Sound Research

As mentioned in my last post regarding the atmosphere of games; one of the main components in creating the fear-filled atmosphere in games such as Slender Man is the music, or the sounds.

Slender Man is scary because the sounds build up tension, but how can I do this myself?
Slender uses what I believe to be a timpani drum aimed more to the left of your speakers, this creates the illusion that this sound is coming from a distance.

It creates a deep ''bong'' at a pace that I suppose emulates our hearts beat.
This slowly drummed over time can really build up some tension, however I don't want this sounding to much like Slender Man, so I'll be looking at a few different way to create this tension building effect.

Other instruments likely to create this effect would be a low orchestral bass.

This played very slowly on a low note could really build up some intensity.

There are also alternative methods I could try to get an unnerving sound, such as a male quire slowly building up volume, or perhaps even gradual or distorted through singing. Even a general song, be it happy or slow can sound horrifying if either reverse and or distorted with the right settings.
Imagine how horrifying thorough singing could sound without the instrument, built up gradually in an uneven environment! Guess I'll just have to play around and find out what works for this game.

Thorough Singing

For other sfx, as my game is Hospital based, possibly lights flicking or some kind of electrical buzz or heart monitor to suggest a broken or unstable environment, water dripping, whispers or heart beats.

To record the music tacks I will be using an iPad along with a iKeyboard and Garage Band.

Garage Band has all the instruments I could want and includes features to edit the sounds tempo, pitch and more.