[The Orichalcon]

Mixer: The Orichalcon
ReMix Title: Crushing Headache
Original: Map06 - In The Dark

This is my main track for Delta-Q-Delta, our official Doom 2 ReMixing project album. I started working on this back in late 2005 when we kicked off the project, and I've added bits and pieces and tried several things every now and then between then and now. It's reached a point where I've finally decided I'm happy. I ran it by DJ Redlight and Liontamer to get some feedback and touched it up on their suggestions.

The track is a remix of Map06 (The Crusher) track titled "In The Dark" from Doom 2. Consisted of 5+ minutes of the same general bassline with some co-melodies occasionally jumping in and flirting with the original theme. The idea behind this remix was to kick it up and make it more dark, and much more interesting. I focused mostly on the beats and industrial/cinematic sound effects for a while before I worked on the rest of the piece. Eventually I solidified the bassline, added the theremin's and co-melody to the end, as well as the OSCx3 dotting away with the bassline to boost it a tad. Added the synthpads to give it the powerful sound I was after, but left them as clear and true to their default sound as I could, since I wanted them to carry the piece, not steal the focus. All the hits, beats, pads and bass notes come together in their respective sections to create a dark industrial/cinematic sound, with an early build-up, a quieter middle section, and finally a doubled ending bringing in the co-melody and theremins to complete the mix. The sound effects were added to the middle straight from the game to give the same feel of not knowing where the next demon is going to suddenly leap out from.

[Liontamer]

After voting on Evil Horde's mix and now this one, I better understand how threadbare some of the Doom series' soundtracks are. Man, lemme tell you, this source tune has next to nothing. Practically speaking, I'm not sure of what other way there is to go about arranging this without primarily going the expansion route.

Loved the original writing on that countermelodic synth (first heard loudly) at :51 that worked in tandem with the bassline. Nice dropping of the energy level at 1:55 for the dynamic contrast. Really great groove so far. That sound effect at 2:19 was pretty loud and unexpected; kind of a weird sound admist the more industrial style instrumentation. I thought the e-piano-sounding thing at 2:43 (Lee confirmed it as the same bassline merely shifted an octave; definitely fooled me) sounded too samey with the velocity levels, which hurt the flow a little bit, but wasn't a big deal on any level.

Like I said, there's seemingly not many substantive ways in which to approach a mix of this source. Lee came out swinging with a slew of expansionist goodies to really get this one movin' and personalize the arrangement extensively. Loads of sexcellent Aussie herbs & spices in this one. j00 got the groove, son.

DELTA-Q-YES

[pixietricks]

This source tune is stingy as hell. I don't even really see it as a piece of music, per se... more like filler. But TO has always been talented at forming unusual soundscapes, and this is a perfect example of putting that skill to use. Like... this song now has a feeling! And it's pretty creepy, I must say. The juxtaposition of industrial beats with wordly and otherworldly sound effects adds a whole new dimension to the piece. The roaring sound at 2:43 scared the crap out of me. God!!! D:

Not exactly the kind of song you could perform solo for an audience, but it certainly belongs in a video game/movie/other form of media. Expertly done.

YES

[big giant circles]

Effectively dark sonic atmosphere. Thought the SFX were used pretty well around 2:12. Processed well enough that they didn't take the track down to a explicitly lo-fi feel.

Obviously, Lee knows what he's doing, and he knows (hopefully) what is acceptable here at OCR, both circa 2001 and the present.

There is, however a distinct lack of two important factors that this mix needs, and the blatant (and probably intentional) omission of such not only pisses me off, but just shows poor taste. Those elements are:

1. The Terra theme
2. Homer Simpson

Sorry, Lee, you give me no choice but to bust out the

NO OVERRIDE

and by that, of course, i mean YES

[Vig]

the first thirty seconds shook the fillings right out of my teeth.

Thoroughly groovetacular, and while it generally hovers around the same material and the same dynamic level, there's enough going on to keep my attention.

YES