I'm in the process of recording audio samples for an urban exploration-inspired dark industrial techno album, and I need some ideas. I already have a bunch of sounds but I want to avoid reusing samples.
What sounds scare the pants off you? Or, if you heard a voice say something scary, what would that be? Lighthearted answers are welcome, too.
"Where the hell have you been?! Oh God... You STIIINK!!"
Tires doing a slow roll over gravel.
Train passing.
Distant gun shots.
"DUDE! COPS!!"
Creaky doors and floor boards.
"This is private property"
Foot steps on broken glass.
Boots on a metal catwalk.
That brief slide of boots in dust/grit as each foot lands on a metal step.
Empty beer can being kicked.
Flicker/buzz of a ballast as it struggles to light/keep lit a fluorescent bulb and the "tink... tink... tink-tink-tink" sound the bulb itself makes.
Running footsteps over gravel, glass, misc trash as the make a hasty escape.
Floor boards/steps giving out under foot.
Walk in cooler door latching.
That sound a loose old-school door knob makes when your hand first grasps it.
Pushing a door open that has junk stacked against it on the other side.
Rattling pane of glass in a wood frame.
I have no idea how it could be heard, even through headphones, but there is a definite sound of silence in an abandonment, and it varies depending on the size of the space. I love that sound!
I may modify and add more throughout the day - this is kinda fun and has me itching to go out and find something new to explore!
Crunching of foosteps slightly growing louder Sudden slams of doors Car running over loose manhole that's above your head Children laughing/crying (in drain) Crackhead going maniac screaming and yelling at himself or some imaginary friend
- Being DEEP in a mine when a small earthquake hit
That would absolutely scare the pants off me. I've only experienced one earthquake before. I was in Bali, sleeping in a hostel room with 30 other people. It hit at 5am and many people were screaming. I have never, ever been so frightened. That earthquake killed 9 people because bridges and buildings collapsed.
Was at a spot yesterday, we saw private security but we went around into another building, heard a very loud voice. I thought it was police yelling (it looked like police cars had just pulled up next to the private security car right before we went in) but my friend thought it was some homeless dude or just someone laughing really creepily... we left after that haha.
One time I was on my way into a dilapidated house in a rural area. At the front entrance here was a glass storm door and then behind it the main door was open. I opened the door and started cautiously walking into the living room, just checking to make sure there were no hazards like animals or broken floorboards. Well about 90 seconds into my explore I heard the door slam behind me, scaring the crap out of me. It turns out the storm door had one of those mechanisms that closes the door slowly so it can't be closed too quickly and broken. So my first answer is a door closing directly behind you just as you're getting comfortable
Another time I was checking out a house that was slated for demolition. The basement door was open, so I let myself in and went to look around the first floor. After getting up there and noticing the front and back door were still locked, I started to poke around. Maybe five minutes into this explore, I heard a female voice call out, which also scared the crap out of me. She didn't say "What are you doing here?" or "I'm calling the police" or something like that, but rather "Battery Low". Apparently, this house had some kind of security system/smoke alarm combo that would call out rather than just beep. So my second answer is "talking smoke alarms".
Ethics
....now is the banjo in the woods prior to the pump shotgun cocking??
