EXTRA! Composing Scary Music

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Just a few notes can go a long way to create that creepy sound, but how and why answers David Pogue spoke to Michelle Debussy, a composer and music theory Prof. at New York's Juilliard school Michelle to me some of the tricks of the trade.

You guys used to unsettle us with financing dissonance consonance are our different notes when they sound together we find very soothing words and then there's other notes when played together very unsettled could you not so composers know you're going to be unsettled.

We play certain intervals and interval. The composers love to uses the tri-town, often called the devils horn and I think because you can fit it right in between those two fingers and it's right now somewhere it wants to go or it wants to go but when I'm sitting there that tri-town has me very unsettled and for that reason has not been you, it was not allowed to be used in church music. They wouldn't let you use no I wouldn't was stirring up too many feelings in your body. Wow that interval out of the church and it was called Diablo's in music that: music so that further. That's probably where the devil horns name came for and composers avoided that interval O in Western culture, probably until the 17th century, how do how does that affect well they use that interval because they know your unsettled when you hear it.

So if I'm in a play that interval you want resolution to the exorcist know the exorcist is more connected to chant okay. You mentioned the words the major chord perhaps or not you're probably a lot about using the minor minor chord is not so happy court tends to.

It's a tighter core make us feel maybe more now and calling it brings up it's a different color for us a different shade.

Minor chords are used a lot but nothing is quite as effective as this sentence and when those no really together. They bother us and we want to we either want them to stop. We want them to resolve so composers use dissonance and resolution to manipulate you and with with major minor. I've seen things on YouTube are people deliberately change from major minor on FEMA songs just to prove the effects of twinkle twinkle little star in mind are inherently scarier and sadder certainly sadder so minor essays. The sadder key and or mode and I think that it's about context so it can certainly become scary minor can become scary, but dissonance, distances or or sometimes nothingness where is that no going to do. Why is there suspense were suspended like so sometimes very little does a lot knowing how to use all of these effects in the news that you do that low low. Also, the register has something to do with how we react where is in in psycho. It's the high that scares us in it in the stratosphere register of the violins hi and that's why it has such an big effect on muscle.

What were watching you on the PMO. Does it make a difference.

What instrument is playing absolutely, so that I think that that may sound unsettling to us, but the color of the violin is so different just bow on strings that I I think it's just the choice of instrument is very important.

Sometimes the piano is effective and were scores, but at that moment it has to be the string orchestra that you mentioned this this drone as long, long, low strings also is not the key to jaws that absolutely but it's the law is not only makes that that ominous but it's from the depths of the ocean that the monster is coming so that low sound reinforces that some things below and coming up, so genius there's so little to it is not even not even really just single notes little motive.

Yes and speaking of motives or musical themes tell me about the disarray of the DSC right from the funeral mass we find most of our music from the masses and Gregorian chant and the mast for the dead or the funeral mass would have a section that used a sequence called the DSC Ray DSC Ray, DSP law, a day of wrath day of impending doom, and this was the judgment day. This was when it was decided if you are going to heaven or hell. And so that was a just a scary concept back in the Middle Ages and this theme seemed to send.

It brings about minor for us so there's something solemn about it.

It's a cascading musical idea falls down and because it's associated with death with doom with judgment. It started to be used by composers outside of its reference to the so it was this composer Berlioz Hector Berlioz who pulled this melody out of them. The Requiem mass and he put it in a piece where that theme represented a witch's dance, and as soon as he did, that the die was cast in and we have used the DSC Ray theme countless times in classical music in film music and pop music to mean something is not good so so some some movies that yes that the first I think I look bitten citizen Kane a little in Jimmy Stewart. It's a wonderful life the famous opening of the shining is all about the DSC Ray and if you think of the opening of the exorcist side all stealing something thousand years old and there there there borrowing wow you're using. I use the text in my film score the creek first Creek show my dad singing energy and changing it. Yes. How so we we all composers of pulled from.

I think in a long career at one point, you've pulled from the DSA array is that because we as an audience somehow no association with the dead and the which is all that were or is it just you film composers we can teach others. Things I don't think that people know that it's from the mass of the dead. I don't know if they think it's something old from the Middle Ages. I think that it becomes through association. There are means there are countless horror movies that have this theme and it and I believe over the over a lifetime of movie watching you work you the brain is going to know when those collections of notes come in. It does not mean something. Happy is about is wild so we culture to know that that's scary. So it's a Latin chant meeting for some reason I associate rates and satanic rituals and movies with Latin you yeah you understand what they're saying. I'm sure the church is unhappy about the mean, you know, Rosemary's baby chanting Latin so many so many climactic scenes with his ceremony and they're all I mean eyes wide shut role wearing costumes or masks and chanting Latin well the mystery of language the mystery and power of music accompanying that that's that's that's very powerful stuff and the idea of a club of people doing it. A boys club doing it that it starts to get scarier and scarier for thinking eyes wide shut there other movies like that so yeah this is it. It has a haunting quality to it. We think of that sound is enhanced all the time to because we've heard it in churches, which has a natural reverberation. So I go DSC Ray Diaz.

Selah is not as scary as if I do that in a church is all the reverberation in the space so you so my voice is fuller and more resonant and and and so that a fact makes it more haunting as well. You you were doing our examples on the keys here, but sometimes you hear sounds that are not like musical sounds is business that is all the time and keep your foot down because it's so distant and the colors is unique for you. Sounds like you but now it's a fabulous weekend we can have lots of fun creating right inside the wrong almost just been wind and plaintiff fully or some kind of chain. Even if I put my see what it does little this on the DSA array all video play.

Sure little bit of this a little about what works. It's like being a chef but only literally adding and we take out much too much spice all the lights were low for a camera on the room. This one, my face actually use as you put your hand on the string on order right how all kinds of wonderful percussive accepting that you're stopping I'm yeah dampening the string, but I have the sustain on so when the hammer strikes it makes that wonderful work best if it's not as effective.

Here, you need all that is over time receive your hi Mary yeah we can create lots of yes I piano tuners and sometimes pianist don't like going inside can bring that you can make the piano go out of tune will not work. John Cage put bowls inside the pan bowls are you prepared piano. He prepared the piano all kinds of ways that I take a piece of paper as effective as anything that you want to start changing the long, long start to get a a harpsichord type sound so in one thing is it's a well by Minard's already messing with it and also you're doing some you do some stuff is, I think it it's that it's a human voice saying the melody. So very quality. She's right up against the mic is Ricky tremulous things so creepy lullaby. No one's going to be singing that to their bank therapy go sell the human voice on that. The simplicity of the breathlessness intimacy of of it. We got this big film that's unfolding. But you've got very intimate soundtrack and that's really haunting to see that's really genius for someone for the composer to think that way like if I were newbie writing a horse score. I would think you know trashy and dissidents in basin low think soft and sweet and pretty and breathy will you need contrast of everything is loud and big and bald and loud and big and bold isn't loud and big and bold, though, so I think that that the composer knew that it was going to get pretty dark with chanting and more dissonant aspects later on. And this was a moment for this intimacy and where where invited into this film. Right from the start with this this creepy lullaby. I mean it and we didn't know we we perceive it creepy from the beginning because of the quality of her voice low by that's in a minor key clashing notes. I think their lullabies and minor keys. It's just we associate this with Rosemary's baby awesome high podcast. Drew Barrymore all my goodness, I want to tell you about our new shout. It's the Druze news podcast and in each episode mean a weekly gastric to cover all the quirky find inspiring and informative stories that exist on the wall because well I and maybe you do too. From the newest interior design trend Barbie core to the right and wrong way to wash her armpit also working to get in the things that you just kind of won't believe them were not able to do in daytime television. So watch out.

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