The Ravens Barrow - Halloween, Fantasy, and Horror in Modern Culture » Soundscapes

Now Playing: Theater of Illusion by Nox Arcana

Patrick Nottingham — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:37:13 +0000

NOX ARCANA conjures a realm of mystery and dark magic with THEATER OF ILLUSION.

I just got this in from Monolith Graphics – Theater of Illusion by Nox Arcana.

Welcome to the Theater of Illusion, the legendary stage of magic hidden beyond the threshold of dreams and nightmares. Behold strange and mystifying acts performed by phantom magicians and discover the dark secrets that lie in wait beyond the veil of shadows. Nox Arcana invites you to enter a realm of magic and dark fantasy to immerse yourself in a soundscape of haunting melodies, mystical rhythms and pulse-pounding orchestrations.

A lifelong fan of magic, Nox Arcana founder Joseph Vargo was inspired to create a musical tribute to the mysterious realm of illusion. The setting for this concept album is an old Vaudeville theater, hidden from the outside world, where master magicians gather to display their talents every Halloween night.

The 21 tracks take the listener on a musical journey throughout the theater and provide a cinematic soundtrack for the eerie acts that play out on stage.

“Our music has always been very popular with magicians, and several professional illusionists have used various Nox Arcana CD’s to enhance their acts. With Theater of Illusion, I wanted to create something specifically for magicians and fans of dark fantasy.”

The tracks range from haunting melodies on piano, harpsichord, and music box chimes to dramatic orchestrations accented by Gothic choirs and pipe organ. Other tracks offer exotic, mystical rhythms and hypnotic narratives to create a spellbinding atmosphere.

You can listen to samples below on the Amazon widget I embedded of Theater of Illusion and purchase from your favorite music download site: Amazon, iTunes, or CDBaby.

Amazon.com Widgets

You can also get Theater of Illusion from the Monolith Graphics site directly.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Now Playing: Carpe Noctem by Prelude to a Nightmare

Patrick Nottingham — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:29:49 +0000

Click the album cover to listen to samples in iTunes.

Dark, Haunting, Macabre.

Carpe Noctem by Prelude to a Nightmare has it all.

Need new music for you haunt this year or just like a good emo Gothic brood in the dark?

Here’s an album I stumbled across on Twitter a few days back thanks to having @PreludetoaNight suggested to me by the Twitter bots. See, social networking and micro-blogging are worth more than a pile of dog doo sometimes.

The album – Carpe Noctem – Prelude to a Nightmare – came out on Friday the 13th this month, and combines traditional ambient soundtracks with modern beats and effects. You can find out more about this Pittsburgh, PA (hooray for yinz in da ‘burgh) Gothic idustrial band by hitting their Myspace page or by clicking the iTunes button below. Once on iTunes you can listen to sample tracks and purchase the album for only $9.99.

If you’re a fan of music from folks like Midnight Syndicate or Nox Arcana then you’ll love the dark Gothic soundscape woven by Prelude to a Nightmare.

In case you’re wondering, I did buy it. ;-)

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Contest Whore! Dr Gangrene’s August Midnight Syndicate Giveaway

Patrick Nottingham — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:46:14 +0000

Click the good Doctor to go watch the video on Youtube and leave a comment to enter.

It appears I have become a complete contest whore.

But that’s not stopping me from pointing you fine folks toward the same contest. Dr Gangrene – Nashville horror host – has a great Midnight Syndicate giveaway contest going on over on Youtube. Just click the graphic above and watch the video there. Then leave a comment as per the instructions in the video and you’re entered. Easy peasy.

While you’re at it go and check out the Web Lab of Dr Gangrene for more mad scientist goodness.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Free Sounds and Soundscapes from Gravecast.com

Patrick Nottingham — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:15:40 +0000

Click above and go get you some freebies from GraveCast.com

I’m always thinking of yinz when I spot freebies.

Over at GraveCast.com, Mobius J Kromwell – hell if I know if that’s his real name so don’t ask, k? – is giving away – that means free dammit – some awesome sounds and soundscapes.

Why?

Maybe cause he’s nuts? I couldn’t tell ya, but starting yesterday with this creepy cabin zombie soundscape and for 30 consecutive days you can go get them to use in your haunts or just to listen to and get creeped out. In the dark. Alone. Not even an LOLcat in sight. (What? I like LOLcatz. They make me smile when I’m ascaried.)

Did I mention they’re free with no strings attached? Then why are you still reading? Oh, and you can follow Morbius J Kromwell on Twitter so when he updates you’ll be the first to know.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Congrats to Kathy Spooky Robinson Who Won The Dead Matter DVD/CD Deluxe Edition from Midnight Syndicate

Patrick Nottingham — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:49:38 +0000

Click above to check out the Dead Matter on Amazon

See, entering a bazillion – yes, it’s a number because my spell check says it is – times you really can win these contests. Congratulations to Kathy, who indeed entered more than half of the entries in the contest, and a new contest for DVD Monday will be up soon. Stay tuned.

Check out these other posts that might interest you.

Horrific New Royalty Free Music and Soundscapes from Audio Zombie Sound

Patrick Nottingham — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:03:41 +0000

Buy Once and Use Forever

One of the most overlooked parts of any haunted house in my opinion has to be music. Try to imagine “Psycho” without those nails-on-a-chalkboard strings as Mother/Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is slaughtering Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in the shower and you’ll get what I mean. Sound and lighting in general can overcome many a last minute scene’s failings (translation – one you threw together in a desperate act of panic to cover some palate walls and a lack of three actors who promised you they’d be there but aren’t) and turn even black walls and stretchy web into concentrated fear and dread.

Up for the challenge of the sound part this week is a new company – Audio Zombie Sound – and their three new CD’s of royalty free music. What is royalty free music you ask? Essentially this means that once you purchase these albums from AZ, you essentially own the right to use the music in your haunts, amateur movies, commercials, Youtube videos, etc without having to pay for them every time you do so. You can’t obviously resell the music or slap it into a compilation CD, but that should go without saying.

Yeah, I bet you’re doing that anyway with your favorite Rob Zombie tracks right now, but I warn you that you do so at your peril. Youtube – where many a haunt commercial and video ends up – has been cracking down on such vids meaning that they may wipe the sound entirely leaving your viewers with a creepy silent film without the piano accompaniment.

Worse, you may get a “cease and desist” letter from the rightful owners of the music you use thus leaving you scrambling for something to score your indie zombie flick with that you just entered into a horror con film fest.

So, are the CD’s from Audio Zombie worth it? Have a listen. I’ve embedded my Garage of Evil Network player below and uploaded every track from all the CD’s. You’ll notice that – holy crap – there are 70+ different songs and sound effects among all three albums. That is a pile of music with which you can score anything from a circus themed haunt to an Egyptian tomb scene. And they’re all loopable which is essential in scoring a haunt.

Find more music like this on Garage of Evil!!

Facebook and email folks click the graphic of the music player all the way at the bottom of the post to come to the Barrow proper to have a listen. BTW – you can listen, but you can’t swipe them from the player so don’t even ask. Honestly I paid a show special price of $25 for all three – they may be more on the website, no price is currently listed – Audio Zombie Sound – now, but do go ahead and Google “royalty free music” and see how much music like this normally costs. It’s in the hundreds of dollars people – not tens. I’m hoping they come out with even more generic movie scoring music. My kid, after all, is a film major and even film professors want to know if the music was “used by permission” or not.

Of course I do have one complaint I should air, and that is when one inserts the CD’s into their computer the CD info – album name, artist, artwork, and track name – are not on them and will have to be manually typed in. A pain in the ass – yes, but I’ll allow for it this time around. AZ is a new company, and to be fair they were rushing getting these out for the Natty Haunters show. The music is all good, and worth the minor hassle of doing this, and they may have corrected this on current pressings of these albums.

Haunted Attraction Themes Volume 1

Immerse you customers in the twisted sounds that will bring your theme rooms to the next level. This disc is comprised of our most requested theme room music. Everything from twisted clown music to classic haunted house orchestration. Over one hour in length, this library contains music and atmospheres for a variety of attractions.

Orchestra of the Dead

From haunting melodies to rhythmic stabs, Orchestra of the dead is sure to please. This cd contains over an hour of eerie music of the night. Many uses include haunted attractions and hayrides , horror film trailers and halloween stores. Also great for the home haunter.

The Zombie's Playground

Welcome to the Zombie’s Playground. A journey to the dark side of sound. Over 50 minutes of chilling atmospheres and creepy soundscapes recorded in high definition. This Royalty free library of atmospheres are suited for use in film, haunted attractions, website design and anywhere else that dark soundscapes are needed.

Come to the Barrow to listen.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

National Haunters Convention Spotlight – Midnight Syndicate

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:10:37 +0000

The band that started an entire genre of music – Midnight Syndicate. I have everything they ever put out and have found each CD critical for my haunts over the years for setting the mood. I posted a widget below for you to sample their catalog as well as download the MP3′s if you’re so inclined.

Amazon.com Widgets

If you can’t see the widget above – like in Facebook or email – then click the graphic below to check it out on the Barrow proper.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

The Monster Club – 300 Free Horror Radio Shows

Patrick Nottingham — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:05:22 +0000

What an amazing treasure trove I just came across. The Monster Club is an archive of 300+ old time radio shows all with a horror theme. There’s plenty of archives of old time radio out there, but with this one there’s no slogging through everything just to get the creepy ones. Registration for the site is required, but free.

I lifted this from the site:

Although the first radio stations began broadcasting in 1920, it wasn’t till the golden age of radio that horror theme shows were broadcast. Radio was a wonderful arena for horror due to the endless possibilities for sound effects. Often, a spooky voice would tell a story while sound effects conjured up the images of thunder and lightening and other atmospheric surroundings.

Most shows were not specifically horror oriented, and were actually a mixture of mystery, crime and horror. Shows, such as “Lights Out”, tended to have more horror offerings. Others, such as “The Clock”, were predominately mystery and crime with a tiny smattering of supernaturally themed episodes. Some other shows from the golden age that offered supernatural themes include; “The Hermit’s Cave”, “Suspense”, “The House of Mystery”, “Escape”, “The Mysterious Traveler”, “The Witches Tale”, “The Creaking Door”, “Quiet Please”, “Weird Circle”, “Dark Fantasy” “The Sealed Book”, “Hall of Fantasy” and “Inner Sanctum” among others. “Witch’s Tale” is reported to have served as inspiration for EC Comics, which visually presented old time radio style story telling.

Another type show was dedicated solely to space and science fiction and usually had more than a fair share of supernatural theme episodes to offer as well. Some of the better known are “X Minus One”, “2000 Plus”, “Beyond Tomorrow” and “Dimension X”. Some shows, such as “Lux Theater” adapted famous films to radio, sometimes even featuring the very stars who appeared. Serials such as “Father Knows Best” and “Life of Riley” offered up the expected, but beloved, spooky Halloween shows each year as well. One very famous Halloween show, put on by “Mercury Theater” was the 1938 Halloween broadcast of “War Of The Worlds”. “War Of The Worlds” was a very real sounding report / broadcast of Martians landing on Earth. Meant as a Halloween practical joke, it backfired when multitudes of people were panicked and begin to flee from what they assumed was a real Martian landing.

Horror film stars would often appear in radio shows as well. Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price all made their way to horror radio shows at one time or another. Vincent Price not only hosted the horror themed “Price of Fear” he also played himself as a character in many of the episodes. Many horror stars also made special appearances on variety shows, especially around Halloween time.

Since the advent of television, radio slowly evaporated, although “Lights Out” made the transition to television in 1949, featuring Frank Gallop as host and Jack La Rue as narrator. “Suspense” would also make it to TV, and luckily, footage of this thought long lost rare show has become available today on DVD.

And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few other posts that got people talking.

The Garage of Evil Release Dark Soundscapes Volume 2

Patrick Nottingham — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:53:39 +0000

I can’t tell you how many haunted houses I’ve been in that seriously neglect a major element of sensory input that really helps to suspend the disbelief of the patron. Just try to imagine movies like “Jaws” or “Star Wars” without their signature music. Do you really think that rubber shark would have been as frightening without that thudding – da daa da daa music building the sense of dread. I promise you that any haunt that neglects to put their victims into a world with all five senses adding to an ever increasing sense of horror is truly missing the proverbial boat. Two things can make up for just about everything else that is wrong with your haunt – lighting and a strong auditory soundscape.

The Garage of Evil can certainly help you with the soundscapes part of that formula. They just released volume 2 of their Dark Soundscapes series, and let me assure you that these very affordable CD’s will help to add a sense of dread to everyone who experiences your haunt this 2007 season. I’ve placed samples from four of the tracks of this 12 tracks CD below for your listening pleasure, and if you want to hear more just follow this link to the Garage of Evil store. There you can give a listen to every track on both volumes 1 and 2. The CD’s are certainly affordable at only $9.99 each or if you prefer $6.66 (love that price) for downloads in MP3 format to save you both time and shipping. Even cooler you can get a FREE, yes FREE, track from volume 1 right now with no strings attached. So why wouldn’t you want to check them out? Do not miss this opportunity to take your haunt to the next level by enveloping your victims in audio terror.

Now go crank up the sub woofer to +10dB and let the screaming and tears begin.

I made this Flash Music Player at MyFlashFetish.com.