Treachery: Plumbing The Depths Of Dark Human Emotions

History teaches us that few experiences are more painful or debilitating than betrayal. Traitors make the short-list of the worst human beings ever. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, with a kiss no less. Guy Fawkes betrayed his English countrymen by trying to blow up the House of Lords in the failed gunpowder plot. Benedict Arnold betrayed his fellow soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Brutus betrayed Julius Caesar, stabbing him on the Senate floor.

The problem with betrayal is that it usually doesn’t come from a stranger, some person we can hold at arm’s length and subject to scorn and derision. No. Betrayal comes from people we often know, love and trust. Far too often, they are in our inner circle. Usually, we never see it coming. This is why betrayal is one of the most difficult and defining experiences of our lives. Anyone who has experienced betrayal will not be the same afterwards.

So you can also imagine why betrayal is so interesting for composers. Most composers find it difficult to write about trite, shallow and insignificant human experiences. We like the deep, meaty stuff of life. The stronger the emotions, the more we get to plumb the depths of the human soul. Betrayal provides just such an opportunity.

Betrayal is a cornucopia of feelings, none of them weak or ephemeral: deceit, duplicity, fraud, hypocrisy, trickery, cheating, craftiness, cunning and guile. Add some infidelity and a touch of theft and you have the perfect recipe for misery stew. How awfully delicious.

Betrayal is a cornucopia of human emotions, none of them weak or ephemeral.

But how does one portray such strong emotions sonically? This was my conundrum as I set out to create an album’s worth of music that could be a perfect fit for scenes where some poor soul is about to have a really bad day. My first attempt at this came about in an album I had written a couple of years earlier called Noir Cocktail. But the Noir genre is quite specific and not exclusively related to betrayal, even though betrayal plays a very important role in those narratives.

I was looking for an instrument palette that was at once disturbing, disorienting and that communicated uneasiness. But I also wanted a toybox sound that had an element of mystery and uncertainty. After all, betrayal we can see coming is merely danger. The element of surprise is crucial to cunning guile.

I also wanted a hybrid sound that allowed me to explore a wide range of emotions. I knew that this music needed to have breakdowns, where the sound pulls back to showcase dialogue and facial expressions. For betrayal, I believe less is more. Sometimes it’s an emotion hinted at, rather than hit on the nose. The music needed to breathe, to rise, fall, swell, crescendo and then fade away, like a soul lost in deep contemplation.

Who’s In The Band?

Treachery is instrumental music that conveys a range of dark human emotions. The compositions are often disturbing while also upbeat and energized. Every track is deeply layered and includes at least one primary melody line and often several instruments passing off the melody to each other, like the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This music has many different instruments and sounds:

• Synthesizer. Most tracks include at least three layers of synth instruments. Usually these instruments are hybrid, containing both traditional instruments like piano or glockenspiel and hybrid synthesis elements. This is where much of strangeness comes from in this music. I spent a lot of time twisting knobs until I got something that sounded familiar while also sounding mysterious.
• Grand piano. There are three different grand pianos used throughout this album. They are often heavily effected with compression, reverb and other effects to create a feeling of dissonance and uncertainty.
• Sound design. There are a ton of sound design elements throughout this music. These include swooshes, rises, sub-bass hits, stingers and a number of simply strange sounds.
• Percussion. Most tracks contain at least a few percussion elements. The primary drum kit throughout is an 808 variant, used in unique ways. There are also big drum hits and some light percussive elements. Sticks and congas were also used.
• Bass guitar. The deep bass notes throughout most of this music come from a hybrid bass guitar played quite percussively. Quarter and eight notes are often marked with a bass tone.
• Electric guitar. Several of these tracks include electric guitar elements that are pretty well masked to sound like something other than guitar. These are trade secrets I don’t talk about much.

I couldn’t complete this section without talking about something that really makes this music work. Engineering. I spent a ton of time engineering this music to create the long-tail reverbs, the interplay between instruments and the general feel. If you find this music creepy in places, that has more to do with engineering than composition.

Tempo is also a crucial part of the feel of this album. I experimented with different tempos to convey the range of emotions associated with betrayal. Many people would associate dark emotions with slow tempos. Most of this music is actually upbeat, with tempos well north of 120 BPM. In fact, only one track has a tempo slower than 120 BPM.

How To Get The Most From Treachery

If you are telling a story about a character who has experienced, or who is about to experience, betrayal, this music will definitely fit. There are 20 tracks, so if you don’t hear something right away that works, keep listening. If you are telling a story where motives are hard to understand and potential chicanery is afoot, this music works. If you need that mysterious and sometimes creepy music-box element, this album has you covered. If you need to show theft, guile, trickery or swindling, this album is a great option for you. Basically, if you need to show dark human emotions that are hard to put in words, this music will give you several very fitting options.

Wrap Up

Thank you again for your interest in Supernatural Sounds, our music and the way we pour ourselves into these emotions. I have personally experienced betrayal, as you might have surmised by the language above. I know firsthand, from rather painful experience, how hard it is to deal with treachery. I sincerely hope my pain and loss gives you some wonderful options for showcasing what your characters are feeling.