A collaberative project by Black Dog Productions, Dumb Blonde Productions and Apricity Theatre, There’s Nothing There is a twisted mix of horror/dark comedy, centred around a group of friends on a holiday in a dark cabin in the Black Forest in Germany, who’s jovial time away from home takes a quick turn to panic and mistrust as they turn on each other.
Knocks from upstairs
Part bump in the night and part haunting scrape against the window, the seletion of knocks in the night are old wooden doors from my second year home in Falmouth. Processed and layered with scraping guitar strings with different exciters, most notably a CD case, and recorded on a zoom H4N.
Bass Drone
The bass drone was used predominantly to cause discomfort during the scenes of genuine fright. As the sound is almost entirely sub frequencies, it gave room for the actors performing to vary their own levels of projection. Produced using FM synthesis with only Ableton’s stock plugin Operator, the sound is modulated by a low pass filter with high resonance to give the sound movement.
High Pitch Drone
More of a simpler airy synth note playing two notes a semitone apart, this is more of a hammier, stereotypical ‘horror’ sound effect. This sound was used during the reveal in the first act, when it becomes known that an ancient german spirit haunts the Black Forest, where the play is set.
Radio Static
This sound effect was made by splicing together recordings from an AM radio, scanning between stations, in addition to some time stretching and pitch shifting, giving some of the audio a more demonic, maliferous feel. The sound builds during the fight scenes in the performance, creating a cacophonous mess of sounds during the peak of combat on stage.