A sample-heavy 90s hip hop-inspired track. Starting with a low rumble sound effect, the boom bap beat drops, then brass section samples, orchestral-style string samples, and spacey electronic samples complete the 90s pastiche. Intrigue, glamour and danger are evoked but in a goofy way- hip hop James Bond.
Tag Archives: Tension
Heavenly Creations
A 90s-style trippy shuffle. Repeated keyboard melody, shuffling boom bap hip hop drums, slow-motion electronic whooshes and warm dynamic bass guitar. Ambiguous, atmospheric and warm but with underlying danger. Suitable for film and television as well as campaign videos. Following a character from evening through nightfall, as he goes about his usual wheelings and dealings in his city. Slightly dangerous 90s druggy slacker vibes.
Bipolar
Made up of three contrasting sections. First, a futuristic pastoral soundscape with a pan-pipe-like tribal-sounding repeated synth note calling out across the landscape. Then blobby liquid percussion, piano, glitchy electronics and drums interplay until they launch into a drum ‘n’ bass section. Birdsong and a return to nature follow, with forest sounds and a repeated electronic pulse. Next section seeps in with blissful major chords, dreamy glittering electronic fx, soulful beats and dubby bass. A spoken word sample situates us in hip-hop/jazz territory. The voice repeats “walk on, walk tall”, as sparkling synth gives way to birdsong and water. At times, tense, tribal and spiritual, moving to chilled, soulful and inspired, this would suit before/after adverts for a product meant to inspire, slow you down and change your life for the better.
To Sleep
A dark synth pop track with dreamy male and female vocals. A synth pulse introduces male vocals. A dramatic pause before melodic beats drop with layered vocals. Dreamy, mysterious synth drones add tension. A drum and wonky synth break, the vocal chorus returns. A female vocal break ,then call-and-answer with male vocals, before coming together, echoed by the bass line. Synth drones and blobby beats accompany the female vocals an octave higher and male counter melody. Melancholy, tense and dripping in cool anticipation. Dark romance in the city by night. Driving. Coloured lights streak by. Too cool for love.
Always Angry
Pulsating electronic thriller. Electronic horn-like sustained blasts, clanging sound FX, harsh drum machine. Ascending orchestral strings signal intriguing danger. A thoughtful, desolate electric guitar solo before a return to the relentless electronic sirens. Strings build again and electric guitar returns to finish. Automatic, inhuman, threatening and brash, the sound of a prison watchtower and the rhythmic plodding of prisoners boots, would suit a dramatic thriller on TV or Film.
TRIM2
An upbeat rhythmic drum ‘n’ bass/grime influenced track. Mash-up of rhythms and urban styles with MC-style vocals, alien synth samples, finger snaps and hand-claps throughout the track. Cool, fresh, urban and a little bit dark. Would match with adverts for streetwear brands, refreshing drinks or a film/TV scene evoking inner city-life, kids in the playground jumping rope but dodgy dealings happening just around the corner.
The Issue Goes Deeper (Suite)
Lurching synth doppler effect creates an atmosphere of uneasy tension. One note rings out, klaxon-like, joined by threatening synth sounds panning across a bleak sonic plain. Hi-hat underpins the score with added suspense. Dark, desolate and unnerving, with a heavy, mysterious atmosphere that suggests an enemy at your shoulder. Perfect for a prison break, an abduction or an escape.
Light version has a longer, more exposed synth note. Simple version only features the doppler effect synth sounds, no central sustained note.
Ice and Steel
An atmospheric slow-building track. Sustained synth notes cut through with glassy, overtone-like sound effects. This intensifies and fades as the track progresses, sometimes interspersed with bursts of mellow static. A fragile regular beat is established, then fades out. Fuller synth chords emerge. The thin beat is re-introduced, accompanying a slowly shifting progression of synth chords and radio static. A short, simple synth melody enters over the shifting chords and regular beat, turning into a single repeated note by the end. Hypnotic, chill, mysterious, icy cool. On film, accompanying an enigmatic landscape, real or imagined, a cold barren place at dusk or a bleak situation.
TRIMNYO
A dance track mixing African- and Caribbean-influenced urban British styles. Dancehall-like drums & vocal samples give way to silvery synths and MC-style vocals, growing in rhythmic intensity with snare, synth and vocal samples. A heavily processed female helium vocal sample is introduced over trance-style synth and erratic beats, heavy synths intensifying until an abrupt ending. Dancey, urban, dark and complex. Walking through the city late at night, neon signs glowing, street lights, dodgy characters all around but our protagonist owns the streets.
Brevity Excerpt 1
A frenetic, rhythmic contemporary string piece. Sustained synth breaks into fast, rhythmic, percussive, staccato strings above a low pitched drone, eventually ending with an abrupt stop. Intense, moody, intellectual and dangerous, suitable for an arthouse version of Jason Bourne, a slick automobile advert or a psychological thriller.