Night Painter

In films and documentaries, there is often the need to use sounds that are musical yet otherworldly. Whether you are after something mildly unsettling or downright horrific, these sounds will paint discomfort into your picture.

The Waterphone is an instrument that was developed to communicate with whales – yet it speaks to humans on a primal level. These recordings possess movement and life that will fill your soundtracks with unsettling moods.

Night Painter is a collection of recordings of the Waterphone gathered in a large space with minimal processing.
Recorded in an acoustically treated church space in what was once a Victorian theatre using a careful selection of microphones to capture not only the close up sound of the instrument but also a distance mic to capture the natural ambience of the room. Using the Oktava MK319 as well as the Rode NTG-1 we captured an entire performance of the Waterphone being played by UK Waterphonist and multi-instrumentalist Ben Henderson, recorded straight into Logic.

The end result is a beautiful set of recordings which are so filled with such a surprising, supernatural texture and movement, they are almost guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your audiences neck quiver.