A collaborative post

BOOM BOX POST

We love to put our editors to the test to see what kind of sound effects builds they can come up with! For Halloween this year, we thought it would be fun to see how they design classic Halloween creatures - from werewolves, vampires, and zombies, to the grim reaper. Let’s see what they came up with!

Katie Jackson - Werewolf

I approached this werewolf design as a scene where the wolf transforms, ripping flesh and human clothes before letting out a quick roar and galloping away. I had to also include a classic werewolf howl at the end. I designed the vocals from a combination of pitched tiger, cow, dog and human vocals.

Jayson Niner - Vampire

When designing a creature or monster I usually start with a foundational layer to establish the monster's vocal performance and energy. In this case, I wanted to capture the classic "I vant to drink your blood" vampire sound with snake and human hissing. To beef up this sound and make it a little more monstrous I added tiger snarling and some heavy human inhaling and gasping. At the end of the hiss I also added a human scream that was heavily processed with reversed reverb and vibrato plugins to give the vampire a more ethereal sound.

For the vampire death vocals I want to evoke the sound of an actual bat so I pitched up the cry of a red tailed hawk and doubled it to create some high pitched dissonance. I also doubled a human scream, lowering the pitch on one of the pair to add a human element while still sounding sinister. However, the death vocal still wasn't feeling quite right. I realized that I wanted a lower element to keep the vampire sounding more like a monster than a person so I added a gargling didgeridoo to mimic the gurgling of a large creature.

peter kay - Zombie

I envisioned a woman who noticed a group of zombies in the distance and attempted to flee, but she was ultimately captured and devoured.

Kyle stockbridge - GRIM REAPER

I approached this design by imagining the Grim Reaper emerging from darkness to claim another victim’s soul. I wanted the Grim Reaper’s presence to be accompanied by whispering winds and airy vocals while his own vocals are dark and demonic. We hear the clatter from his skeletal footsteps and the blunt end of his scythe tapping against the ground as he gets closer to the victim. Then we hear what the sharp end of his scythe can do…

Great job to our editors and our apprentice for this festive sound design game!

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