# Music mode: `tension-build`

**When:** 3-6s rising-energy bed under a cliffhanger / reveal setup. Resolves into silence or a stinger right before the cut.

## Skeleton

```
<sub-bass drone or pad>, rising filter sweep over <N>s, <tempo BPM>,
<sparse percussion: rim clicks / hi-hat ticks>, climbing single-note synth lead,
ends on a held suspended chord with no resolution
```

## Example prompts

1. Deep sub-bass drone, rising LP filter sweep over 4 seconds, 88 BPM, sparse rim clicks at 16th-note intervals, climbing two-note synth lead, ends on a held suspended chord with no resolution.
2. Granular pad swell, building white-noise crescendo over 6 seconds, 92 BPM, no melodic content, ends with a single bass thump.
3. Cinematic strings ostinato, 5-second build, 100 BPM, layered hi-hat ticks doubling each bar, ends on a held high-string cluster.
4. Industrial mechanical drone, slow build over 4 seconds, 84 BPM, intermittent metallic hits, ends on a sustained dissonant chord.
5. Synthwave arpeggio, accelerating cadence over 5 seconds, 110 BPM, kick on every other beat, ends on a held minor-key pad.

## Don't

- Resolve the chord on the last beat — defeats the cliffhanger.
- Use a recognizable melody — the bed should not compete with the VO.
