Why horror music scares us?
Laiho, Elias (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121530146
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121530146
Tiivistelmä
In this thesis the author dwelled into the psychological effects of how sounds connect with our brains as well as considered the biological reasons of why our bodies filter some sounds as potential danger or worth having streamlined focus on. There is a chapter in the thesis on history of horror films and description of how we define them in a nutshell.
In this thesis the basic fundamentals of music theory and information of composing techniques for horror music were explained. The author of this thesis explored the basic fundamentals of music theory and analysed music from famous horror-films. Music composed by the author was included into the analysis of the thesis. Information for this thesis was gathered from medical studies, musicians, composers, music theorists and historians to make a foundational conclusion on the subject based on research. The goal of the thesis was to understand why horror music could be scary and what techniques could be used to achieve that.
The results of the research suggest that there are biological factors which contribute to associating survival with nonlinear sounds that can be perceived as a threat or worth focusing on. Composing techniques can be used to simulate these nonlinear sounds to induce biological reactions of arousal and valence. More research needs to be done on how humans perceive sounds to gain better understanding on the subject. The information provided here is useful for every composer who wants to learn more about composing horror music.
In this thesis the basic fundamentals of music theory and information of composing techniques for horror music were explained. The author of this thesis explored the basic fundamentals of music theory and analysed music from famous horror-films. Music composed by the author was included into the analysis of the thesis. Information for this thesis was gathered from medical studies, musicians, composers, music theorists and historians to make a foundational conclusion on the subject based on research. The goal of the thesis was to understand why horror music could be scary and what techniques could be used to achieve that.
The results of the research suggest that there are biological factors which contribute to associating survival with nonlinear sounds that can be perceived as a threat or worth focusing on. Composing techniques can be used to simulate these nonlinear sounds to induce biological reactions of arousal and valence. More research needs to be done on how humans perceive sounds to gain better understanding on the subject. The information provided here is useful for every composer who wants to learn more about composing horror music.