I created a spooky soundtrack that sounds like it belongs in a horror shooter videogame cutscene. Imagine waking up in a dark unknown forest. Shadowy figures weaving through and flying above the trees. The camera pans down to alien looking technology attached to various parts of the players body making ominous beeps and boops. There is massive silhouette in the distance. The footsteps can be felt through the grounds and the vibrations of its growl make vision blurry.

I used Studio One for the sound effects and instrument recording on this assignment. My favorite part about the soundtrack is the quiet background music behind all of the effects. I took a classic drum track and slowed the tempo down to keep the ominous tone. It was still missing something, so I plugged in my bass and used heavy distortion to get those scratchy low notes.

Everything layered together gives the spooky ambiance that I was looking for. There are a couple parts where all of the effects go silent and it is just the music. Those moments give a sense that it might be over. However, the groans and booms of monsters looming return louder and closer after each silence.

Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is already considered to be a classic. For this assignment I wanted to take the classic and make it classical. I changed every instrument using Studio One and a MIDI file of the original song. Most of the instruments came from the East West sound libraries. Piano, flute, violin, cello, trombone, and a harp are all used to replace the original instruments.

The new instrumentation starts off the iconic riff with harp and trombone to replace the original guitar and bass. The low pitch coming from the trombone sounds menacing by itself at the start. However, the drums kick in quickly followed by the piano at the first chorus which makes the song sound more recognizable. I chose Seven Nation Army because the riff is so recognizable that really any instrument could be playing the main riff and it would be obvious.

My favorite part about the new instruments is the guitar solo. Instead of a solo, the part is being played by a flute, violin, cello, and piano. The flute was ran through an old radio sound effect that makes it cut through the rest of the mix. The new instruments in the solo give the part a lot more power than the original had. The song has been steadily building up to this crescendo moment of the solo. Overall I think the new instruments still keep the iconic song intact while giving it a more classical and orchestral sound.