DARK INSTRUMENT COLLECTION
Explore the darker, stranger and more experimental side of acoustic sound design with the Dark Instrument Collection. Featuring five distinct sound packs and 302 unique sounds, this collection explores the unconventional sonic possibilities of real instruments and human performances.
From dissonant percussion and gritty guitar textures to resonant bowed bass, detuned psaltery and unusual kalimba recordings, each pack offers its own sonic identity, with organic textures, unexpected tonal qualities and distinctive acoustic details for creative audio production.
Created for sound designers, game developers, filmmakers, video editors, composers, music producers and content creators, these sounds can help build immersive environments, create distinctive sound effects, shape atmospheric music, punctuate dramatic moments and bring unconventional ideas to life.
Their dark, eerie character makes them well suited to horror, suspense, dark fantasy, psychological thrillers and supernatural settings. They can also be used in science fiction, action, adventure, cinematic scoring, experimental music and projects across a wide range of genres.
Use the sounds as recorded, layer them into complex soundscapes, shape them into impactful transitions or process them into entirely new textures. Some plucked sounds in Dark Guitar and Broken Kalimba have a sudden, startling quality, making them particularly useful for jump scares, unexpected reveals and sharp sonic accents.
THE FIVE CORE SOUND PACKS
Percussive Dissonance — 200 sounds
Unconventional percussion, dissonant impacts and irregular rhythmic textures, ranging from sharp, abrasive strikes to resonant, unpredictable tones. Ideal for impactful sound effects, gameplay feedback, cinematic hits, transitions, rhythmic layers and tension-building sound design.
Dark Guitar — 25 sounds
Expressive guitar performances, gritty tones and unconventional playing techniques reveal the instrument's darker character. Brooding textures, lingering resonances and sudden, sharp plucks offer material for atmospheric layers, dramatic stingers, jump scares and distinctive musical elements.
Bowed Bass — 20 sounds
Deep, resonant recordings featuring rich low frequencies, sustained notes and textured vibrations. Use these evolving acoustic tones to add weight to environmental ambience, suggest approaching danger, reinforce a sense of scale or deepen cinematic soundscapes and musical compositions.
Psaltery De-Tuned — 32 sounds
Wavering pitches, complex harmonics and eerie acoustic resonances explore the unusual tonal character of a detuned psaltery. These delicate, dissonant textures are suited to mysterious environments, supernatural effects, atmospheric transitions and unconventional musical motifs.
Broken Kalimba — 25 sounds
Irregular tones, delicate transients and unexpected melodic details give these kalimba recordings a distinctive character. From strange plucked textures and startling accents to unusual musical motifs, the sounds can add personality to atmospheric layers, sudden reveals and unconventional sound effects.
ORIGINAL ACOUSTIC RECORDINGS
Every sound originates from a real physical instrument and a human performance, captured through original recording and creative sound design. Natural resonance, imperfections and unexpected details contribute to the individual character of each recording. No AI-generated audio, ever.
AUDIO FORMAT
All sounds are supplied as 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo WAV files, suitable for professional sound design, game audio, music production, sound editing and post-production workflows.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Collection: 5 individual sound packs
- Total sounds across the five packs: 302 unique sounds
- Combined playback duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes, 59 seconds
- License - Royalty Free
- File format: WAV
- Bit depth: 24-bit
- Sample rate: 48 kHz
- Channels: Stereo
Additionally, the Percussive Dissonance Expansion Pack is available as a separate product, adding 125 additional sounds and 32 minutes, 45 seconds of audio for even more unconventional percussion, dark textures and experimental sound design possibilities.
Psaltery De-Tuned
32 processed sound-design elements created by detuning and physically exploring a real psaltery through plucking, bowing, scraping and unconventional string techniques.
Its naturally delicate sound becomes unstable and unfamiliar as altered tuning and creative processing introduce dissonant cues, fragile melodies, eerie resonance, scraping textures, atmospheric movement and cinematic transitions.
The exposed strings retain their organic detail while producing sounds that can move from quiet unease to more pronounced tonal tension. Psaltery De-Tuned works especially well for psychological horror, dark fantasy, suspense, experimental scoring and scenes that need an unusual acoustic identity without relying on conventional orchestral textures.
Dark Guitar
25 processed sound-design elements created from real electric guitar performances using unconventional techniques rather than traditional guitar playing.
Bowed strings, scrapes, unusual sliding tones, above-and-below-bridge plucks, sul ponticello tremolo, glissando and resonant gestures form the acoustic foundation of the pack. Reverb, delay and granular processing extend those performances into dissonant melodic cues, haunting textures, atmospheric resonance, tension layers and cinematic transitions.
Dark Guitar retains the physical detail and imperfections of the original instrument while pushing its strings into unfamiliar territory suited to horror, suspense, psychological scenes, trailers and experimental cinematic work.
Bowed Bass
20 processed sound-design elements created from the deep resonance, string friction and physical movement of a real bowed bass guitar.
Bowed gestures, scrapes, hits, plucks, dissonant cues and sustained resonances explore the instrument beyond its conventional musical role. The resulting sounds move through low-frequency tension, dark textures, uneasy tonal movement, resonant frequencies and cinematic transitions, with enough space to work individually or underneath other layers.
Bowed Bass is particularly effective for adding organic weight, subtle menace and low-end instability to horror, suspense, psychological storytelling, trailers, games and larger cinematic soundscapes.
Percussive Dissonance
200 processed sound-design elements created from 17 real percussion instruments: 22" Buffalo Drum, Ride, China, Crash, Splash and Bell Cymbals, Rainstick, Djembe, Mini Djembe, Mini Tongue Drum, Tambourine, Mini Singing Bowl, Chimes, Egg Shaker, Frog Drum, Claves and Finger Bell.
Bowing, scraping, striking, rubbing and shaking transform these acoustic sources into bowed cymbals, dark friction, metallic resonance, dissonant cues, unusual frequencies, haunting textures and cinematic transitions.
Built for horror, suspense and experimental sound design, the pack ranges from delicate tension and resonant movement to aggressive percussion and unstable metallic tones.
(Grab the EXPANSION PACK and add-on 125 additional sound design elements!)
Broken Kalimba
25 processed sound-design elements created from the imperfect metallic tones and resonant body of a real warped kalimba.
Plucking, tapping, pitch shifting, bowing and unconventional performance techniques push the instrument beyond its familiar melodic role and into darker sound-design territory. The resulting palette includes dissonant cues, uneasy plucks, delicate impacts, metallic resonance, strange tonal movement and intimate atmospheric textures.
Its smaller acoustic scale gives the sounds a fragile, close-up quality that contrasts naturally with the heavier instruments in the collection, making Broken Kalimba useful for psychological tension, subtle horror, suspense, dark melodic details and layered cinematic environments.