I decided to have a go at something much less orchestral than usual. Still trying to achieve a darker, heavier sound, but I’m still having a really hard time with the sound design. I’m pretty foreign to processing and mixing metal/djent/… drums and guitars, but getting synths to sound dark and organic seems even harder.
Composition…? Well, I start off with some typical hybrid score strings + sound design, but from then on, it’s all basically just me trying to come up with ideas that work, falling back on sound design and cinematic scoring techniques to glue the random pieces together.
From SoundCloud:
Story: Let’s go to hell and slay some demons! Obviously.
Was having vacation (or trying, at least), practicing on various instruments etc - and suddenly: Deadline imminent! And of course, I ditched my original ideas and went with something darker…
I’m still really struggling to come up with ideas that fit this genre, and sound design, mixing and all that is a constant struggle - but I think I’m making progress!
Wow that was wild David! Very demonic sounding indeed! This would’ve fit perfectly in an old game like Doom or The Suffering. Maybe a 21st century, sound design version of the classic Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns!
Really Dark with disturbing undertones that tap into the psyche, I was expecting the drums to be full on deep with a heavier impact but you have chosen some lighter snare sounds which work really well! The programming is very lifelike (if not a real drum loop?) esp. in the crescendos 16ths I can easily envisage plenty of slashing and slaying in this one.
Indeed; drums are programmed, or rather, recorded and just tidied up a bit. BFD3 kits have a bunch of variations (rim, edge, center etc) and lots of velocity layers, so just leaving some “human feel” in the timing and velocity goes a long way. Also, lots of microphones, and leakage between mics is simulated, which helps realism in the mix.
David - wow! Your dramatic first few chords made me think you were going down one route, then comes the metal rock and frightening ghost synth sounds. The drumming and intense sounds make this come alive. The choir breakdown helps to keep things being too static and then you take it up another notch with the next intense section and ridiculously & awesome fast synth.
You went to “11” on this one and that makes it my favourite of all of the submissions for this genre.
