To compose music for DOOM first I will need to understand how the music is made, and what creative thought processes the composer went through to begin composing the legendary soundtrack of DOOM. That is why on this page I will be exploring various sources to understand how to compose the music of DOOM.
Mick Gordon Talk Metal
Mick Gordon said in the interview that in the early stages of game development the game is practically made up of only shapes, so he said the best inspiration for video game music in the early stages is concept art. Concept art is artwork that tries to represent the final appearance of the game, the art is very useful for developing inspiration to make music. The best way to get inspiration from concept art is to try and imagine what it would be like if you was inside of the art, or what thought the art work presents. Gordon found this to be very effective in developing the soundtrack for DOOM.
The music of a video game soundtrack should not be looked at to match a certain genre, but a certain feeling. The DOOM game is fast paced and represents pure aggression, Gordon used instruments such as 9-string guitars, drums and synthesisers to reflect the feeling of anger that certain themes of the game has. The music is also designed to fit specific enemies, such as bosses. The music tries to represent how they would move and act, for When thinking of the music you might find that the pace of the game determines the key, tone and tempo of the music. When making the music you should remember that you are composing for a video game and that it should be interactive music, and it should feel like the music is moving through the game with you. For example, if you have ripped through most of the demons in the area you in are in the music will gradually get less intense as you tear down the number of enemies. On the other hand if you are walking in a huge battle area for the first time with many enemies the music will will reach maximum intensity on beat, in summary the music will always follow the gameplay scenario that the player finds themselves in by matching the intensity.
In DOOM Eternal there are a few ancient themes, one of which is a coliseum which is a huge difference in scenery to the rest of the game. Mick Gordon though it would be cool to have ancient chanting in the background, as if it was a crowd in the coliseum. He then gathered multiple heavy metal screamers and put them in a choir to record the music. I tried to use this in my music in week 4 when developing my C section, I did this because the original choir gave the music a malevolent and intimidating presence in the music. Unfortunately this idea did not work in the structure of my composition along with the arrangement of other instruments.
DOOM Behind The Music Part 1 And 2
Mick Gordon wanted to respect the legacy of DOOM so he revisited the original games music, He wanted to recreate the E1M1 track because it is very iconic for the DOOM franchise. He then played it lower on a nine-string guitar which made it sound more aggressive which is what we wanted. Gordon then recreated the track while still incorporating the riffs four original notes. In my composition I wanted to do a similar thing with a nine-string guitar by playing in a riff of my own design into Logic in very low pitch, I wanted to do this on guitar because it gives off a raw and aggressive tone that I believe would have worked very well in my music. Unfortunately this idea did not work as I did not have access to the instrument at college, but my plan was to replace the bass riff I came up with on the synthesiser with a guitar. I wanted to do this as it would resemble the music of DOOM more as well as fill the texture of my music more with the electric guitar which has a thick sound texture to it.
DOOM’s music tries to capture the feeling of complete lack of restraint, there is no fear towards the demons in DOOM but only anger. To make the music of DOOM sound aggressive Gordon often used instrumental arrangements consisting of: electric guitars, synthesisers, heavy metal screams as well as drum crashes and toms. He did this because all these instruments have the natural ability to fill music compositions with aggressive tones due to their harsh tones and aggressive harmonics. The aggressive soundtrack mixed with metal works very well because it fuels the gory and relentless action-packed gameplay and allows the player to feel like a killing machine due to the soundtrack’s aggressive music. Gordon was inspired by the original DOOM’s soundtrack, which very well mixed metal music and electronic music together. Gordon wanted to incorporate the same mix of the two genres into his music which resulted in tracks such as ‘Flesh and Metal’. The dynamics and tone of DOOM’s music changes immensely depending on what the character does in the game.
While Mick Gordon was looking at the concept art for the Hell level some red energy caught his eye in the art. He thought about what he thought the energy would sound like. He then stripped down music into it’s bare bones form called sinewaves and inserted it into a patch bay. He then used the circuits of the equipment to corrupt the sinewaves. This technique helped Gordon create the track ‘MasterMind’. Gordon also used guitar pedals and wheel to reel cassette machines made some interesting distorted sound to the music he sent through it. Gordon like the ideas of capturing real electric energy in his music, which is what he did often in DOOM soundtrack. An old antique Russian synthesiser called a polivoks was also used in DOOM’s soundtrack because it was thought to sound cool and authentic, this was then distorted to fit DOOM’s music.
Mick Gordon’s Quarantine and Chill Livestream
update: there was a link to a live stream here but unfortunately it has recently been private and I no longer have access to this footage. Below this text is a link to the video, that has been privated recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lQUuXKW4FQ
How Video Game Music Works
DOOM Eternal is unique to other shooters because it forces the players to think strategically while in combat in a matter of split seconds. The main way the game gets players to do this is through the music. Originally when Gordon was composing the soundtrack he had the ideas to make the music have a very fast tempo and to be very high in dynamics. It didn’t take long for him to realise that this was the wrong move for the game’s music, this is because if the music is too fast the player will be left with no time to think in fast paced scenarios. I took this mistake into consideration when making my music because I want my music to resemble the final product of DOOM’s gameplay music as much as a possibly can. To avoid this problem I avoided making my instruments all play fast and chaotic rhythms as this would be hard to listen to, as demonstrated by Mick Gordon. This is because the music has such a heavy influence over the players decisions, and if it was too loud it would have the same impact on the player. This would result in the player getting frustrated with the music and hating it. Mick Gordon had to compose the music very carefully to make the music provoke players to think on the spot, but also make it blend in very well with the gameplay.
Making interactive video game music is completely different to composing for a 5 minuet soundtrack or a song. This is because Mick Gordon has 2 create 3 versions of each songs structure that varies in intensity or dynamics and texture, in structure however the songs will be practically identical. This is because the music changes on beat depending on what situation the player is in, for example the music of the game will be less intense when the player is killing low threat cannon fodder enemies, but the music will become more intense when the player is fighting in an arena with a high concentration of enemies. The music must be identical in structure so the transition between tracks is on beat and the songs instantly continues where it left off. DOOM’s video game tracks are equal to around 25 minutes of time, in total including silences between chunks if audio to separate the different chunks of music. When the player finishes the arena in the game the music changes from intense to ambient, this is to fill the silence when the player is scavenging for health and ammunition left over the area. Later in my project when making composing music for my trailer I took this technique into consideration, I did this by starting with an ominous and ambient opening and gradually building up in intensity right up until the end of my composition. The original game music will overall get more intense as the you get further into the level, this is because you will encounter more enemies leading to more intense situations within the game.
Gordon believes when composing video game soundtracks it is important to incorporate themes from previous games, this is because the use of previous themes can remind the players of old memories and moments that took place in the previous games of the franchise. Throwbacks to old compositions used in DOOM’s history can be heard in multiple tracks in DOOM Eternal. On the Arc Complex level in Eternal there is a boss fight with an enemy called a marauder, the music for this boss fight has a fast tempo. But if you slow this tempo down by 200% you can hear that the melody of the music is the same as ‘Into Sandy City’, which was a composition used in DOOM II. This is one example of a reference to the original DOOM (1993) soundtrack but there are more included in the games soundtrack.
The soundtrack for this game was produced using a range of distortion pedals, compressors and plug-ins. These tools allowed Gordon to achieve the some of the sinister and evil sounds we can hear in the soundtrack. An example of a compressor used in Eternal’s soundtrack is an OTT compressor that can create aggressive sounds in music, OTT compressors are commonly used in dub- step and electronic music. In scores such as the ‘Icon Of Sin’ theme Gordon uses dub-step riser effects to build tension in his music, this is one reason why he may have used the OTT compressor. He also uses Mick Gordon also created his own compressor just for the DOOM game, it is glitch music techniques such as stutter and sequencer variations to create chaotic atmospheres in his music, this is an example of electronic production and another reason why Gordon might have used the OTT compressor. called the doom compressor. In a livestream Mick Gordon showcased this compressor and explained how the compressor can make the reverb tail of music very loud all the way until the reverb has decayed, this is perfect for creating loud and aggressive sounds in music. Gordon uses his compressor to immediately flattens bass notes that are played, this can lead to some chaotic and intimidating pieces of music. Gordon also ran the synthesisers and guitars used in the track through distortion pedals to add a sharp and aggressive edge to the music. I considered doing this with my composition, but I could not find the hardware for this idea, which was unfortunate, however I did use Logics software pedal board to add: distortions, modulations and delays to some of my instruments including my guitars. When composing bass lines for the track Gordon used sub – sine’s because he believed it would make the music more interesting with distortion and effects added to it.
In the Nekravol track for DOOM you can hear metal chains clanging together, to simulate prisoners chains in torcher chambers, this is fitting for the music because Nekravol is a huge torcher chamber. The clanging chains fits into a musical technique called ‘found sounds’, this is when composers pick out sounds of every day objects and use it for a creative purpose in their music. An example of this would to be if an artist used the sound of a raindrops to create a sad atmosphere to their music. Found sounds are used all over DOOM’s soundtrack to create tension, ambience and aggressive tones. Another well known example of found sounds is in the track ‘Hell Walker’, this sound track uses the sound of a chainsaw to create aggression to the song. However, to make this sounds fit into the music Gordon slowed the audio down and pulled on the harmonics to make it sounds more like an instrument. I used many different found sounds in my music to create disturbing and aggressive sounds in my music as well as build tension. I used a lot of percussive samples in my music to establish strong and intense rhythms in my music that had aggressive and intimidating sounds. This is only one way I used found sounds in my music out of many others, for more detail on found sounds read some of my weekly development work or visit my page on found sounds.
DOOM Eternal’s Ancient Language
When Mick Gordon was composing the DOOM soundtrack he decided he wanted some kind of demonic ancient language in the sound track to add ambience, aggression and creepy aspects to the soundtrack. This language can be heard in the video game soundtrack for ‘Cultist base’, in this level you can hear a prayer in the language that was invented. Mick Gordon decided this was appropriate for the music because of the inspiration he got from the concept art, the art work showed a bunch of zombies worshipping a hologram of the Kahn Makyr, who is meant to be perceived as a goddess. He thought it would be fitting if you could hear prayers in the music because of the worshipping that takes place in the level. This language also makes appearances in other soundtracks, but mostly in the form of heavy metal screams like in the soundtrack for ‘DOOM Hunter Base’ and the ‘Final Sin’ level. This language was made very simply by Mick Gordon himself. To create this language Gordon broke up the names of the demons in the game by their syllables, he then mixed around the syllables to with other names to form the made up ancient language.
Reading List
Gordon, M., 2016. DOOM: Behind The Music Part 1. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua-f0ypVbPA> [Accessed 1 March 2021].
Gordon, M., 2016. DOOM: Behind The Music Part 2. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g-7-dFXOUU> [Accessed 1 March 2021].
KNOTFEST, 2020. DOOM Eternal Composer Talks Metal. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idXj3Ou7D80> [Accessed 1 March 2021].