Dramatic orchestral action thriller. Fleeting electronic shards, choppy orchestral strings, booming, threatening brass, frenetic, thunderous beats build tension throughout, finishing on the peal of long foghorn blasts. Dark, sombre and dangerous, a high octane battle for survival, perfect for a dramatic chase scene or tense onscreen build up.
Tag Archives: Tension
Straight Outta London
Electronic, hip hop instrumental track with string samples. String samples, dramatic piano chords, crunchy beats, police sirens, ‘ID please’ vocal sample, joined by more samples and a 90s West Coast woozy theremin-like synth line. Tense, urban and highly strung, would suit a tense cop drama or documentary exploring street culture.
Sirocco
A rich, hypnotic Middle Eastern-sounding track. A sounding bell then repeating drums rhythms, a violin-like instrument plays a snaking seductive melody. Occasional dulcimer-like trills add intrigue. Hypnotic, mysterious, intriguing, seductive, intense. Film/TV sequence featuring an intense, mesmerising experience for our characters, out of their comfort zone, exploring the dark beauty of an unfamiliar land.
Empire
An epic orchestral track featuring strings, choral vocals and powerful percussion. Percussive blasts introduce synthesised orchestral strings. Ascending orchestral strings heighten the tension further as loud percussion rumbles underneath. Sustained notes and choral vocal effects add to the sense of danger that is developing. Main melodic theme returns with a string counter melody and high pitched choral vocals. Female choral vocals soar above the melody and percussion, bass male vocals take the lower level before the finale of sustained strings and vocals. Tense, determined, powerful and threatening, suitable for film or TV sequences showing a group’s determination and strong will in the face of a common enemy, set on a vast and unforgiving landscape.
Darklands (Suite)
A frenetic percussive track hurtling toward a dramatic conclusion. Pounding high-octane drums, a low foreboding synth drone, cymbal crashes. A machine-like electronic tone builds tension to a cacophony of heavier drums joined by unsettling electronic feedback. Glitchy electronics intensify to fragmented chaos. Tense, unsettling and breathless, suited to the thrilling climax of a chase scene, a terrifying manhunt or a high-energy advert for a powerful substance.
Perc + FX only Polyphonic drum layers growing in strength and intensity. the futuristic electronic effects coupled with the pounding drums creates a visceral impression of a dark, dangerous post-apocalyptic cityscape.
Perc only conjures images of warfare on unknown territories, troops in a jungle environment pursued by guerilla fighters. Also suitable for adverts for any difficult task, or uphill battle.
Badlands (Suite)
A pulsating percussive thriller of a track, teeming with tension. Throbbing bassy percussion and arpeggiated percussive synth intensify into a terse, tense, thrilling melody. Added synth strings heighten the tension while a symphony of drums pound beneath, ending with a foreboding sustained crash. Anxiety-inducing, exciting and nerve-wracking. Perfect for a high-octane movie chase sequence, pushing characters to the extremes of human emotion; a particularly tense reality TV challenge sequence; or an advert for something to help you through life’s most challenging moments.
The percussion only version omits the anxiety-inducing melody, leaving the cacophony of drums below to pound purposefully to the close of the track.
Ripped Off
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.
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.