resolve but not really high tension. And you can in fact, uses us cord without resolving. But in any case, these emotional pool is why it feels so satisfying to go from a sauce for two. Major tried, for example, So let's say we go from C to F on, then to let's say, ah Suss four on the sea like so, However, you don't have to resolve a dissonant harmony record if you don't want to. In fact, in dark music in the horror movies and thrillers, you can have a lot of dissonance in all kinds of ways without giving the listener a safe and stable resolution in the music races. So let's say you take it very high tension core like the diminished score like this but really wants to resolve this tryto irritable to the perfect fifth year. So But if you don't do that instead, you, for example, go to from this see diminished Teoh e flat minor. So moving up the base here, leaving these two here and moving down Teoh have steps here. So going from sea diminished minor to E let or C domination. I'm sorry to e flat minor like so And then, for example, going there are two major you don't need to avoid major chords just because you make tension, music and dark music. They can add if you use um too much. Of course, it sounds too uplifting, but they can add a lot of strong, authoritative power to the chord progression. And then obviously you've will focus more on the minor chords and the decent and course. So now I will actually show you all the fundamental intervals in music that has various degrees of dissonance being intention in them. And I have divided these into the foremost dissonant intervals and for soft, dissonant intervals. So let's start with the most dissonant intervals in music. And by the way, the first listen here is that the most dissonance you will get in music is all based around the minor second. So this or this that minor second is 1/2 step, the shortest distance you can take. But the that is the first most isn't sinful. Then you have the tri tone. So this is six have steps. 123456 So this one which is between a perfectly on a perfect fourth, which are very stable here so you can get Teoh. Ah, this one wants to resolve. Either too they're or two there. But if you take a look here, what is it revolving around? Well, it wants to resolve their or their so it is based on 1/2 step. Even though it is a trite or interval. Then you have the third, which is the major 7th 11 half steps, which is here won't do 3456789 10 11. But take a look here this is they have step from the octave, so, in essence, is still the minor. Second, that is the core. And then the minor ninth, which is one octave was 1/2 step. So there again, what is it It is based on. The miners are going to have to appear on the oaks change instead. So those are the four most dissonant in of intervals in music D minor. 2nd 1/2 step the tryto 6/2 steps, the major 7th 11 half steps and the minor ninth, which is one octave in half, 1/2 step. And then the four soft, dissonant intervals on these depends on how you play them. They or they can be have no tension or they have some tension or dissonance. So the major second, which is I want to to have steps this most often it wants to resource to 1/3 so sussed, too. Then you have the perfect fourth, which doesn't have to be dissonance. So if you play it in this serious. And that goes for all the major second to not really dissonant. But, ah, most intervals get more emotional character when you use the mess, harmonies or cords because then it becomes a parent from the relationship. So for the 1st 1 major second wants resolved here to the third and the perfect fourth most down and that is five have steps. By the way. 12345 Then you have the third softest injectable is the minor seventh, which is 10 half steps. So 123456789 10 which is Look here. I want to a major second or to have steps from the octave Onda. Let's do the final first year. So major 9th 1 Oak shape plus to have tips so wants to resolve either down to the day or up to so the foremost dissonant intervals, or all revolving around half step. Or, in the case of a tryto, which has half step from the perfect four or the perfect fifth and ah, then all these four soft, distant intervals are all based on the major second, which is this or this, which is a, um a to have steps from the perfect faith and the in this case, it's actually 1/2 step from the major. Third, depending on if you go to the majors, third or the mind minor third there and then you have the minor seventh again, which is 10 half steps, which is one Teoh to have steps from the octave of the major ninth, which is here, and one to which is again major second, or to have steps from the octave. So that is the foundation off decent intervals, harmonies and chords in music. So what I wanted to do now is practice all the foremost, dissonant intervals on before soft, dissonant intervals. More importantly, I wanted to practice them as cool harness, playing two notes at the same time, probably the root and the harmony or even escort's. So in this case, you can play, for example, a major port on. Then, when you add, he's here. So you get to see seven. What do you in fact have here? Will you have a main minor seventh, which is this soft, dissonant? But if you make it into a C major seven, then you have a major seventh in it, which is very high tension. This is why it wants really to resolve on leads into dizzy major there. 4. Dissonant Intervals How you Play them: Now let's explore dissonant intervals in action because, most importantly as always, in music, it is the how with what sounds and where in the canvas of music you play the notes. That makes the biggest difference. So let me give you some practical examples to consider for how you play the intervals. First, you can play intervals in serious meaning, one note at the time, going up or down. So, for example, if you take a try show like this, you can play from CEO, have short or if shore down to see that is still a tri tone interval. But it is a different direction, up or down. You can also play intervals in layers, meaning harmony, so playing both at the same time on going up, for example, to this that is a hormone E so you can play the intervals in hormone. It's like that, and you can also play stacked harmonies, which I call which I call the courts. So courts are basically harmonies that this stack on top of each other, So if you take a minor third harmony with a major third harmony a stack them on top of each other, you get a minor, so you can, of course, play them as course now, it's also important to consider how you boys your harmonies and chords. So let's say if you have a C mind record here, which is a minor third within Manya, third in route position. But if you do an inversion from something, pricing this g an octave below here. Now we have 12345 perfect fourth with a minor third on top if we take the C A productive instead. So this one. Here we have a 1234 major third with a perfect fourth on top. And that makes a huge difference when you created progressions because he can change the interval movement. For example, if you take in minor C minor in position and goes, for example, Teoh be major in route position, you get actually 1/2 step here in movement and have the pier from C to B. So, like so which kinds of ad that ominous spooky vibe? Because you get to you seven a half step movements. But you can, for example, skip this one and go up to, let's say, this one, which is the same core but doesn't have the same spooky vibe. That is because the interval movement in the voice leading makes a huge difference as well . No, what is very important is how you play those intervals in regards to the rhythm in length. So, for example, you can play like so you can see that is a harmony. But I extend the note there on the final, and the next one is, Ah, the tonal range, meaning which octave you play the interval scenes so you can play, for example, a dissonant interval serious like this and again, I also used rhythm and note lengthy or so you can stay on the third here, but very high tension. But if I play it, um, down in the octaves long, long way down here, it gets more powerful and dark. So here you get the very sinister and ominous and high tension. Feeling which is perhaps a killer is nearby. But if you play down here, it's like the dark, evil boss. So it's been played here or inactive about perhaps here and you can, of course, play intervals like this as, ah, harmony off octaves. If I played low here. But in octaves that a super powerful and dork. Now that is tonal range of where you play it. If you play a chord, has one emotion, another one here on If you go down, it sounds different. Then we, of course, have the instrumentation, meaning what instruments and sounds used to play your intervals harmonists in courts with because the sounds themselves makes a huge difference on the final emotional vibe in character, even if you play the same intervals course and even in the same range. So, for example, a pad like this could sound like this with that's doing F mine record should be major beef magical. Let's do it with the piano on. In fact, let's change the playing style to, for example, in or pidio and you have the orchestral strings. If you play with breast, you get another character you can see I changed the voice, leading the inversions a swell at same time and winds quiet, lucky instruments like Corp as against the huge difference from the instrumentation itself . And finally we have the playing style. Over the interval ISI play. You can play them a serious intervals, harmonies or cords. So, for example, If you play something like this basically in Austin all to type pattern there, which is a rhythmic play style, you can do a ah lyrical playing style like like so you can do some kind of camping. So the playing style also is important. Now you should take action and practice playing all intervals, harmonies and course in various ways to create tension and dissonance. So practice playing them, going upwards downwards, stacked as harmonies at escort practice different freedom and note length in the patterns. Practice the tonal range meaning down here we're up here, the's sound character from the instrumentation you use, even layering instruments for orchestration purposes. And finally, the playing style over the pattern you create do not get overwhelmed by sound design. An instrument option. I recommend that you start by using Onley piano for this exercise and then go into the sound character instrumentation and orchestration. It makes it easier because it will focus Onley on the tension of the intervals, harmonies and courts you use 5. Tension Articulations: now, while intervals, indoor melodies, harmonies and chords or, of course, incredible, important and in fact, the very foundation for creating dissonance and tension in your music. There are also playing techniques and instrument articulations that you can use to introduce more tension, intensity and even darkness into your musical positions. So let me give you some of the fundamental articulations and playing styles I personally use for adding more tension in music. So here is a quick reference list that you can use to get started. First, you have the classic trill, which is a fast repetition off in most cases, 1/2 step. If you want tension so 1/2 step trill, then we have trim ILO's, which is a repeat fast repetition on the same note. High harmonics for that high end tension. Overblown sounds on brass and woodwinds, which is really pressing the limit off the air pressure in the instrument, creating a very sharp, dissonant sound. And then we have bends, which you can use in most cases to, of course, a semi or 1/2 step. Bend more cotton notes, which is these longer, heavier accented notes that can have a lot of power that is more dork. Powerful tension, music stuck out of stabs for hard accents and finally, various types of pan. She hits like Bartok, Pizzicato or Cold NGO, So I have actually prepared, Ah, product here alive. Examples off all these articulations. The first I have shallows here, where they have have stepped trill. So if you play this or higher up classic tension sound trim ILO's harmonics overblown sounds in this case on board wings. If I play here, it's not overblown. If I play it, let's move. It appears you can see if I play. Ah, hi, expression. It gets overblown. That's going here. It's almost distorting inside the food in this case. And then we have Ben's. I'm using breasts here, so very dissonant on. Then we have, in his case, low insolvable strings so you can use that kind of thing Will really powerful dork tension . Then I have stuck out the steps. You can play something like this if he played in with dissonant intervals like on and finally polish. It's in this case. I'm using warrior basis, low strings, timpani and shouts and blows rings in a thing called and your bottle. Peter Carter So, uh, I wanted to take action now and go through your sample libraries and plug ins to try out all these out regulations and playing styles in various ways to create tension and intensity. If you have them available in the instruments you have, of course. But do remember that while these are some of the most fundamental tension style articulations, there are list of ways to add both darkness and high tension in music. So do feel to experiment and find your own ways specific playing south and articulations in the instruments and sound to use to create music. 6. Tension Effects: dissonance. Intention can also come from specific effects, either performed by acoustic instruments or with the use of synthesizers or even external effect billions. Now I will go through some of the most common effects you can use to add higher intensity, tension and darkness in your music. All right, so here we are in the D. W. Again on. I have already prepared all these instrument tracks with various kinds of tension effects. So let's go through them one by one. The 1st 1 I call attention stingers, which is basically a shorter, high tension and decent and sounds and articulations that you really used as stingers. So short stings the next one. I called tension clusters, which are the opposite longer cluster courts and hormones and dissonance sons. Um, and by the way, this is palette orchestral effects. So you, if you have an orchestral effects specific vibrio or present collection, I would go to that first to try out this Stingers clusters on also ah, tension movement effects. So, in this case, using thrill because you can actually automate the movement off these presets. So these are basically orchestral XYZ and some hybrid sounds. Theo Moore in and out and at movement you. But it's basically based still on clusters and atmospheric dissonance. The next one is ah called raices and falls. Basically, you can think of these as seen device or effects or subgroups, but with acoustic instruments. You can do this in cluster forms. Eso here I have rises, dissonant harmonies there but all going with the overall upwards movement. And then, of course, the opposite is fools that has that overall downward movement. Then we get to what I call noise and drift. So you can either use an instrument that you can, for example, change this gale from equal temperament to something else. Teoh change the master soon, or even automated the master tune if that is available to you to create business. But I call these noise and drift because not only, um, talking about rift or ah, automation of the tuning. But I'm actually using in a specific effect that is called cassette because you get the static noise with analog drift. So it sounds really nostalgic. And if you go over broad, really creepy, so if you take this pure piano sound, But if I add these Kasich defict, if I play now, you will hear static noise as well as analog drift and the tuning and sound over. Also compared to again the clean sound way really hear the noise and the drift on you. In this case, it can actually increase the noise if you aren't increased the drift. And so on this noise and drift effects, which can be the drift of the tuning, the sound of any other sound characteristics and static noise in various forms. Then, of course, the classic Peach Bend. I'm just using almost here again to play with, say, an octave if I plan on staying here. But I used a pitchman wheel, so let's played in the middle's. You can hear it more and most often you will focus on that Ah, half step. So put it on one. Whether we can go in here and change it so that the the pitch bend up and down goes up and down one, meaning If I take it from the middle now to the bottom, it's only one half step, which is a really dark and creepy and finally rhythmic automation in all forms. This can be glitches, starter effects or whatever I'm just using stream thoughtless at this rhythm effect cold movement. See if we can bring it on screen. And I found one present here without it, but with it. Theo, of course. Use really gate effects on glitch and stutter effects and all kinds off. But I called rhythmic ordination that changes various characteristics off the sound in the rhythmic way. If use also not on the straight pals but vanda minus or more complex reading the patterns, they can also add to the tension vice. All right, so for the best effects for attention effects, I recommend using dissonant effect. We've intention and not everywhere in your composition, especially when it comes to performance based a, isn't it? Effects like these tensions, stingers and clusters tuning dissonance and glitches can be used. Mawr like this noise and drift on the cassette on the remake Rhythmic automation here but for example, with rapes falls, Ben's choose your moments in your music whether you really want to add a bit of extra attention. They are like Boldon text too much, and they will lose impact. So now take action and practice all off. These different dissonant intention effects go through all your example libras implications that have any off these capabilities and create tension, intensity and chaos from experimenting with dissonant tension effects. 7. Tension Sounds: There are also specific types of sounds you can use that are perfect for creating a bed off tension and intensity in various colors. Of course, it always depends on how you shape these sounds and how you use them, but you can think of them as great building blocks for creating tension. Let me give you a list of practical examples off some of the most fundamental tension sounds I personally use in my music compositions. Whenever I want to add some more tension, intensity or darkness. Now I will demonstrate these tension sounds one by one, as I have created them here in this project for practical demonstration purposes. So one of the main ones I like to use is low deep drones, which is made basically a pedal note that you play on a hybrid or synthesize their sound. Assigned to that, you used mostly low end information like this, various types of movement. So as you can hear very, very high tension in those sounds. Then, of course, classic synth pads, which you can use also hybrid instruments for and playing them in tension harmonies like this and various kinds off sound characters. For those pats then one of my favorites is, of course, soundscapes and textures for attention. So most synthesize service, which focus on Saudi sign, has some kind off sounds like this. There are also specific sample libraries that focus on atmospheric textures, so basically it has no tonal centre. In this case, it's more laser sound design ambience, type of sound. Then we have various kinds off both sounds so, for example, like violins or cellos. But you can basically use a cello or violin bow to bow other types of objects that has some kind of residence. In these games, I'm actually using a illness fear star sandwiches called Bowed, Bowed bicycle. I don't know how they created, but it's really cool. Oh, eso Most Bowed sounds has a very screechy, high tension type of sound, then industrial sounds. In most cases, thes can be Mittal percussion chains on the floor, and stuff like this are great for adding that dork industrial character, which adds tension as well. And of course, distortion in various types and characters is great. Um, for example, in this case, I'm using a doomsday brand patch, but you can use distortion on any type of instrument and when it is really high distortion , it can be a bit rate distortion and bit crushing. It can be to distortion with super overdrive with super high gain, which basically created kind of similar thing to overblown sounds. But basically, those are some of the main attention sounds I go for drones, pads, ambient textures, Bode sounds except the classic ones, of course, industrial sounds. In most cases, I think of percussive sounds for this and various kinds off distorted Selves. Finally, I recommend you to take action again and go into your D W and find various instruments, synthesizes hybrid instruments and sounds that have built in ambience and tension on their own. Whether you're going for that high screech attention, though, dark vibes or whatever type of intensity intention you want to create, try out and experiment with it. Build a sound palette so you get used to the various colors of sounds you can use for tension, intensity and darkness in your musical positions. 8. Unexpected Changes: Now let's talk about how unexpected changes and surprises with intervals, harmonies and chords can make your music mawr dissonant, high tension, intense and dork. People tend to gravitate towards good order and structure, which is why we developed societies instead off having complete anarchy. People also tend to enjoy a nice portion off reliability and stability in music. Is this why the four chord progressions are so much used in pop music, or even why we conform the cords, harmonies and melodies to a scale in the first place. But what happens if you break the order and stability by introducing very unexpected changes, even to the brink off chaos? Well, in fact, this is an excellent way of increasing the tension off your music. So let's look at some of the most common examples of using unexpected changes in music. The 1st 1 is what I call strange harmonic changes, which can be using non diatonic courts, boring course from a parallel relative scale and even using complete key changes. The next one is what I call unusual rhythmic variation, which means a sudden rhythmic change in the flow of your main group, adding unexpected fills and also using Syncopation in various ways. You can even go. So for us to abruptly change the keep the time signature if you want to make it really unexpected and finally sudden sounds or sudden silence, the more sudden the higher the tension. So this could, for example, mean a complete drop and break it for one bar off silence or something like stab be sounds that comes all of a sudden where you're not really expecting it. Now let me show you these examples in action here because I have actually prepared here in the D W. These three men examples. So the 1st 1 is strange harmonic changes. So if we assume in here are actually written down, the court changes. We're going from B flat minor to be diminished. A minor to B flat, minor again B flat minor. Seven. See diminished and see minor. Let's take a look here in the General while I play these corporations, right, so as you can hear very dissonant and spooky chord progression. Let's take a look at what we're really doing here, so we have ah B flat minor. So we have this quarter and then going down with the fifth to make it a diminished going down with these two seminal to or have to beach to a minor back to B flat minor adding the seventh go Teoh see diminished hair on, uh, resolving this diminished here, Teoh or tries onto the fifth. This is not a classic minor corporation or a major corporation. It has very, um, strange or dissonant. Harmonic changes, which is surprising, feels unexpected to the listener, and that creates a lot of tension. The next one is, as I told you, unusual rhythmic variations. So let's go inside here and take a look. I'm just putting this with Takato, articulations and strings, I believe. And let's take a look at what goes on here before I play this. So you can see it starts with this 1234 part with a syncopated no tear, a seminal have to below. And then you get actual trippers here Derrida, Derrida, then going to, um, these quarter on the quarter or the quarter notes bar line, and then a faster pattern here with also the half step chromatic step here and here. And you will really hear it when I play because it takes the vision er on his journey off unexpected rhythmic changes on. Of course, you can also hear it from the intervals and Harmonists played so playing in 32 so, as he heard here, extremely disenchanted. High tension. But more importantly, actually, from the unexpected rhythmic changes, the groove is almost chaotic. So take a listen once born right. So if you listen to, for example, the Star Wars soundtrack, you'll hear lots off these unusual rhythms going on, which really adds tension. The final one is what I call sudden sound or silence. So in the first part, um, I actually have these cool progression and then started Silence here. Andi here again. So you can really see it if I showed you in the piano roll where the silences, this final parties, if you have silence and all of a sudden, strong notes like accents from nowhere, that is the sudden sound part. So let's take a listen to the first part. Sudden silence, silence, silence. So that is the sudden silence port that Addis detention. You can fill it up with some Ambien, zor textures of sound effects if you want, and let's say you have a very soft or silent port in your music and then introduce sudden ah, loud sounds. It could be like this again, very high tension just from that unexpected sound loud sound they're coming out of nowhere . Now it's your turn to take action and practice all kinds of unexpected changes and sudden surprises in your music compositions. You will quickly learn that these compositional techniques or amazing for creating more tension, greater intensity and even make people jump in surprise or by the deer fingernails while sitting on the edge off their seats. 9. Dark Music Breakdown Escape the Silence: in this video, I will give you a breakdown off one of my dark music compositions called Escape This Silence. But first, let's take a listen to the complete track, and your assignment is to analyze everything. You hear every single detail, the sounds and atmospheres, the instruments that are playing, the playing styles, the core progressions, the harmonies, the main theme and so on. So let's play dark music in three to Bomb. - Now let me start by sharing my creative vision for this track, as well as some technical insights into the composition. So I imagined a person waking up in some dork catacombs off pure evil, trapped like a rat in a maze, trying to get out. But darkness is all around, with monsters and demons lurking in every corner, and the dork board himself is approaching. The only thing left to do is to raise your sold, bury your fears and fight your way out. I use lots of dark tension and atmospheric sounds and even recorded and sound designed, some evil breathing and growling sounds myself. The tonal balance is on the darker range in the register for most parts in the composition of the harmony is basically revolving around G minor to e flat minor, which will give the double chromatic steps that, as a lot of darks tension so g minor. If you take the fifth D and go up Osama tone on the route and go down a semi tone, you have the e flat minor. And that movement is really the fundamental harmonic movement at shapes. Ah, the emotion off and dark emotion of this track. I chose to have the mix very open and dynamic to leave room for air and all the atmospheric sounds except in the final port where the battle with the dork Lord is approaching. And yes, the hero failed and darkness prevailed because not all stories and happy now first, I will show you all instruments and sounds are used in these compositions. So let's start from the top here in the FX section. So this is an audio track which I simply recorded my own votes with a creepy breathing noise, which sounds like this. I believe my time stretched it and also pitched it down in various ways on these different sections. Here on, I used a couple of different order you takes for this, so that adds a lot off dork atmosphere. Then I have this impact sound, which is from damage percussion dork impacts, which is this re metallic, and that that coined or rattling chain type of effect also adds a lot off darkness than in the percussion of Holder. I have this percussion groove here, which is Molden animated percussion. A loop phrased library for percussion. Basically sounds like this money changes here. Yes, the back background phrase the booms here or from gravity hits subs menu. So those are every four bars here, and I have Tyco's from Tyco creator Hiro Shima Castle, which is this then I have low tomes, which is percussion hearing damage studio. I'm getting ensemble again. High tones, I believe, also from damage but Studio Tom's stick. It's so four feels like this. Then we go to stick. It's also studio getting ensemble higher up in range to get this. One of my favorite stick hits sounds when we come to the Cymbal crashes, which are from addictive drums Here, classic acoustic drum kit Onda um, symbol swells, which is from with C suspended symbols, waves factory. So it sounds like this great for that atmospheric build Basically. Then we get into the rhythmical drive section where I have a low pulse on a three year three cent called for Siem. So it cannot something like this. I believe I'll have some delay on it. A swell and some effects here very low when the makes us again Here, low strings or based rings are from no Volvo and stumble. So it sounds like this. Okay, so it I actually have some meat strings inside the pattern as well. Let's see that we get here just over tapes. They're going into the next one. We have arranged off cinematic strings to taking care off here. The full ensemble, the cello. So violas, violence. Um, which sounds like this rhythmic pattern was cord stare cello. That is basically the main theme played by shells there. This viola has main ostinato. And also why I used to Viola's for this is because it has this tension kind off by Ozcan sound very short. Basically which is great for this. Like so then, Ah, violence. Take care off the high range here in the final section. Okay, So pizzicato bs were there again. It's America strings to. And then finally, the rhythmic section I have, ah, short trumpets from four. So just for the finals power section, Theo. So that is the rhythm section. Let's move on to the lower end section where we have basically these opening the same things in unison or oak tapes. So the lowest disobeys from retro synth in logic than we have low strings from Nova based Section Lo Brass is a two bus from four so and low winds here in the final section to bring the power up, which is simple essentials. Woodwind ensemble. Let's play them all at once, like this kind of focused, so not that dialled back in the mix. Then we introduced the low winds and you can hear it really well here. Low winds are actually one of the darkest, most attention type sounds in the low range instruments off the orchestra, in my opinion, because low brass can also sound very dark but low wings. They had that kind of whisper character almost similar to what I did here with my voice that would get to the backing tracks where I have basically focused on ambient textures. So we have a nose escape here from let's say, yeah, it's in. Ah, calmness. Fear on it. Sounds like this. We're Dorgan glitchy type. Then we have a soundscape here from also on this fair, and it can see I'm using yeah, expression or a modulation here to change it over time. Really creepy. And then finally drones. Here I have a drone. Our most tradition, which is great for this. A drone a type sounds And then actually, for the backing track, I also have Sortino strings playing basically a well, the harmonies harmonic progression here. And, um, it is played by simply string ensemble and sound with very low dynamic sounds like this. So I actually dial back that brightness to the bottom here. I didn't use Aniki, but since I used ah, super low dynamics, um, that really gave it that Sordi No strings character. So all in all the back, in fact, sounds like this things comes in soundscape. Next one, it actually builds in atmosphere here. The drone almost tradition comes in there. Then for the keys section, I have a piano which iss the grandeur playing this or pigeons style thing here were you really hear the darkness off the harmonic progression, then for the strings. Ah, so we have shells. I lost in first. Beilin's Let's see what we have. They are from cinematic strings to all of them again on playing of the leading theme like this. So in the Goethe mode and then the violence come in, I think layered in octave above the eso together. Oh, yeah? So then when the violence take over, the chills actually play just single notes, like so like that. And then finally, violence Just for the final section, I think Pizzicato. Okay. No, it's actually the same theme, an octave above again, which really brings it. Ah, eso That adds to the intends to deal the final part for the breasts section I have Let's see, four. So full ensemble and for so horns What? See what? These sounds like Justin harmonic lying there and then and then the horrors taking, coming here, bringing up the intensity but basically saying the same thing in octave above on. If you listen to that with the strings to take care of the harmonic section, let's play From here on, you can also hear the dynamics going on here is gonna see bills and then goes down, builds thing goes down. So that is the breast. Then we come into the voice, which is also very important here. Ah, I believe I actually used Olympus or more Squires here from sound I run and for the women, I think it's no, it's actually illness fear. So let's see about this. Sounds like only playing long notes here for the harmony Doesn't sound very real, to be honest, but in the mix, it it worked. Works. Ah, uh, actually, the thing that it doesn't sound really adds to the tension. In my opinion, it sounds creepy from the order official transition. They're all Miss Fear had Doesn't have any, um, legal to transitions. All right, so that is settle. Assume out again So you can see the entire track. That is all the instruments and sounds are used for. Now let's move on and diving and see what I'm doing for the actual melodies, harmonies, rhythm and overall composition. Now these track is, of course, very focused on ambience and atmosphere, and one of the main things is actually that I started by recording this. This was my inspiration, my own voice teached and time stretched. And in that various versions over here, Theo. Kind of a drawl. Whisper over here. Let's see more of the breathe out effects. I recorded various rations off my own voice in a creepy ways. Pitch them differently. Time stretched them differently and so on. And then, ah, after that I went Thio was out Most often do with atmospheric tracks to the harmonic progression. So let's dive in and see what we have here. So if we go into the strings here, so here you can see it's a g g minor going here in the octaves here, the fifth on and here we actually have. So this is G seven without the third. This is E flat minor. So, in fact, let me play that with the pianos. Where are you pianos? Here. So we have the G minor. That is the that is the harmonic movement that basically is the foundation for the atmosphere of this track. So going from, um, I played like so g minor in route position. When I go back with the base in my life and to the e flat on, just move my fifth year, the D up Sima Tone and the G down ASEM. It'll on those two chromatic steps here from D to E flat G Do G. Fletch is, but they played one octave about, so it's more clear that is the foundation of the darkness. Intention in this track and you will hear it over and over is basically focusing all on that progression. I don't do any modulation, so ah, and so warm. So if you go into the backing here again, you can see I also use a lot off. Let's see if we consume in here the kind of ambiance sounds and you can do whatever you want. But what I love about, as most Frederick music is that you can be so free in what kind of atmospheric sounds to you. So for softball, I love using ominous fear and other types off the really atmospheric focused plug ins and instruments. You have the fixtures, playable pictures, soundscapes and so one here, and you can, of course, go to noise escapes, which are what I have done here. These can really be just atmospheric textures. Role, no real tonal centre or anything, just an ambience, Um, and drones of course of really good for this. You can use a low pad for this. I just went for the drone or masturbation because that is focused on a drone sound, which is really a low and anchors if I played again with the piano. It's like something that holds on for a long time on the root note. In this case, you can also add some movement into sound like so. But basically, Ah, these has a total center as Tiu the soundscape, I think. Okay, No. So that is more. Well, it is kind of have, Ah, a total centers. I actually put it on G, which is the root note. Well, the key, Andi. This even follows the harmonic progression so you can see it goes from G to E flat here. So if I tell you that together with only the Sardinha strings, even though it's mostly texture, it has a key in it. So that's why I actually followed the root note off the court, changed there and full or, um, the rhythmic section. Let's let's listen to what the entire percussion does, as you can see. By the way, if we assume into the percussion here is not much going on because I wanted to feel give this the open sound that atmospheric music really should have. So I have a symbol, swells a lot of them. I have these low booms and I have stick. It's because they don't take up too much space in the mix. You can add really nice drive, some crash symbols, of course, to mark the accents on. Then I have some Tom's bring in the low end off percussion and then the titles here at the end, which basically, let's just listen to the percussion. So it's all in the final section here, where the percussion really comes in. Beat more in complexity. Let's move on to to the rhythm section. This actually does the most. I would say, um, in the mix. So you have the low pulse here, which starts with a really simple groove, this one here see if we can see it here and again. It's goes from the G to the flett, but just as a groove there. The low strings are really playing on the ones here. Little note G and at the octave to Adam, more of, ah, rhythmic energy. Here but you can really hear they marked X center of for each bore. Then we have the short strings in Psalm ble, which really takes care of the court progression or harmonic progression. As you can see, it's ah to not Harmonists. It actually starts with this kind of ostinato where I basically it's like shagging on on low string on a guitar, which I do here on the G But have the Boston auto here I could it could, for example, remove this, but he wouldn't sound the same because if I add that harmony which sticks like a pedal note or not the pedal, But well, it keeps the key here. It really has lots of tension. But then it continues, by the way. So then we go into, let's see, where are we here way? Have the g minor here actually go into, um well, this is this is e flat here route inversion. However, let's see if you can I would I would still say I'm using that as a G minor with a sharpened fifth because the base stays the same. So if you look up here, if I play the bass at the same time as I go up, It's actually a G. No, let's see. Oh, they call it by various interesting name there, but basically a shop in the fifth on this follows also, but the board shallows that has the main theme. So what do we have here? Learn? Um, basically choosing an inversion. Therefore, the flat Ah, minor. And then the chill owes which doesnt more simple pattern. But this is actually one of the signature things of this track s second, if you built at least until the full makes things really sticks out because it's a very cool groove on that is the thing I can recommend as well. Because if you want to add tension and darkness, don't simply do that. That that that that that that some straight polls make a groove, Um, and also use, of course, intervals. That ad you, uh, the darkness. So you can see here the semi notes here, here, here. I believe this is a wrong note. And here again that all in all as a lot of tension the violence if a chicken here, what they play Oops, just that one. So they basically or you can see the G here and the minor harmony there. And then they have this one here. So it's an arpeggio going between the route the third and then in the scale agree here below because it also focuses on this this minor titi titi between those and then, ah, basically resource into the e flat minor And for the final trumpets here in the real track , what do we have? Let's see if I can select it and go Oh, go in. Um again, what do we go here from? The G, the third off the G minor and then this one here. So this harmony here actually has a lot of tension played over the G minor court progression. So again we have this Ah, shift between the third and here the major second. And this is what Chris the most of the tension in distract again. So it's repeated in a lot of instruments. Let's go out again and see what we have. So for the low end, it doesn't do much. It actually A provides a really fundamental anchor bus just playing long to note to bore notes here, apparently in unison here but with some movement in both expression as you see the blue line here and the dynamics. So that is the low end. Really simple going into let's see what it just over here. I think it's basically the same again here. Yeah, but I introduce Ah, the oxtail with low winds there and then for the backing track. You already listen to that going into Ah, the keys Piano. Here. Let's move on over here. And you can see this little arpeggio going from G. Okay, so the fifth, the octave and then this What is that? And then they seminal here that adds a lot of finishing It comes again. Ah, an octave above. So we are playing root fifth root, um, beef. And that is basically it's just the little where are we on the keys here. So we're playing. So we have made a major second movement minor second movement, which I switched between in the ending of those phrases for the strings. That's in fact So the all of them and check in what we have first in this section here. Okay, so the first part is only the shallows. And what can you see again? Here s so we have a G minor chord playing. And we have the root of that. The third, the fifth, and going on to the shop and faith of the fifth Again. Again, This 1/5 shopping 55th. And I haven't even do it here on the When I go down in this direction, like a movement going up and down, I used 1/3 on the minor. Oh, the major second. So again, semi note chromatic step here. So it repeats. There, there, there, there. Um then I changed. I'm going into the flat here. Um would see we have the root note there, so we actually start on the third here it starts on the third, going up to the fifth. And then, um, we have a d, which is a seminal below the root note. There comes the root note of the court, actually, and this Critchell of tension as well right here. And, um then we go back to G minor, I think, and you see, the cello takes care off. The changes from here is de miner, and then we're going to go to e flat. But ah, we have this step in between just to add a seminal step here and here again, again. Lots attention going into the final course, it can cool in that are the most powerful section anyway, So we still have this going on. Ah, actually muted the violas stairs to go over to the violists right here and take a look at what they do. And you really hear a lot of tension. If just listen to what the shallows take care of him. The long notes. Seminole step here on this one to this one. Lots of tension. Let's check the violence here again. What they do, they do the same thing. The same note. Step their seminal ship, they're on and it repeats like so and then go to e flat minor there. And then for the final section, the violins coming and take care off the high range, but basically an octave above. So they play. It's a must if I tell us and then for the breasts. So what we have here is long notes. I believe they play. Yeah, basically what the basis doing so they are mimicking this is actually a little bridge or breakdown where I use a different kind of baseline, which is this. So you can see I used to route no for the long notes on. Then add seminal step up chromatic. Step up. Ah, So this is the This is g minor for these two bars in this chord here. Ah, but I go to here g sharp twice. And this These two bars here are supposed to be e flat minor in the corporation which you can see the flat here, but I go to eat right there and then I when I add on the breast to that really, really powerful and bold darkness And then we go into the final section where the breasts way Cimino's step's here and then here, going down and up again. And if you listen to these in context, it actually is the leading motif. Butt dialed back very low in the mix. As you can see, it go here into the dynamics very low, and it is not valued that much, to be honest right here. But it will be further on. And then we have, of course, the voices Oh, providing the root note here until the final section where they actually of the root note. Actually the third here and then the roots here. But ah, that is basically more to add ambiance. The brass here goes into the horns and now we actually get moreover. Let's see if I can. Why can't I get into the like? So here we have the G again, the dramatic step here. So here you can actually hear more clearly the main motif, so to speak, because, um because of ah, the horns taking care off the octave above the brows and sambal. And then just for the final ending I it shows to add a little stinger ending basically because I hold out the base here. By then I had a little creepy piano at the end. So this thing here classic little openness Stinger at the end there. So that is the entire composition. Escape the silence. Very atmospheric dark tension track suitable for dork underscores and caves and caverns and really creepy atmospheric movies or TV series over video games 10. Action - Sound Instinct: congratulations. You have now learned the fundamentals off tension and dissonance in music so that you will be able to compose and create dark music in all kinds of styles, from dark evil action music to ominous and creepy atmospheric underscores. Now it's time to develop your ears for the sound off dark music and improve your composer instinct, off darkness and tension in music. Your assignment is there for what I call sound instinct, meaning, listening to music with your full attention and analyzing everything that is going on. I can also recommend that you do this exercise while you sit in front of your piano or MIDI keyboard so you can play an experiment with various aspects you hear inside the music. Analyze as much as he can. For example, the courts, harmonies and main themes. The tempo, key and scale instruments and layering rhythms, playing styles, articulations and soul. I will now give you a list of great examples off specific compositions you can use as a starting point for these exercise Jaws, Main, Star Wars, Imperial March or Door. Vader's The Dork Knight. I'm not a hero. Pirates off the Caribbean, The cracking you can also check out these complete soundtracks full of tension and doctors . Alien by Jerry Goldsmith. The Missed by Jonah Austin, Ellie and Chino Bill by Hilder Guana Duty. Now Go ahead and do this sound instinct, exercise to develop your ear and instinct for tension, intensity and darkness in action. Then let's continue your journey in the next video. 11. Jaws Main Theme: All right. So now I will give you my analysis and breakdown off the main title from Jaws by John Williams. So these are all the points I've written down from my own analysis. Now I will play this track back, but I will pulls on the cover the main point series. You really hear every point I have written down. So let's start from scratch. All right. So I'd stop there. The first thing I noticed these John Williams deuces really deep, though bold strings and play them if I call a lurking fashion. This is a magnificent use off his musical composition, knowledge and instrumentation to really bring out that lurking a feeling from the great big white shark in the sea. Hey also grooves with the rhythm on off course focuses on the miners second movement in the range but by grooving with the rhythm I mean it starts slow and slurry and then it increases in pace and rhythm. And the third point is when you get more rhythmic intensity when it has more X entered notes into the composition, I will stop there because the fourth point here is where the soft breast is introduced. kind of improvised, like counter melody, which is, um, kind of Kotor. Unexpected, you can say, which also adds to the tension on 0.5, you hear, hear the shore piercing extended stabs on the brass. They're also adding intensity All the while you still hear those deep lurking strings and that driving miners second groove in the low end and you hear the piercing breasts Ah is getting or the stabs is getting louder here and now. Ah, John Williams introduces a secondary theme with the high piercing sounding strings that are grooving on the tri tone interval. Actually, this intermission here with loss of runs and basically a transition into the the secondary theme, which comes now. Theo, on here you hear the seventh point? The bright brass, it full force that other piercing peer's intention, the long notes on top of this tri tone based theme. Yeah, and here the eighth point is what I call 1/3 motive, which is more hopeful on this adds contrast when the main theme comes back, which is the lurking minor second low and groove. All right, so the rest of the track it's pretty much covering it mainly that miners second, Ah, riff in the low end, and that's basically it for my analysis. Thes eighth points. Well, I'm going to go straight into showing the main themes here on my keyboard Midi keyboards. You can see what I'm talking about as well. So if we start here in E the reef or main, Motive is in the range using the miners second movement. So if we start here on E, I think it's in any in the low dynamics and all states, and then the rhythm increases. But as does the intensity from of the dynamics like this. So this is the movement that the minor second between E and F and then the major second between D on E and then the When the intensity increases, you hear the piano coming in on so one. And the secondary theme that comes in later in this composition has those piercing strings and I I and lasted as grooving on the tri tone. It's not actually doing super high focus on it, but it is the tone that stands Selves. I think it's up here and, of course, ages. Days try tone interval. So we have these notes on it is this that you really hear coming up from that. And finally, you also have that third motive that comes in us an intermission, adding hope that adds controls when the main dork theme comes back. And it's something like this. So you hear you have actually the's notes that are way more lyrical and emotional that adds hope, especially with the light playing style. So those are the main interval and harmonic aspects that I recommend you Teoh actually practice on Jordan piano or media keyboard. So go back. Listen to the track again. Wild. Watching all these notes that I have written down, make new notes if you want, and then experiment by playing back what you hear on your piano or media keyboard. 12. Pirates of the Caribbean The Kraken Theme: All right, So now I'm going to analyze and break down for you. One of my favorite dork and high tension themes composed by host Simmer for Paris off the Caribbean. Dead Man's Chest on It's the theme for the crackin. So let's play here. You will have my points boot points written down, and I will go through them as I play and pause the track as we go along. So let's start right now. All right, So let's start there. The first motif in this track, the general vibe in character is that Tzar King, feeling that the cracking is somewhere down there on, is just waiting to come up with his tentacle on Grab the ship down to the deep and it's focusing on ah, minor movement here, starting in D minor from detail on, then goes up Teoh see on down to be. So we have the minor second, and then again on the second time, it grooves on the the major seventh to the OECD. So something like something like that and the sound is, of course, low strings. But it is also heavily augmented with clean base, since which adds focus and power and It's not even, um hidden below the orchestrates. It's up front. So let's continue to the third point. Right? So what you hear in the back here is that is building with increasing power sustained. So you have the reef that dead and then you hear the powers is ah in their strings in the background background, take it Leaks into the doctor one here. Those are getting gradually louder and louder until we get to the second motif here with which has more of a stabbing character as opposed to looking still, the power sustains building. And now right. So here we have that second motive, which is Ah, flowing around the miners second from B to C So we have this'd it revolves around the B to the sea here, this minor second here and active of course, played lower somewhere like do it in octaves. So it has more of a stabbing character of the plane style on DA. Let's continue to listen. Listen for the sixth point here, or the fifth point, which is the dis boosted with it in intensity, with low shouts like wires and percussive hits. So the movement, the riff, the eyes getting boosted with percussion data data Onda then Ah, intensities also boosted with Ah, loud Oh, yeah, Oh, in the choirs And then we get, like, a unexpected silence or it doesn't have to be silenced as you know it. But it goes back to the lurking which is a super high contrast from this high stab be Lotus back to this they're looking again And then, ah, author of the lurking we get to a repetition style performance that builds anticipation, is almost like Imagine when the vinyl disc is stuck on Repeat like the needle gets stuck. Ah, it adds tension and anticipation from that repetition. It's almost like stutters do the same thing here, died out that several times on your waiting for the third motive, which I would consider the main theme for for this entire piece. And it has several ports. The first it starts low and focus on the half step around the perfect favor. So listen to this. That's super low. Uh, string. This is just the 1st 3 notes of the scale and then going up to the perfect safety. But we are, ah, between the this'll note here. So the half above the perfect on. Then they have step below with a perfect fifth. So the perfect faith in D minor is of course, a but the notes just above and below. So these TUNEL or creating the high tension So we have something like seminal have step above the perfect on below on then to the perfect 50 resort That is that the third multi and then 0.8 years the pipe organ comes in, which is a lot of power. And ah, it is Ah, the secondary part of this motif which is actually playing the first to fifth scale degree and then does a little turn below the viewed. So it focuses on the halfs that below the route. So Okay, so we have here the fifth a Theun just going down skill. And now we do a turn at the half to below D have to go back again. Teoh like that. Ah, Now the third part of this motive, it's placed the same thing. But it's changes the playing style from this flow we authoritative style to stab be intensity style. So now here we have just on intermission and then it goes back to stab motif to play is that twice. And then we go into the final kind of re formal teeth which comes here, right? So what do we play here? Well, it's actually the route which is D may a minor second up on a major second down from ah Dee . And if you remember, this is the notes from the exact same notes. That jaws theme is based upon main themes. So but But here we have Mauris stab me like way. So it's D leaflets on the way Onda that it was against boosted, heavily boosted by breasts, runs Ah, intense breath runs and also stabs to Ah, adding tens of days comes here in the second round. No. All right, so I think those are the main points then it has some kind of information here. Ah, repetition style started thing. And then it goes basically through all of the main aspects again in other arrangements. But all the main aspects already covered around this point half through the track, in my opinion. All right, so let's finish by taking a quick look at the keyboard on but the main aspects the motifs and themes are doing in this composition, Interval and Harmony Wife. So the first motive is lurking. Style starts on the on and then goes, Just ease minor movement on, then the minor second e think hear from C to B and then the second time it's between the have to beloved the tape. So in variations of that, but these a la the main notes involved in this motif. So the second motif, which is this stabbing kind of performance, start on the sea, and then it basically revolves around the minor second here, Way beyond Safe way. So it's basically thes five notes, but it's basically thes two that it revolves around in this riff that makes detention. Of course, it's tabby action playing style. Next we come to the third motif, which I would consider the main theme of this composition, which sources low on the strings and ah on the low D. Then it revolves. Around these two have steps around the perfect fifth, so thes thes two notes. So we have. Of course, it's his movement here that as the tension there, then the second part of the main theme comes in with a pipe organs, which focuses on the scale degrees, 1 to 5, starting on the five. So on the way here and then it doesn't turn below the root here. So have the below D. So on on. Look at this. That turn here. So it those five notes are involved. But then the turn its resist these No sirs, Which or Byner Second made your second, which has the same notes as the Jaws. T theme focuses on so on In this case, Hans Timmer uses the thing Ah, graceful style here and in the turn at attention. So again way that turn is what adds the darkness intention here. And finally we have that action rhythmic tie brief that is focusing again on the route on the miners. Second up and the major second down its stores on this bythe and so on. And that gets boost by the breast runs and steps. So that is it. That is the cracking theme in Paris of the Caribbean. I advise you recommend that you listened through it on your own from start to finish. Look at these notes, but also write your own notes, sit by your piano or media keyboard and try out all these aspects made more thieves, intervals and harmonies that playing styles even changed the instrumentation. If you like Askew, play to really get that emotion and character off darkness, intensity and action of these theme has. 13. Star Wars Imperial March: well right now, let's analyze Star Wars, Imperial Mort, or what's better known as Dorf Vader's theme. Ah, it is probably one off my top 10 favorite themes in ah feel music off all time. So why is it so dark, evil and powerful? Well, I have written down my bullet points here, officer listening and analyzing this track in detail. And you should also do these as an exercise. If you haven't already done so, listen to the music, actually listen to it and write down what ever details you pick up on. So I will now play this track from Start and go through all these booth points that I've written down and I will pose as you hear them starting right now. So that is the first thing. It starts with super high tension because of the extremely intensive fast and ex entered rhythms. So it is basically the equivalent off trim Ilo's. It's so fast, and I am not sure I cannot even Hammett like that, that that that that that that that super fast and also extended with snares, which are excellent for marking the main accents in the rhythm of the music in this case. It marks every single note off the rhythmic groove, and the base actually grooves. And that is the foundation of the entire theme between G and going A flat and G so G flat, which is the minor second movement here. You will hear that a lot in this entire composition. And that creates a lot of dissonance in tension between what the harmonies are actually doing. Well, get in 2.3 soon here because the main motive comes in, which is actually going cool wise from D minor to e flat minor. But the fact minor will go to G flat in the bass on that creates a lot of tension. So listen to this. All right, well, you heard there was part one and two of the main motive. So first going from D flat minor with G flat in the bass, and you will also hear the focus. Sound wise is on powerful more Cotto's and ex scented notes on both brass and strings here and the second port off. This motive goes from e flat. Ah, the base goes from if down to e flat on, then to see, and it's actually making you to see diminished core the last by going to see in the base and then the third part will listen to this rights. And now the third part is really chaotic. And chaos is an excellent way in rhythms and intervals to add tension because it makes it dissonant. People like order and structure and being comfortable with what comes next. These are really unexpected changes in both rhythm and harmony. It starts on the flat with D in the base and goes via a flat five chord is a lot of bull road cords here, actually, so it goes down to D flat minor and listen to the second time in place here. What? What is also different in these old school film music that John Williams right is the breasts is not as much focus on the low end as it is the high piercing range. It is really, really bright. Ah, this full force, which is piercing and shrill and adds a lot of tension with these powerful more Cotto motifs when basically the strings adds that bold authority in the low end on the bass end, A little short intermission before we came to what I call the secondary mo chief, which is basically a chaotic dance with fast rhythms that is focusing first on Highwood beans and then strings comes in to boost it it as well. And this is actually based around the same intervals as Jaws, main Motives or the miners. Second and the major second. Here it comes again. It's similar to that super intensive fast rhythms that I visited. It did it, Did it, did it. It's so fast that it's hard to even hum and you hear that it uses this, Ah, fast movement between the minor second. So this that is the movement. So the miners like you and I may just I can go lower, which is the same as the jewels. Ah, theme. So he's actually repeating the same kind off movement there. Why? Because it's really working. Okay, so let's continue on his using these high, overblown booed wins that really adds tension from the sound itself, as well as the harmony and the chaotic kale's over the rapid dancing rhythms. And then the strings come into the mid range and low range, and you'll also hear that basically baseline, the low strings is more rigid and powerful, while the mid range does basically the same as the woodwinds did. But in the mid range, it's teaser off the main motif there while these dams is going on on. Then, of course, John Williams is the master of doing runs on both strings and woodwinds, too, really up the intensity as well. And now, after that cool intermission there you will hear what I call a double key modulation, which is basically he moves the main theme up and then up again, just in order so that he's can resolve is back to the G minor again. So listen to the key change here. First mutations, then second, no. So we can go back to. And that's basically it's for this composition, one off the best themes in film music ever, in my opinion, all right, so let's take a quick look at the main aspects of intervals and hormone is used in North Vader's theme, so it is written in G minor like this, but the main group comes from the movement in the base from G G flat here, Onda, and we'll go here from G minor. It goes Teoh e flat minor. So we have this movement. This goes up here. This goes down here So you can What? Why does that sounds so evil? Because both this interval here, here, on this here to hear goes in half step with minor second hand. What does the base do it? In a same time from G G flat. They have step the most decent or the most. The cool of tension in intervals is based on that half. So if I play the melody instead of the courts here and just do the same thing in the base like so and then the sick and turn off the main theme goes via e flat you see in the base. So you have this instead, base goes to e flat and then the melody goes here while the base goes down to see and the mentally continues on the flat. So you have base notes, Um, in the progression which makes the sea diminished core. So again, super super powerful. Especially since you get this tri tone. A zoo focus here at the turn of the second part off the main motif. And then for the final third port off the main motif, it goes really crazy and chaotic, with big leaps into intervals and using the chromatic steps or half steps as adding high tensions of the stars with high G. Here on it goes through this little turner. So we have the Sima note here, here, here, here, here, here and here all have steps. So chromatic run basically, and then it jumps down here. And then it goes through the same turn here with a dramatic step. Theo goes down to e flat on. They goes to an upwards movement in order to do a second round thing and starts over at the OK. So, really, the chaotic and high tension comes from the big leaps. The kale's in rhythm as well as heavy focus on the chromatic steps. The minor second. So that's it for store wars. Imperial March The Door Vader theme practices yourself by first listening carefully to the entire composition and write down everything you hear. And then as you listen back, play back what you can own. Your media, keyboard or piano really didn't write the notes into your DW. If you like the skulls owner, the piano itself, but has always you will learn best if you take action on everything you learn 14. Evil and Powerful: evil and powerful dark music. I will now give you real practical tips and examples on how you can create dark music in the style I call evil and powerful. Imagine a movie scene where the evil boss and main antagonist is putting his sinister plan into action and uses his dark power to make all his slaves and henchman work hold to implement it all. All right, so now let me share with you my best practical tips for how you can create evil and powerful dog music. So the first point is low and focus with the high dynamic. So if we go back to think about ominous and lurking dark music, it is the low and focus meaning here, down here in lower but with so dynamic. So whereas with evil and powerful music suitable for re dark evil boasts kind of character . General won't go with super high dynamics or something and said like that the next point is you can use heavy, more co Tal's meaning accented medium to longer notes for power. Ah, and stabs shorter stabs for accents. So take a listen to this, for example, a lot, right? So that is the beginning off the Dorthe Vader theme, which is Ah, very particular on these evil and powerful style. So that is what we're going for here. So the heavy Mercado's, which are ah, not long sustain knows, but has very high attack for that power. And then you can use stabs for accents like S O. This is, Let's say, this is rhythm thing you just stabbed with these, which could be oak tapes of hormone is, of course, whatever, usually with strings and breast. So if I do that with those were stabbing the May accents in the beat with high dynamics a swell. Next, let's talk about instrumentation four evil and powerful music. Nothing beats brass and strings, especially in the low range. So of course it can have seen decisions or whatever you want, but I'm just giving you some practical tips here. So here I have actually used to let's reduce the piano and the short strings. And now I only have ah sustained insoluble strings and ensemble breast so I can play like this. As you can hear really powerful and evil sound there. So that is instrumentation. Ah, even if you go higher up in the range. I would say brass and strings are preferred for this style, so not a lot of food means horrible. Whatever you can do whatever we want again. But just as a guideline here, the next point is rhythmic performance style for the motif. So let's think about this. I make a difference between rhythmic styles of performances and lyrical style. So lyrical styles are more like golf to focus melodies like Let's see if I can play something more connected. Style there and not really you don't. Everything has rhythm, of course, but it's not the main focus, whereas for evil and powerful, I generally think off the main theme and motif to be more rhythmic, meaning. Think of it more as a rift. So let's increase it again, way board redneck focused. Or we can do it something, something like this produce that. Actually, the beginning off the Jaws theme is more, um, more like low dynamics like omens and lurking. And then it turns into Maury Mawr, kind of evil and powerful like like so. So that is a great example of the difference. The contrast between ominous and Thurk ing and evil and powerful of course, it's not as evil as Ah, in my opinion, because you have way more authority here. Like with a marching vibe. All right, so the next one is using Austin autos or on it doesn't have to be like the classic like, you know, you know, the But I consider Austin autos as, um, some type of repeating phrase. But the more you repeat on the same pitch, it more or less becomes a rhythmic pulse. So let's say we are on Gina. It's why the door for the team has this way, like in the beginning, that fast repetition on the pitch. Um, and you can use this to your advancers when you when you create evil and powerful music. So that is an Austin out of repeating on the pitch instead of more horror. Monique ostinato In that case, all right, so that is great. And ah, Austin autos also has automatically kind divides that marching vibes over and any type of military marching vibe automatically adds authority. It's like imprinted into our minds psychology. Ah, that the military vibe is authority. All right, so the next one is, um, use. You can use the low end so the baseline to boost the decent and tall minutes. So if we go back to the Dolph Beta theme here, it's a minor G and the base here. And then the base goes down in a chromatic safe in minor second, while Misty Minor goes to E minor on DA. So this is actually e flat minor. But it's not e flat in the bass so used that you were advantaged. You don't have to have the base play the court wear. It's actually this is the route. No. So this is an inversion, and it actually goes to that, noting the inversion. So the way the base doesn't have to fall over the route of the course Or, let's say with way something like, Let's do see if we were in C minor here. So the base can basically do other types of basically be the reef or a second re motif in itself. So if the c minor here, let's make the sea. Just use days on the base by G, for example, See going to be and see here that minor second movement while they see minor chords playing on. If I removed, see you will hear more clearly again. And you can use this, for example, with another inversion like this. So let's do that used the low in the base or is excellent for chromatic stepping like. And finally, when we talk about intervals, chromatic steps again the baseline you start to walk on on the chromatic scale, meaning every single note in the 12 tone scale. You don't have to walk on. Only the accord notes if we are going here in C minor again, chromatic scale is super super evil sounding All right, so that is the miners second movement. And what I love to do for this really evil and powerful vibe is if you have, let's say, Let's do the C minor. Let's go meet third for now. So what you can do is especially focused on the revolving, the chromatic steps around the route, see, and the faith. So here. So if you play, let's say c minor core, but I will make the third just to extent, thinks Holman here on. Then you revolve around the fifth wish over these notes, so that is a super powerful move. So take the cord revolved on the notes around the fifth or do the vice versa around the, uh, route. So And that I recommend trying the base weighing C minor on the base revolves around with dramatic steps here. So the miners second up and down from the root way. Or you can do it, of course, here. All right. So now you have got some practical tips n tricks and guidelines on how you can create evil and powerful dork music. So I recommend that you sit by your immediate keyboard or piano, practice all these tips I gave you and come up also with lots more ways on your own. Be creative experiment. How would you portray this kind of style and vibe off the dork music compositions. 15. Ominous and Lurking: I will now give you real practical tips and examples on how you can create dark music in the style I call ominous and working. Imagine a movie scene where there is something dark and sinister going on, but you cannot place your finger on what exactly something is lurking in the shadows, and it completely sets the dork mood and atmosphere even without any apparent action. All right, so here is my complete list of practical tips and examples for this style of dark music. Let's go through them one by one, starting with the oh, end. Focus. So by this I mean the balance in the range of music, not the high end, not the middle, but the vote. And and you can also use these breaks to give it some air and sile use the power of silence , which also can add intensity, intention and the generally with Mormonism working styles. You want to keep the dynamics low. Instead, off which is super powerful. Go vote with the dynamics, perhaps a bit too low there, but you get the point and you can, of course, rai the dynamics of it, creating curves with crescendos and diminuendo. Next Ah, regarding the intervals, I would say you would should mainly focus on the shorter intervals to avoid those big leaps that arm or apparent in action and chaotic styles. Performance style. So ah, going in, Ah, shorter chromatic steps and ah preferring off course. And minor second and the tri tones of this one G two, for example, a flat or hear from G to the tri tone here, therefore, the hormone E. If you want to keep it really ominous on looking, um, I would recommend mostly using open and spacious course and voicing, So not going full on with, Let's say, Let's do g minor with like unless you go super low over the development dynamics here, I see it will take up too much space in the mix, which will lose that lurking feelings. I would say it's a using Octavian base just the fifth year, um, fire up something like that. Then, for the voice leading, I would say that you should focus to ex sent the dissonant intervals. So if we go back to this g minor here. So in the Star Wars, Dorthe Vader's theme it goes from the minor to E flat minor with, um, g flat in the bass. So on that, I assume you can see here goes with the dissonant interval here from D C Sharp G D flat. So and you can use that in a version like this. I will still be from here to here from here to here, that descendant. So that's voice leading then, for the actual sounds, I would say focus, boredom, atmospheric sounds with longer sustains, comparative focused sounds. Widmore attack. So if I bring up the rhythmic strings there in piano, let's see. So if I bring up the rhythmic strings and piano, you will hear that those mawr attack focused sounds or more suitable for action intensity and chaotic dark music. Whereas if I removed the piano and, um, the short strings and just focused on these long sounds get back that ominous and working vibe. Finally, ah, regarding the performance styles, I would say, focus more on flowing performances when you want ominous and lurking. So the gatto port aumento gliding and so on, Um and ah, then you conduce for the pauses between the phrases the silence instead of like instead off where you have silence in between the notes you go, you know, And then you can have silence off the phrase. So between the actual notes, you still have that leg Ulta flowing style. So that is some practical tips on ominous and working dork music. So I want you now to take action and practice all these tapes and everything else you can come up with because these are just some of my own personal tips on this style. I'm sure you can come up with lots off other ways to create these ominous and broke lurking character for your dark music compositions. 16. Scary and Thrilling: I will now give you real practical tips on examples on how you can create dork music in the style I call scary and thrilling. Imagine a movie scene with a highly thrilling atmospheric vibe. A killer is on the loose and a person is walking alone through a deserted warehouse. Sensing that something is not right. Someone is watching, perhaps waiting, ready to strike you down in one stab with his razor sharp knife. All right, so now let me demonstrate for you how you can create this style and vibe or the dork music I call scary and thrilling. So the first practical tip I have is high range dissonance, so by high range, difficult. Of course I'm talking about the balance. So compared to omen is and lurking dark music which is the low range with love dynamics. Ah, I like to use the high range for the scary and thrilling vibe, for example, especially on violins so and strings. So something like still mainly with a lower dynamics, though, So the dissonant intervals you can use minor, which is dork. Then try tone. And of course, a minor a second. So, for example, think about the aliens soundtrack, which is really doing lots off dissonance, um, dissonant intervals and harmonies in the me too high range on strings. The next one is to use tension. Articulations, for example. The, um, have to step thrilled would mind mistaken thrill. Or, for example, trim. Alers are really great, especially on on strings. So let me change. Just tremulous here. Let's see. So this is the ordinary. Andi uses a tremolo, which is a super fast repetition on the same string there. And it adds a lot off attention, especially in high range, where it is less prominent, more or less feel it. The low rego, the more we hear the actual rhythm of the tremolo. So attention articulations like that on that you've already learned several off them so tremolo and ah, minor second thrills are perhaps the most uh ah, common once the next one. Let's see ah, is what I call Deep Drone for a dark ambiance. If you want to have that. So, for example, let's just use it as a pedal note here on the Low D. And then you can groove on the high range dissidents while holding this low drone. Of course, you need to add some dynamics and expression with the automation and modulation. Uh, if you take him and show since they use both my hands here on the keyboard. But in a way that is, Ah, using deep drone. It can, of course, changed the route. You can also use more like not Deep Drone, but like a repetitive baseline or something like that. Um, on it. If you use long notes, you get more of a scare retention vibe like the Aliens soundtrack. You can also use the brakes. Which ATS anticipation. Will something happen? No. Is the killer coming forward so longer? Knows notes, gives more of a scare retention vibe and if used mawr, shorter notes or even rhythmic playing styles yet more of the thrilling action vibe. So this is scary and thrilling you scary tension is longer, more longer, notes Ah, thrilling tension, which is more action of the Hillary's perhaps running towards you and you are running for your life or something. Then, of course, the classics tabby type sounds. I like to use those. The minor second interval here works well, your heart anyway. Ah, the short nose and ridden place style is the main point here, so you can use something like that. The stabbing style off performance or simply using shorter notes in the more melodic fashions like doesn't have to be staccato Instacart test American use sustains us well and making a bit longer, but still short notes. No way these kinds of repetitive riffs or high tension because something wants to be re sword. So that takes us to the next point, which is Austin autos, soft palaces or ticking kind of percussive sounds as energy in the form off tension as well . So you can have a low, powerless like faster piles like or anywhere so that is, self palaces. You can use this synthesizer for these as well, like Austin autos. That is also thing mawr, thrilling action and intensity kind of vibe. So if he used is in a soft fashion, that could be the background atmosphere, which is mawr thrilling action. And then you add the scary something in the in, which is the main theme, basically, um, on top, or what it rhythmic ostinato soft houses or taking percussive sounds or using for the background. So those are some of my best examples for creating dark music with a scary and thrilling vibe. Scary Ah is less action oriented and thrilling is more intensity in action oriented. But I would still consider these to be working for the same types of visuals or scene in a movie, for example, so practice these now all the tips I made here in your D W. Try them on different sound instruments and sounds, and more importantly, try experimenting with intervals, playing styles and harmonists on your meeting, keyboard or piano. 17. Spooky and Creepy: I will now give you real practical tips and examples on how you can create dark music in the style I call spooky and creepy. Imagine a movie scene where a person is walking slowly on a misty road through a dark forest with Onley pale blue moonlight guiding the way strange faint noises seem to come from various places, and you wonder if there is truth to all the horror stories you heard about this creepy place. All right, so here is the list of practical tips that I personally use when I want to compose music that is spooky and or creepy sounding. So first I think of these as a range. Let's say, on the left side you have more of a spooky, mysterious and perhaps sinister atmosphere. And on the other side you have the creepy, twisted and strange atmosphere. So Ah, I will give you tips on both of these. But let's start with the 1st 1 which is low dynamics and open sound. So I'm talking about the dynamic expression here, keep it with low dynamics and by open sound. I mean, don't. When they arranged your voices and all the instruments in part in your music. You want to keep it in most cases, especially for the spooky side, Um, more open meaning, more headroom. Basically think of it as more much air in the music. So instead of having everything like all over the place Ah, instruments doing parts there, you want to keep it more minimal? Something like that, for example. So in this case, I'm just going from here. G minor, Do you A flat minor on that takes us to the second point here. The second practical clip, which is to use coarse changes focusing on lots of miners sick and intervals in the voice leading. So here was a good example. In fact, which has started with you have d minor. You see these two notes when I change this to, um, a flat minor look at what else are doing here for the voice leading. So this inversion of g minor when I want to go to this inversion off a flat minor, all the notes go in a second, minor second movement. This one here, this one here on this one here, which makes it super creepy and sinister. Um, you can do it. Let's say if you go from a minor. So in this case, that yet went from a minor to another minor. But even if you go from a minor to major chord, if he used his kind of voice leading that focuses on them the minor second movement. So from a minor two D sharp major, these goes here, this goes here and they stays the same. So which sounds the spooky or in this case, perhaps more mysterious because when you have major chords involved instead of mine records , but still uses these ah, focus on the minor second movement in the voice leading you get more of a mysterious slash spooky feel a supposed to more spooky, dark and sinister when you go Ah, from the minor d minor. All right. The next one is if I just changed to include more of the piano here, like so so, uh, arpeggios. Arpeggios can be super NYSE because they inherently having more open sounds. This since its space out the intervals. So let's do Let's do a minor. So if you played waken, go to but say AMG sharp Major. And when you do these are or pages yes, doing you major, even a seven is not really too spooky. But if you add either the tryto hear from a burner try zone or the minor sixth, so basically, you can think of this as the augmented faith and the diminished fifth. Then it starts to get really spooky on. Then you can still go to the major chord. But you can go to the minor if you want, if you want to keep it more sinister. But ah, that focusing on the minor or pay Dios, including the tri tone Reminder six is really, really spooky and creepy in my opinion, However, if you do it starting on a major chord. So let's say you you use, let's say, the D major. All right. Whoa! Super happy. That's not what we want. What if we add the minor six to it? Ah, which is if if you remember the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Howard sure actually used this interval a lot for the music off the elves, because that is mysterious and magic and slightly spooky. But more on the on the friendlier side of Spooky. Which is why, why, I call it mis mystery and magic. So if you take this D major this here, this minor six. Just adding that makes it mysterious. Um, compared to starting with a minor or pegida or Peja using the miners. Six. Which is more spooky and sinister, right? Ah, then we get to the rhythms. Well, if you want to do more creep B and twisted on the side from spooky too creepy if you want to on the right side, which is more creepy, twisted and strange. Then I suggest trying out groovy rhythms on dissonant intervals, so it's let's include some short strings here. So if it if we check this a minor again on, then you can like groove on the things tryto the, uh, minor six there or or even matters I can hear about. Let's do the whole money here on. Then you do some group rhythm, not not a strangely them, but add some grooving to it. It strange rhythm. Basically, you totally here that creek betwixt did. Something is out of order with reality or something. However, if you instead want to go for more spooky and sinister atmosphere, as opposed to the creepy interested in maniac atmosphere, um, the spooky sinister is more dependent on longer notes, longer harmonies and course it for focusing for the theme or motif. So let's say G minor here again, something like this. Definitely an octave up. Right? So, again, that was just D minor to a, um, fat minor. So the hormone is, of course, for the court records. Here should be more dissident, a swell as the voice leading the intervals for they've always leading. But that is a how you can get more spooky and sinister. So you now you learned how to get Mr Mystery and Magic with kind of a spook atmosphere, but more on the friendly mystery side, the creepy and twisted a strange character on the spooky and sinister atmosphere. Eso Now I recommend that you practice a lot of these points. Ah, guidelines yourself and come up with anything. Experiment. These are just some of my personal tips I came up with for the spook in creepy atmosphere in your music. But I'm sure you can come up with Mawr if you try this out yourself. Because music is endless, you have endless possibilities. So take action now, practice on your piano or media keyboard, and I'll see you in the next video 18. Dark Music Breakdown A Dark Parade in Hell: in this video, I'm going to give you a live breakdown and analysis off my dark music composition called a Dork Parade in Hell. So this is an evil, powerful and more action oriented dark music composition, and I want you to first listen to the entire piece. And while you do so, listen carefully, for the instrumentation is and sounds used the harmonists and courts, the theme, the playing styles and so on everything you can pick up. So let's play dark music in the 3 to 1. Now let me first share my creative vision for this track as well. A. Some technical insights into the composition before we dive into the D. A. W and break it down. My vision for this track was to show the essence off insanity, evil and chaotic vibes among the twisted minds off darkness, the dork board and his minions holding a parade in his owner in the massive fires off hell itself. The composition starts in a minor and focuses on dissonant chord changes, and several modulations throughout to really bring forward the chaotic vibe. It is in 44 but basically all main rhythms add the main theme or reading in Triplets, which makes the overall groove very loose and open and adds to that chaotic sense compared to strict 44 I wanted the evil beasts to be rebels, even in the way the march in their dark parade in her. Now let me first show you the main court progressions that I used for these composition. So there's three main variations. And then there's the breakdown, which is different a modulation there. So 1.1 is basically the introduction. So it goes from a minor and then does its thing there in the introduction and then for the main course. It makes variation in the second with banking modulation. In fact, they're the second part of the corporation and find 0.1 point three. Here is actually the final chorus that I make a key change, and it's also modulations. There's to make it really chaotic. And then finally the breakdown is different, so we start in a minor on the entire composition is mainly voice low. But if I play down here, it's taught in a minor. It can sound a bit muddy, but just to show you this, this is how it sounds. A minor going to D minor on the E minor back to a minor. And then we go to E major, which is a modulation motivation again to d minor B minor here and then go to a major modulate thes keys up and you get U F major. Even though we have those major Crees. Since they are unexpected with the modulation, it sounds creepy and adds to the dork tension vibe. Then for the chorus, let me try to play it an octave above a so you can hear it clearly relation Be my major Major Rice. Of course, it's not played at this as this. You have that triplet groove us the theme. So something like, Ah, this if I played an octave higher, you can think of it as this, uh, all right, so way have we have a minor. But then we groove on this faith between a diminished fifth or the tri tone on the augmented fifth, which makes a diminished. And then Teoh basically a minor with the short end fifth So on, then she d minor. Uh, can you hear that twisted dork is there? If I play it all over again, turn around again. So here we could have run down like it goes to the D here Way on. And then the more relationship e on the modulation here from e or sauce and a made minor again Uh oh. Here comes the motivation to see short, finer, let you be n B seven on, then resolves to a flat My major. Ah, right. So and one country I can skip because it's basically the same per corporation here, you can try it out for yourself. Um, it modulates though the cadence turns to e minor instead off a major asset starts in right then the break. It goes from B minor. What do you dio on? That is a very creepy change. And it goes basically between the b minor and G minor arrests and main theme here. So again, ah b minor. Let's see, why does it sound creepy? Because in this inversion, if this goes down and this goes up, you have those dramatic steps between truth to minor course, and that is really spooky on. Then it goes that twice and then it goes to So let's play this again. E minor. That goes to B minor again. Cajuns here is, if short, major. So this adds to the Is it going? Teoh sort out for these people know it goes back to minor and darkness and dissonance again . But adding those major course actually makes this even more creepy. In my opinion, Ah is like a fool's glimmer of hope deception like the Devil likes to use. Now let's go into the D W and take a look here. So I first I actually have these tracks up here, which or is the mock up of the entire track. So if we go in here, you can actually take a look at Let's play the main chorus from here. Ah, look in the piano roll editor while watching Let's get the percussion, these main tracks here. Right? So this is the mock up off the entire cores here, take let's take a listen to it rise and there's comes to break down. So as you heard it has that very twisted not only the distance from the court progression, but that creepy chaotic grooved us a lot to this as well. Now, ah, really important thing here thing here is when the modulations come Ah, you want to make sure that you respect that modulation in the rhythmic sense in other tracks in your composition. So not only the harmony tractor, but also perhaps the melody, the baseline, the rhythm and even the percussion. So if you check the percussion here, the main percussion is very simple. Just as this kind of groove something like that on, let's soon eaten even further and you can see that they are playing Tripolis. Petapa here is the straight. So the mix between the Straight groove and the triplets triplets doesn't vote to the dissonance and chaos as well. Now what if we go and shake what I have in the actual composition as it turns to the sounds and instruments used? So first I have this effect section less, in fact, close everything so we can see what's going on here. The FX section is basically, so this booms of icers another Reiser ends, then a downer before the final corner. So we just play this. It's it's the simple things like this or this, and that is actually the ending it before the cadences, well in the kitchen Stearns to boom little explosion thing there, so that is the FX. Now let's turn to the main percussion on. Um, this quite a lot going on here, but the main group is always respected, so let's in fact do it like so So we select everything. I will skip the Cymbals and gongs here, I think. No, let's leave the symbols. Let's do everything going to the piano roll. And this is the percussion right here. Symbols. Well, there stick, it's. Here comes the main percussion lower percussion. So we have this main groove that is respected throughout triplets here about the bomb. Okay, so it's distorts a bit from the ah limiter heart I have on now when I record. But anyway, that's the big drums. The epic tomes does the same thing, but as some more. I think remember that triple groove is basically what is the main most eve, Uh, when they made rhythmic motif of this entire track than the base from comes in an extent that 1234 Yes, this and it doesn't do anything on the triplets just to mark the straight is like the devil's cannot keep the 44 march they have to resort to rebelling with triplets the Tigers come in here at the second port or the the breakdown rights of basically feeling out. It's like Phil on the snare drums, of course, for the military vibe, right? But that is trying the same thing basically as the big drums. So if we play the big rooms with this and our drums, you will hear the Oh, okay, so I have the epic tomes there. I forgot about those the epic terms which are playing. Yeah, here we have the with the big drums and epic terms and snares. You can see this, right? So that is the main roof. You have to respect the main group. Whatever you composed to create for the main group is what their listeners should really hook, owned you. And now if we continue, let's skip the Cymbal crashes. And I have some sticks adding just the high range, like this right again, the same kind of groovy when as and lighter stick takes here and then actually even gongs just for the breakdown. Because gongs can sound very creepy, in my opinion, at least therefore, the rhythm section where I have all the short strings and short breasts. Ah, if you If I could solo this, you can hear it in its entire ear to hear this is the so this is actually the main chorus. Just read import check. What's going on here? Here, you will actually see the chromatic steps de minor seconds. Death do Bob. Bob, Bob. Now this is super important. This is one of the main lessons you need to take away from this. You see this and want to 34 triplets, weapon temper, a temper rebelling against the 44 And it's the same groove that the percussion does. And then this follows the harmonic tension off the corporation by adding that diminished fifth, the augmented fifth on check What they are doing while these are playing the straight notes as well else. Well, as you saw, the main percussion did switch between straits and triplets. Well, what do the main motive Don't Do you hear? We're assuming and take a look. Oh, they are print playing triplets because now they are rebelling against the main grooves. It's like, Oh, man, those devils in hell cannot really get along. Ah, All right, then we go. Do you the base line here take a look at what that has. Okay, so this is just lay your based on. In fact, let me see if I can bring it or would again, no tiding in the tracks. So I actually, they install Beijing based low pad low strings and low breasts in order to let's see if we can hide them again. Yet this kind of zone. Okay, so you can hear and see here from the dynamic curved on here, you can clearly hear the modulation even more very unexpected. So that is the base. But the base is not adding those rhythmic things. It just provides that fundamental root power now for the backing tracks. And this is really important for dark music. I love using atmospheres. So first I actually have Let's see, Ah, drone er which is a drone instrument, and I just keep it like a pedal notes here on the A. Then it goes, Yeah, let's go on the A throughout, which is I so you can actually keep it on the root key even though the base or the other parts are changing harmony. Right? So I keep that, um, that's sounding spooky. And then I added kinetic, um, energy. It connected kinetic metal because it's also kind off. And Ian's also in the A, however, for the breakdown, actually switch for the root note off the base but metallic ambience. In my opinion, you can scrape a symbol going with the bow or whatever on that. That metallic sound is very, very distant and dork. There are in another atmospherics, down from key Escape that has a creative section, Um, just to get even Mawr, ambience and atmosphere. And this is a pals type atmosphere, meaning that just the backing track the atmospheric tracks alone gets this soon. Do not forget about atmospheres and textures and soundscapes, even if they are buried in the background. It's like you can you can feel them. If I remove them from the track, it will really making a lot of difference Then, for the breakdown here and also the final course. I'm actually using mawr pads to stuff here from Novo and from four so of the string and brass pass on even after the flower town. The strings here that high end shrill tension, these breast pads here, hybrid breast pets that is, should set it should say four. So here on then it changes here with root off the cooler progression, like like so? So that is the backing tracks getting to, Ah, the strings. Let's see what we have in here. So we have full strings, shallows, violas and first violins. So these are just playing, I think the base first. Yep. And you remember that I had here, but this time I just used one note, but because I didn't really get in a rhythmic feel from this longer sustaining notes, and then we get into the court progression here on strings, Of course. Remember the dynamics. Don't go too high if you want to have them as a background harmony and you don't have to use full chords on even if used in sambal instruments, because it can arrange the voices out. But this is what we have here, something like that. Going into this one, we have shallows like so quite high in range and first by winds Here. Let's take a look at what they do, and you can see what's assuming without let's zoom in without the automation. So, to me, this got, um, I was going for a nostalgic old school creepy string sound, and I think I managed to get that. Let's see, when we get to the second part of the course here, we actually get the violas in there as well. See how it sounds now? Oh, this is a breakdown. You've got this, by the way. Ah, you have the direction, Dean D D and then the final port here goes up, up, up with these voices because going upwards or downwards is a great way. Teoh Ah, go from one section to another in transition. And here, of course, we get to a drop on, then the final chorus. Let's just take a look at that woman since the harmonies or very important for the sound on here, he clearly hear the modulations as well. The brass is very, very important for this track when it comes to the sounds. So the strings, let's say the backing tracks. The ambiance is providing the dork atmospheres. The strings are providing the nostalgic old school string sound, and the bread is providing the bold power for that evil sound. So let's check how it sounds here in the course, and you can see here with its place in the general. But as you can hear, it lacks that low in because I still want to have the bass on the low strings. Take care off the low end. Um, then we go and have actually wings, not high winds, because those are t you two major, in my opinion, to too bright sounding. So I went for bassoon and clarinet. I just want to augment the main theme here on the breast. So, uh, and that together with the breast, is what gets this free The sound in the breakdown. Then the clarinet actually helps out with the final chorus. I think in higher oked it here. Yeah, I played very sloppy and very strange voicings here, just yah to dissident character. And then I actually have enquiring the background just a simple dork choir to add some warmth in the low end. So that's pretty much it. I think you the most important thing is to no the chord progressions of the horror Manistee play on the voice leading even more importantly as well as the playing style. So one recommendation I have for used to practice using this kind of thing here create a folder Where you, um Where you actually invite the track? As in Look up. We have the main percussion, the main rhythm, the main base cords and melody because that where you can get everything in one place and then arrange it for the rest of the facts, you can write just a simple, most simple be accents off the groove on percussion something that drives the rhythm like this. Oh, I think I muted it like this with the percussion. So we have this. That's just the main group, basically. And then for the base, of course, the route baseline on the harmonies This is more probably most important track together with the main melody, which is also another voice basically off the harmony. You can actually look at them together. And this is, in my opinion, the complete harmony meaning that you add the cords Teoh with the melody voice and this together you can even add the baseline. Here is what creates the actual core progression. So, um, in some cases, if you have a tried court, if you have the melody note, you can think of it as the seventh chord. If it is the seventh off a scale playing a triad. So take action now and practice composing with a story folder. And I recommend that you practice this particular theme that you have just heard. And ah, watched getting break broken down, which is what I call dork evil and powerful music with more action vibe, something that you would think about when writing music for the devil, the evil boast Door, Vader and Sobel. 19. Congratulations Your Final Assigment: Congratulations, my friend. You have now burned the foundations, the sounds, the secrets on all my best practical guidelines and tips on dork music composition. You have even been shown behind the scenes off a dark music composition in action for a true insight in how to make music in these shong er and style. Now it is time for you to take action and do your final assignment. Which, of course, is to compose in produce your own complete dork music composition from scratch. To finish production, choose a specific style off dork music. Create a vision for your track design is starting sound palette in your d A W and then stored composing. My name is Mike, and I wish you great success on your professional journey music.