Jump to content

OCR01808 - Doom II "31 Seconds"


djpretzel
 Share

Recommended Posts

Probably the most popular track on DQD. This one was a surprise package for me. I wasn't expecting newcomer John to make something so serene, yet so haunting for the project. Much like djp's 'Red Waltz', and analoq's 'Adrian's Sleep', this track added a much needed quieter moment in the album amongst all the heavier tracks around it. The NIN reference in this is more towards the latter stuff Trent's released, such as the Ghosts I-IV album, where the idea was making more serene, yet still industrial sounding tracks. John took this idea and made it more friendly to the ears, which was a great undertaking that worked well.

It should also be noted that John took this track after it became open when I dropped The Joker and Luiza's track from the project, which is also now on this site ("No Man is an Island.") Another great track which was plagued by a few production issues that BGC fixed up, and is now also a great track.

But anyway, I look forward to more tracks by John. Even if he keeps using sound clips, it's all good. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let me just say this...

About DAMN time >.>, I LOVE this track from DQD and like to listen to it as I fall asleep (along with a lot of other music)... Now, my question is WHY 31 seconds? There's a lot of other things in the song that could make a little more sense then 31 seconds (I mean, it's not really 31 seconds =P)

Either way, great song, I love it :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a simple theme (though my favorite from Doom 2), but the way it's arranged, and the way the voice samples are worked, in gives it a great, haunting, ethereal quality that really adds to the depth of the original.

Now normally, I don't really like samples of spoken lines--but normally, it's not done nearly this well. This could perhaps be the archetype of how spoken-word samples should be done. KF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was wondering if this was going to get posted on it's own, this track got a ton of fanfare in the original "What did you think of DQD?" thread and with good reason; it's got to be one of the most unique remixes I've heard, and certainly from that album.

The old-school "message to the viewer" audio clips really give it a unique feel, it's lost somewhere in the 80s, maybe on a betamax video player, but that adds atmosphere unlike any mix I had heard before. At the same time the tune from the original is clearly there, in a somewhat more peaceful, less hell on earth way than it was in the original, but, that's the beauty of remixing.

I remember writing a lot more about this mix back in the DQD thread shortly after the release, but several months later, it's safe to say that while I loved the entire album, this track continues to be the one that stands out to me as something truly different.

Also glad to finally know what that movie quote towards the beginning was... I didn't recognize it, but it sounded old, much like the rest of the clips and blended in perfectly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incredible. I love the idea of using voice samples from movies/tv in a mix, but the first few times I heard this, I didn't really think many of them fit. I could see a lot of these clips being used in music somewhere between the late 80's to mid 90's. But then, it hit me. Doom II was released in the mid 90's! So, perhaps the samples are simply referencing that period of time, and the whole "parental discretion is advised" clips are a commentary on how Doom II, along with other violent video games, triggered a lot of controversy in that period of time.

Hell, even if I'm completely wrong, this mix still sounds absolutely badass, and now that I've given this a good 5 or 6 listens, I think the samples are a nice touch, regardless of their intent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot for the comments. I feel pretty... honored.

Surprisingly, 31 Seconds became a popular favorite. Who would've known?

I made into the Doom 2 D-Q-D project by luck. By that time, I was trying to get into several projects. One of these was the Final Fantasy 7 project (Zircon kindly refused my petition), other was that Dirge for the Follin project (Liontamer never answered!! )... and last but not least, Doom 2 DQD. The Orichalcon was pretty "demanding" with the quality of the mix, and eventually told me to re-do the whole thing. However, I can say it actually helped the mix to take off.

And about the voice clips. I've always been a HUGE fan of voice clips in music. I remember listening to Zeratul's chrono trigger mixes back when i was 13 years old and sh*@#%*!g my pants because of their awesomeness. I wanted to do the same!.

So i did a bit of research, some sampling,... and it might sound a bit weird, but i didn't know where all the samples were from!!

Thanks a lot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dirge for the Follin project (Liontamer never answered!! )

I'm game for anyone doing something of Tim Follin's. You have to make something, THEN run it by me, but you don't need (and never needed) any permission to start. I'll hit you with some music to listen to if you're still interested.

On topic, there was a lot to like about this mix. I could see how the voice clips could annoy some, but I thought they worked well. The opening instrumentation was serene with a bit of a melancholy feel alongside that, and I really enjoyed how the instrumentation changed up during the different iterations of the source melody. Good, varied & creative approach that paid off nicely here, and a solid sophomore ReMix. Definitely looking forward to your next material.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The introduction gives an impression of the action of someone's life passing before their eyes, which, combined with the dire atmosphere, makes this mix effectively unsettling. For some reason it just captures a tinge of morbidness that comes from watching a video will or something like that, some weird, obtuse connection between the living and the dead.

Considering that this is all based from Doom where death and morbidness is the norm, this mix is amazingly effective and constructed extremely well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 7 months later...

My biggest problem with this song is that it moves entirely too fast. Each section of the song only lasts a short amount of time, so you end up touching on a lot of WONDERFUL ideas but they only stick around for a few seconds and then move on.

I guess that kind of reinforces the "time capsule" interpretation of the song though - you get a fleeting look at different concepts and vocal samples from throughout time, but you don't really get to stay and linger. I don't know if that was what you were going for, but I guess that's one way you can argue that the shortness of the song actually works to its advantage, conceptually.

Still my favorite from DQD, it's very loopable and brimming with excellence. Even if you think the vocal samples might turn you off, give this one a chance. You might find that they either grow on you or don't interrupt the song as much as you'd think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...

I think that this is my favourite from DQD. It seems to be the one of the lightest and one of most emotional songs from this album.  But yeah, I gotta agree with Emunator - every section is unapologetically short. And when you only dive into the atmosphere of some part, it changes almost instantly. Love the vocal samples used here, though - they really tie this mix together. Nice :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR01808 - Doom II "31 Seconds"

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...