Skip to main content

Monstrous music

Can brass instruments really make anything scary? Two ASU conductors think so — watch our video and see what you think


Brass instrument
October 29, 2018

Scary movies wouldn't be nearly as frightening without the soundtrack. (Try it sometime: Mute a horror film and see whether your heart rate immediately slows.)

String instruments are often the star in scary scores (think the "ee-ee-ee" of the shower scene in "Psycho"), but ASU conductors and School of Music associate professors Bradley Edwards and Deanna Swoboda argue that brass can be boo-tiful — and they're putting their theory to the test on Halloween morning with a concert at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix featuring trombones, tubas and euphoniums playing such frightful favorites as "The Addams Family" theme song, the "Tales From the Crypt" introduction and the "Fantasia" classic "Night on Bald Mountain." 

Edwards and Swoboda argue that brass can make anything scary — even babies and kittens. See what you think in the video below.

Video by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Learn more at the Musical Instrument Museum website or ASU Events.

More Arts, humanities and education

 

A hang sorting through papers sitting on a printing press

Small presses dealt big blow

A mighty rumble reverberated throughout the publishing industry late last month with the abrupt closure of a well-known book distributor. Small Press Distribution, which has distributed books for…

Students walk on a fashion show runway

'Living dress' wins Eco-Chic sustainable fashion contest

When Elena Marshall is done showing off her award-winning “living dress,” she’ll bury it in her backyard. The dress, a chic design with a strapless bodice and flouncy skirt, is made of recycled…

ASU Symphony Orchestra seated mid-concert.

ASU Symphony Orchestra welcomes visionary conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush

Guest conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush will join Arizona State University’s Jason Caslor, director of bands, to lead the ASU Symphony Orchestra in their final concert of the season, “Trailblazers,” on…