Date Completed: December 2016

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Duration: 2 min & 27 sec

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Inspiration:                   

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What Lurks in the Darkness is a suspenseful soundscape created by making different sounds and textures with a Steinway Grand Piano. 

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I used 3 microphones for this piece - 1 dynamic Shure mic, and 2 condenser AKG mics. With the piano open, I positioned the dynamic mic inside the piano near the bass section of the keys. I then configured an AB array (100cm apart) with the two condenser mics; one on either side of the dynamic mic at equal distance, outside of the piano.  

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In Pro Tools, I had 7 tracks total - 3 were the individual mics, and the other 4 were copies of the mics (one doubled), so that I could split the individual tracks to repeat certain sounds captured from each mic. In regards to the piano, I improvised a melody in C natural minor and I kept my foot down on the damper pedal the entirety of the recording to add to the ambient atmosphere and create natural reverb. I also randomly tapped on the piano and ran my finger along the strings (carefully), at varying volumes and speeds to create different effects.

 

The only plug-in I used in pro tools was a reverb one called “Spring Reverb” - and I applied this to the three variations of the “footsteps” which were captured by the three different mics. I also included panning on these tracks to create the illusion of one hearing footsteps around them (the louder they are, the closer the footsteps and etc) - but they couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the footsteps are coming from - hence the title of my piece: “What Lurks in the Darkness”.

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Software/Equipment:

- Logic Pro X

- Pro Tools

- Sony MDR 7506 Headphones

- 1 Dynamic Shure Microphone

- 2 Condenser AKG Microphones