The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A dark, tension-driven soundscape, focusing on immersive underscore that follows every beat of the narration transporting the audience into the eerie worldof Sleepy Hollow.
- A production of The Theatre School @ North Coast Rep
- Directed by: Benjamin Cole
- Assistant Director: Benedict Heaps
- Lighting Designer: Liam Sullivan
- Sound Designer: Jerson Rivas
Listen
Selected moments from the underscore.
Excerpt — Ichabod's Arrival
Excerpt — Scary Story
Excerpt — The Chase
Project Overview
For this production, the director wanted the sound to feel like a living presence, always there, tightening the tension even in quiet moments. My approach was to build a continuous underscore that shifts with the story beats from subtle unease to full on horror. I combined evolving pads, low drones, and percussive hits with more organic elements like wind, horse hooves, and creaking wood in order to achieve an unsettling effect that could be impactful, but also feel real.
My Responsibilities
- Designed underscore themes and atmospheric effects for key scenes.
- Created transitions for scene changes.
- Programmed and organized cues in QLab for reliable playback.
- Balanced levels for clarity of dialogue while preserving impact.
Technical Notes
- DAW: Ableton Live (composition, sound design, and premix).
- Playback & cueing: QLab, with detailed cue lists and safety backups.
- Layered synthetic textures with processed recordings for the “ghostly” palette.
- Careful use of dynamics so the score supports narration without overpowering it.