How to Make Your Own Scary Halloween Music
Few things are spookier than having scary music playing at your Halloween party or during trick-or-treat. What’s even better is to customize it!
With today’s software, you can make your own scary music mix, and even add sound effects. Here are some tips on how to make your own scary Halloween music.
1. Search Your Own Collection
Depending on your age and music tastes, you might have some spooky music among those old cassette tapes and CDs. Look for movie soundtracks or something ethereal and ghostly. You might even run across Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”!
2. Scary Movies and TV Shows
Look for the theme songs or soundtracks for shows like “The Munsters” and “The Twilight Zone.” Classic scary movies like “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” have great soundtracks for the holiday. Feel free to choose more obscure shows and movies if you want something really unique.
3. Sound Effects
It’s fun to make your own Halloween sound effects recording. Here are some ideas for a sound effects recording you can play along with (or instead of) your Halloween music. Just use a CD or tape recorder for these spooky sounds.
* Create a thunderstorm with uncooked rice, a cookie sheet, and a big piece of poster board. As you sprinkle the rice onto the cookie sheet to sound like rain, shake the poster board hard (or have someone else do it) to make a thunder-clap, then gradually slow your shaking do it sounds like an echo. A piece of sheet metal is even better.
* Wind sounds are easy to make if you have a carpet and a heavy punching bag. Drag it along the floor and you’ll hear the rushing and high-pitched notes of a wind storm. You can also blow into a kids’ microphone, the non-electronic type that’s usually very inexpensive.
* Bats flying sound spooky. Make your own bat recording by opening and closing an umbrella quickly.
* Blow into a glass of water with a straw to create the sound of a boiling cauldron.
* To make a heartbeat sound, try getting a drum and stuffing a towel into it, then beat with padded sticks to get the rhythmic thump-thump sound.
And finally, you can certainly download lots of great sound effects online. Just make sure it’s legal.
4. Put It All Together
If you don’t want to make your own music, you can buy a Halloween music CD at your local retailer or even dollar store. Once you have your sound effects done and your music ready, play them both together and see if you have the spooky effect you hoped for!