Course · Horror & thriller
Horror Music Mastery
Write scary, unnerving, jump-scare-worthy music for trailers, TV and film.
- 50 lessons
- 5.4 hours of video
- Intermediate
- Lifetime access
- Watch online, any time
Horror music is strange. The scariest moments are often the simplest ones, and the hardest part is knowing what to leave out.
I’ve had horror music used on The Conjuring 2, The Nun 2 and The Lodge, and I scored the indie horror film Truth or Dare. Horror Music Mastery is everything I’ve learnt doing that work: how to make sounds that unsettle people, and how to arrange them so the fear builds.
We start with what actually makes horror music scary, with a quick tour from silent films through Herrmann to modern scores. Then we get practical. Organs, voices, children’s toys and found sounds. DIY sound design for drones, hits and signature sounds. Tension, and its lesser-known partner, atmosphere.
Then we put it all together. I walk you through one of my horror trailer tracks, show you how The Nun 2 trailer used my music, and build ambient horror and spooky ghost music from scratch.
There’s a theory module for anyone who wants to get nerdy about 12-tone rows and polytonality. You don’t need it to make horrible noises, though. Most of this course is about using very little to frighten people a lot.
By the end, you’ll be able to
- Make terrifying sounds for every kind of horror, from found sounds to children's toys
- Create a complete horror track from scratch, in more than one way
- Understand what makes a horror track work, and why it scares people
- Build tension with rising pitches, clusters, ticking clocks and drones
- Create atmosphere with vocal noises, reverb, portamento and echoes
- Write minimal, impactful horror arrangements without a huge channel count
At a glance
Techniques you’ll learn
- 12-tone rows
- atonality
- polytonality
- multipolar tonality
- tone clusters
- XYZ cells (Herrmann tetrachords)
- portamento and glide
- drones with automation
- rising pitch risers
- unusual time signatures (7/8, 5/8)
- reverb as compositional tool
- DIY signature sound design
Write music for
- horror film underscore
- horror movie trailers
- TV horror drama underscore
- video game horror atmosphere
- psychological thriller cues
- production music library horror cues
- haunted/paranormal scene scoring
Influences we look at
Bernard Herrmann · John Carpenter · Danny Elfman · György Ligeti · Arnold Schoenberg · Iannis Xenakis · Hans Zimmer · Halloween · The Exorcist · Day of the Dead
Proof it works
What’s inside
- Welcome
- Meet your instructor
- What will you learn?
- Understanding Horror music
- What is horror music?
- What makes horror music scary?
- A brief history of horror music
- Early classical pieces & silent movies
- Then there was Hermann
- 70s/80s Budget scores
- Modern scores and current trends
- Tools for Horror music
- Intro to horror tools
- Setting the scene
- Organs in horror music
- The voice in horror music
- Children's toys in horror music
- What was that? - Found sounds in horror music
- Horror Music Theory
- Do you need to know music theory?
- X-cells
- 12-tone rows
- Unusual time signatures
- Polytonality
- Multipolar tonality
- Horror sound design
- DIY horror sound design intro
- DIY sound design tools
- Creating horror drones
- Creating horror hits
- Creating horror signature sounds
- Tension: the foundation of all horror music
- A little chat about tension
- What is Tension? (getting nerdy with sine waves)
- Creating tension with rising pitches
- Creating tension with close intervals/clusters
- Creating tension with ticking clocks
- Creating tension with drones
- Atmosphere: Tension's lesser known counterpart
- What is atmosphere and why does it matter?
- Creating a spooky atmosphere with vocal noises
- Creating a spooky atmosphere with reverb
- Creating a spooky atmosphere with portamento
- Creating a spooky atmosphere with echoes
- Creating atmosphere with drones
- How to make horror trailer music
- Trailer music structure
- Walkthrough of Blood Moon
- Analysis of the Nun 2's use of my music
- How to keep it minimal and impactful
- Horror trailer playlist
- How to make: Ambient horror music
- What you will be creating...
- Start with a living drone
- Layer with bends
- Embellish with long reverbs
- Enhance with echoes
- Ambient horror listening
- How to make: Spooky ghost music
- The theremin: The spooky sound of ghosts
- Making ghost sounds with a simple sine wave
- Making ghost sounds with "bad" whistling
This is for you if…
- You want to write horror trailer music or dark, scary beds for TV
- Your horror tracks sound dark but not actually unsettling
- You'd like to make your own horror sounds rather than relying on presets
- You're curious about the theory behind horror music, without drowning in it
It’s not for you if…
- You want bright, uplifting or heroic music. Try Uplifting Orchestral instead
- You don't have a DAW yet, or don't know how to use one
Who’s teaching
I’ve written music for ads since 2007 and movie trailers since 2011, and went full time in 2014. My music has been used on over 100 campaigns, including Captain America: Civil War, Glass Onion, WandaVision and The Conjuring 2, and I’ve won eight awards along the way. Since 2017 I’ve taught thousands of composers how to do the same. More about me.
Questions before you buy? Email hello@richardpryn.com.
Questions
Do I need to be able to use a DAW?
Yes. You need to be able to use a DAW so you can follow along with the videos.
Do I have to use Logic?
No. Use whichever DAW you like, as long as you know how to use it.
How much music theory do I need to know?
Very little. There's a theory module for the curious, but I steer clear of deep theory in all my courses. Knowing how to harmonise the major and minor scales is plenty.
Can you guarantee I will get a placement?
Of course not. The composers who get work are the ones who put the hours in. They also happen to be very nice people (industry secret).
How long do I have access?
Forever. It's a one-time payment, not a membership, and you get all future updates and new lessons free.
What format is the course?
Streamed video lessons (you log in to watch) plus downloadable PDFs. You also get access to our private community, #teampryn.
What if it's not for me?
Within 30 days of registering you can ask for a full refund, as long as you haven't accessed more than 30% of the course (not counting anything public or in the Welcome module).
Horror Music Mastery
My flagship horror course. From drones, clusters and tension devices to DIY sound design, learn to build dark sonic worlds for trailers and TV.
Not ready yet? Start with the free path
The free learning paths cover the same ground in article form. Work through one first and come back when you want the full walkthrough.
Horror and suspense music