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Dragonsbrethren
Senior Member

Posts: 1456
Registered: 03-09

Your sound work on Doom was great and really gave the game a completely different atmosphere than it had on the PC. Only played Quake 64 for a bit and don't remember a lot of it, but I loved the new intermission track. Sadly I haven't played anything else you've worked on, outside of NFL Blitz, and that was so long ago I can't remember the music.

11-07-12 23:53 #

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Mechadon
Senior Member

Posts: 1977
Registered: 12-06

Wow, very cool to see you on these forums Aubrey! You can count me on the list of one of your fans, particularly in regards to the work you did for Doom 64/Quake and likewise :). Your music and sound effects, particularly in Doom 64, are what made the atmosphere in those game so great and memorable in my opinion. And they made me almost crap myself on my occasions. I'm really glad to hear that you continue to make music too!

I'm not sure if this is the place or the time to ask, but would you ever be interested in working on indie game stuff? I imagine you are probably very busy as it is. I've been slowly working on an indie project with a few guys and I thought about taking a shot at asking if you'd be interested with sound design (a long shot at that, heh). The sounds and music in Doom 64 left a big impression on me and the game in question has similar roots to Doom. If you are the least bit interested, I'd be more than happy to go into more detail over email or similar :)

Anyways, thanks so much for your awesome work on some of my favorite games! I'll be sure to check out some of your latest stuff.

11-08-12 00:04 #

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ShaneAmp
Member

Posts: 438
Registered: 01-04

It's great to see you have popped up Aubrey! After all these posts about your music, particularly Playstation and N64 versions of Doom! There has been attempts to replicate and re-make your music into MOD format, for some console convertions of doom to modern source ports. The lack of any real timing or melody makes it very hard! I have tried on various occasions myself to do so, but end up feeling like it starts to sound to different..

Maybe you would want to do some music for a Doom mod that's based on a console port sometime! :)

11-08-12 03:05 #

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GoatLord
I really should think before I post.

Posts: 1882
Registered: 07-02

This has been a real treat for me. The interview in particular was really eye opening. "Final Doom" PSX was my first exposure to dark ambient music. I search YouTube for dark ambient tracks every now and then and find it interesting that once in a while, I end up stumbling upon something that reminds me of Aubrey's work. I have a tendency to put on tracks from PSX/N64 "Doom" and "Quake 64" when I'm mapping in Doom Builder, or sometimes just because I want to evoke those disturbing emotions from the games. If you read the interview, it's glaringly obvious that Aubrey has a deep appreciation for the role that sound plays in media, whether it's video games or movies, a sentiment I share wholeheartedly. I have a question, Aubrey, if you happen upon this post: What sort of music training do you have, and when composing, how important is music theory in a project's initial development?

11-11-12 07:48 #

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Fisk
Forum Regular

Posts: 879
Registered: 02-07

Aubrey Hodges said:
5. I have a new release to share. If you liked the ambient Doom/Quake stuff you may enjoy it. It's located here:
http://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/al...the-dark-places

God damn, man. I nearly dumped ass halfway through A Darkness Descends. Good work.

11-11-12 13:40 #

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miko508
Mini-Member

Posts: 53
Registered: 08-12

Awesome to have you on the forums, Aubrey!

11-11-12 18:27 #

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baronofheck82
Junior Member

Posts: 198
Registered: 02-10

Aubrey, I have been listening to your Journey Into Dark Places album online for a few hours now, and it really reminds me of the PSX Doom and Doom 64 soundtracks. Good stuff, very moody and spooky. My favorite tracks are A Darkness Descends, A Skittering Sickness and Don't Go Down There.

11-11-12 20:44 #

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Aubrey Hodges
Mini-Member

Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

GoatLord said:
...Aubrey, if you happen upon this post: What sort of music training do you have, and when composing, how important is music theory in a project's initial development?

I am a self taught musician and composer. I started with violin at the age of 9 and then went on to trumpet, french horn, piano, synth, guitar, bass and drums. In the early days I practiced for hours and hours and hours every day. Now I spend about an hour a day trying to learn new things and playing about another 4-6 hours a day while composing.

Over the years I have learned much in regards to theory but I don't approach writing music from that angle. To me, music is about emotion, not math or structure. I am always facinated by works that are incredibly mathmatical and intricate, however, if something does not make me FEEL...I don't connect with it. Some of the most simple pieces blow me away. For instance I prefer Pink Floyd to tons of bands that write and perform far more intricate music. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate theory and it can certainly help to get the creative juices flowing, but composing for me is a far more expressive and free spirited affair than trying to fit into some set of rules. According to many of my more learned contemporaries, I break more rules than I follow anyway which is part of what makes my compositions unique and stylistic. The bottom line for me is that I go after trying to deliver an emotion more than anything else. The project/type of material dictates the emotion I am trying to conjure.

Many compositions fall flat because they are too busy trying to impress and get you to take notice which can actually distract from the emotion the scene is trying to depict.

Hope this gives you a little more insight as to the methods of my madness.

-Aubrey

11-12-12 00:36 #

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gamul312
Green Marine

Posts: 40
Registered: 12-11

Did you have a preference between the PSX and N64 sound chips? Was one more difficult to work with?

11-12-12 01:55 #

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Aubrey Hodges
Mini-Member

Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

gamul312 said:
Did you have a preference between the PSX and N64 sound chips? Was one more difficult to work with?

I preferred the PSX. The reverb settings were very nice and the Sound Delicatessen tool was fairly easy to work with. Originally it was tricky due to the fact that the tool was still in Japanese and I had no idea what anything did. By the time they had added the English I had already figured it out well enough to get a few tracks completed. Also, the PSX has some dedicated audio ram while the N64 didn't. Thankfully the team appreciated audio and gave me just enough memory on the N64 to get things sounding pretty good. I never got the reverb sounding nearly as lush though which always bothered me. Storage was a huge concern on the N64 as carts don't hold nearly as much as a CD. So everything I did was lower resolution on the N64. I did my best given the limitations but it was very difficult to get it as silky sounding as the PSX.

-Aubrey

11-12-12 04:26 #

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Sodaholic
Banned

Posts: 2204
Registered: 04-07

Nice to have you here, I've always loved the work you did on those two versions of Doom. :)

I have a question for you about reverb. I wanted to attempt implementing it into my own build of Chocolate Doom, and I was wondering what kind of reverb it used, what kind of settings it had, etc, so that I could accurately recreated how it sounded on the PSX version.

Also, did you ever consider adding the SFX pitch randomization that was supposed to be there in the PC version but due to a bug didn't occur when working on either of your Doom projects?

11-12-12 04:42 #

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Aubrey Hodges
Mini-Member

Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

Sodaholic said:
I have a question for you about reverb. I wanted to attempt implementing it into my own build of Chocolate Doom, and I was wondering what kind of reverb it used, what kind of settings it had, etc, so that I could accurately recreated how it sounded on the PSX version.

Also, did you ever consider adding the SFX pitch randomization that was supposed to be there in the PC version but due to a bug didn't occur when working on either of your Doom projects?

Sony PSX reverb types are as follows:
Room
9,920 (bytes)
Small room

Studio A
9,000 (bytes)
Studio (Small)

Studio B
18,496 (bytes)
Studio (Medium)

Studio C
28,640(bytes)

Studio Hall
(Large Hall)
44,512(bytes)

Space
63,168(bytes)
Universal

Echo
98,368(bytes)
Echo

Delay
98,368(bytes)
Delay

Pipe
7,072(bytes)
In a metal pipe

As far as what I used on each track, you'll have to take your best guess. I can't remember the outcome of the randomization issue.

-Aubrey

11-13-12 08:20 #

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DoomUK
Forum Spammer

Posts: 3665
Registered: 04-04

Aubrey,

I suppose you've been asked this question a lot, but what was inspiring you at the time of creating PSX Doom/Final Doom/Doom 64's music? There's a lot of music which falls under the catagory of "ambient" but I've personally never heard anything which sounds exactly like your work; was there anything you were listening to that you wanted to capture the essence of, or was there something else sparking your muse? Were you given free reign with what kind of music you could create for these games, or was there something more specific the team wanted you to go for?

11-13-12 08:55 #

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EvilNed01
Junior Member

Posts: 129
Registered: 03-11

If you did the Doom 64 theme, then do you consider that your magnum opus?

11-13-12 10:10 #

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Avoozl
Indecisive

Posts: 1052
Registered: 06-09

I've always loved your music work in the console Doom games, I particularly loved track 13 from PSX Doom.

11-13-12 11:16 #

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GoatLord
I really should think before I post.

Posts: 1882
Registered: 07-02

EvilNed01 said:
If you did the Doom 64 theme, then do you consider that your magnum opus?

If you read the interview, he seems to regard a project he is currently working on (which has literally dozens of hours of original music) to be his finest accomplishment thus far.

11-13-12 19:30 #

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vinnie245
Junior Member

Posts: 138
Registered: 08-11

Good to see you on the forums Aubrey, if it wasn't for your PSX soundtrack i would of never become as huge of a doom fan as i am now.(Never liked the midi style, just never suited Doom to me)

11-13-12 20:35 #

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Eris Falling
Senior Member

Posts: 1452
Registered: 07-12

vinnie245 said:
(Never liked the midi style, just never suited Doom to me)

Well, let me say, I was 4 when I first came across "The Factory"
The music in that level (PSXMUS15) makes me wonder how I didn't go insane from the fear
Or maybe I am insane...

Also, welcome to DW Aubrey :) Was the main theme for PSX Doom inspired by Sign of Evil (E1M8) by any chance? I've noticed they use the same chords.

11-13-12 20:44 #

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Aubrey Hodges
Mini-Member

Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

GoatLord said:

If you read the interview, he seems to regard a project he is currently working on (which has literally dozens of hours of original music) to be his finest accomplishment thus far.

It's true that my work on Kingdoms of Amalur MMO (Project Copernicus) was a massive accomplishment for me. I personally composed and recorded about 25 hours of music for it. Sadly, no one will probably ever hear it now that 38 Studios is out of business.

Here's link to a promo video that contains portions of my theme for that project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9nvnrP0j8U

As far as projects that actually were released I am torn between the themes for DOOM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gptHO6JRjA4 and MADDEN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMCb...eature=related. Both have been around for a long time and I was happy with the amount of raw emotion I was able to deliver in each one. The two genres are completly different but both themes felt to me exactly what the franchises needed and still do to this day.

-Aubrey

11-13-12 22:39 #

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Aubrey Hodges
Mini-Member

Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

Eris Falling said:

Well, let me say, I was 4 when I first came across "The Factory"
The music in that level (PSXMUS15) makes me wonder how I didn't go insane from the fear
Or maybe I am insane...

Also, welcome to DW Aubrey :) Was the main theme for PSX Doom inspired by Sign of Evil (E1M8) by any chance? I've noticed they use the same chords.

Other way around. The Main Theme was written first and I used it's chordal progression and bits of it's melody here and there in the level tracks to create a feeling of cohesiveness.

-Aubrey

11-13-12 22:43 #

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Aubrey Hodges
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Posts: 62
Registered: 11-12

DoomUK said:
Aubrey,

I suppose you've been asked this question a lot, but what was inspiring you at the time of creating PSX Doom/Final Doom/Doom 64's music? There's a lot of music which falls under the catagory of "ambient" but I've personally never heard anything which sounds exactly like your work; was there anything you were listening to that you wanted to capture the essence of, or was there something else sparking your muse? Were you given free reign with what kind of music you could create for these games, or was there something more specific the team wanted you to go for?

Originally the team wanted more rock tracks to match what Bobby Prince did in the original PC version. I wasn't opposed to writing in that style but I did wonder what it would feel like to match the suspensful and creepy tone of the game with a more score-like approach. Either way I needed to learn the new tool set for the PS1.

While I was learning the Sony sound tool I began to take notice of what the tool was good at and where it was weak. One of the things I liked was the ability to play samples many octaves below their root key and how smoothly the bend responded to those samples. One huge limitation was sample size so I wondered what it would sound like if I created intricate samples, pitched them a couple of octaves higher than their original recording and then dropped their rate while setting their root key fairly high on the scale. This created a really wicked sounding graininess once they were bent lower or played many octaves deeper. I fell in love with the weird types of tones I was making using this technique. Once I added the Sony reverb I knew I had something special. The reverbs were smooth and had unique flavors all their own. The result of the ugly, grainy, aliased samples playing through the sort of "pretty" verb made me want to just write all day! Once the team heard it in the game they were convinced we need to go in this new direction. Meanwhile, I started sampling anything that moved to try and come up with very unique sounds that no one had ever heard used in a musical capacity before. I let the sounds themselves inspire me as I wrote.

-Aubrey

11-13-12 23:03 #

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Sodaholic
Banned

Posts: 2204
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In PC Doom, the levels were much brighter and had plain looking lighting, but in PSX Doom, the levels were very dark and had atmospheric colored lighting. Was this change to the game's visuals made to compliment the new sound direction, or was it already like that before the new sound direction? I can kinda picture them using the original brighter levels since they intended to use the rock music in them.

11-13-12 23:10 #

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Enjay
ASK ME ABOUT FOOTBALL / STEAM / DEAD CELEBRITIES / THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

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Aubrey Hodges said:
description of writing for PS Doom

It's really cool how much your enthusiasm for doing what you did/do comes across in your description. It's obvious that you get a real kick out of composing and exploring sounds.

11-14-12 00:22 #

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Mattfrie1
Member

Posts: 452
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Nice to have you on the forums Aubrey. Your soundtracks for PSX Doom and PSX Final Doom are what got me interested in ambient music. Even though some have come close, I still haven't found an ambient artist that matches the style of PSX Doom and Doom 64.

I'd have to say that the track that goes with Geryon in PSX Final Doom is without a doubt the creepiest "song" I've ever heard in a video game. How exactly did you get that eerie whistling sound? To me it sounds like it could either be a squeaky gate or a whistling teapot.

A funny sidenote, the only other place I've heard music composed by you (so far) was for some Mario Paint ripoff on the Panasonic 3DO called Fun 'N Games, which was released in 1995 probably right before you and several other programmers/artists for Williams Entertainment started work on PSX Doom. I found it funny how the same guy that composed these creepy soundscapes for Doom was also able to compose light-hearted kiddie music too, a severe case of cognitive dissonance on my part I guess.

Last edited by Mattfrie1 on 11-14-12 at 02:49

11-14-12 01:54 #

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MajorRawne
Forum Regular

Posts: 811
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I'd like to give this post a Thumbs Up, which doesn't begin to describe the awesomeness. My brother is gonna buzz when I tell him about this. Hodges' music re-defined Doom and changed it into something I've never experienced since.

If you can find out what the garbled "speech" is on Toxin Refinery, I will give you a blow-job. Or at least, I'll find someone who will.

11-14-12 15:24 #

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Gez
Why don't I have a custom title by now?!

Posts: 9150
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Aubrey Hodges said:
It's true that my work on Kingdoms of Amalur MMO (Project Copernicus) was a massive accomplishment for me. I personally composed and recorded about 25 hours of music for it. Sadly, no one will probably ever hear it now that 38 Studios is out of business.

Couldn't you get the rights to that music back, then? As the author, and in the absence of a corporate owner, it would make sense to me. (Ask a lawyer first, though. What makes sense and how IP laws work are two very different universes, with exceedingly few overlapping areas.)

Anyway, if you can get ownership of your KOA music, then you could release it as you want. :)

11-14-12 18:57 #

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buttspit
Member

Posts: 381
Registered: 04-11

Mattfrie1 said:
I'd have to say that the track that goes with Geryon in PSX Final Doom is without a doubt the creepiest "song" I've ever heard in a video game. How exactly did you get that eerie whistling sound? To me it sounds like it could either be a squeaky gate or a whistling teapot.

Absolutely. I was well obsessed with that particular track because of that specific tea kettle whistling. It creeped the hell out of me in the past. I still think it makes for good use in horror movie scenes (like, actual horror).

11-15-12 00:40 #

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Avoozl
Indecisive

Posts: 1052
Registered: 06-09

I want to know what that saw like sound is at the start of "PSXMUS13" used in PSX Doom maps 13 and 30 and what the sound that almost sounds like shards of glass continually shattering not long after is.

11-15-12 01:54 #

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Ralphis
IDL Founder

Posts: 8803
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Aubrey Hodges said:
As far as projects that actually were released I am torn between the themes for DOOM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gptHO6JRjA4 and MADDEN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMCb...eature=related. Both have been around for a long time and I was happy with the amount of raw emotion I was able to deliver in each one. The two genres are completly different but both themes felt to me exactly what the franchises needed and still do to this day.

The Madden theme is pretty sweet. I've also probably heard it more than most other songs ever in a game but never even really put the thought into it that it was something special for Madden. It always sounded just like something you'd hear coming back from a commercial on a broadcast and I guess that's a testament to how great of a piece it was. It has accompanied some of my greatest triumphs (crushing a buddy by over 60 points) and some of my darkest hours (same buddy holding me to 0 points).

11-15-12 06:34 #

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Eris Falling
Senior Member

Posts: 1452
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Since there are lots of questions about PSX Music I may as well add my own, since I'm not sure if it was ever really cleared up.

In PSXMUS09 (used in Deimos Anomaly, Perfect Hatred, Lunar Mining Project), the low 'wailing' apparently are actual words slowed/pitched down by a considerable amount. Is this true, and if so, what are they saying?

11-15-12 15:44 #

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