Zebra CM: Riser
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Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at filesilo.co.uk/computermusic
It’s fascinating to explore how certain terms have entered the psyche, as a semiliteral description. Take podcasts; the term was drawn from the Apple iPod, which in itself was a term coined by a hired copywriter, at Apple.
So when a description was being summoned to apply to a sound which seemed to escalate in volume and excitement, it’s no shock that the term “riser” entered the musical and production language.
Initially founded within dance music culture, it didn’t take long for the riser to infiltrate the cinematic and media worlds. These days, risers can involve extensive dives into sound design, and while that’s great for those cinematic sequences set in outer space, in full Dolby Atmos surround, the original riser, based mostly around white noise and a filter, is still popular and incredibly useful.
It’s perfect for building to a climactic handsin-the-air moment, or for creating tension that leads to a breakdown. In old-school terms, it’s the electronic version of a cymbal roll.