" I don't like guns, violence or horror" - God bless you Doug, haha. For putting yourself through the most violent, horrific action packed shooting franchise in history. Respect was earned today.
@@garibaldiburymore6721Yeah I was about to comment that - You're literally fighting Demons from Hell in Doom so you dont feel any sympathy. Or at the very least - you're certainly not supposed to feel any hehe 😋
Fun Fact - Mick Gordon is one of the nicest and most humble dudes in the industry. I reached out to him on a whim just to send a message of support and he responded thanking me for the message and asking me ot keep him updated on my work as a produciton student. He's undobutedly a busy dude, so the fact he took the time to respond to just a random message from a fan was lovely. (Context- When DOOM:Eternal released, there were a bunch of issues that all got blamed onto Mick despite it beng completely out of his control. Not only did the industry kinda turn their back, the internet and community did too. It was only recently he was able to clear his name and make it clear he was essentially character assassinated by the higher ups to cover for their own incomptency and micro mangament. All throughout that time though, he remained extremely humble. Even during that shit storm, he made it clear it was the exception to the rule and ecnouraged people to follow their passions in the industry. That dude is a total gem in terms of both musical talent AND personality.)
@TheDinofou they were terrible at communicating and giving deadlines and treated him terribly. Mick would work for weeks and hear nothing back until the day before a deadline, forcing him to change parts last minute and work day and night. They also completely screwed the release of the OST, secretly working on a separate mix with mick and them blaming him when it got some initial backlash. In the wake of this they went to reddit branded as some kind of Diva calling him 'difficult' and 'unprofessional' to work with to cover for their own misgivings. They also never paid mick in full for his work, nor any of the extra hours he spent on revisions and fine tunings that never even made it into the game. Mick, being tied into an NDA couldn't say anything or clear his name until recently. He made a huge post with hundreds of receipts, screenshot etc disproving all the lies and highlight the devs utter incompetency, apathy and disrespect given to both Mick and the game as a whole. Its a genuinely an infuriating thing to read about, especially when MG is such a down to earth and talented dude.
Mr Rodgers is the goat of sending reply letters. Vic Mignogna is probably second. Because of how celebrities are generally portrayed as egomaniacs when you find the humble ones they truly stand out. Much like Keanu Reeves.
"i don´t like violence" starts punching the air while listening to the song XD. Thats the mood this music invoces which is perfect for the game that it´s made for.
If it gives you any comfort, in the Doom games you're fighting literal evil demons, so maybe that eases the thought of using violence against them lol.
IMO Terry Pratchett said it best: "Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon."
@@klbearsfan1254 Terry said that? Wow, I've gotta search for it if it's recorded or ready it in its full context !! But it sounds like something he would have said.
Fun fact: Mick was really nervous about the music being good, but he said when he saw the vids of the first few people playing the game and saw their heads begin to bob when the tracks came on he knew he'd done his job well. In that nobody stopped to say "man this is a banger track" but kept gaming through it. That their bodies subconsciously began "dancing" to it in a way meant that the song was doing its job right; it was fueling the game without overpowering it.
It's okay Doug, Doom 2016 is a reverse horror shooter: YOU are what the Hellspawn demons try to control, because your character is older, more ancient than they are -- summoned for one purpose, to rip and tear until it's done.
Now I wanna redownload doom eternal and try to beat it on nightmare lol, I already finished it and the dlc on the HMP difficulty or whatever it's called
@@ToyotaCorolla-en2mv I beat DOOM 2016 on Nightmare back in the day and somehow lost the passion for single player games between that and Eternal. I played a couple hours and stopped... Maybe I'll dive back in and give it a go!
The "note starts sharp" thing you're describing on the guitar is called pitch drift, and is a common phenomenon on extended range guitars. It's basically the string being thrown out of tune temporarily due to the strength of the picking, that's reinforced by there being less tension in the string. As a player, you can either embrace it (like Mick does here) or fight agains it by using guitars with longer scale lengths, thicker strings, or a thing called an evertune bridge, that's basically a mechanical system that uses springs to keep the tension of the string constant as best as it can.
Hi, Doug! As a long-time metal listener, I wanted to say that I love your channel and reactions, and I have a few things to say from that perspective that may give you or others some insight into this song. I’m not sure if anyone else in the comments has mentioned these little facts, so apologies if I double-up. Firstly, Mick Gordon actually found a nine-string guitar so that he could make the sound even lower for some of the songs on the soundtrack. Mick also allegedly sampled an actual chainsaw to use on the synth tracks, although I am not sure if this is a rumor or not. There was also a very amusing moment in his making of video where he talked about finding a random old Soviet-era synthesizer from the eighties called a ‘Polivoks’ that he had no idea how to use because he couldn’t read Russian, and had to just figure out. The way he used old analog equipment in general to make the soundtrack was a fascinating. Mick also performed a melody of the soundtrack at the Video Game Awards in 2016 with members of the Djent metal band Periphery, who are a good ‘beginner’ level Djent band if anyone is interested in looking them up out of curiosity. Their dual album Juggernaut: Alpha and Omega are my suggested place to start for the curious. Finally, the Russian artist and vocalist of the death metal band Slaughter to Prevail did a cover of the song BFG Division with his own vocals added over top, which Mick himself was apparently very impressed with, considering his comment on the video only contained one word: ‘Glorious’. Also, as a metal-head, I thought it was the coolest thing I’d seen in years. Keep up the good work! Your content is great.
I LOVE how into the music you get. You say you don't like weapons and violence, but I can see in the video just how pumped the music makes you - like you're ready to come out swinging. Doom music is powerful.
I think you'd REALLY enjoy Mick Gordon's GDC (Game Developers Conference) talk where he spends like an hour deep diving into the technical aspects that you alluded to at the end. He also describes a lot of composing for games that you'd probably find interesting, since the music reacts dynamically to what the player is going
Something to consider here. This is the 'raw' song. The sound designer made essentially hundreds of versions of the songs in the game. Some songs are tied to specific actions, some to specific areas. So, if you get to an arena (basically, a large room with a lot of enemies, not necessarily a literal arena) this song would play. But it was also designed to repeat, or end, organically, based on what happened in the game. So, if you killed all the enemies in 30 seconds, the song would 'end' at 32 seconds before bleeding into the next song in the sound track. If you took 15 minutes to clear the arena, the song would loop parts to keep up the momentum naturally, and still end organically. You can actually seem some of this in the music video you watched, as it does show some of the path programming for the different audio parts during one of the montages.
This is important to note for the whole soundtrack. From what I recall Mick had to sort through all the variations and pieces in order to arrange them into a single track, and he had to do that for every track. There was controversy around Bethesda mixing the Doom Eternal soundtrack tracks without Mick's input (along with a slew of other things) that led to a schism between the two. I love Bethesda but I support Mick in this 100% and look forward to whatever he works on next, just sad it won't be more DOOM. Long story short, that's why the Doom Eternal soundtrack still isn't on streaming services etc.
Mick Gordon is the only person who could mix a chainsaw sound into his guitar timbre for this soundtrack. It does translate "RIP AND TEAR" better than anything else.
You walk into a level in the game, and you know when you are getting a special area or a boss fight. The music just fits perfectly for that, yes it is a very violent game, but it is also an exquisitely crafted game.
It isn't. Doom is the most pacifit game in the world, you are fighting against evil demons and they have fear of you. A very Catholic game in my opinion.
When I did marching band years ago, our director told us we were doing a good job when the judges would just stop talking. It's great to just see your reactions to this and others. 👍
Mick did a talk at GDC (Game Developer's Conference) on how he developed the instruments he used in the DOOM soundtrack, sounds like you'd really enjoy sort of seeing into the mind of the mad scientist.
"I'm not used to FPS and violence, the very thought of guns makes me uncomfortable, maybe I should try playing Doom." Yeah I'll throw my two cents out there and say maybe don't :D
Ayo. Doug. First vid I've watched of yours. You have real musical skill when it comes to picking apart songs and meters and chords / chord progressions. Kudos.
Also also, lots of pitch bends here. Also also also, I feel ya on the guns thing. Personally I think guns are aesthetically and technologically cool, but actual real-world firearms really aren't for me. In games, they can be fun, but... yeah. Doom is kinda not the best franchise if you're squeamish about that stuff - _DOOM_ *IS* ultraviolence.
If it is any comfort, the game is about killing the hordes of Hell, so you’re saving the world! And I would highly recommend you buy the OST for _Doom_ 2016; there is a reason it won as many awards as it did. I would also recommend watching his GDC talk on the creation of the _Doom_ soundtrack; I think you will find it highly interesting and educational, even for someone of your scholarly level - or perhaps even more so. I know that I, also classically trained, learned a lot about music creation that I had never heard of from that talk. Unfortunately, the creation of the _Doom Eternal_ soundtrack was a very bad experience for him, with some nasty stuff going on from the execs, quite different from the 2016 experience.
doom is a really fun game to play, very much halloween in game form, and it just goes for it and has fun. one of the most fun gaming experiences ive ever had. you can really feel what mick said when he talked about matching the music to the pace, you can feel it in game.
The song Dancing Mad by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy VI is one of the best songs in history, not just video games but in general. I will repost this in every game song react made by you Doug, until you react to this amazing song.
Love the research you put into everything you listen to, as always. I'm not sure if Mick is still doing interviews these days (given his more recently publicized and unfortunate legal bouts with Bethesda), but he's done interviews in the past and he's always been great. Be nice if you could get him on here sometime.
The way it handles the playback of music is genius in this game. The music actually changes to whatever is happening on screen and it's working so well, triggering your emotions and heartbeat intensity.
Speaking of having music as the motivation to keep going in a game. The only reason I got through all the stages of Super Hexagon was because I needed to hear the entire tracks of chiptune goodness by Chipzel
what you mention at 14:30, about getting to a certain level to get better music, look at the (custom) songs from Metal Hellsinger, again a violent game, but as your combo builds, the music layers up. its actually a rhythm combat game, you have to perform actions intime with the music. 1x - base line 4x - drums 6x - guitars 8x - vocals its VERY fun to build and hold combos. Serj from system of a down made the final boss song, Matt Heafy from trivium did a killer track on it too. very good overall soundtrack.
Metal Hellsinger blew my mind so much that I had to watch an FPS pro play it. Watching IDDQD play it was perfect. Hardest mode and the guy loves metal… I wish I could get the game to play music like that 😮🎉
The one thing i adore in Mick's music is all the little textures and tension. The droning in the background before the drop, the pulling back of elements with little pops and clicks before jumping back in at full force. It's really a treat for the ears.
If Doug wants some more Mick Gordon goodness then he should check out the 2013 Killer Instinct soundtrack. More specifically Spinal's theme, because in that track Mick Gordon uses an ancient horn made out of a human femur in it. I think Doug could really analyze and sink his teeth into that track.
I think it would be interesting to see you react to some Final Fantasy music from Nobuo Uematsu, one of the most reveered composers of VG music. It's main inspirations were classic symphonic pieces and progressive bands like King Crimson, Pink Floyd and ELP, so I think it would be right up your alley. "Dancing Mad" it's basically a symphonic prog epic, and it would be awesome to see you check out some old ost, to see how they composed constrained within the multiple limitations of 90s hardware.
He played on 8 string Mayones Regius - probably the best polish custom workshop guitar brand, made in Gdańsk since 1982. Oh and btw Doug, greetings from Poland as well :)
Mick Gordon also has done a collab with Motionless in White for a song called Scoring The End Of The World. It might also be worth checking out for a metal monday besided his gaming scores
The DOOM soundtrack while playing in the game is actually dynamic/adaptive to what is happening in the game, and Mick Gordon designed the songs into very specific small chunks that he could dynamically pick up and put down at a moments notice, and he recorded some transitions to go between the different sections of songs, all to ramp up and down the action in music based on how action-packed or not the game is going at any particular moment. In essence the official soundtrack is one particular song but the way you end up hearing the song while playing the game may be all miscombobulated form the soundtrack and even compared to the way your friends heard it (and I'm pretty sure there are little bits and pieces that were recorded that aren't in the official soundtrack).
To quote the manual of another iD game with a BFG in - Quake 2 - "BFG: Big, uh, freakin’ gun. This weapon redefines the word 'wallpaper.' Simply fire the BFG into a small room of unsuspecting Strogg* and observe the new red paint job." * that's the name of the alien race that serves as the antagonist in Quake
BTW I haven't seen this in comment section so - NOTE - B.F.G. in-game refers to a weapon call Big. F***KING. GUN. I shot and kills everything in site but you have less Ammo.
This song is so bad ass--It's on my workout playlist. Doug, if you want to give Halo or Doom a test drive, find out if any friends or family have an Xbox that you play them on. Also, if you want a slight change of pace from guns and violence, but stay in the game genre, I would check out "Eno Cordova's Theme" from "Jedi: Fallen Order" I think it will be up your alley. :)
Great reaction. As for you playing the game, I'm a bit torn. How the music is incorporated into the game is fascinating and really shows what the medium can do unlike anything else. It is part of the interactive experience. So as a showcase for that, its great. BUT. The game is unabashedly violent and filled with gore. Its a power trip, but I completely understand that many would not be comfortable with it or the themes. Maybe consider watching some in-game footage before deciding to jump in or not. I'm trying to think of other good examples of music in games that has been deliberately made interactive that swell, loop and respond to player actions. You've already touched on Devil May Cry 5, there's good examples there. Thanks for the content as always.
I'm looking at that presentation of Lucky Man you have hanging on the wall on your right shoulder. Is that signed by Greg Lake? What a great catch if it is. ELP was and always has been one of my favorite bands growing up. They were my first real introduction to Progressive Rock. I'll never forget watching them at California Jam in the early 70s on TV, seeing Keith Emerson strap himself to a piano bench behind a grand piano, see the piano and Emerson lifted in the air with straps, then start rolling head over heels while he played. In my early-teens, I was hooked! I proceeded to obtain every ELP album I could find and would buy the newest one as soon as it came out. Anyway, love your channel and look forward to more. Also, since you're a composer, where can we find some of your music being played? I have always been into Classical music which explains my fascination with ELP. I'd love to some of your compositions. Thanks for doing what you do. God Bless, man.
Please listen to System of a down - Question! Formally, the song can be classified as math rock, as it uses four different time signatures (5/4, 9/8, 3/4 and 4/4), which makes it difficult to understand and perform.
Greeting Doug, First of all, I wanted to say that I love your videos and the insight you give to us music enjoyers who doesn't have classical training, it makes us appreciate the content even more. Now as for the Metal X gaming, I would like to recommend the soundtrack of the old " Need For Speed " games. The sounds are designed specifically for the track you are racing, and changes depending on which section of the track you are in. I would personally recommend: - " Siwash Rock " from Need For Speed 2: It has a lot of fast and slow section and isolated bass & drums parts. - " Rear Flutterblast " from Need for Speed 3: it has so many things going on, i'm suer you will find it interesting.
The best way to treat music like this is to consider it as a set of indexed clips that are played when the game reaches certain states. "If nothing is lurking, play tracks 1-4 randomly. If something is lurking, play tracks 5-6. If an enemy spots the player and attacks, play track 7, then 8-10. If more than X are playing, play tracks 11-14" etc. That seems to be how it's done these days, or at least what my delving into System Shock 2's resources has misinformed me.
"Thats a heck of a board he's got there" - Can't stress this enough - react to the VGA awards talk Mick Does explaining how he made the soundtrack in front of an audience. Literally NOBODY reacts to it which is a terrible shame because people such as you Doug who understand how music works would get so much enjoyment out of it.
You know, as much as I love these reactions, I really hope that some day you will react to some of Robert Prince' tracks from the original Doom games. The 2016 and 2020 games have kinda enforced a slight misconception that Doom is all metal. It's really not. If you listen to music from the original games you'll find a lot of atmospheric tracks. And while there certainly metal in many of the tracks it's not all metal. My favourite track is called Dark Halls which is from the third level of the first episode of the original Doom (or E1M3 as it's referred to). It's so minimalistic but the atmosphere that oozes from it is sooo nice. So here's to hoping for some OG Doom. And yes, I know that it's all FM synthesis and MIDI and what have you but that's also part of the charm.
You can add the Quake saga to that equation too. Quake was mainly industrial and electronica and Quake II was mostly metal but still had ambient and purely electro songs. I would really love for him to react to something from Quake or Quake II.
@@renato360a Yes, definitely! I'm sadly not that familiar with the Quake I soundtrack but it's NIN so I have an idea but I know Sonic Mayhem's Quake II soundtrack very well. And quite right, it contains metal but it's not all out metal. Let's hope any new Quakes won't go modern Doom and be all metal. Ambient and atmospheric also works.
Hi Doug, I've been watching you for years now and I don't do RU-vid comments. However, I'm making an exception today. I discovered you through my love of Dream Theater (lifelong fan, seen 'em multiple times, etc) and seeing you slowly become a fan over time has been a great experience for me; the lifelong fan. Now I'm overjoyed to see you're discovering my second passion; video game music. Prog Metal such as Queensryche and Dream Theater inspired me greatly as a musician. However, video game composers such as Nobuo Uematsu influenced me just as much as any 'band' ever could. That's why I'm suggesting you check out some of Nobuo Uematsu's compositions. He mainly works with the Final Fantasy titles, Dancing Mad and One Winged Angel are both fan favorites. Thanks for the content and keep them coming!
Playing Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal while this music is playing is some of the most fun I've ever had in my whole life of gaming. The music alone gets you fired up, but paired with the intense gameplay... boy... fewer experienced can deliver such an awesome, hype experience. :)
As some others have said, the basic Doom lore is that you play as "Doom Guy"(unnamed) who was a marine on the moon Phobos when demons (literal demons, literal hell) attack. You fight back the hordes to win back the moon and arrive on Earth to find that that Earth itself is undersiege. You fight those tides back and instead of resting, you enter Hell itself and basically kill the physical embodiment of Satan (this is Doom 2 in 1994). in Doom 2016 you wake up on Mars to find that some idiot opened the portal again and you basically play it back.
"That's a disconcerting sound"... Finishes sentence just in time for second hardest drop in soundtrack history. (the first hardest is about 5 minutes later in the song. XD)
The continued use of words like "wicked" to describe a song that's basically the musical version of Hell itself screaming in terror at the idea of your existence seems oddly fitting, doesn't it?
Am I the only one that hears some oldschool Frank Klepacki influence in this? It's like the modern evolution of that Command & Conquer/Red Alert industrial sound. It's like The Hell March cranked up to 11.
So it's a 8-stringed guitar, probably down-tuned quite a bit, the technique is called "Djent". Later on turning into a whole genre of it's own. It's a bit of a way to make the guitar into the droning background sound. Letting the synth's lead the melody. Something that's a little bit hard to see in the video itself, but very clear if you're familiar with the sound and how it's played, he's not just holding a plectrum in his right hand. He's also holding the stick for a whammy bar. It bends the entire bridge letting you fluidly change the pitch of a note without actually moving your fingers on the fretboard. That's what changed F#. It's also a very good way of making a repeptitive "friendly" song. Such that can last 3 minutes or 15 if needed. It's pure genious use of instrument and composition for this game. It's meant to make you feel like the baddest toughtest dude out there. And it really shines there. The heavy sound makes you feel weighty. Matches the heft of your guns and punches in the game. The sinister tones reflect that you might be fighting demons. But those demons are more afraid of you than you are of them. You are not the victim of demons (I mean, you kind of are if you look into the lore.) they are the victim of you. It really translates well into the song, the game and the lore all built into eachother. You don't really miss anything in the music if it has to be muted for a little bit to let through a voiceline. Even when it ebbs it's still keeping that rythm that helps you going forward. But when it hits. When that bass drops. That's when you push forward without fear, embodying the doom slayer in all aspects.
The interesting thing about Doom 2016 and the latest one is the music is adaptable. The music auto changes depending on the action on screen. Coolest music technology I've ever seen. There are videos on RU-vid about it.
1:57 "....[BFG Division] does appear in a remastered form" LOOOOOOL You mean the instant classic known as "you can't just shoot a hole into the surface of mars"? 10 years in the slammer for Chad and FartyMarty. Love how 6:02 was so good, it turned you into the "PERIODT" meme.
The greatest thing about the Doom music is that these are just kind of "radio release" compositions of the music. In the game itself, the music constantly adapts itself, in pace and intensity, depending on what you are doing. If you're just walking around an area, it's more like the intermission where things are calmish, but still ominous. But when action starts, depending on how hard you're going, the music gets more and more intense. And the whole shifting and blending of the soundtrack is utterly seamless. Dooms music wasn't just well composed, but its integration into the games systems was next level all by itself, the dynamics of the gameplay are intensified by the music itself, not just accompanied by the music. And, contrary to other games where every boss has its themesong, in Doom, you're the boss, you're the one THEY fear, wherever YOU go, boss music plays.
Btw, 8-string guitars aren't exactly just for the lower string. When you put the same 6 lowest strings on a 6-string, it doesn't make the same sound. The bigger body and bridge combined with the harmonization of the strings you do use with the ones you don't, does have a rather distinct sound to it.
What's interesting about the modern Doom games, is how they're designed to be more than just shooters. The creators want it to be a dynamic fight, and put in game mechanics to reward you for being aggressive. If you're low on health or ammo, the solution is to run to a demon and "punch it in the face" (triggering a finisher animation, that turns the demon into a piñata that explodes into ammo and health recovery drops.) The intense sound tracks that you're listening are mostly used in "arenas" part of the game, where a whole bunch of demons spawn in a room, that stays locked until you're victorious.
I need to thank you for these, that kind of analysis is very welcome. If I may suggest some, but from other games: We all lift together (from Warframe) Act on Instinct (from Command & Conquer Tiberian Dawn) Soviet March (From Command & Conquer Red Alert 3) and/or any of the Terran Themes from Starcraft one (and maybe two)... Oh and Wings of Liberty main theme (from the first part of Starcraft 2)
