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It seems to me that your basic research question is: "Is it possible to synthesise perceptually-effective horror sounds"
And so you're breaking it down into "what constitutes perceptual effectiveness in relation to horror sounds" and "can we synthesise that"
Intuitively, I would say that the answer to the second question is broadly "yes"
However, the first question is deceptively simplistic. You'd need to specify whether you actually mean "intrinsically scary, irrespective of context" or "intrinsically scary in specific contexts" (and then go on to specify context, for the purposes of your investigation).
So, to illustrate, very loud sudden noises can make you momentarily alarmed - because of either the unexpectedness, or, indeed, following a period of anticipation, during which nothing audible occurred, but physiological and psychological mechanisms of fear had been generated by context (the 'fear dial' had been turned up).
On the other hand, very tiny sounds, such as a floorboard creak, a whisper, etc can be equally devastating in the right context.
Now, on the question of whether certain musical forms might be more scary than others - look to films. Again, context always seems to be important, but the shrieking violins in Psycho (shower scene), for arguments' sake, might exemplify. Conversely, some sound design deliberately chooses melodious, gentle music to accompany horrifying scenes (eg Reservoir Dogs, Rosemary's Baby).
So, it seems to me that you might find it very hard to talk about 'intrinsic scary-ness' by leaving out ongoing perceptual context. good luck!
Dr. Peter Lennox SFHEA Senior Lecturer in Perception College of Arts, Humanities and Education School of Arts
t: 01332 593155
https://derby.academia.edu/peterlennox https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Lennox
University of Derby, From: AUDITORY - Research in Auditory Perception <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of ULStudent:RITA.MC CARTHY <14151421@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 24 October 2017 12:20:34 To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Research Question Hi Guys,
I am in my final year in the University of Limerick, so this year I have had to come up with a final year project, mine is, "Is it possible to make synthetic sounds sound real and also, can they carry the same affect of emotion to the listener as the real deal would?" This is all in the horror genre. I have had to gather some horror sounds to work with but I would also like other peoples opinion on what is considered a scary sound to them. By the end of my fourth year I will hopefully have an installation here at my university, where the listener sits in a dark room, 3D sound, so speakers on high, mid and low level of the walls, and a narrative sound design playing around them.
So my question is to you, what is a sound that you find chilling/scary?
I would appreciate any feedback you could give me.
Kind Regards,
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