Great track, most ominous of the 3 thus far.  The use of vocals worked so well, through my headphones at one point it was almost like one of them whispered in my ear.  Really been enjoying this series

Great track, most ominous of the 3 thus far. The use of vocals worked so well, through my headphones at one point it was almost like one of them whispered in my ear. Really been enjoying this series

I agree with lament.config with the "whisper in the ear" effect by hard panning the voices to either side is cool. I do think that perhaps the spoken bits could come up in volume a little bit. My mix knowledge is still fairly limited but I believe a compressor to clamp down the loudest parts of the vocal samples will keep it from jumping too far forward when you bring up the volume, that way you can ensure they still remain relatively quiet but more audible. Then I'd probably use a highpass filter to trim out all the low end since whispers mostly take place in the higher frequencies to further control it's volume. There's some trick with EQ that can make things sound more real (like literal whispers in your ear) but I don't know how to do it. That game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice does it though so maybe that's a good reference for research. Continue to experiment with those whispers though whenever the villain in Ohriah returns again. I'm happy to do more dialogue takes with you.

Good job with your track this week! Looking forward to your Mass Effect inspired ideas being incorporated into your music sometime

I agree with lament.config with the "whisper in the ear" effect by hard panning the voices to either side is cool. I do think that perhaps the spoken bits could come up in volume a little bit. My mix knowledge is still fairly limited but I believe a compressor to clamp down the loudest parts of the vocal samples will keep it from jumping too far forward when you bring up the volume, that way you can ensure they still remain relatively quiet but more audible. Then I'd probably use a highpass filter to trim out all the low end since whispers mostly take place in the higher frequencies to further control it's volume. There's some trick with EQ that can make things sound more real (like literal whispers in your ear) but I don't know how to do it. That game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice does it though so maybe that's a good reference for research. Continue to experiment with those whispers though whenever the villain in Ohriah returns again. I'm happy to do more dialogue takes with you. Good job with your track this week! Looking forward to your Mass Effect inspired ideas being incorporated into your music sometime :)

Deeply unsettling, I love it.  I think ViridianLoom is right about compressing the vocals, though I don't know if I agree about increasing the volume... weird consequence of compressing a sound, is it's easier to hear, even when it's quieter than everything else, like it makes it cut through the mix. But, honestly I think distant whispers might be creepier... though if they progressively got closer that would be unnerving.  One trick for moving things forward and back is to change reverb send inversely to volume.  More send + less volume = farther away, less send + more volume = closer... so if you did what Viridian suggested, compressed the hell out of it, high pass it to roll off everything below 500hz, flatten it out between 500-2k, an maybe boost any fricatives or plosives, then make sure it has absolutely no reverb on it, which means recording it in a sound treated space (I use my closet with blankets hung up), then make sure everything else has some room reverb, you might get something that sounds like it's actually in your head, which would be a pretty creepy sound I suspect. 

[quote=ViridianLoom]I agree with lament.config with the "whisper in the ear" effect by hard panning the voices to either side is cool. I do think that perhaps the spoken bits could come up in volume a little bit. My mix knowledge is still fairly limited but I believe a compressor to clamp down the loudest parts of the vocal samples will keep it from jumping too far forward when you bring up the volume, that way you can ensure they still remain relatively quiet but more audible. Then I'd probably use a highpass filter to trim out all the low end since whispers mostly take place in the higher frequencies to further control it's volume. There's some trick with EQ that can make things sound more real (like literal whispers in your ear) but I don't know how to do it. [/quote] Deeply unsettling, I love it. I think ViridianLoom is right about compressing the vocals, though I don't know if I agree about increasing the volume... weird consequence of compressing a sound, is it's easier to hear, even when it's quieter than everything else, like it makes it cut through the mix. But, honestly I think distant whispers might be creepier... though if they progressively got closer that would be unnerving. One trick for moving things forward and back is to change reverb send inversely to volume. More send + less volume = farther away, less send + more volume = closer... so if you did what Viridian suggested, compressed the hell out of it, high pass it to roll off everything below 500hz, flatten it out between 500-2k, an maybe boost any fricatives or plosives, then make sure it has absolutely no reverb on it, which means recording it in a sound treated space (I use my closet with blankets hung up), then make sure everything else has some room reverb, you might get something that sounds like it's actually in your head, which would be a pretty creepy sound I suspect.

Wow this is so ominous sounding. I like that the vocals are so quiet that I can't quite make out what they are saying, except for a few words here and there. Though every now and then I could catch the "there is no light", which is very very creepy. I like how the drone cuts out at the end so that the whisper stands all by itself. Really nice job here. Very heavy sounding.

Wow this is so ominous sounding. I like that the vocals are so quiet that I can't quite make out what they are saying, except for a few words here and there. Though every now and then I could catch the "there is no light", which is very very creepy. I like how the drone cuts out at the end so that the whisper stands all by itself. Really nice job here. Very heavy sounding.

Cool track! good points by the folks above with the EQ and no reverb etc. also consider playing with a spatializer effect/plugin to play with spatial sound that's coming from a particular place near/far in 3d space. Logic pro has one built in, there are also far fetched solutions like the Meta spatializer for VR usable in Unity or Unreal engine. I believe that's partly how they did it in Senua's Sacrifice tho I haven't played yet.

Cool track! good points by the folks above with the EQ and no reverb etc. also consider playing with a spatializer effect/plugin to play with spatial sound that's coming from a particular place near/far in 3d space. Logic pro has one built in, there are also far fetched solutions like the Meta spatializer for VR usable in Unity or Unreal engine. I believe that's partly how they did it in Senua's Sacrifice tho I haven't played yet.

I forgot I had this queued up for my commute and nearly shit my pants and drove off the road. Fantastic track.

I forgot I had this queued up for my commute and nearly shit my pants and drove off the road. Fantastic track.

The spatializer would be a good thing to try, because although hard-panned is close and feels like it's inside that ear, in reality, both ears will hear a little bit, even if it's really on one side of the ear. And so if you use a spatializer, it will take care of the time delay and the masking of the head and make it sound as if there's really someone right there talking into your ear. I have worked in spatial audio professionally on the algorithm side

The spatializer would be a good thing to try, because although hard-panned is close and feels like it's inside that ear, in reality, both ears will hear a little bit, even if it's really on one side of the ear. And so if you use a spatializer, it will take care of the time delay and the masking of the head and make it sound as if there's really someone right there talking into your ear. I have worked in spatial audio professionally on the algorithm side

You’re probably referring to an HRTF as the trick. Although yes you can also make a simplified version with a slight time delay (sound goes 300m/s) and an basic eq to act as the head shadow masking higher frequencies.

[quote=ViridianLoom]I agree with lament.config with the "whisper in the ear" effect by hard panning the voices to either side is cool. I do think that perhaps the spoken bits could come up in volume a little bit. My mix knowledge is still fairly limited but I believe a compressor to clamp down the loudest parts of the vocal samples will keep it from jumping too far forward when you bring up the volume, that way you can ensure they still remain relatively quiet but more audible. Then I'd probably use a highpass filter to trim out all the low end since whispers mostly take place in the higher frequencies to further control it's volume. There's some trick with EQ that can make things sound more real (like literal whispers in your ear) but I don't know how to do it. That game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice does it though so maybe that's a good reference for research. Continue to experiment with those whispers though whenever the villain in Ohriah returns again. I'm happy to do more dialogue takes with you. Good job with your track this week! Looking forward to your Mass Effect inspired ideas being incorporated into your music sometime :)[/quote] You’re probably referring to an HRTF as the trick. Although yes you can also make a simplified version with a slight time delay (sound goes 300m/s) and an basic eq to act as the head shadow masking higher frequencies.

great part 3 dude!

great part 3 dude!

great atmospheric track, the barely audible whispering panned around in the stereo field really adds to the mood.

love the drone dropping out so that you can hear the closing line.

great atmospheric track, the barely audible whispering panned around in the stereo field really adds to the mood. love the drone dropping out so that you can hear the closing line.