I Accidentally Invented An Incredible Horror Instrument

Following up my last video with this happy horror accident of a instrument invention! The FEEDBACK ORGAN! Very fun to play with. Sounds like ... you tell me?

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Magpie Pirates

Background Music Shoutout:

[troy]

"So, do you play any instruments?"

"Oh yeah, I play the feedback organ for my weirdcore band."

[andershaldorsen]

I believe in my heart that if simon reads enough comments about how close he is to being a noise musician maybe it will subconsciously leak into his psyche and he will finally convert to the dark side

[RGudmetalhead]

Now combine that with miku horror setup and you’ll be able to create one hell of horror soundtrack.

[mjdbruyn]

Sending already vibrating air through a wind instrument = amplitude modulation. Like two oscillators through a ring modulator. Or singing through a saxophone.

[ethantemple]

“It’s ready to scream, but it doesn’t. Unless I press” is an absolutely terrifying sentence

[onidaaitsubasa]

Sometimes it sounds like the suspense music in a horror movie, and on some other settings it sounds like the atmospheric music of older sci-fi movies, and sometimes it sounds like some kind of alarm on one of those older sci-fi spaceships.

[johnhemphill]

Oh my! You're using the flutes as passive resonators for the talk box! Some electric organs have pipes installed over their speakers in order to provide a more authentic resonance, and it seems like this is operating on a similar principle. The talk box supplies an oscillation, and then the flute that you opened with the key starts to vibrate due to the sound. Since the flute is mic'd, the talk box sends that resonant frequency back into the flute, and the tone gets louder. Really, really innovative and cool choices with the signal chain too, bravo.

[BirthquakeRecords]

This is incredible. I didn’t think this was going to be an in-tune chromatic instrument - normally “horror” instruments are chaotic, atonal, and/or microtonal nightmares without much use outside of spooky sound effects for dramatic effect (like the waterphone or apprehension engine or bowed cymbals).

This is unironically awesome, and seems so damn useful. I want to make one now.

Try hooking the talk box up to a slide trombone next!

[brianspenst]

The first half is pure horror soundtrack. The 2nd half is very mid 20th century experimental stuff. I especially loved the low bass BWAAAA sound. That would make some great industrial music.

[rootbeeeeer]

makes me want to plug a talkbox into every instrument imaginable

[anthonywestbrook]

Wow. I was not expecting what happened when you added the mixer feedback. This is stunningly wild.

[casanovafunkenstein]

Something about the tone created by the flutes just screams Japanese horror soundtrack to me.
Feels like a trippy section from Silent Hill or Siren or something.
I'm imagining that it would play in a section where you encounter something that will push your shit in if you don't avoid it or unload a bunch of shotgun ammo into it as soon as possible

[lordzeffo]

i would pay an absurd amount of money to have one of these. someone should start building these professionally

[bittersweetvictory]

that section around 5:50 with the insane drive/output combo captures the essence of what i really really enjoyed about the soundscape created during portal 2's ost. i wouldn't be surprised if they used a similar technique themselves to generate those noises.

[sotarro]

The comparison he made to it being "ready to scream, but it won't. Unless I press." Just took the horror up a notch. Like I could totally see what he's saying and it's kinda freaky.

[bonce]

I loved the last one but couldn't put words to why, and love this one too but have a better idea why. The last one was definitely human, it communicated something almost recognisable, like a feeling of described emotions or something. This one was just pure cosmic horror, the first section was Lovecraftian but the second was 2001. Properly otherwordly, un-understandable. Bloody beautiful though, utterly enthralling.

[CrypticCircuits]

The idea of sound piped through flutes is mind bending

[bogbert]

if i heard these sounds alone in a dark room with a blood red sky outside I think I would simply die. absolutely epic work dude

[jameslanclos]

Pretty cool Sci-Fi sounds. I can see how this can be useful in music and movies.

[zelike]

On low feedback it sounds a bit like a glass organ, and when pushed a bit... It just raises hell! Man, that's a lovely instrument ❤ Something I'd like to build at home! Kudos!