Synthetic D0m41N: p4rAn01a by M4st3r=y0tzturr

My latest concept comp, practice? Since starting to learn more music theory and an industry DAW. I found a way to use variable panning to evoke the feel of a cyber angel stalking you from multiple positions - or is it?
The last bar just ends because I passed out midnight after messing with track block automations, clipping parts of Patterns and making them unique for "mini lead ins".
Music truly is art! <3

peer review
"TinyGodot — Today at 10:04 AM
Very nice. The use of panning really helps this one, as it sounds like it’s actually in a space and coming from all over. Makes it much more ambient than if it was all centered or coming from the same direction, which is important for horror.

The added drums (presumably for action sequences) are nice and add a tense element, but I would personally want more being added there. Some ideas I have are a large timpani hit every once in a while, and some scratchy or spastic strings (spastic meaning they suddenly crescendo out of nowhere and then just as quickly drop away, seemingly randomly). But that also depends on what game it goes to.

I would also personally want to hear more environmental sounds sprinkled in (though this also depends on what game it goes to and would likely need to wait for that). It is my personal view that horror ambience works best when it’s a combination of atmosphere-setting sounds, expected sounds, and unidentifiable sounds half ways inbetween. Horror games should make relative sense, as believing the environment is real is what allows you to actually get scared. So the sound design becomes the same principle as being in an old house and hearing something that could be the house settling, but could also be something else in the house moving. Your sound design should have elements that are ambient sounds you would hear if you were there, but also have sounds that could have been made by an element of the environment but sound much more unnatural. As an example, you could add in a far off PA system announcement, a woman’s voice that has been heavily distorted so it is impossible to make out anything but vague sounds in the mid-pitch range, that could be an announcement but also sound a little like the cries of some creature.

Overall, your use of panning and choice of sounds is quite nice, and creates a unique futuristic but still somewhat unsettling atmosphere. I think most of the changes I suggested would fall into more of the sound design portion of the work, and so would be separate from the track you made. However, it’s still useful to keep in mind and think about when creating the music, as you can plan to leave room for it or add things into the music to help take some of the load off the sound design.
Listening to it again, I noticed the low distorted instrument, which (when played infrequently and panned constantly) sounds vaguely like footsteps. It is still easy to square away for a player as the electronics playing the song malfunctioning slightly (almost like a record player skipping) but still will make a player second-guess that. It creates a great effect, but only when used sparingly. I would personally cut back on it just a bit in the beginning, and then choosing a different instrument for the second section, as once you hear it a lot it loses the effect. Players can then identify what the sound is and where it is coming from, and so when they hear it sparsely again they will quickly recognize it and so not be unsettled by it."