Tenebra by The Newton Brothers
The darkest sounds from the architects of modern horror and suspense
The darkest sounds from the architects of modern horror and suspense
Step into the shadows with Tenebra, the definitive toolkit from The Newton Brothers – the composer duo behind today's most gripping films and TV series. For composers seeking to craft truly disturbing atmospheres and producers wanting to inject psychological terror into their tracks, this library contains a complete palette for creating everything from slow-burn, burgeoning dread to jump scares, while also providing the subtle emotion and glimmers of hope that define their sound.
Heard across their acclaimed work on projects like Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and X-Men '97, these are the building blocks that combine to add tension and suspense to any scene. A curated collection of over 100 sounds, crafted with modular synths, orchestras, field recordings and unique instruments played with experimental techniques. Hosted in the powerful Solar engine, Tenebra gives you the sonic signature of suspense, designed for instant inspiration and endless creative manipulation.
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182 Unique Sounds
Analogue & Modular Samples
Solar Engine
Dedicated Plugin
Listen to Tenebra by The Newton Brothers
Featuring Originals Abe Laboriel Jr Drums
Featuring AIR Studios Reverb
For The Newton Brothers, sound design is a journey to find a project’s unique voice. It’s about the hunt for a sound that makes an audience lean in and question what they're hearing. Tenebra is the culmination of that search. It's a library built on the philosophy of blurring the lines between the organic and the synthetic, where a processed peacock's call becomes a terrifying screech and a bowed medieval Citole creates an unnervingly vulnerable string texture.
Every sound was born from experimentation—running bespoke recordings through vast modular rigs and coveted effects pedals, or manipulating large-scale orchestral sessions in world-class studios into ghostlike sound with ethereal trails. The goal was always to find the vulnerability —that imperfect, human quality that builds true, slow-burn dread. This collection is designed to be a springboard for your own creativity, providing a palette that is both evocative out-of-the-box and endlessly malleable.
The Newton Brothers, Andy Grush and Taylor Stewart, are the award-winning composers behind some of the most memorable and terrifying soundscapes in recent film and television. Their long-standing collaboration with visionary director Mike Flanagan has redefined the sound of modern horror, producing scores for The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and Doctor Sleep that are masterclasses in tension, prioritising psychological terror and emotional depth over indulgement in horror clichés.
From their early days on indie films to scoring major franchises like Marvel's X-Men '97 and Daredevil: Born Again, they have developed a unique hybrid style, blending orchestral recordings, experimental sound design, and a vast collection of unique hardware synths and instruments.
Tenebra is powered by the acclaimed Solar engine, a creative hub designed for sonic exploration. While every sound is curated to be instantly inspiring, the engine invites you to go deeper and make these sounds your own. At its heart is the ability to load any two sounds from the library and seamlessly morph between them, creating entirely new hybrid textures and evolving atmospheres.
The powerful gate sequencer allows you to introduce complex rhythmic patterns and give motion to drones and pads, while a host of onboard effects and modulation capabilities offer further routes for deep sound design. The engine is designed to be clean, intuitive, and a direct channel for your creativity. Once you begin to manipulate these sounds, they can take on a whole new life.
What's included
Tenebra offers a huge variation of sounds, from solo instruments recorded in their studio to full-scale orchestral sessions from world-class stages, all meticulously processed to create their signature sonic identity. More than 100 sounds, split into Bells & Glass, Drones, Guitar Dulcimer Citole, Humanity, Orchestral, Percussion, Synths, Woodwinds and Warps, expertly crafted into over 130 presets by the Newton Brothers themselves. .
Synths:
A vast suite of pulses, pads, and aggressive textures sourced from The Newton Brothers' personal synth collection. Sounds were created using an ARP 2600, Moog Matriarch, DFAM, Prophet Bass, Polygogo, Lyra, Theravox, Oberheim X, Folktek Resonant Garden, Folktek Mescaline, Super Gemini, Solar 42 and an expansive Eurorack modular system. This category forms the electronic backbone of the library, featuring everything from evolving pads and surreal realities to growling pulses.
Presets include: Surreal Reality, Dark Pulses, A Computer's Heartbeat, Haunting Synth, Prehistoric Dinosaur Coffee Morning, and the ominous warped presets Falling Shards and I Made A Mistake.
Ethereal Voices & Winds:
A raw, intimate collection of haunting vocal and wind textures that blur the line between human and unearthly. Morphed choirs, pained whispers, and unique global instruments combine to provide the library’s most chilling sounds in the form of evolving pads and otherworldly leads. This includes the ethereal "Black Flute" (a custom bass ocarina) blended with vocals, siren phrases, and flutter textures. It also features processed human vocals, alongside unconventional instruments like the Southeast Asian Khaen and various bird flutes.
Orchestral Mutations:
The traditional orchestra, deconstructed and re-imagined. This category features full-scale orchestral recordings—from strings to the rare Nocturna—warped into ghostly textures, chaotic gestures, and unsettling risers. Presets include: Purgatory’s Cello, Evolving String Chaos Swells, Ghost Bends, Bendy Violins, Unsettling String Drones, Crazy Collegno FX, and Insane Textures & High Gliss.
Drones & Atmospheres:
Build psychological terror with a wide range of atmospheric beds and drones. The foundation of slow-burn dread. A wide range of atmospheric beds designed to create a palpable sense of unease, from organic, airy textures to complex, multi-layered synth drones. Featuring presets like Breath Drone, Creepy Wind Screams, Fluttery Drone, Howling Wind Kit, Alpha Wave (Solar42), and deep, resonant Bass Drones.
Unconventional Instruments & Percussion:
A selection of uniquely performed instruments, including a bowed medieval Citole, bowed Dulcimer, and a "perfectly imperfect bowed piano". The percussive elements feature a trio of drums, resonant garden percussion, and the iconic Waterphone, presented as deep booms, soft hits, and unsettling moans. Presets include: Perfectly Imperfect Piano, Citole Bowed Harsh, Bowed Dulcimer Kit, Glass Bottle Kit, and Trio Drum Rolls.
FAQs
What is Tenebra?
For media composers and sound designers working in the horror, thriller, and suspense genres, Tenebra is a specialised sound design instrument built in the acclaimed SOLAR Engine (Mercury, Jupiter, BBC Radiophonic Workshop) that provides exclusive access to unique instruments, bespoke recordings and over 100 of The Newton Brothers' signature, production-proven sounds from their acclaimed score. It delivers an unparalleled palette for crafting chilling atmospheres and terrifying moments, born from the creativity of today's leading horror composers.
Tenebra offers a huge variation of sounds, from solo instruments recorded in their studio to full-scale orchestral sessions from world-class stages, all meticulously processed to create their signature sonic identity. More than 100 sounds, split into Bells & Glass, Drones, Guitar Dulcimer Citole, Humanity, Orchestral, Percussion, Synths, Woodwinds and Warps, expertly crafted into over 130 presets by the Newton Brothers themselves.
Why can't I see a 'Tenebra' plugin in my DAW?
This library is housed in our Solar plugin, so instead of seeing a 'Tenebra' plugin, you will need to select the 'Solar' plugin in your plugin list.
Owners of Mercury, BBC Radiophonic Workshop and/or Jupiter by Trevor Horn will need to ensure you install Tenebra to the same location as your Mercury, BBCRW and/or Jupiter folder, as they will share a plugin.
Is there any shared content with Solar - Mercury, Solar - Jupiter by Trevor Horn or Solar - BBC Radiophonic Workshop within this product?
No, this library does not share any sounds and contains all new content from The Newton Brothers and Spitfire Audio.
Read more FAQs for this productTech specs
Mac system requirements
Mac OS 11 to OS 14
Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM
Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported
32-bit systems are not supported.
PC system requirements
Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)
Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM
Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM
32-bit systems are not supported.
File size
11.35GB