Conceptual Sound
Crafting an updated and inspired game score based off the iconic sound design of the 1974 original film would be no simple task. Have a quick read on how Gun approached this and the haunted noise box that became a major part of the score.
Photos: Apprehension Engine. Matthew Szep
Surrounded by various noise makers, from old instruments all the way to broken toys, Wayne Bell created some of the most iconic and abstract sounds ever put to film. These sounds would play like delicate chaos when matched with the score he and Tobe Hooper created, in what would be unlike just about anything ever heard before. Inspired by Musique Concrète and the creation of music using sound objects, rather than relying solely on traditional instruments, Bell hand crafted the sound design for one of the most shocking American Horror movies of all time, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
We all know those sounds… metal on metal and rust and sparks, the dull thud of organic material meeting a hard surface with brute force, the sound of the hot Texas sun in August creating what could only be described as a reverb wave that echoes through you. The intersection of sound effects and score, where noise becomes music.
Gun Interactive CEO and President Wes Keltner knew of only one device that could create all these hauntingly powerful sounds and more, an instrument worthy of updating the sound design of this franchise and its history.
“I was listening to the soundtrack to The Witch (Eggars/Korven) and fell in love with the layers and textures present in every track. I had to find out how the composer did it. It didn’t sound like a synthesizer produced the sound. It was different. It had sounds of “found instruments” and imperfect rhythms and cadences. Ghostly knocks and scrapes that sounded more like SFX than traditional music. Upon further research I discovered that the composer of film, Mark Korven, had a master luthier create an instrument specifically for him. An instrument unlike any before. The Apprehension Engine was the device that created these nightmare sounds. And I wanted one. That led me to the door of master luthier Tony Duggan-Smith. Once I described to him the sound I wanted, he began hand making a custom Apprehension Engine for this project.”
–Wes Keltner, CEO/President, Gun Interactive
And so, with the Apprehension Engine chosen and on it’s way to Lexington, one last detail had to be sorted: Who would operate this thing? Once again, Wes stepped up to the plate using the pandemic and isolation as an opportunity to grow and learn.
“Tony later connected me to Mark Korven. I was able to pick Mark’s brain for techniques on how to approach the instrument. And one piece of advice he gave me, stuck with me, almost becoming my mantra. Korven said “Ignore all preconceived notions of music and music theory. Approach the instrument as a child. Simply start experimenting and you will find the sound.” So I began that search, day after day, night after night. Banging, hitting, plucking, and scraping. And buried deep in that contraption was the sound of TCSM.”
–Wes Keltner
Wes buried himself in mastering the Apprehension Engine, every single knock and twang the box could make, as well as every variation and seemingly endless loop of alterations to those same knocks and twangs. What he was able to create, in tandem with our team lead for sound over at Sumo Digital, Ross Tregenza, was a game soundscape that truly lives up to the original source material, while creating an identity all it’s own.
Said simply, Wes and the Apprehension Engine and the source material Ross had been creating and collecting combined to shape the sound design of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game score.
“To build something that felt in line with the feel of the original score, I started by gathering interesting source material. A lot of this took place during the pandemic so I recorded myself scraping, hitting, rubbing and shaking everything in my apartment as well as materials I went out and found like sheet metal, roof slates, and metal wire. I also threw in some wild card recordings of things like pigs, dogs, human screams, and Aztec death whistles. What took this source gathering to the next level was Wes bringing in the Apprehension Engine. This beautiful machine of horror became a huge inspiration, and Wes recorded a vast amount of varied and wild content with it for me to mangle. The addition of that content was the turning point, where the score really found its voice.”
–Ross Tregenza, Lead Audio Designer, Sumo Digital - Nottingham
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