Freesound Forums
Dare 16 - Be afraid, be very afraid!...- DISCUSSION
Started October 5th, 2012 · 57 replies · Latest reply by da_butch 12 years ago
afleetingspeck wrote:
I suggest we close the dares a bit earlier so that we may all enjoy the halloween fanfare before halloween (that is all entries are voted upon before halloween). That way, we will still all be in the mood for listening to the compositions a bit more enthusiastically. So perhaps October 25th as the deadline and October 30th for the voting. We announce the ghoulish winner on halloween.
All I can say is...
afleetingspeck
I suggest we close the dares a bit earlier so that we may all enjoy the halloween fanfare before halloween (that is all entries are voted upon before halloween). That way, we will still all be in the mood for listening to the compositions a bit more enthusiastically. So perhaps October 25th as the deadline and October 30th for the voting. We announce the ghoulish winner on halloween.
Ideally, this would probably be better as you suggest.
My problem is that i have to work around other commitments. So the date i suggested is better for me to assure i am around to close the dare on time.
jgeralyn wrote:
Just to double check, there arnt any contstrains on the # of sounds used or effects dont on them correct?
The only constraint is that any sounds you use must be
1) already on Freesound
Or
2) Created by you to be used in this piece and uploaded to Freesound.
What this means? A couple of examples.
If you decide a great sound effect to have on your piece is a recording of your fingernails scrapping on a blackboard, you must upload that sound to Freesound. - and it must appear on your sound credits along with your piece.
If you want to use a piano mellody in your piece. The best thing to do is to take a piano sound from Freesound and use that. (you will not be able to upload to Freesound piano sounds from a sample library, that would be illegal).
Of course... if you happen to HAVE a piano, you can record it, use it on your piece and upload it to Freesound 
Just a quick request:
Can we all tag the sounds we upload for this particular dare with "dare-16" (note the hyphen in there -- it's easier for getting such sounds moderated faster) please?
I am having a hard time thinking about sounds/effects for this dare, and I think I may have sneak up on one of the uploads if there are any.
I may not be able to participate in this dare just due to its complexity (it's HARD, HARD, HARD having horror overtones in the music), but your samples may help me out!
Also, I just uploaded a small composition for a sample request we had a couple days ago. I've marked that with dare-16; if anyone feels like using it, feel free! (And it may well be that that's my only contribution for this dare).
Good luck, everyone!
The sample (available when it gets moderated): http://www.freesound.org/people/afleetingspeck/sounds/166748/
afleetingspeck wrote:
Just a quick request:
Can we all tag the sounds we upload for this particular dare with "dare-16" (note the hyphen in there -- it's easier for getting such sounds moderated faster) please?
I am having a hard time thinking about sounds/effects for this dare, and I think I may have sneak up on one of the uploads if there are any.
I may not be able to participate in this dare just due to its complexity (it's HARD, HARD, HARD having horror overtones in the music), but your samples may help me out!Also, I just uploaded a small composition for a sample request we had a couple days ago. I've marked that with dare-16; if anyone feels like using it, feel free! (And it may well be that that's my only contribution for this dare).
Good luck, everyone!The sample (available when it gets moderated): http://www.freesound.org/people/afleetingspeck/sounds/166748/
+1 for the tagged samples suggestion.
With the time it takes to moderate samples, this could be a good way to make the process more efficient.
This would also apply to the colllab dare if it should come to be.
It makes one wonder how they go about checking all the uploads;
it must take forever!
And if you're looking for inspiration, I find it in horror/suspense/thriller movies.
I'm working on a soundtrack for a college student doing a horror film and all I do is watch John Carpenter movies.
Go on YouTube and check out some trailers and soundtracks for a quick jolt of terror.
My personal favorites: Halloween, 1978; The Fog, 1980; and The Thing 1982.
Now, make it spooky!
Hi Afleetingspeck
Maybe you missunderstood something... Or i did not explain it properly 
This Dare should be 'easier': you can use any sounds from Freesoun, including your own.
If you can't find what you want at Freesound, cit is ok to create it (synths, effects, plugins, recordings...) but you must also upload to Freesound the sounds you created and used in your piece.
Because we want those dounds at Freesound, i am asking people not to use synth presets, but make their own.
Your suggestion to tag all samples with 'dare-16' is great. I had forgot to mention that!
However, i cannot see the tags on samples waiting on the general mod queue. So please post to let me kmow you uploaded samples. - preferably on the discussion thread.
Thanks!
haha!
just immediately answered my question Alien!
Thanks and good to know.
AlienXXX wrote:
Hi AfleetingspeckMaybe you missunderstood something... Or i did not explain it properly
This Dare should be 'easier': you can use any sounds from Freesoun, including your own.
If you can't find what you want at Freesound, cit is ok to create it (synths, effects, plugins, recordings...) but you must also upload to Freesound the sounds you created and used in your piece.
Because we want those dounds at Freesound, i am asking people not to use synth presets, but make their own.Your suggestion to tag all samples with 'dare-16' is great. I had forgot to mention that!
However, i cannot see the tags on samples waiting on the general mod queue. So please post to let me kmow you uploaded samples. - preferably on the discussion thread.
Thanks!
On my small composition that I uploaded, the one posted above, I have used sampler presets, but I think it is hard to isolate individual sounds for most people because what I have uploaded is a composition as a whole (albeit a small one in comparison to how big a regular "composition" should be). And I do understand what you said; the only thing is, I have forever loved spooky/horror stuff, yet musically, I have always failed at making something sound spooky. I'll try, though, but I just don't think I may be able to achieve a finished product. We'll see!
afleetingspeck wrote:On my small composition that I uploaded, the one posted above, I have used sampler presets, but I think it is hard to isolate individual sounds for most people because what I have uploaded is a composition as a whole (albeit a small one in comparison to how big a regular "composition" should be). And I do understand what you said; the only thing is, I have forever loved spooky/horror stuff, yet musically, I have always failed at making something sound spooky. I'll try, though, but I just don't think I may be able to achieve a finished product. We'll see!
If you pitch a sample down an octave or a few cents, it's almost always creepy.
I know you use Reason, so here's a cool quick tip:
- Grab a vocal sample or something that sounds isolated
- Create an NN-XT
- Click the 'Browse sample' button (looks like a folder inside the uncollapsed NN-XT)
- Find and select your sample and click 'OK'
- The NN-XT will automatically map the sample across the keys
- Now, when you play or write the different notes, the sample will change pitch/speed according to the note you play
- When you play the lower notes, the sample gets deeper and more stretched out
Very spooky and very easy!
I use the NN-XT all the time because it makes altering samples a snap.
It's also great for making instruments out of any sound you can imagine;
even farts!
Hope this helps you get the creepy wheel rolling.
mojomills wrote:
If you pitch a sample down an octave or a few cents, it's almost always creepy.
I know you use Reason, so here's a cool quick tip:- Grab a vocal sample or something that sounds isolated
- Create an NN-XT
- Click the 'Browse sample' button (looks like a folder inside the uncollapsed NN-XT)
- Find and select your sample and click 'OK'
- The NN-XT will automatically map the sample across the keys
- Now, when you play or write the different notes, the sample will change pitch/speed according to the note you play
- When you play the lower notes, the sample gets deeper and more stretched outVery spooky and very easy!
I use the NN-XT all the time because it makes altering samples a snap.
It's also great for making instruments out of any sound you can imagine;
even farts!Hope this helps you get the creepy wheel rolling.
I do use the NN-XT quite a bit, and the pitching technique helps, but I guess my real problem is getting in a chord/melody progression that aesthetically sounds spooky. I guess what I am really trying to say here is that unless I become John Carpenter myself within a month, I won't be happy. 
But thanks for the tip. That will definitely give me some starting point and see where I go from there!
Maybe the Daring Freesounders mini-community can offer some help here by posting some chilling mellodies/chord-sequences that Afleetingspeck can use or that will serve as a source of inspiration! 
Here are a few more tips, Afleetingspeck:
(I am confident that you will be on your way to a great track very soon)
- some sounds just tend to sound spooky very easily try the following. I am sure you can find a few examples on Fresound
- Bells, especially if pitched down a bit.
- Pipe organs
- Stretched out voices. Paulstretch is a standalone program that is great for this. But most DAWs offer this possibility too (Ableton Live, Reaper). Even the latest versions of Reason, since it started accepting audio. - in addition to stretcing pitch down or blend with an octaver effect for added spookiness.
- Don't forget teh good old thunder! And, to a lesser extent, wind and rain - There are literally thousands of good samples at Freesound.
- The heartbeat is another classic...
- Often all you need is a few of these spooky elements. The mellody on top can be very simple (the soundtrack for Psyco being a good example of simple but scary)
AlienXXX wrote:
Maybe the Daring Freesounders mini-community can offer some help here by posting some chilling mellodies/chord-sequences that Afleetingspeck can use or that will serve as a source of inspiration!Here are a few more tips, Afleetingspeck:
(I am confident that you will be on your way to a great track very soon)
- some sounds just tend to sound spooky very easily try the following. I am sure you can find a few examples on Fresound
- Bells, especially if pitched down a bit.
- Pipe organs
- Stretched out voices. Paulstretch is a standalone program that is great for this. But most DAWs offer this possibility too (Ableton Live, Reaper). Even the latest versions of Reason, since it started accepting audio. - in addition to stretcing pitch down or blend with an octaver effect for added spookiness.
- Don't forget teh good old thunder! And, to a lesser extent, wind and rain - There are literally thousands of good samples at Freesound.
- The heartbeat is another classic...
- Often all you need is a few of these spooky elements. The mellody on top can be very simple (the soundtrack for Psyco being a good example of simple but scary)
Another reason of why I've really loved being part of the dare community. Thank you for the tips!
afleetingspeck wrote:
Just a quick request:
Can we all tag the sounds we upload for this particular dare with "dare-16" (note the hyphen in there -- it's easier for getting such sounds moderated faster) please?
I am having a hard time thinking about sounds/effects for this dare, and I think I may have sneak up on one of the uploads if there are any.
I may not be able to participate in this dare just due to its complexity (it's HARD, HARD, HARD having horror overtones in the music), but your samples may help me out!
Also, I just uploaded a small composition for a sample request we had a couple days ago. I've marked that with dare-16; if anyone feels like using it, feel free! (And it may well be that that's my only contribution for this dare).
Good luck, everyone!The sample (available when it gets moderated): http://www.freesound.org/people/afleetingspeck/sounds/166748/
No sweat. The dare 16 rules does not say anything about a musical piece. It can also be a soundscape or something in between.
This is just a file to inspire you all. This was a ready file in stock.
http://soundcloud.com/klankbeeld/mothers-greatest-fear
I think I wille join again the coming dare's in winter. But it is not a promis.
Make something beautiful of this dare!!
Kyster wrote:
No sweat. The dare 16 rules does not say anything about a musical piece. It can also be a soundscape or something in between.
Very true. Here is one I made earlier... (for another dare, actually not Halloween related...)
just as an example/inspiration...
http://soundcloud.com/alienxxx/dare-6-a-dark-dark-place
Which is precisely the kind of in-between music/scene piece.