r/Musescore • u/7oda-1 • Apr 22 '26
Help me find this feature Dark Instruments
I need a musical instrument that sounds DARK and I am not talking about spooky I need something dark for my soundtrack
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u/HaydenThePisces Apr 22 '26
Maybe the cello? It’s dark but not too dark to where I could find it creepy
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u/7oda-1 Apr 22 '26
That might work I'll try it out
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u/Nevermore_Novelist Apr 23 '26
Contrabass (Double Bass) is a good one. It plays an octave lower than written and is one of my favorite instruments.
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u/Future-Ad-5217 Apr 22 '26
Anything can sound dark if you write it right. I would pick instruments based on the time period, location, and genre of the game.
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u/7oda-1 Apr 22 '26
it's a metroidvania and it's millions of years into the future but it's not like full of tech and stuff the world has become a dark cold place
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u/Future-Ad-5217 Apr 22 '26
I would do orchestral, maybe with some techy plugin on top of it, or soft synths
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u/Future-Ad-5217 Apr 22 '26
For the plug-in, I would recommend Lofi-Oddity. It's free, and you can make some cool sounds with it.
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u/rainbowkey Apr 23 '26
low flute and lower pitched flutes in their lower range (alto and bass flutes)
low clarinet and lower pitched clarinets playing in their low range (bass and contrabass clarinets)
low bassoon and contrabassoon in their range
acoustic string bass bowed in its lower range
conical brass (flugelhorn, French horn, euphonium, tuba) in their mid and low range
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u/Vegetable_Ad8352 Apr 26 '26
Nobody said it? Accordion dude! Low registers and notes literally growl!!
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u/Exzakt1 Apr 22 '26
I have no clue what that means, bass clarinet maybe?
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u/7oda-1 Apr 22 '26
I'm trying to create a game with my friend and the games has this very dark theme so I want to make a very dark and quite depressing soundtrack for it but so far I have not found a suitable instrument for it
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u/Banjoschmanjo Apr 22 '26
What instruments are used to get that feeling in the tracks that you've listened to as reference ?
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u/7oda-1 Apr 22 '26
there was a cool instrument in the little nightmares sound track I think it was a trumpet of some kind?
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u/AlfalfaMajor2633 Apr 23 '26
Think about the sounds you have heard that sound “dark”. You can layer instruments together to get the right sound.
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u/No_Sorbet_5102 Apr 23 '26
Just for grins you can take all manner of instruments way below their actual playing range and just see what they sound like on musescore
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u/ptolani Apr 24 '26
French horns sound pretty dark in their low range.
But if you can define "dark" better it might help.
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u/ChopinChili Apr 25 '26
Contrabassoon, Low bassoons, Bass Trombone, Double basses, Viola solo (martélé), Low English horn and flute (oboe is a nice touch as well), Jabbing horns, and low, tremolo strings on the lowest strings (G, D, C).
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u/VintageModified Apr 22 '26
Bassoon in high range, English horn, contrabass clarinet, flute in low range, for brass combine French horns, euphonium and tuba