*NO* Doom 2 "We Aren't Doomed"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: Mike Norvak

This is my final submission from the Doom remixes of the album. The style is really different from the rest of the EP. The first half is more 90´s EDM oriented with a tripplets beat base whilst the second half is more 80's influenced with a regular 4x4 compass, both parts driven by nostalgia. I think this is my particular way of saying goodbye to the synthwave era, at least for now... Thanks for listening!

---

Games & Sources

Robert C. Prince Endgame Music
1994

Edited 3 hours ago by Chimpazilla
closed decision

[prophetik music ⚖️]

opens with some sweeping autopanned pads, and we get some percussion before the bass comes in at the 30s mark. i didn't expect it to be triplets so that was fun. the kick doesn't really have much punch to it, nor do i hear any sidechaining around the kick in the pads. the drop at 0:45 to allow the bass to speak out more allows for some more space in the mix which i like. 1:00 is the first full demonstration of the melodic material, and i like the contrast of the gliding, smooth synth to the much more angular bass instrument.

this continues to repeat the descending melodic line and slowly add complexity around it - first in the form of a choir pad and then a more rhythmic element. each of these are volumized a bit loud compared to the melodic concept although i like what they're saying (1:50 was nice). 2:00 appears to be the first time that we don't get anything really new, and it makes me realize that this is like a minute straight of the same everything without even a fill, and that's a long time to do the same thing in a straight line. varying up the melodic material a bit or doing some soloing over the top would have added a lot here, but instead it's just very repetitious.

there's a hard cut at 2:30 to just the bass line for almost 20s - again, probably too long doing the same thing without changes - and then we get a time signature change to 4/4 and a melodic focus to the second half of the melodic content at 2:52. this feels much more plodding - maybe it's the longer snare with the hard cut on it that makes me feel that. the subsequent bass groove at 3:10 was really confusing at first - it really feels like you've got two basslines playing at the same time and glide set on the instrument. the significant volume jumps and random sfx elements dropping in out didn't sound intentional at all despite it obviously being so, and i didn't care for that at all.

3:45 we get some pads that are aggressively autopanned, and eventually get the melodic material from the A section back, and this time there's a lot more customization to what it's saying, which i like a lot. it still feels fairly repetitive due to the lack of variety in the drums and backing elements in this entire section.

at 5:00 there's a sudden shift to a different feel, and it becomes obvious that this is the outro. it's not particularly connected to the rest of the work.

overall this feels like three minutes of music scraped over five plus minutes of bread. there's a lot of padding and repetitiveness in here, and the lack of changes or even drum fills within each major section seems to be a huge miss. the individual textures are really fun - like 1:30 is a great sound and so is 4:05ish - but there's so much around them that just plods or is part of a minute-long build to the part we want to hear. trimming out the cruft and then doing a better job of balancing elements within each section would make for a much more complete package. similarly, that entire first half of the track could desperately use some more personalization. you've got the same descending riff for over a minute in a row without ever doing anything unique with it, with the same drums underneath and many of the same backing elements underneath the entire time as well. that's just too long to be doing the same thing. making it more unique will help so much with making it not sound repetitious.

trim out the excess and make it more Norvak and less bobby prince, and we're in business.

 

 

NO

[jnWake ⚖️]

Wasn't expecting a source like that from Doom 2!

Anyway, this begins with a pad playing around some notes with a background sweep. Seems to be either B or E minor. Around 0:18 we get a kick hitting on all beats but we get a quick (maybe a little jarring?) change-up intro triplets around 0:30. Now there's a clear Em-Bm progression, which is featured on the source. I like the pad here. Chords die around 0:48 and we keep with a steady B on bass for a bit but there's now a "snare". There's some neat touches of sound design on the percussion. At 1:00 we finally get the main melody from the track with some small variations in how the melody's played (plus some slightly different chords). Pads and hats fill the soundscape at 1:15 and at 1:32 we get some more elements into the mix. There's a repeat then and I'm now noticing that the percussion has been doing basically the exact same loop (which is very short) for over a minute. Around 2:30 we reach a break with a solo synth bass doing some triplets and then at 2:50 there's a big transition into a completely different section, featuring the second main melody from the source. We're now in standard 8ths and the beat here is really cool... However, around 3:10 we're back into a triplet feel with a synth bass riff of sorts and then a little later back in a straight 8ths feel with some pads. Main melody returns around 4:01 and there's a solo of sorts at 4:30. Finally, there's another break at 5:00 for a section without percussion and a few ominous chords 'til the track ends.

On the arrangement side, I'm torn. I really like the variations you did of the source material, melodies were kept very similar to the originals but you did fun stuff with the chords. However, the structure of the arrangement is a bit all over the place. It's cohesive (arguably repetitive) for the first half but from 2:30 to ~4:00 it feels very unfocused, changing between ideas without much direction. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of cool ideas in here but this feels like a collection of ideas more than one arrangement.

On production I don't have many comments, I think you did a great job there. Maybe my only nitpick would be that the kick in the first section (around 0:18) is too aggressive for the soundscape, very clicky when there's basically nothing else going on so it sounds jarring. Besides from that I liked the production, a lot of fun sound design touches and nice synth samples for the most part (arguably, the least exciting sample is, ironically, the one doing the main melodies).

I'm torn here because I really like how this sounds and there's a lot of cool ideas, but I feel the arrangement needs some refinement, the first section (0:00 to 2:50) could be trimmed down a little and the sections between (2:50 to 4:01) could get a little more time to breathe and develop.

NO

Edited yesterday at 03:34 AM by jnWake

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

I really love this triplet bassline!  Very cool trancey vibe going on here. 

I hear sidechaining on the bass, I think, but nothing else.  Adding some sidechaining on your other elements (pads, plucks, even the lead) in varying amounts will make this soundscape groove all that much better.  This is not a dealbreaker issue for me, just something I'm pointing out.

The lead that you are using is a rather wide saw sound, and it's not wowing me as a lead.  This sound would do better as a backing or countermelodic element than a lead.  It melts into the soundscape rather than rising above it to carry the melody.

There is definitely repetition in this arrangement, 0:45-1:00 for example, is just the same thing over and over without anything of interest happening there.  That's a lost opportunity to do something surprising for your listeners.  The lead writing remains the same throughout most of this arrangement with no variation from how the source plays the lead motif.  I'd love to hear some more personalization on that motif now and then as the piece moves along.  From 1:15-2:30 it is just the same thing over and over with a few elements added along the way but with that lead sound and writing never changing, it feels very long and repetitive.

The transition into 2:30 is very awkward with nothing bridging it.  2:30-2:50 is very simple with nothing of interest happening.  That would be a great place to add some surprising element like a new arp or sfx or some automated filtered stuff or some weird spoken vocal.  Then there's a halftime drum groove over an 1/8-note bassline, then with zero transition we are into a slower section at 3:10 which feels so weird, is that synth doing a swing pattern?  I can't entirely tell but the pulse there feels clunky.  At 3:30 there is yet another feel and groove.  The synth playing the pattern is the same one that has been playing throughout the entire track so far.  The autopanning at 3:45 is too fast, it would have more impact moving more slowly across the stereo field.

At 4:00 there is a new lead sound, with personalization on the source motif, finally!  I like this writing, and I like the lead sound much better than the first one although it's still not a super strong patch for a lead and ends up feeling a little washed into the soundscape.  This section is cool though.  Zero transition into an extended outro.

This arrangement has a ton of cool ideas in it, but it does not sound or feel cohesive to me.  There are so many patterns, speeds and vibes, and the transitions between the sections are nonexistent so the listener can't prepare or anticipate the next thing.  The sounds are not super sophisticated and they are used very repetitively.  I feel like either the arrangement should either be shortened, or more variation should be introduced as these longer sections go on and on.

NO