# Dark but Fun Music?



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

I'm looking for some fun Elfman-esque music to play during my haunt. Something dark and slightly campy, in the vein of the title songs for _Tales From the Crypt_ and _Beetlejuice_. Music that says "Halloween fun." Fast or slow, soft or loud, I figure I can edit together a long mix that incorporates all of them. Instrumentals only, as chatting to TOTs is integral to the setup.

The theme is a big, clanky, evil candy-making machine, so music with a mechanical slant would be particularly awesome. (I keep thinking of the way Tom Waits uses odd bits of percussion in his songs. Too bad he doesn't do instrumentals!)

Any ideas?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Personally, I'd opt for Elfman without the "esque" There's even an instant mix of pieces from the many soundtracks he's written readily available:

Amazon.com: Danny Elfman: Music for a Darkened Theatre, Film & Television Music, Vol. 1: Danny Elfman, John Coleman, Shirley Walker, William Ross, Steve Bartek, The Sinfonia of London, National Philharmonic Orchestra: [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@21siA6TSRlL

Mechanical slant - nothing comes to mind right away (other than the Anvil Chorus, but that's not particularly Halloweeny), but I expect there'll be some folks with ideas.

Do a search for MooreEntertainment's threads here as well. He may have some links still for free music he's composed that could fit.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I did find a mostly instrumental recording done by Tom Waits, but there are no preview tracks to see if this would work for you:

Amazon.com: Night On Earth: Original Soundtrack Recording: Tom Waits: [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@41XMBTC1JXL

And here is a CD of mechanical music that might have some tracks of interest, kind of off the wall, but definitely different (not Elfmanesque or Tom Waits):

Amazon.com: Ligeti: Mechanical Music: Gyorgy Ligeti, Pierre Charial, Jürgen Hocker, Françoise Terrioux: [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51JSXBS3F4L


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## Marrow (Feb 23, 2011)

'Halloween at High Noon' might be an idea.

http://www.highnoon-records.com/halloween%20at%20high%20noon/halloween.htm


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

LOL @ Symphony for 100 Metronomes..brilliant!


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

You could take two of the sewing machine sounds (one fast, one slow) and layer them...) the one on the very bottom is cool, and then put more on top..see here:
http://soundbible.com/tags-factory.html

the metal grinder one makes my teeth hurt..lol


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## pensivepumpkin (Mar 27, 2011)

It's hard to argue with Elfman. For the mechanical sounds, I would raid remix.nin.com. It is a great site with access to Trent Reznor's music in a format that lets you remix it yourself. If you're not familiar, he is the genius behind Nine Inch Nails, and he just won an Oscar for his musical work in The Social Network. The former has LOTS of the mechanical noises, and the latter skews more dark and atmospheric. 

Have fun, and hope that helps a little!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Wow, lots of great ideas. I'm definitely going to use some less-recognizable Elfman pieces. As I think about it, I can probably use them as highlights intermixed with some more background music like Roxy's and Marrow's suggestions. Might make for a smoother overall sound.

I'm definitely going to raid Debbie's sound effects site too, for sounds from the evil candy machine as well as enhacing the music soundtrack. (I still need to figure out how to coordinate the sound effects on the fly.)

Haven't dug into the NIN site yet. Looks cool though. The more mechanical sounds the better. Sadly most of my helpers, including my mother, won't want to listen to actual industrial music for several hours.


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## pensivepumpkin (Mar 27, 2011)

As I recall, the nin site actually separates tracks. Haven't been there for a while, though...


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Check out Amon Tobin - Foley Room. It is electronic, but it is a great atmospheric and instrumental album with a lot usable for Halloween.


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## Haint Blues (Jul 13, 2010)

Have you looked at the _PeeWee's Big Adventure_ soundtrack? It's Danny Elfman's first score, definitely more campy than dark, but still creepy at times. There's even a "Breakfast Machine" song that has a weird mechanical feel.

Tom Waits does have some creepy instrumental stuff on _Blood Money_, but it has more of a circus feel. Maybe checkout "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott. It's the go-to factory song in Looney Toons.


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## Haint Blues (Jul 13, 2010)

Another idea, check out the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They have some kitschy jazz instrumentals that have a halloween feel. I think "Bedlam Ballroom" would work well for what you need.


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## Sirius (Jul 18, 2009)

Sometimes I got looking for Creative Commons-published music for various purposes. When I saw your post, I went to one of my favorite sites and did a "Search by Feel" for "dark"(fantastically organized site). Here are the results:

Dark-Feeling Music

It's got a wealth of material that I think is spot-on for what you're looking for. The pieces labeled "Constancy" Parts two and three had a nice feel, as did "Iron Horse".

But do yourself a favor and check out "Tenebrous Brothers Carnival - Act One" a little more than halfway down the first page. If I were a composer and I wrote a piece based on your description, I could not imagine a better one.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Sawtooth Jack said:


> Check out Amon Tobin - Foley Room. It is electronic, but it is a great atmospheric and instrumental album with a lot usable for Halloween.


Cool, I can find a place for that in a long mix.



Haint Blues said:


> Have you looked at the _PeeWee's Big Adventure_ soundtrack? It's Danny Elfman's first score, definitely more campy than dark, but still creepy at times. There's even a "Breakfast Machine" song that has a weird mechanical feel.


I like the music, but the main signature is a little too recognizable for my taste. (Maybe I'm showing my age!)



> Tom Waits does have some creepy instrumental stuff on _Blood Money_, but it has more of a circus feel.


Oo, I like "Knife Chase."



> Maybe checkout "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott. It's the go-to factory song in Looney Toons.


Ha! I can't believe I didn't think of that. Good call.



Haint Blues said:


> Another idea, check out the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They have some kitschy jazz instrumentals that have a halloween feel. I think "Bedlam Ballroom" would work well for what you need.


Heh, I have in mind a whole Hell display for some future Halloween, which if I do it will feature SNZ-style jazz.



Sirius said:


> Sometimes I got looking for Creative Commons-published music for various purposes. When I saw your post, I went to one of my favorite sites and did a "Search by Feel" for "dark"(fantastically organized site). Here are the results:
> 
> Dark-Feeling Music
> 
> ...


Oh man, yes, I came across that site in my initial search. It is amazing. I had skipped over most of the carnival songs because I don't want a calliope sound, but you're right, that one's pretty good. I'll go through them again with a little more patience.


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Not mechanical, but the Coraline score is quite Elfmanesque, which I guess makes sense since the film is so Burtonesque lol.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Some definite keepers in there.


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## DrUnK3n_PaNdA (Sep 17, 2009)

The song 'Mmm Chicken!' off Two Steps From Hell's album Dreams and Imaginations 3 would work great, I'd think. (If you can't already tell they're often my mainstay for haunt music.)






Leaping Lucifer sounds a lot like Elfman's score for both Beetlejuice and Tales from the Crypt. It's off the album The Devil Wears Nada:






Lastly, probably the furthest from what you wanted, but very dark and machine sounding is Madnophone from their album Ashes:


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Wow, DP- I had never heard of Two Steps From Hell before your post! They have some amazing stuff that I can put to good use! Thanks so much for sharing!


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## HauntedHorror (Aug 7, 2011)

You could just go for Boingo (Danny Elfman's band) music or try to find instrumental versions of their songs.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Panda, those are very cool, thanks. Just what I'm looking for. I'll poke around some of their other stuff too.

HH, was Boingo (did they change it from Oingo Boingo?) similar music to Elfman's soundtracks? For some reason I remember thinking of them as more like jazzy new wave.


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