DAR - The Stickney Groove Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-11-19 | I decided to try mixing things up a little bit with this one. One of my first songs in a long long time to have been mostly sequenced out first, rather than my usual "play and record as I go".When I sat down to work on this one, I wanted something more upbeat and almost (for a lack of a better term) "video-gamey". I also knew that I wanted to open with a somewhat "groovy" bass line.Soon enough, I was adding rhythm guitars into the mix, as well as synths.Once I had written/sequenced the first minute or so, I already had ideas for a name. I knew I wanted something with "Groove" in the title. After some thought, I named it "The Stickney Groove" since "Stickney" is the name of Phobos' largest crater. I figured it works out well since the loose plot of Disc 1 is supposed to take place on Phobos (the facility being situated inside of said crater).Originally I was going to have this one be a lot shorter to make it real simple to loop as a midi (for later, when I make "MIDI of The Red Planet Vol. 2"). However, it just didn't feel quite right to do that... it just felt too short.So after I finished recording the bass parts, before putting up my bass, I decided to just play and improvise over the low, droning note in the background.Soon enough, I had a nice mysterious and ominous-sounding riff going. I swear, sometimes I just really love treating my bass as if it was just a taller, more overweight Stratocaster!After the energetic and upbeat tone of the first 2/3 of the song, I wanted to steer the atmosphere back into a more "Doomy-sounding" kind of mood.So far, judging by the current length of the album (~25 minutes), Disc 1 is roughly 33% finished. I'm really going to try and fit as much as I can into this whole album. My aim is to try using most of the ~74 minutes you'd get with an Audio CD.Man, this album is gonna be huge when its finally finished! Anyways, I hope you guys all enjoy this new track! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/qrnbzdzjgku46lx/DAR_-_The_Stickney_Groove.mp3/fileNext Song: "DAR - Crimson Premonition": youtu.be/8Idiw0VwfBUPrevious Song: "DAR - Breach Code": youtu.be/ec9q5xq6oi8----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comCovers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Hollywood Kills [WIP DEMO 02-11-2023] Davester2296 B-Sides 2023-02-14 | At last, the first demo to be uploaded over here! As well as the first upload in at least a couple of years for this channel.So over the weekend I finished writing and started recording what's probably going to be a song on "Vocal Album 2". This also probably has to be one of the darkest songs that I've written so far. Definitely would call this one a tale of tragedy.Got inspired to write this one after watching a documentary about organized-crime involvement in the music/entertainment industry ( youtube.com/watch?v=Z_y_zeql7pc&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE&t=88 good watch by the way). This, along with various clips of famous musicians talking about how exploitative and predatory the industry is.Plus, I've personally heard plenty of stories from various people. Either folks old enough to have a kid fresh out of high school, eager to fly out to some big city to make it big as a musician (usually lured out by some random, supposed hot-shot "producer" or talent-scout). Only then to wind up broke, in debt, and living back with their parents.Also had a friend who knew a dude that thought he struck it big after landing a record-deal. My friend was real excited for his buddy. Couple weeks later, my friend tells me how this guy's been totally screwed over with the contract.Always hate seeing this happen to anybody, but especially to the young, ambitious, and naive talents.So in this song, we've got this young talent that flies himself out to the big city (Los Angeles in this case). Already broke, but determined to "make it". He winds up meeting someone that promises to give him everything, in exchange for his life; its the classic Faustian bargain. Time passes, and fame has fizzled out, and our protagonist has been run ragged, with no time for himself (hence the line "Didn't even have a life to live in"). He begins to question if this was truly what he wanted. He eventually falls into substance-abuse and severe depression, before ultimately taking his own life within the walls of his home in the Hollywood Hills. Our devil/con-man figure, "Old Nick" winds up coming to either collect his literal soul, or the rights in the death clause, along with the insurance payouts.Dark song, like I said. Also I absolutely love the basslines that I came up with for this one. As this is a demo, this is far from finished, but the song structure and most of the lyrics are pretty much set. I still need to use EZDrummer, instead of the general MIDI drums. Same thing with the acoustic guitar. Might experiment with some synths and piano. Probably come up with vocal harmonies for the chorus. But that's all a later thing, since I need to get back to Plutonia! Which by the way, MAP11 is going great! Started recording and working on that here yesterday.When I get the chance I'm going to finish up this song, and give it a proper video and release over on the main channel. Hope you all look forward to it! ~DAROGG DOWNLOAD: mega.nz/file/YCMhnIaZ#gh4D3gpPTMby500oa0G4oRLXspmNRexMwNBA9pL12to-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: reverbnation.com/davester2296All Rights Reserved 2023
DAR - Retrospect (Acoustic Ver.) Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | The final track of ON IMPULSE! I hope the sound of this one is as surprising for all of you as it was for me!After messing with the song order, I thought that Taking Flight would be a good one to end the album on. However, something just felt missing still. I wasn't quite sure what, but all I knew was that I needed just one more song to close the album.I thought about it for a little, and then that's when I realized it. Retrospect! As this album's final nod to the RISEN-era, I would have this album also close out with both "Sky" and "Retrospect"! Rather than just doing an updated rockin' rendition of Retrospect, I wanted it to be acoustic. I KNEW I needed something soft and delicate to close the album, otherwise I'd probably fall into the trap of "just one more song!". However, I didn't have much confidence that I could record a good acoustic track. Despite my pessimism, my inner-optimist still urged me on, "lol, just do it bro."Every other time I've recorded my acoustic, I've always had to have other elements in the track to cover up the background noise. Because of that, an acoustic-only performance had always definitely been out of the question. It was something I thought impossible without at least a better mic and proper audio-interface (with a decent mic-preamp).In fact, a couple of years or so ago, I had to kindly turn down a collaborative offer from a VERY talented singer. To this day, it still bugs me so much that I had to turn her request down! As much as I really wanted to do the collab, it would've been selfish of me to waste someone else's time by delivering a noisy, sub-par acoustic recording.Anyhow, fast-forward to the present, I listened to my inner-optimist and figured that I'd give this acoustic rendition of Retrospect a shot. The small hope that I had for this was riding on the fact that I had originally written Retrospect on my acoustic.I knew I was going to need to change up my method for recording with this song. I wound up using my foot-switchboard to control playback on my computer while recording. The reasoning for this was to get further away from the sound of the fans in my PC. I also wound up having more room to comfortably position the mic and the stand. From there, I did a quick test recording to see if I was just wasting my time... It sounded better, but it still had the noise. I carried on anyway, and started coming up with new little parts for this version of the song.As I continued, I realized that the noise was going to be a huge problem. Eventually, having nothing to really lose by trying it, I added ReaFIR to the start of the acoustic's mixer track. I used its subtractive mode to act as a noise-remover. "What? Why not just use that to begin with?!" you may ask, and the answer is that it usually is hit or miss and can kill the clarity of your recording... usually. Well, after running its analysis on a segment of noise, I hit the spacebar and sat back. I was totally expecting the air and clarity of the acoustic to be dead. Then my jaw dropped... It WORKED! The acoustic sounded wonderful, and the background noise was gone! I've never gotten the noise-remover to build a noise profile this well before! After I got my magic impulse-response from that, I went and saved my effects-chain to preserve it!With renewed vigor, I continued recording. I kept the tempo and structure of the song mostly the same. I added in a different intro, and also added one more verse & chorus. As much as I liked the leads from 2:04-2:49, I wanted to go further. Still feeling great about my earlier discovery, I went and grabbed my guitar slides. I had always thought that the brass one would be my go to for acoustic, but surprisingly, my glass slide just felt and sounded the best.3:31 after finding my preferred slide, it was time to go all feelsy southern-boy for this bit! This was incredibly satisfying to play. Actually, I think this is the first time I've ever played slide on my acoustic!To wrap up this whole thing I also found a nice free cajon soundfont. Pretty happy with it and the chill beat I made up for this!Also, the breath and sigh are a bit of a cheeky inside joke for myself. When recording the acoustic in the past, sometimes I'd pick up my breathing or even the sound of my metronome coming from my headphones!Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this track as well as the rest of the album! ~DAR[EDITOR'S NOTE: Also, "DAR - UNPLUGGED" album WHEN? ~Bones]DOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like Share and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - The Shores of Destiny Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | Continuing on my journey of rekindling my love for my Stratocaster, I decided to experiment with some CLEAN double-tapping.Yes, ALL the clean guitar parts you hear in this song were tapped! Even the first distorted lead solo that runs from 3:44-4:46 was also done entirely by tapping! While this isn't the first time I've double-tapped, this is certainly the first time that its been this melodic!The only other times that really spring to mind were when I did, "Leaving Shore" and, "A Storm At Sea" from the RISEN album. Speaking of which, that's where part of the inspiration for the name came from! Since those two had been my first tapping songs, that's where I took the "Shores" part for the name. The "Destiny" part comes from my song "Change Destiny" off of the SOLITUDE OF MIND EP. Something about this song just really takes me back to the mood and feeling of that particular song. Anyhow, when I mashed the names together, I figured that, "The Shores of Destiny" sounded pretty kickass \m/!I had also envisioned some kind of mystic and ethereal location for this song. Perhaps our protagonist went from Fever Dream and wound up "waking up" still within a dream or some other realm. A mystic shore inhabited by birds and other critters. Hell, its even got seafaring loons!... Sure, I guess maybe I could've thrown in some seagull cries or something instead, but the cries of the loon felt oddly fitting for the intro.Alright, back to the music! I'm very happy that I'm FINALLY able to play CLEAN double-tapped parts! This is something that I can only really do on my Strat surprisingly. A compressor is ESSENTIAL for this as well, that and low string-action. My Ibanez could probably do it too, but I don't have hex wrenches small enough to fiddle with the saddle heights. I decided on a whim to try using one of the direct-input presets that I saved on my POD 2. It was a preset where I had heavy compression, and intended only to ever use it with my microphones. I thought it'd be WAY too noisy to use on guitar, especially a Strat! To my surprise though... it worked pretty nicely! I had so much fun tapping out the clean parts. This is a sound and style that has eluded me for YEEEEARS, words just can't describe how jazzed I am about this!I also had LOTS of fun playing the solo that starts at 5:57. It was one of those really rare times where while I was zoned out and noodling around, I actually made silly guitar faces while playing. I thought about using my Ibanez for this one, but I was curious about how this lead idea would sound through my Strat's neck-pickup. I've gotta say, I felt incredibly nostalgic playing a solo like that on my Strat for the first time in quite a while! Took me back to my pre-Ibanez days of playing! It makes me incredibly happy to realize that my Strat still definitely has a place not only doing clean parts, but even solo leads!This track was originally going to be the closing track for the album, but I wound up messing with the track order and put "Taking Flight" as the closer... but even then, I still felt like there needed to be one more song. Something else to close out the album with!.... but what?Anyways, I hope you all enjoy what is probably my longest original yet! I didn't intend for it to run for 8 minutes... is this how it begins? Is it now only a matter of time before I unintentionally churn out some 11 or 15-minute track?! ~DARDOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - Buh-Bye Heavy Lullaby Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | So, there's actually a funny story behind the name and origin of this particular song. Shoutout to my pal, Jodnafl, for the role he unknowingly had in all of this!Before I get to the funny stuff though, this song originally had its start back around the time when I was composing tracks for the RIFT Project. I think that's why the atmosphere of this song feels somewhat similar to my RIFT tracks... That and I think the layered acoustic and harpsichords probably have something to do with it too! Slightly reminds me of "Limbo" because of that. However, this one reminds me of my song "Spacewalk" from HORIZONS as well, but more on that later.Anyhow, on to the funny origin! So, back in the Summer of 2020, my good friend Jodnafl had become interested in maybe trying his hand at music (again). Rather than try and teach him guitar stuff again, I encouraged him to try messing around with MIDI. That evening I went over how simple it was to start fiddling around with making your own MIDI tunes. I picked out instruments and started building them one by one. For the most part, I was placing notes around haphazardly, to demonstrate that there's not really anything fancy needed to start writing music. Well anyways, Jodnafl wound up falling asleep in the call at some point (poor guy had a long day).I had come to really like this short MIDI idea that I had just spontaneously threw together. I thought of maybe using it for RIFT, but wasn't quite sure, so I just stuck this on the backburner for half a year! At some point, I jokingly came up with the name "Buh-Bye Heavy Lullaby" since my friend had drifted to sleep while I was playing it over the stream/call. So that's how this song and its name came to be!Once more, I wanted to continue my journey of rekindling my love for my Stratocaster. So once again, all the cleans were recorded with my Strat! While working on this one, I remembered something my dad had asked me about years ago when I was still just learning how to play the guitar. I remembered he'd ask if I'd ever experimented with plucking the strings right at the bridge, since it gives off a very different sound. Its something I've always been aware of, but I've never really had an opportunity or use for that kind of tone. Finally, after seeing a video where a famous session guitarist talked about using this tone (on a Strat too!), I figured it was finally time to give it a try in this song!Its a sound that I don't think can really be done by any other guitar. Sure, others could imitate it maybe, but it wouldn't quite sound right. The clean guitar on the left-side in the intro is the sound that I'm talking about. That bright and glassy Strat tone! Not only do you pluck at the bridge, but you make sure to use the neck pickup as well. The bell-tone of the Strat really comes through in the neck pickup, and then by playing at the bridge, it becomes glassy!Oh also, speaking of experimenting with things... This song marks my first slide lead solo! I've never experimented much with my slides (I had bought 3 of the dadgum things years ago from Guitar Center). I've only really used them briefly that one time in my E1M3 cover. I also used them as a way to get some neat effects, like in "Hypernova" from HORIZONS.Well at 1:43 is when the slide lead starts. I suppose it might be a bit subtle, but it becomes a lot more apparent starting at 2:00. It was pretty fun getting to use my glass slide for this section!I also quite enjoyed playing the rest of the leads too! It feels like it has a sort of RISEN sound to it. I also had fun making the harp part that plays throughout the song. During most of the song, its just backing up the clean Strat, but by the end, I let it gently close out the song.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the song! ~DARDOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - Fever Dream Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | It was while working on this song that I came to dislike how the mixing of the album had sounded thus far.I wound up changing pieces of the kit in EZDrummer 2, as well as how I mixed the drums. I also made use of another bass cab-IR and blended it with my usual one. These two changes would then be applied to all the other songs in the album as well.I also used one of my old favorite amp sims; Lepou's Le456! Also during the production of this song, I wanted to try and rekindle my love for my Stratocaster... The poor thing has been mostly sidelined ever since I got my Ibanez. So, as my first step to really get my Strat back into the fray, I used it to record all the clean guitar parts, as well as the distorted guitar heard on the left-side.With this song, I guess I just couldn't help but dip my toe back into that "RED PLANET"-sound! This one reminds me of "D3_T0X" a little bit, except less electronic, and more emphasis on the guitars... mixed with a HORIZONS sort of feeling too (that dreamy piano certainly has something to do with it!).The little narrative that I had pictured for this song was someone getting ready and settled for bed, then falling into a dark and bizarre fever dream (hey look, its the name of the song!). I dunno, maybe the protagonist of this song wound up having a dream where he became Sin-Slayer from the RED PLANET saga!Starting off with some nice little chords from the Strat, things feel nice and relaxed. In the beginning, it represents the moments before drifting off, and then at the end, it represents slowly awaking from the dream. I also enjoyed running those cleans through that rotary-speaker effect! I think it really added to the relaxed and trippy atmosphere of the song. Also that clean lead that plays after the chords finish should sound familiar! Bit of a throwback to "Distant Transmission" from New Genesis! Felt right to throw that in as the transition going from the relaxed chords then being hit with the fever dream!I also tried layering in some General MIDI stuff with everything. I think the most obvious would be the slap bass sound, I blended that in to get more clickiness from the bass part. I also layered a sawtooth-lead and MIDI guitar on the left and right, respectively. I feel like they both managed to sit quite nicely underneath the rhythm guitars.Anyways, this one was pretty fun and relaxing to put together. Something nice, heavy, and slow to give a contrast to the brighter and upbeat songs in this album. Hope you all enjoy the track! ~DARDOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - Taking Flight (Sky III) Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | [UPDATED: January 27th, 2021]==================================={ORIGINAL POST August 2nd, 2020 (youtu.be/NOH6lowWE2Q)}:Time for another iteration of "Sky"! Following in the same footsteps as the previous two versions, this one opens up nice and calm. I decided to add some strings this time around to make things sound more "dramatic". During the minute-long intro, I pictured a flight of fighter-jets flying in formation, returning to base as the sun sets. However, the calm doesn't last forever and is soon broken! Enemy contact and radar-guided missiles cause the flight to quickly perform evasive maneuvers!This take on "Sky" is probably the most energetic of the three so far! I wanted to write one more upbeat track for this album before I start working on some slower and more mellow tunes. I want to try and keep the pacing of the album fairly balanced. Since these four tracks so far are pretty upbeat, I'll have a few slower and softer tracks make up the middle of the album. Then for the end of the album, I'll finish it off with similarly slow, but heavier-hitting jams to wrap everything up.I think I managed to squeeze in enough of the original Sky's lead melodies to go along with the new melodies for this version. Also, a bit of a side note about my particular fondness for Sky: Not only am I fond of Sky because of it being the first of my originals to receive praise, but the main melody was something I alllways would play as a warm-up for myself. I can't remember how far back, but I know that every time when I'd finish tuning my guitar, I would often play the melody for Sky (fun fact: the intro to "End This Cycle" from the New Genesis album was also another one of my goto warmups way back then!).Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this new alternate take on Sky! ~DAR===============================DOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - The Fractured Horizons Returns Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | [UPDATED: January 27th, 2021]==================================={ORIGINAL POST April 18th, 2020 (youtu.be/dQCM1ADwV3c)}:After escaping that hypernova at the end of HORIZONS, the Fractured Horizons and her crew continue their sorties out into unknown space.So this track is an obvious throwback to the HORIZONS album. I was actually working on something else when the idea for this song popped into my mind. I had finished up recording some lead parts for another song and to unwind I started noodling around on the guitar. That noodling around became the leads for the part that plays from 0:36-1:28.Liking what I heard, I quickly recorded it and started building on to it from there. At some point I added in the piano, and eventually I started to get some space vibes. I had a hard time trying to think up a name for this track. The one thing I knew for sure is that this was going to be a space-inspired tune.For a bit, I wasn't sure whether to have this be a slower song, or be an energetic jam... so I figured "ah what the hell, why not both?". Liked the back and forth going from the quieter clean/chorus guitar passages back into the energetic sections.As I finished up recording, I still couldn't think of any names that I liked. I kept listening to the song and eventually I started thinking back to my HORIZONS album. In particular, I started thinking about the very loose story in that album. I started imagining the ship, Fractured Horizons, heading back out on a brand-new mission. Exploring the mysteries and perils of uncharted space.As I thought about this, I wound up adding the little sound effects there in the intro and outro. I imagined it being the sound of the ship's engines calmly chugging along (its okay, sound still travels in space in this universe!).Working on this track has reminded me just how much I'd really like to make a HORIZONS II album eventually. For the time being though, this single track will have to scratch that itch.Anyways, hope you all enjoy! ~DAR==================================DOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - Start Your Engines! Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | [UPDATED: January 27th, 2021]==================================={ORIGINAL POST March 5th, 2020 (youtu.be/oOmZgSrrb1o)}:Can't have a return to the old style without having at least ONE racing-inspired track! Thinking of race-cars or space (or both: Rocket Racer & Hypernova!) have always been my go-to inspirations when writing jams. Racing's rock 'n roll!Things really came together rather quickly for this tune. Sat down last night, and already had the intro riff playing in my head. Once that riff was recorded, I started chugging along and tracked the rhythm guitar parts. As things quickly moved along, a daydream of an intense race began to take hold. Imagining the beginning part with the drivers all starting up their cars. Engines growling until they finally speed off at 0:39. Then some downshifting and corners at 1:07, and then flooring it for the long straight at 2:17.I also decided to sprinkle little hints of Rocket Racer and Hypernova into the leads for the bit from 2:52-3:20. Really had a blast recording the leads for the later half of the song! I have a pretty good feeling that this is going to be the opening track for the album.Anyways, I hope you guys all enjoy the new jam!~DARDOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
DAR - Memoria Davester2296 B-Sides 2021-01-27 | [UPDATED: January 27th, 2021]============================={ORIGINAL POST March 3rd, 2020 (youtu.be/YJZU7LFTAI8)}:Surprise, its the beginnings of a brand-new album!! The idea for this album just suddenly came to me.For a very long time, I've often thought about returning to my roots. I've thought about going back to my old style of playing and song-writing. A style that I haven't touched since my Solitude/RISEN/New-Genesis era (late 2014-early 2015). (The album art is also a bit of a throwback to RISEN's art.)I was very tempted to start on RED PLANET III (I've even got several song ideas already floating around)... However, while messing with the Cyclic Divide Redux, I started to feel nostalgic for my old style once again. Despite being my 4th album, most of the songs in Cyclic Divide were all ideas that had their start from before the Solitude-of-Mind EP. Anyways, so at some point, while reworking Always Right, I realized that I was going to need to re-record the lead guitars (and would probably need to do so for Fate as well).To be perfectly honest, I felt REALLY lazy, and wound up procrastinating a bit. I spent half of my time rediscovering Freespace Open and the Wing Commander series, and the other half was spent doing more research into audio mastering. I haven't touched any covers, mainly out of fear that I might horribly butcher something with a bad mastering job.Needing a fresh angle to look at (or hear) things, I decided I'd write a new song to test the waters. I also wound up writing this because for the longest time, I was worried that after all of the DOOM covers and RED PLANET tracks, I thought I was incapable of doing something in this style again.For better or for worse, my brain defaults to the darker, heavier, RED-PLANET-styled riffs whenever I mess around on the guitar now these days. So I was very excited when I had started on Memoria. Memoria actually got its start as a test song to try out a new guitar tone (when I thought I had totally lost all my old guitar presets).Honestly, the new tone sucked and so I put this track on the backburner for a while. Thankfully, I figured out a workaround in order to get my usual guitar-tone preset working.So anyway, when I sat down to work on this track again, I went and completely redid the guitars and bass. There had also only been about 1-minute worth of song as well. I wound up adding in the clean/chorusy guitar segments, in order to help give contrast to the louder sections.I was going to add some string sections here and there, but decided against it. I decided to go with my old mentality of doing mostly without synths/extras and just sticking with guitars (and well... maybe the occasional piano). The idea was to hit that record button and just jam to my heart's content. Rocking out with as few bells and whistles as possible. Playing on impulse!I think that's partially why this one's become my longest original yet... Just jamming out, paying no mind to track length.After recording and mixing, it was time to do the mastering. It was then that I realized, I had fallen to the dark side... I goofed and completely fell into the loudness wars madness while doing the Fate redux stuff. It became very apparent to me on this song when I was using the settings I used for the Fate redux. The snare had been squashed to hell compared to the pre-master.So from there, I tried pushing the audio as high as I could without getting such heavy compression. I think this time, I've finally got a better grasp of things.Anyways, its been a fun learning experience, and even more fun to have written an upbeat and energetic track such as this one! Hope you all enjoy and look forward to more from On Impulse. No worries, the Cyclic Divide Redux will still be getting some love and attention too.As for covers, I think I'm going to put out a few more originals before I set my focus back on covers again. I really just want to make sure I get all the kinks worked out.~DARDOWNLOAD ALBUM: mediafire.com/file/qqbta5abf0ip3xt/DAR+-+On+Impulse+(2021)+[FULL+ALBUM].7z/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2021
Infiltrator | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-12-23 | First track of "Volume 2" of the soundtrack! I'm going to try and go for more "orchestral" styled tracks for this leg of the soundtrack. This particular song had started out as an experiment, trying to replicate certain elements from RtCW's soundtrack.One of those elements being those short, low brass notes that are prominent in the soundtrack. I found it a bit tricky to try and imitate that within the limitations of a soundfont. Obviously you can't really use any of the brass instrument patches to achieve this. I mean, you could, but it'd sound downright cheesy, I think... like a bunch of comical staccato farts... totally the opposite of the serious and tense mood that I'm aiming for. I think I've been able to get somewhat close by using this combination of the "sawtooth" and "string ensemble 1" sounds (plus some support from the timpani/kettle-drums).Another brass-related element that I was interested in trying to imitate are those brass rips (?). Not quite sure what the fancy technical term for this is, but as an example, you can hear these being utilized in the intro movie for RtCW. Its those dramatic-sounding, quick rising brass notes that you hear (youtu.be/QcYHJcNfDB4?t=58). In my own song here, my attempt at such a sound can be first heard at around 0:09. Once again, just straight-up using the brass patches just doesn't quite sound right. Now, its not like the staccato tuba farts problem from earlier. This time, it just sounds too "clean" for this sound. Perhaps some detuning and fiddling with pitch automation might be worth a shot in future experiments, but I decided on something else instead for this track. Through a combination of the "lead Fifths", "echoes", and "harp" sounds, I think I've been able to pull it off somewhat.Once my experimentation was finished, the song just kinda went and pulled me into its own sort of direction. In fact, things were so spontaneous with this song, I hadn't even properly set the correct tempo and time signature! I had written it as 142bpm and a combination of 23/16 and 6/4. Listening to it now, after the fact, it sounds much more like ~94bpm and in 4/4 time (with the exception of 3/4 heard at around 0:43-0:45).Anyways, hope you all enjoy this new track! ~DARMIDI Download: mediafire.com/file/fygwjqo2uvjwosx/DAR+-+Infiltrator.mid/fileOriginally completed on December 19th, 2020-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Come With Me Before They Get You | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] (Wolf3D/Terminator mashup!) Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-24 | Never in a million years would I have ever thought of mashing together Wolfenstein's "Get Them Before They Get You" and the Main Theme from Terminator! So very big thanks goes out to Raees for having such a moment of genius! The short proof-of-concept audio clip he sent over to me also really helped a lot as well.In terms of how this would fit in the mod, way early on in the soundtrack, Raees had floated this idea around. How it'd be neat to have this mashup of Wolfenstein and Terminator and use the song for a secret level with a Terminator easter-egg sort of thing going on. Its not too far-fetched an idea either, after all we've got the Ubermensch mechs in the mod. Most of them are human-operated while a few are totally autonomous.I'm just surprised how well the two tracks meshed together! Both are the same tempo: 90bpm/180bpm (same thing, just depends on how you want to write your notation and spacing of notes). So there wasn't any tweaking really needed in terms of the tempo. As for key, I just bumped up Wolfenstein's track by two semi-tones in order to make things fit with Terminator's original key. I wound up having to remove a couple of the flute harmonies for the Wolfenstein track, since I needed to make enough room for Terminator's melody and it's supporting string sections!I also wound up using an instrument change for once, mainly because the clarinet on the left got drowned out by the string ensemble. However, along with being really drowned out, part of the clarinet's sound still managed to cut through, and it made this really weird-sounding mess of notes. So to avoid that, I made it switch over to the synth brass 1 sample when the strings all kick in. Then as the part finishes up, I had it switch back over to the clarinet.Really enjoyed making this little "Wolfenator" mashup! I also had a bit of fun while I was listening to the MIDI, I decided to goof around and quickly create that silly little image you see in the video!Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! VOLUME 1 of the soundtrack will be making its way to the Covers channel quite soon, as well as a nice showcase video about the Wolfenstein Rising project! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/qcaiv2gnstnhg45/Come+With+Me+Before+They+Get+You.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --November 18th, 2020--Composition Credits:"Get Them Before They Get You" originally composed by Bobby Prince"Terminator - Main Theme" originally composed by Brad Fiedel-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com
Get Psyched! | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-21 | Here's another one that got its initial start from and idea that Raees had sent over to me. This one wound up deviating a bit from the original 9-second song idea. Despite the changes made, the bass progression remained the same! The only tweak to the bass that I made was to articulate it a little by using octave notes. Oh and I also kept the original's 6/4 time signature! Working outside of 4/4 is always a treat since it means I can get a little fancy with the drums!The initial idea didn't have any percussion, so I had myself a bit of fun making the drum parts using some soft toms here and there, and throwing in triangles, claves, and guiros!I wound up having to change the synth string part since it didn't quite flow too well with the other new parts I threw into the song. Such as that clean guitar part on the left! That part was actually going to be an Electric Grand Piano (Patch 3 in General MIDI), however it wound up sounding too bright and was somewhat disruptive of this smooth, dark mood the song had going. I settled on the Jazz guitar (Patch 27) since its tone made for a much better fit!I also had fun just sprinkling around some celestas on the right, and even some pizzicato string parts on the left. Especially towards the end, I wanted this moment of like anxiousness to take hold before things calmed back down into the calm and calculating atmosphere of the song.There was one more part from the original that managed to also make it into this (mostly) unchanged. Its that sort of flute/synth-voice sound that you can hear starting at 0:53. I feel like that bit made for a nice build up before that pay-off with the guitars kicks in!Also once again, I've used patch 87 in General MIDI (5ths synth), this time making it detune slightly at times. I really am becoming fond of this sample now! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the MIDI! I also hope you all look forward to the upcoming final song of VOLUME 1 of the soundtrack! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/sviu6o50ik2aa87/Get+Psyched.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --November 16th, 2020--Composition Credits: Davester2296, Raees Kamaar-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Descent Into Peril | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-21 | Big thanks goes out to Raees for coming up with the initial and main idea of this song (0:00-0:28), as well as the title!I wound up tweaking the drum-beat a little, added triangles, the occasional clave, and even some guiros and cuicas! I really loved the feeling of descending into danger (or peril!) this track gives off. I could imagine this being used for a level that has you start off riding an elevator down into a big industrial-like facility. I was also going to use the "telephone ring" sample from General MIDI in order to make this sort of "alarm bell" effect that would pan from left to right throughout the song. However, I had to scrap that idea since it only really sounded good with the gzdoom and default windows soundfonts. The sound was very grating in some others, or just totally negligible in others, so that's why it got axed. Perhaps the alarm idea could be implemented into the level as some sort of ambient sound for the map!Aside from that, I also came up with a piano part for the song. I really wanted it to give it this "danger approaching", slightly discordant sort of sound. Then to add on to that feeling, I wound up using a sound I never thought I'd ever find use for! Patch 87, bank 0 in General MIDI, which is basically a synth playing 5th chords. For a long time I always wondered to myself, "when would I ever really use this sample?". Then when I was working on this song, I decided to use it instead of reaching for the synth strings samples. Its that synth that plays on the left side, accompanying the piano part.I always like to have a bit of contrast with tunes like this, so whereas the main part feels anxious and uncertain, I created a triumphant-sounding guitar section. I also tried to give a couple of the guitar notes my signature kind of bends when playing leads. Anyhow, after having a moment of triumph and confidence, it transitions into a more aggressive sound, then it finally goes back into that anxious atmosphere.Also fun fact, Raees named it "Descent Into Peril" because the initial idea had given him a sort of Descent vibe.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the MIDI! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/y15742hhy5rpvh3/Descent+Into+Peril.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --November 15th, 2020--Composition Credits: Davester2296, Raees Kamaar-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Ending The Fight | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] (Wolf3D End of Level rock remix) Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-18 | So for this one, Raees had asked if I could give the End of Level theme a bit of a kick, a version that would be suitable for combat or for a boss fight. Admittedly, I wasn't sure what to do at first. However, after a few days, I figured to just make things really rock \m/!My logic dictating that if there's going to be an epic ass-whooping happening, then there's gotta be a guitar thrown into the mix somewhere (most of the time). I also decided to up the tempo back to the original speed (I think). This was a really fun one to do, I especially enjoyed creating the new bit that's first heard at 0:19.All in all, I think this would fit pretty well for combat! At the very least, it certainly would make a great alternate End of Level theme for the intermission after beating a boss level!MIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/bqo9frq685yhimx/Wolf3D+-+Ending+the+Fight+[End+of+Level+remix_2+by+Davester2296].mid/fileOriginally Completed on --April 20th, 2020--"End of Level" originally composed by Bobby Prince-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com
U R A Hero | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-18 | Hip-hip hooray! Bust out the big fanfare for our hero! This was among some of the other tracks Raees had requested an extension/remix of. I don't think any other song could take this one's place, its just absolutely perfect for the ending!As a kid, I really loved this tune (even as short as it was)! So I felt very nostalgic while working on this one. I did my best to preserve the triumphant and heroic atmosphere of the original. I threw in some strings, a piano part, and messed with the brass section a little. Whereas the original main loop is proud, loud, and powerful, the new bit I've added on is quieter in contrast. Quieter, but still very triumphant. Almost kind of like basking in the glory and celebration before the big fanfare sounds off once more!Anyways, now while this may be the ending song, I've still got four more songs left to upload before wrapping things up for VOLUME 1! Hope you all enjoy and look forward to the remaining tracks! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/bm8r0vu36yyxjyn/Wolf3D+-+U+R+A+Hero+[v2]+[remix+by+Davester2296].mid/fileOriginally Completed on --October 12th, 2019--"U R A Hero" originally composed by Bobby Prince-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com
Der Spion | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-18 | SPION! Sorry, couldn't help myself... So, "Der Spion" or "The Spy", this one's actually an old song I wrote back in like... the beginning of 2010 I think? It was back in the old days when I was still naming my song ideas "DAR's Song## / DAR's Riffs## / DAR's Beats##". Of course, once those got well into the triple digits (oh the horror), I thankfully switched to just naming untitled songs after the date that I started working on them.Anyhow, this was still among the first 50 or so of the "DAR's Song##" series that actually had proper names attached to them. So this one was originally known as "DAR's Song41 - Seashore Murder Mystery" before getting its long awaited facelift and transformation into "Der Spion"The original idea consisted only of the percussion, harpsichord part, and that "FX 5 Brightness" part (the instrument played on the right speaker).I had changed up the song structure since the original's structure didn't quite flow so smoothly. As I did this, I quickly imagined a fretless bass part that would play throughout the whole song. There's something about this bass part that reminds me of something, but I can't quite figure out what. I also made some slight changes to the drums, and also added some pizzicato strings towards the end.Now, while I'm not sure where my inspiration for that bass came from, the inspiration for the harpsichord, now that I DO remember! Sometime in early 2010, I had just re-watched "K-PAX" and I had always loved the main theme from that movie (song titled "Grand Central"). If you go and listen to it, somewhere in the later half of the theme, there's this xylophone/marimba part. I remember wanting to try and recreate that somewhat by ear way waaaay back then. My rendition was far from perfect though, and I wound up doing my own sort of thing with it. But yeah, that's how the harpsichord melody came to be!Anyways, hope you all enjoy the track! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/0cjgugqdzsegqcm/DAR+-+Der+Spion.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --November 22nd, 2019---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Mondschein | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-18 | The song name may be German, but just saying it aloud should give a pretty good idea of what it means in English. "Mond" being "Moon" and "schein" being "shine", thus "Moonshine"... okay, maybe not THAT kinda moonshine, though I don't doubt that those Moon Nazis probably have some distilleries/breweries up there on the Lunar Base! I mean, how else would they still be able to celebrate Oktoberfest otherwise?!This one's quite an energetic and electronic tune! I had written this one imagining one of the Lunar levels from Episode 3. Runnin' and gunnin' through a fancy lunar base, I really really wanted to convey that sense of energy and that feeling of being in such a "high-tech" facility!Also, the part from 0:19-0:26 really gives me a strong "Into the Beast's Belly" vibe!Anyways, hope you enjoy this tune! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/qx4fx8pq7uzh7h6/DAR+-+Mondschein.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --November 22nd, 2019---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
The Office of Secret Actions | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-15 | I'm actually very fond of this particular track. Mainly because I remember when Raees first sent over the screenshots of the map, I felt really inspired and I just absolutely loved the design and atmosphere of the level! I also remember being so excited when I finally got to walk around the map for the first time while listening to this MIDI!A large government building, bustling with men in suits, the ol' Stars & Stripes and Union Jack proudly hanging in the busy reception area. BJ had entered into this busy lobby during the night, after narrowly escaping capture by Nazi forces. He was now on his way to report to the Director of the OSA.This song takes inspiration from the song that plays during the OSA briefings in Return to Castle Wolfenstein (the song itself is actually just titled as "Return To Castle Wolfenstein"). I really wanted to maintain this somber and heavy atmosphere, in order to go along with the grave situation the world was faced with in the story. Trips to the OSA would be a somewhat frequent occurrence throughout the game (mainly as a means of delivering important plot elements and whatnot).Anyways, hope you all enjoy the MIDI! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/r1wistwxqdl6ym8/DAR+-+The+Office+of+Secret+Actions.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --October 14th, 2019---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
End of Level | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] (Wolf3D End of Level Remix) Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-15 | So here's another one of the reimagined/extended tracks that Raees had requested for the soundtrack! This is actually one of two end level themes for the project. The other one, which I've titled "Ending The Fight" is a pretty jammin' rock rendition of the End of Level theme (but I'll get to uploading that one after I've put out the rest of Volume 1 of the soundtrack).Taking and expanding upon a short loop is always a challenging (but fun!) exercise in music composition! I really wanted this to retain the mood and feel of the original. Something I did decide to change up however was the tempo. I had debated whether to stick with the original tempo or stick with slowing things down a bit. In the end, I decided to go with the slower tempo to make things sound more dramatic and to kind of convey that feeling of "Damn, I really managed to make it through that level somehow!"I added some new string ensemble (and other) parts to go along with this more dramatic atmosphere. I also made some very subtle changes to the french horn sections, timpani/kettle-drums, and synth bass parts.MIDI DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/i75j1tyrkgw6ucg/Wolf3D+-+End+of+Level+[remix+by+Davester2296].mid/fileOriginally Completed on --October 3rd, 2019--"Wolfenstein 3D - End of Level" originally composed by Bobby Prince-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com
Lingering Headache | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] - (Pounding Headache remix) Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-11-15 | A remix of Wolf3D's Pounding Headache! Technically this ought to be over on the covers channel, but ah what the hell, this soundtrack will make its way over to that channel eventually.This is the first of a handful of remixed/reimagined Wolf3D songs in this soundtrack. With this song in particular, I wanted to give it more tension and have it sound more foreboding. One of the ways I went about doing that was to take some inspiration from Doom's E1M5 "Suspense". The "rising" strings from Suspense, as well as the new little choir part really added to the atmosphere that I was going for.Anyways, hope you all enjoy the midi! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/q027dvq3cys6zok/DAR_-_Lingering_Headache.mid/fileOriginally Completed on --September 17th, 2019--"Pounding Headache" originally composed by Bobby Prince-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com
DAR - Get Gored Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-09-13 | I literally couldn't think about or work on anything else as soon as I started on this track. Man, there is so much going on in the guts of this song, I don't know where to begin!For starters, I think this is probably the HEAVIEST thing I've ever done with my Stratocaster (it was like falling in love all over again!). I usually don't go for my strat for hi-gain stuff anymore. However, in an ironic twist of events, the reason I don't usually use it for hi-gain became the reason I DID use it for this track! My Strat's just too bright and twangy at times for me to want to use it more often for the sound that I usually work with. That brightness however came in handy for this track, because I decided to pitch-shift the guitar tracks. The chugga-chuggas you hear are actually two parts layered together. After recording my two tracks to pan hard left and right, I pitch-shifted them down -800 cents, and made copies that were shifted +400 cents. I pitched things down as an experiment to see how things sounded compared to if I had just gone all loose-noodles and down-tuned to Drop-A. The idea being that I had my Strat in a drop tuning but with decent string-tension. That in combination with the strat's brightness would help it retain its clarity when being pitched down. I also chopped the hell out of the guitar tracks (as you'll probably notice by the aggressive stutters).I spent quite a bit of time looking around for various synth VSTi's. The one that really stood out though was Bazz::Murda (developed by DistoCore). This song/style just wouldn't be the same without that epic distorted synth kick! I also played around with running Helm through some distortion and then into an amp-sim and cab-sim (with some reverb tacked on to the end of the chain!). That's how I got that noisy ambient sound that you hear in the beginning.Speaking of the beginning, oh man, you don't know how happy I was when I was messing around with the bass line from "I Live Again". I chopped it up a bit and had parts pitch-shift down -200 cents every once in a while. After tweaking the bass amp-sim and some other things, I had the biggest and dumbest grin on my face when I finally heard those little -200 cent down-tunes!Originally this track wasn't going to have an intro, but I felt like it was just too short and in the end, I really wanted to build up to the big chugga-chuggas. So while the main chunk of the song took a bit of inspiration from "Matador of Cydonia" (and maybe a liiiittle bit of nuDOOM's "Rip&Tear"), the intro became a mashup of "The Phobos Anomaly" and "I Live Again".I also had quite a bit of fun just throwing in various percussion samples (from within FL Studio), and tweaking the samples around. Its novel for me because I've never really bothered with messing around with electronic drum/percussion samples like this (always just preferred going after acoustic drum sounds instead).Something neat that I came across while working on this was "Couture", a transient shaper/enhancer. Really neat little plug-in that I think I'm going to wind up always throwing on to my drum busses from now on! It really made stuff like the snare sound a lot more punchy!Lastly, from 3:16-3:42 I wound up sampling and throwing in the one bend from "Matador of Cydonia".Anyhow, as for album art, the Skriken finally get to make their debut on a RED PLANET album/EP! These not-so-cuddly fellas were from some concept art I drew on paper around this time last year. At that time I was creating a series-bible for RED PLANET, and one of the things I also came up with were a couple of monsters. One didn't really get fleshed out much, but the Skriken was different. Tall, lanky, and veiny, the skriken operate as a hive-mind and act as the eyes of hellish invasion. They don't usually fight, they just quietly observe and watch their victims. However, should they feel threatened, they let out piercing shriek and will swarm their target. Their shriek is where their namesake is from (Skriken is Middle English for "scream"). In any case, our two space marines in the cover art are probably about to have a VERY bad time.Anyways, hope you all enjoy my first attempt at trying to sound like a discount-Mick-Gordon! ~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/n9qsgtrbgwen89m/DAR+-+Get+Gored.opus/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
DAR - Indomitable Spirit Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-09-10 | Well, this was certainly an unexpected development! So for the last couple of days, I've been experimenting around a little. My original intention was to practice making something really heavy with guitars and synths (like trying to imitate Mick Gordon or Celldweller). Of course as one can hear from this song, I wound up straying really far from my original goal. Instead of being dark and heavy, it became this bright and upbeat jam!I had started off with creating the main drum loop, and then recorded the guitar parts. It was while I was recording the lead parts that I realized that the mood of the song was going to be totally different from my original starting point. Not sure what to really think of it at first, I just continued working through it for the sake of messing around with synths and electronic drum samples. At some point, I also decided to throw in a piano and then ran it through my favorite tube-screamer VST (TSE808 2.0).As things continued to take shape, I kept thinking to myself, "Man, this sounds really anime!... or something."I could imagine this song being used for some big final battle, where the protagonist just got totally beat by the evil Mr. Big-Bad, but then has some... oh I don't know, "power of friendship" or some other revelation suddenly come to him. Fueled by this realization, he continues the fight with a renewed and "Indomitable Spirit"!Anyhow, this thought process lead to me being a bit cheeky by throwing in some Japanese text for the album art. The bottom being "Saishū kessen" (Final Battles) and the top literally being an engrish pronunciation of Davester2296 (Dei-bu-sta 2296)! As usual, I love having some space/stars theme going on for my backgrounds, but I still felt like being a little cheesy. So I drew a couple of fine gentlemen, wielding laser katanas, all powered-up and ready to clash in the vacuum of space in order to resolve their differences.I really enjoyed working on this since it felt so different from all the other originals that I've made so far. If I ever come up with any other upbeat electronic-rock tracks like this, this will be the album that I pour them into! Don't know how often that will be though, since I still really want to finish up "On Impulse" and the "Cyclic Divide Redux"... as well as start on a RED PLANET EP that tries to imitate the sound of the new DOOM titles (need to get some practice in before the inevitable "DOOM 2016" marathon happens some time down the road). I do look forward to writing more material for this project though. The idea of an album consisting entirely of "Final Battle" songs just sounds really cool!Anyways, hope you all enjoy the song! ~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/v4s1ooq5buu0roy/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Upon The Rampart | RIFT Original Soundtrack Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-06-23 | OPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/fnb4h0spnue763k/RIFT_-_Upon_The_Rampart.opus/fileWrote this one specifically for MAP02: Ancient Stronghold. As evident by the song and map names, the level has this cool castle/fort theme going on!The very first thing to come to my mind was that I wanted this track to have a harpsichord. I had originally planned for this one to sound more "medieval" and possibly more gothic-sounding. By the end of this though, I felt like the song really kinda gives off a "HORIZONS" vibe (especially the lead guitar towards the end).I wasn't sure if I should go and start from scratch again to try and go for the "medieval" sound that I wanted. Mulled it over for a bit as I watched a preview video of MAP02 while listening to the song on loop. After a while, I felt like this was the best fit for the level.Anyways, hope you all enjoy this new track for RIFT! ~DAR-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
DAR - Not There [REDUX] | { OLD VER. } Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-06-21 | OPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/shm1bn2zrt465x6/DAR_-_Not_There_%5BREDUX%5D.opus/fileLYRICS [curse my habit of typing too much, it won't all fit here :( ]: newgrounds.com/audio/listen/943495[alternatively, Closed Captions can be enabled]"I'm nooooot theeeere", hah, the irony here is that I haven't been posting at all (apologies for that)! So a bit of history with this song. I wrote this one waaaay before I ever even did "Always Right" (which was 2014). In fact, this was among some of the very first songs that I ever wrote that had lyrics (one of the others also being "Remember").According to my really old demos folder (before I even made a proper folder called "DEMOS"), the rough acoustic version was recorded back in late November of 2011. I'm pretty sure though that I wrote the lyrics for this before that date, possibly early 2011 I think. Also, the guitar solo in this holds a very special place in my heart, because it was the very first guitar solo I ever wrote (that didn't suck!). So, as simple as this solo is, I always feel a bit nostalgic whenever I hear it!Now, as one can easily tell from the lyrics, this song's about falling out of love... pretty hard, I might add. Thankfully though, yours truly never went through what our protagonist in the song goes through! However, I've known quite a number of guys that have personally lived this song. So this one goes out there to all the friends and dudes that have had to deal with a really toxic gal.Anyways, on to the technicals! So this one definitely went through a few evolutions before getting to where it is with the Cyclic Divide version. The original was reeeeal slow and not as rhythmic (though to be fair I only had about less than a year of experience playing the guitar up to that point). A couple years later in late 2013, I recorded a new acoustic demo for "Not There", and that version was a lot more like the version that would later be heard on Cyclic Divide. The main thing I changed with the Cyclic Divide version is that the opening is a lot stronger. The original intro felt really lacking in energy and just felt lame in comparison to the C.D version. I wound up writing a completely new opening for the album version. The outro also underwent a change as well, and that's a bit of a toss up honestly, but I think at the end of the day, the C.D version is the best iteration of this song.I've kept the structure of the song totally in tact for the redux album. I've recorded my bass (as opposed to the VST-i bass in the previous), and tracked new distorted rhythm and leads. The leads didn't quite sound right though, so I wound up blending together the old lead guitars with the new ones. I found that blending both of them really helped the leads cut through the mix better for this particular song. I also fiddled with the low pass filter for the clean (er, cleaner I guess) guitars in order to make them sound more crisp. The original vocals have also had their mixing tweaked. I wanted my voice to sound cleaner and more natural, so along with some EQ tweaks, I also did away with my chorus-effect VST.The BIGGEST addition to this redux version is the new vocal harmony during the refrain. I really wanted to make the chorus just really pop! I felt like it needed to be more powerful and melodic in order to further differentiate it from the verses. Also, it took me forever to record these new vocal harmonies. Whenever I had finally finished practicing and warming up, I would go to record only to realize that I overdid it earlier and burnt out my voice for the day. This process repeated itself over the course of a week before I finally nailed it, and recorded the nine new vocal harmony tracks that I needed. Gotta say, I'm very happy with the results! The chorus sounds catchier and more interesting now compared to the old one.Overall, it's been great working on this track again. Nostalgia for my first written "good" guitar solo, as well as the fact that this was also the first song that I wrote that tried to sound grungey/post-grunge.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this redux! ~DAR-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Limbo | RIFT Original Soundtrack Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-05-24 | Finally back after that little "lockdown blues" hiatus there! So, here we have the track that's planned to be the intermission/text-screen song for RIFT.This one didn't originally start out as a track for RIFT. Rather, it started as a quick MIDI idea I threw together back in July of 2019. I wound up tossing it into the endless abyss that is my "DEMOS" folder (songs in there are in a state of "limbo" you could say...). Well, recently, while feeling pretty unmotivated and whatnot, I decided to go through that demos folder. I wound up listening to the MIDI, and what immediately came to my mind was "...huh, you know, this might make for a good end-of-level theme for the RIFT Soundtrack!". I then sent the demo over to Rageful_Tim and once he gave the greenlight on this idea, I immediately got to work!I had already worked out a lot of the song in MIDI form, however it still needed more parts and frills added on top of it. I really struggled to get the acoustic guitar parts recorded, but that's normal since its such a delicate process (with my setup anyways). After finally getting the acoustic parts tracked, I realized it didn't quite sound right. It sounded a bit lacking compared to the MIDI, and so for a while there, I contemplated scrapping the parts and just using my Strat or Ibanez. Thankfully however, I decided against that and continued tinkering with what I had recorded.While fiddling with EQ and volume & panning for the recordings, I found out that I had made the mic so sensitive that I could actually hear the sound of my metronome clicking (coming from my headphones!). Despite that sensitivity, I felt like things just didn't quite sound right. I think it was probably just because my strings had gotten too old. After messing around with it a bit more, I decided to slap a 12-String guitar soundfont straight down the middle of the mix. Once I got the 12-string nice and settled in the mix, I FINALLY got the sound I was after. The soundfont wound up giving that needed crisp and bright sound for the strings.After that was done, I quickly laid down the bass track. The bass guitar wound up backing and complimenting the to 2 synth-brass instruments.Now on to the fun part... So when I had originally made the MIDI, I never gave much thought as to whether I could actually play the lead guitar part on a real guitar. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to pull it off after a bit of practice. From there onward (after 0:58), I just noodled around to my heart's content and made new lead parts.Last thing to finish up was the other synth parts. I wanted to keep up the whole "glitchy" sound since I feel like its definitely going to be a reoccurring element in this soundtrack. I wound up layering a piano and another synth, then ran them through my glitch plugin (dblue glitch). Once that was all finished, I thought I was ready to wrap things up and render out the master track....but I felt like this song still needed something more. I wanted to build things up and give this track a proper opening. Setting the mood with that howling wind sound, I also reversed and slowed the acoustic tracks as well. After laying the piano&synth combo on top of it, things went in a surprising direction! I decided to sort of go for this kind of retrowave-inspired sound. After loading up SQ8L, I picked out a sound to go with the synth brass, and another sound to play a dreamy little melody. All that was left was to add a few little percussion parts [gong, big bass drum {fun fact, in projects I always refer to it as Biggus Kickus}, reversed crash cymbal, and even some subtle MIDI vinyl/DJ scratching in one part].You know, honestly, the mood and atmosphere of this song sounds exactly what I had in mind for a project/album I'm thinking of calling "Fantasia". Dipping into a bit of that retrowave-inspiration, but still rocking and jamming out where appropriate. This tune is definitely a great proof-of-concept!On a side note, I think this is probably the first song that I've ever done where I have lead guitar parts, but no heavy rhythm guitars. Anyways, I hope you guys all enjoy the song! ~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/vlgsxccqy0jki1z/RIFT_-_Limbo.opus/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Chains for Veins | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-20 | Shoutout to Raees, for making up the guitar bits that play during the "chorus" and for naming this tune!This MIDI got its start when Raees sent over a song idea that popped into his head as he was waking up. The initial idea made for a great starting foundation for the track. I tinkered around with a couple of notes and messed with the stereo panning. I also cut out the original ending, in order to make it transition into the "verses" (0:34-1:01).After tinkering, I added some bass and drum parts. I also threw in some strings, synth brass, tubular bells, choir, and a saw-synth to really make things sound more menacing and foreboding. Of course, I always like to sprinkle in some hopefulness into songs like these, so I added some piano as well.The transition from the chorus into the verse also gives me some very strong TNT Evilution vibes (TNT's menu theme in particular).Anyways, hope you all enjoy the midi! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/mux3zz2u3lwdwyo/Chains_for_Veins.mid/fileComposition Credits: Davester2296, Raees KamaarOriginaly Completed on --August 24th, 2019---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Die Ubermensch! | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-15 | And then suddenly... MECH BOSS FIGHT! After reading the plan for the intro mission, I quickly imagined how the level would end.Once the opening credits finish and you make your way to the town square, the music suddenly stops. As the first few seconds of this song starts to play, a large structure collapses. A big gray Nazi mech (like a more suped up version of Hitler's mechsuit) suddenly jumps out! You're now thrown into a frantic sudden boss fight with only a pistol. The intro level would then end once you drop down to %1 health.I had suggested that this one particular mech be special, and be a recurring boss throughout the megawad (and have this theme accompany its sudden appearances).Really wanted to capture the very frantic and surprising nature of these mech boss encounters. Broke up the action and panic with some calmer, more hopeful-sounding parts as well. I had imagined the player having to hug cover, carefully poking out to let off a few shots on the mech.Also, this theme really sounds like it'd fit in with some jRPG soundtrack or something. Fitting, cuz now that I think about it, I had written this track back when I had gotten really stuck on my FF7 medley.Anyways, hope you all enjoy! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD (includes versions with and without the intro-chord): mediafire.com/file/melekudtzm0i27d/DAR_-_Die_Ubermensch_%5BMIDIs%5D.zip/fileOriginally Completed on --August 24th, 2019---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Malevolence | RIFT Original Soundtrack Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-15 | So, this is an interesting one. I was originally going to mash out a more aggressive-sounding tune, but things turned out differently somewhere along the way. It became this mix of electronic and grunge (not sure how else to define it).Still kept the initial bass-line the same. Tim had sent over a video of Map01, and upon seeing the map again, the bass-line popped into my head. After downloading the vid and setting it to loop, I went and grabbed my bass.After slappin out the bass track, I then plugged in my guitar. I had some other ideas for rhythm guitar parts, but they sounded a little too agressive and energetic. I wanted to stick with a slower more tense track for this first level.I wound up keeping the guitar part that comes in around 1:34. I went back and chucked the rhythm parts before that, and wasn't sure what to do for the rhythm guitar for the time being. So, setting that aside, I went and threw in some clean guitar parts, and I also decided to goof around with my gates and glitch plugins.Eventually, I also wound up layering two synths on top of another rhythm guitar part (just letting a power-chord ring out...). Glitched and gated things to my heart's content, and wound up with something to use before the grungey, AiC-sounding bit kicks in.I debated whether I should use a piano or just stick with the guitar for the leads. However, I just HAD to put in some slightly bendy leads. So my mind was pretty much set after that.Anyways hope you all enjoy this new track for the RIFT project! ~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/s1pk9xzwg2ggn8c/RIFT_-_Malevolence.opus/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Artifice | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-14 | Shoutout to Raees for writing the synth and synth-string parts heard at 0:37-1:39 (and 2:18-3:20)! As he had told me, the melody popped into his head and so he quickly slapped together a MIDI before it could escape his mind.As I listened to the idea, I started to imagine a synth bass and drum parts. With my newfound fondness for the vibraphone, I decided to throw that in there (along with a couple of other instruments).From there, I added a new bit that sort of builds up to the original melody. I also extended the original melody and added the new instruments on top of it.Once I sent over this song, Raees had a burst of inspiration and wrote back an email describing the intro mission to me.This first bit is supposed to be done through some comic-like intermission-screens: As BJ minds his own business walking through the city, Nazi infantry and helicopters flood the area. The city is thrown into a panic by this sudden blitz. Fortunately for our hero, he is able to get the drop on an unsuspecting soldier/officer and takes his pistol (pistol start GO!).Then from there, the level starts, and you simply run around the map popping shots off at the Nazi invaders. Meanwhile, the intro credits fade in and fade out as you play.Raees wasn't sure where to go after that, but I definitely had a big burst of inspiration after imagining that intro-sequence/level. I would go on to write the mod's first boss theme (as well as throw in the suggestion for the inclusion of Nazi mechs).However, "Die Ubermensch!" shall be a track for another day. Hope you all enjoy this MIDI! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/av9fjsk8at43tln/Artifice.mid/file-Track composed back on August 22nd, 2019-Composition Credits: Davester2296, Raees Kamaar-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
The Operator Shuffle | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-10 | Finished this one back on the same evening that I completed "Incendiary". To make up for "Incendiary" sounding too Doom, I wanted to balance things out with a track that sounded very Wolfenstein3D.I wanted to keep things fairly simple compared to "Incendiary". So first I put down that simple synth bass. I can still picture the "Get Psyched!" screen loading while the first few notes play.I also reached for the vibraphone samples (a soundbank I never thought I'd wind up using one day). Really gives the track a "spy tv show" kind of vibe (as Raees had put it). Also threw in some very funky slap bass as well.This one would probably fit in very well with the more traditional Wolf3d styled maps! ~DARMIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/nrw8vcuhmz2rsfp/DAR_-_The_Operator_Shuffle.mid/file-Track composed back on August 14th, 2019--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Incendiary | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-07 | It was around this point in the project when Raees started asking me if I thought synthwave and electronic stuff could fit a Wolfenstein wad. Soon enough, the idea for Episode 3 taking place on the moon took form.Shooting ideas back and forth, I decided to sit down and start writing an electronic song. I almost didn't send this song over since I was concerned it sounded too Doomy. I had thought so because of the choirs and the synth breakdown at 0:51 reminding me of a part from TNT's "Smells Like Burning Corpse".In the end, I think this would be a good fit for one of the moon base levels.MIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/ptvx2pw0khq69y0/DAR_-_Incendiary.mid/file-Track composed back on August 14th, 2019--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Hollow Point | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-06 | For this track, I remember being very inspired after seeing screenshots from one of the arctic levels that was in development.Fighting through ice caverns and a military outpost during a chilling blizzard. Really wanted to capture that atmosphere and tension of going alone into a hostile frozen wasteland. ~DAR-Track composed back on May 15th, 2019-MIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/k6842gm1xozlvyd/DAR-Hollow_Point.mid/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Soldiering On | Wolfenstein Rising OST [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-05 | Since I've been putting up songs that I've written for other projects, I figured I might as well start uploading stuff from this project too. The first track from this project is actually "The Call of War", back when the project was still using the "Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles" title. Since then the name's gone through a couple of changes.This project is supposed to act as a direct-sequel to Wolf3D, set 10 years after the war. Split into three episodes, each episode would take inspiration from the following: Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Arctic Wolf, and Astrostein. Episode 1 taking place in Germany (I think?), Episode 2 taking place in the Arctic at a secret rocket base. Then finally Episode 3 (Lunar Legacy) would take place on a Nazi moon base.The plot basically sees a surprise blitzkrieg by the (long thought dead) Nazi party. Special robots and mechs (METAL GEERUH) are used to assist their infantry forces in occupying key strategic locations. With the world entering its darkest hour, our hero, BJ, is called back into service by the Office of Secret Actions (OSA).I've also suggested to Raees about working in implications of these moon nazis having tech and research that would lead to a proto-UAC of sorts. Though there's still a lot that could be subject to change. Needless to say though, I'm very on board with whatever direction he decides to take this megawad!Now as for this particular track. I was actually stuck and couldn't think of a theme for a level at the time. So I looked back at what I liked about "The Call of War" and then I added on to an idea that took slight inspiration from Wolf3D's "Enemy around the corner". I always imagined this track making for a good end-of-episode theme.The soundtrack will be a mix of orchestral, electronic (mainly aimed at those moon base levels), and wolf3D-inspired tracks. There will also be a handful of Wolf3D remixes thrown into the bunch as well.Anyways, hope you all enjoy! I'll be uploading tracks every day since I've got quite a few MIDIs written for this project (14 tracks, counting this track and "Call of War"). I'll also be putting these up in the order that I had composed them. Once these 14 are all up, I'll go put up a "Volume 1" video over on the covers channel. ~DAR-Track composed back on April 29th, 2019-MIDI DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/sbk8e94d6wpbmeq/DAR-Soldiering_On.mid/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
DAR - Always Right [REDUX] | { OLD VER. } Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-05 | Lyrics:You can lie to yourselfAnd make it so no one elseCan make a fool of youBut that's just what you doYou can't hear what's real'cuz you're deaf to truthAnd I'm so sick of your denialPaint me wrong, but you know it's trueAlways right, 'cuz you're never wrongAlways wrong, you just say you're rightBlame it all on your deitiesBlame it all on the ones you loveTonight's the night, I will end this fight"I'm always right, 'cuz I'm never wrong"You tell yourself, as you block them outYou can't hear what's real'cuz you're deaf to truthAnd I'm so sick of your denialPaint me wrong, but you know it's trueAlways right, 'cuz you're never wrongAlways wrong, you just say you're rightBlame it all on your deitiesBlame it all on the ones you loveTonight's the night, can I end this fightYou're always right, 'cuz you're never wrongAlways wrong, you just say you're rightBlame it all on your deitiesBlame it all on the ones you loveTonight's the night, I will end this fightHurt us all, can't you see you're wrongBlame us all, is it not enoughTonight's the night, we can end this fightAlways right, Always wrongAlways right, Always wrongTonight's the night, can we end this fightAlways right, Always wrongAlways right, Always wrongTonight's the night, we can end this fight-----------I think I'm going to wind up redoing "Fate" later down the road again... I had decided to completely re-record the lead guitars for this track. I hadn't quite realized just how bad some of these really resonant frequencies sounded! The original lead recording had a lot of these higher-pitched hums (the vocals even had some in certain places). I was able to salvage the original vocals with some very aggressive EQ, but the lead guitar parts were toast after such EQ'ing. Those high-pitched "hums" and almost feedback-like frequencies were just too much! So with the original leads being pretty much trashed, I scrapped them and started fresh again.After redoing all of it, I really think this sounds great now with the newly recorded leads! Hell, I even decided to throw in some new lead parts to make things sound a bit more interesting as well. I've changed around the drum parts ever so slightly since I started to feel like the original drums were just a liiiittle too repetitive. I also decided to spice up the rhythm guitars in the verse and for the outro. I also decided to change up the outro too, letting the vocals finish before I go into the fadeout. I've also taken what I've learned from mastering the 2 tracks from "On Impulse" so far, and have applied them here. I think I wound up squashing the sound a bit too much in the Fate [redux], but atleast I've caught all of this early!Anyways, hope you all enjoy the facelift I've given to "Always Right", hope you all look forward to more of Cyclic Divide Redux album! "Not There" will be the next one to get a makeover. ~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/4v66s58lu9lj4tn/DAR_-_Always_Right.opus/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Were Doomed OST | DAR - Martian Sentries [MIDI] Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-04-03 | So, a few weeks ago, I was asked to write an ambient midi for a very silly Doom machinima series! Episode 1 can be found here: youtu.be/LjhBGNK67Ms"WE'RE DOOMED" follows the misadventures of two very incompetent (and drunk) UAC marines. Assigned with the task of guarding the teleporter room on Mars, can these two manage to stay out of trouble?Had myself a giggle while watching this. Really looking forward to seeing where these guys take this new series! Sort of reminds me a little of the early episodes of Red vs Blue, way back in the day. ~DARMIDI Download: mediafire.com/file/brn4ondnnzebr0e/DAR_-_Martian_Sentries.mid/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
Temporal Rift | RIFT Original Soundtrack Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-03-28 | Happy to officially announce the beginnings of another music project! I've joined Rageful_Tim's RIFT project, a very promising megaWAD for DOOM II.After receiving a handful of screenshots for one of the maps, there was one in particular that stood out to me. That screenshot also wound up becoming the foundation for the soundtrack art as well. With this track, I really wanted to try and capture the mysterious and almost gloomy feeling of the Rift. I also threw in some tasteful glitchiness to go along with that bit of "wrongness" that the Rift brings with it.Naming this one was easy since the Rift manifests as this tear in time and space. So I found "Temporal Rift" to be a perfect fit. I'm very excited to see where this project goes, as well as how this soundtrack will develop from here on out!Hope you all look forward to it too!~DAROPUS DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/m5ioze324wdt88b/RIFT_-_Temporal_Rift.opus/file-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Discord Server: discord.gg/uEAfRWPTwitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comAll Rights Reserved 2020
DAR - Fate [REDUX] | { OLD VER. } Davester2296 B-Sides 2020-02-16 | [Lyrics]:And they fade, they fadeThey never seem to thinkThey never seem toWhy's your media PropagandizedI see the things we faceHow could we be so blindAn empire of hateThat feeds us wrongful liesI feel I'm drowning with youI can't escape these chainsIs this what they call fateWould you let me goIf IIf I plead insaneAnd their fate: they fakeMentalities, ideologiesWhy's our media PropagandizedI see the things we faceHow could we be so blindAn empire of hateThat feeds us wrongful liesI feel I'm drowning with youAnd I can't escape these chainsIf I plead insaneAnd I see a painful fateWould you let me goIf IIf I plead insaneIs this what they call fateIs this what they callFate====================================So, to get back into the swing of things, I've decided to revisit Cyclic Divide. In particular, I chose to tinker around with "Fate" (since it had been my personal favorite from the album). I also chose it because every once in a while when I goof around on my acoustic and sing, I'd always pick Fate to warm up with. In the past year or so I wound up singing the chorus differently and started to wonder how it would sound in harmony with the original.I also remembered that a good friend of mine had long ago suggested that Cyclic Divide could use some vocal harmonies. This also provided a good opportunity to practice trying to get that "commercial loudness" that you hear in pro mixes (and I think I've FINALLY figured it out!).I was very tempted to just redo everything from the ground up... However, that didn't feel quite right to do. I wound up re-recording only the rhythm guitar parts, and recording my bass guitar (as opposed to the VSTi Bass I had used in the original). I also made some very subtle changes to how the bass and rhythm guitar are played.I kept just about everything else the same, only messing with mixing and volume. Of course, there's the all-new vocal harmony during the chorus. I really love this sound, especially the bits where I sing "chains". It just sounds really cool to me, it also reminds me a lot of something else, but I can't think of what. Needless to say, I can't listen to the original now without feeling like something is missing!I should note that the drums had a bit of tweaking in certain parts, as well as changes to mixing. I must say, its kind of nice going back to the old snare samples that I used to use back then.As for my experiments into achieving maximum loudness, I've finally figured it out! I don’t think it’ll be all that obvious when listening to the video. The reason for that is because Youtube (like most other platforms) normalizes audio to either -13 or -14 LUFS (its gone back and forth, but I think they’ve settled on -14LUFS). However, the .opus file clocks in at -8.5LUFS, which should make it about as loud as a commercial CD. Its certainly louder than the original, that’s for sure!I’m pretty happy with how this redux turned out. The original had always sounded pretty solid to me, but this redux takes it a bit further. I think it sounds brighter, and more crisp. The lower frequencies still have good punch, but are tamed a bit more this time around. The drums also have a bit more clarity to them when the mix gets busy. The snare really comes through nice and bright, and the kick drum is a lot more noticeable (thanks to the wonders of sidechaining the bass to the kick channel!).Anyways, I hope you guys like this redux, and hope you all look forward to the rest of the Cyclic Divide Redux album! With this different approach to mastering, I think things are going to sound pretty interesting from here onward! A new year no, a new decade, a new DAR!~DAR.OPUS Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ny3tohaubq4li7h/DAR_-_Fate_%255BREDUX%255D.opus/file===================All Rights Reserved 2015, 2020
DAR - Requiēs Davester2296 B-Sides 2019-05-05 | At last, the final (!) track of RED PLANET II! I got stuck for a while here, trying decide what else to add to this album. I actually wrote two more songs for this, but it just didn't feel right to cram them into RP II.After "Crimson Premonition", I just wasn't sure where to go from there. That track just felt like such a good one for a climax. Since I liked the order and flow of the album thus far, the only thing left to do was to make an "ending song".I decided on "Requiēs" since its Latin for "Rest", and... well I mean Latin can sound pretty metal too, so there's that.This one has a double meaning though. Not only is it a moment of rest for our protagonist, Sin-Slayer, but also time for me to have a break from RED PLANET for the time being.Since I've had a lot on my plate for a while, I couldn't quite give all my various projects the attention they deserved. It always bugged me that RP II felt so close to completion, but I just wasn't sure what was right to add. Now though, I think Requiēs makes for a good track to wrap things up.When I wrote this one, I imagined Sin-Slayer defeating the big-bad on Phobos (there's still the *bigger* big-bad over on Deimos later though). After a climactic battle, our hero collapses and just let's his victory soak in for a bit (represented with the calm, melancholic guitars).However, that calm is interrupted with some heavy guitars as our hero realizes that there's still more to do. Pulling himself together, he rises once more, this time his sights are set on liberating the base on Deimos.I really enjoyed working on this one, especially the leads. I managed to throw in a little bit of E1M5's melody here and there. Also just as I did for Ultimatum, I also threw in a little nod to Into Sandy's City towards the end.Something I was almost going to cut from the song was the singing/chants. I was close to finishing the song and I just kept listening to the bit at 2:31. While I really liked it, something just felt missing. I couldn't really decide what instrument/sound I'd throw in to fill the space.Eventually, I decided to put on the good ol' cookie monster voice again, and started chanting "Requiēs, nunc." which is Latin for "Rest, now."Now after adding some *cookies* to that part, something still felt missing. So I decided to do my best Latin-choir impression on top of that too.After blending the "cookies and choir" together, I wound up muting and setting the parts aside, because I thought they may have sounded out of place. So I kept the parts in as a placeholder while I finished up other things for the song.When I came back to that part though, nothing else really felt right. So I tinkered around with it a bit to get it to sit in the mix a little better. I didn't want it to be overpowering, but I also didn't want it to be too subdued either. I tried to strike somewhere in the middle, leaning a little more to the subdued side.But yeah, I had a great time working on all the RED PLANET II tracks. I hope you guys all enjoy this closing song, and look forward to future installments in the RED PLANET Saga! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/qpcbe52il23moy5/DAR_-_Requies.mp3/fileALBUM DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/vbleo4zsc7l5jy0/DAR_-_RED_PLANET_The_Lunar_Projects_%5B2019%5D.zip/filePrevious song: "DAR - Crimson Premonition": youtu.be/8Idiw0VwfBU----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comCovers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2019 All Rights Reserved
DAR - The Call of War [AdLib Ver.] | Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles - Menu Theme Davester2296 B-Sides 2019-04-23 | Okay, this being Wolfenstein related and all, I just couldn't resist the urge to make an AdLib version of this track.I just wanted to really give it that classic Wolf3D feel with this!Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! ~DAR___________________________________________________Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles [DEMO] by Raees: forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=46888&sid=3cfc1baf77a867cf28d3a94b2a09b268&start=75#p1100710HD Version: youtu.be/MJ6uA4lLiqUMIDI Version: youtu.be/FVhw5lZA_8o
DAR - The Call of War [HD Ver.] | Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles - Menu Theme Davester2296 B-Sides 2019-04-23 | Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles [DEMO] by Raees: forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=46888&sid=3cfc1baf77a867cf28d3a94b2a09b268&start=75#p1100710.OGG Download: mediafire.com/file/ait69rxydc8dz14/DAR_-_The_Call_of_War_%5Bnon_midi%5D.ogg/fileMIDI Version: youtu.be/FVhw5lZA_8oAdLib Version: youtu.be/VAx7qpivzzA============================================So recently, Raees, a longtime subscriber, asked if I could compose something for his WolfenDoom project.By the following evening, I already wrapped up work on this track! I really enjoyed putting this one together. It's nice being able to work on something other than the usual heavy guitars every once in a while (especially when trying to work through another creative block).I highly recommend you guys check out this mod and give Raees some feedback! This also won't be the only track I compose for this either. I do plan on creating more tracks for levels and boss encounters =)!Anyways, I hope you guys all like this track, and hope that you also give the Castle Wolfenstein Chronicles demo a go! ~DAR
DAR - Crimson Premonition Davester2296 B-Sides 2019-01-07 | Alright, the first original of 2019 (and a heavy one at that)!This one actually started out with the part you hear from 1:50 - 2:42. I had been feeling like the album could use another energetic track.However when I finally sat down to record this one, my hands were really cold and I was pretty sluggish. Because of that, I tried warming up by playing a slower, fairly simple part on the guitar.Once I was all warmed up, I realized that the two ideas seemed to fit together pretty well. So rather than being completely energetic, it became a mix of slow and heavy with bursts of energy here and there.I really tried to imitate a sort of Alice-In-Chains vibe with the slower parts in this song (just like I had done for "Descent Into Dementia").As for the other parts, I'm not quite sure where I drew inspiration from. I feel that aside from that kinda 90's grunge and metal sound, there's a dash of thrash and hardcore sprinkled in.I will say though, recording the leads from 3:57 - 5:30 was really exhausting (I went from feeling fairly cold, to pretty warm and sweating a bit). It was a lot of fun playing it though.That tremolo-picking starting at 5:00 really wore me out and got me heated up for sure! It was really nice being able to do some tremolo-picking like that in an original again! Last time I had done trem-picking in an original was probably in short parts of "Nations Collide".Recording the faster bass and rhythm guitar parts were also pretty tiring too (but man it was great fun to play!).So recording stuff aside, time for the "story" of this one. Since it wound up sort of following in similar spirit to "Descent Into Dementia" I decided the topic would be another mind-related theme.This time, our hero finds himself halfway through the overrun facility on Phobos. Suddenly, now aware of his presence, the big-bad-demon final-boss of this Phobos base awakens far in the distance (as heard with the roar in the intro).Actually on a side-note, I'm still getting A LOT of mileage out of that scream sample that I made and wound up originally using in Descent Into Dementia! I had used it for the roar heard in the beginning here. I just tweaked some things and threw some effects on to it and liked the deep, distant roar that it became!Anyways, so now the big-bad has awakened, and Sin-Slayer is affected and begins seeing visions of the impending showdown. Between these premonitions of impending doom, our hero continues to soldier on and clear out the next area.Originally I was going to call this one "Crimson Fever Dream" but that felt awkward to say. So I opted to name it "Crimson Premonition" since it just rolls off the tongue a lot better (and sounded more fitting story-wise).Overall I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. I think its a pretty good way to start off the originals channel for 2019!Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this new jam! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/610s6b8lo30zok8/DAR_-_Crimson_Premonition.mp3/fileNext Song: "DAR - Requiēs": youtu.be/VUSCBY0kxhEPrevious Song: "DAR - The Stickney Groove": youtu.be/4Z5pn87Z4nM----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comCovers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2019 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Breach Code Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-11-04 | So there's a bit of a history with this track. This idea has been around since I made my "Solitude of Mind" EP (so about 4 years now). This one has been put off for years, since it always felt too out of place among my previous works.I was originally going to include it in my SoM EP, but felt that I'd rather save it for the full album that would follow it. However, when RISEN came around, I felt like this one didn't quite fit in, so I held off again until the next album.I thought about using it in NEW GENESIS, but then once again, I felt that it didn't feel quite right to have it there either. Time passes again, and I did my vocal album, Cyclic Divide.Then HORIZONS comes around, and I almost included it, but once again, it just felt a little too out of place.Then I made the first RED PLANET, and I was really excited! I thought that maybe now it would finally find its place. However, when I finished up RP1, once again "Breach Code" was left out, not for being out of place, but because the album felt "full" already.So now here we are with RED II in the works, and I've been itching to finally give this song a proper home in an album! Finally, this riff would fit in with the generally darker and more aggressive atmosphere that the RED PLANET Saga has brought about.The riffs are pretty much the same as they were 4 years ago, only with very subtle revisions. One of the new guitar parts I made though was the bit around 2:34.It used to only be those heavy rhythm guitars in the background, but after working with all the DOOM stuff and the first RP album, I made up a bendy, sinister-sounding lead part here.The intro was another thing I also added on to my original idea. Actually, its somewhat ironic, its more like the original version of "Breach Code" was added on to the intro! I had originally set off to make a totally different kind of song. Then once the bass part came in, I started thinking of "Breach Code".Eventually, I decided that I would mash the two together, since I felt it matched the vision I had for it.The title "Breach Code" comes from how originally I envisioned this tune being the background for some kind of big raid. Where I imagined that one of the protagonists in this scenario would give the signal/code to breach the room. Thus "Breach Code".It definitely works here though, as I now picture Sin-Slayer making his way deeper into the facility on Phobos. The eerie, tense atmosphere in the intro, as he loads up and prepares to blow the doors leading to the next area.Then once the distorted guitars kick in, Sin-Slayer starts going to work.For the outro, I gave it a more hopeful/confident tone, now that the fear of the unknown from earlier is gone. However, there's still more unknowns ahead for our hero. So that's why I had it end on a bit of a cliffhanger. Having the confident mood suddenly shift into uncertainty around 4:14, and abruptly ending.As for inspirations, the main riff throughout the song was heavily inspired by Tool's "Schism". Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this track! I'll have another RED PLANET track coming up soon, so keep an eye out. ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/6pbca6lkdrj742e/DAR_-_Breach_Code.mp3/fileNext Song: "DAR - The Stickney Groove": youtu.be/4Z5pn87Z4nMPrevious Song: "DAR - Plight of the Sin-Slayer": youtu.be/BIXEoGj7lkA----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Plight of the Sin-Slayer Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-11-01 | Wow, its sure been a productive day for me today! Wrapped up the Cover Battlegrounds, and now I've finished another new original track for RP II!So this one was really different for me. I finally decided to really try and figure out how to "feel" out the rhythm for odd time signatures.I started with the main riff you hear in the beginning, but realized that it didn't really fit 4/4. After messing around with a metronome, I figured out that I needed to use one 7/8 measure, followed by two 4/4 measures, and then a 9/8 measure. Then when that beginning riff finishes, I have it go 4/4 for one measure, then 5/4 for the next. Most everything else afterwards uses 3/4 time. But wow, I've never changed time signatures so much before. I think I could really start to get into incorporating more time signature changes in my works!I originally planned for this one to be heavier and more aggressive throughout, but after hanging around in 3/4 time, things sort of softened up. Then there's the break in the action at with the clean guitars starting at 1:45.From this point on I started to form more of an idea of what to name this one.I imagine this song being about Sin-Slayer's confident, yet melancholic attitude towards the powers that Ultimatum's blast had granted him. He struggles to keep the supernatural-powers from ultimately devouring what's left of his humanity, thus is the "Plight of the Sin-Slayer".MP3 DOWNLOAD: mediafire.com/file/lgh7w28af6n7gn0/DAR_-_Plight_of_the_Sin-Slayer.mp3/fileNext song: "DAR - Breach Code": youtube.com/watch?v=ec9q5xq6oi8Previous song: "DAR - Aetherius": youtube.com/watch?v=zHKE-I7x0gY----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Aetherius Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-10-02 | At last, another new Red Planet song! This one's certainly different compared to previous things I've worked on.A big part of it I think has to do with writing this song in a 3/8 time signature. Though, technically speaking, its still 3/4 time in a way (if I doubled the tempo). Either way, this is the first original to be completely written in "waltz time".When I wrote this song, I wanted something soothing and uplifting, something fitting for a victory or the text screens in Doom. I think in some ways, I was inspired by "Legion of the Lost" just a little bit when deciding on the atmosphere.I also decided to name this "Aetherius" which is basically Latin for "Ethereal". I felt that it suited the overall mood of the song quite well, and plus, Sin-Slayer is sort of an otherworldly existence at this point in the Red Planet saga as well.I had a whole lot of fun noodling around with those lead guitar parts towards the end, starting at 3:57! It was really relaxing to play, and helped cement this uplifting and "soaring" kind of feeling.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this new addition to Red Planet II! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/7sgiy9u2jlzq43d/DAR_-_Aetherius.mp3/fileNext song: "DAR - Plight of the Sin-Slayer": youtube.com/watch?v=BIXEoGj7lkAPrevious song: "DAR - RESURGENCE": youtube.com/watch?v=Si1CseEzGsg----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - RESURGENCE Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-09-06 | After his miraculous resurrection, Sin-Slayer now enters the infested facility on Phobos!Oh man, I got REALLY stuck on this one. I had done "I Live Again" almost two months prior to this track. Writer's block had hit again and productivity and creativity took a nosedive. Eventually I forced myself to sit down and just tried to record something. I started recording and modifying an old riff I made back in 2014 (around the time I had made the tracks for "Solitude of Mind").Halfway through however, I realized that it just didn't feel right as the second track for this album. So for several more days, I kept trying to make up something that felt good to follow up the first song.One day, while noodling around with various ideas, I had decided to show a certain riff to a friend of mine. To which he responded, "This really makes me think of like a really modified variant of E1M1." and upon hearing that, I decided to settle on this track to work on (thanks Jodnafl).I wanted this track to have more energy and to sound more aggressive, in comparison to "I Live Again".I'd imagine Sin-Slayer probably isn't in the best of moods at this point, dying and then suddenly reviving, only to be faced with yet another energy weapon and another horribly overrun base.I pictured him going on a rampage and beginning his purge on the Phobos base.I felt like I needed to add something more to go along side the main riff. I hadn't intended to use a synth in this one, but I realized it didn't sound too out of place afterall. Loading up the wonderful "dBlue Glitch" plugin, I ran my synth through it.Liking where this was going, I couldn't help but feel that this song shouldn't be aggressive all the way through. So that's why at 1:16 I decided to change things up a bit. Changing from thrashy and aggressive, over to this triumphant and hopeful sound.Not only had Ultimatum's energy teleported and revived Sin-Slayer, but it made him more powerful too. With the song's change in mood, I wanted that to reflect our hero's realization of this new strength as well as his newfound confidence.I really enjoyed everything about recording 1:16 and onwards. I had a lot of fun and really got into the beat when recording the bass and the rhythm guitars. I also had a blast recording the lead guitar parts too. I had spent a long time just looping the rhythm over and over, having fun soloing over it until I finally settled on what you hear now.Then finally closing out this segment with a short heroic-sounding bit with some violas and violins at 2:23.Lastly, I decided to close out the song with the glitch synth, so that it could be heard nice and clear.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this track and the previous song! Hope you all look forward to more from Red Planet: The Lunar Projects! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5rbiv1xm0nnxngh/DAR_-_Resurgence.mp3/fileNext Song: "DAR - Aetherius": youtube.com/watch?v=zHKE-I7x0gYPrevious song: "DAR - I Live Again": youtube.com/watch?v=D8GlI9Rtz_M----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - I Live Again Davester2296 B-Sides 2018-09-06 | So storywise, our (totally original) hero, Sin-Slayer, had failed to escape Ultimatum's blast at the end of the first Red Planet. Ultimatum's energy blast winds up teleporting Sin-Slayer's lifeless body outside of the facility on Phobos.So with that in mind, I opened up the song with the sound of Ultimatum charging up, followed by a glitchy scream. If you can believe it, that "charge up" sound is actually a heavily modified bass drum sample. I had spent a while trying to learn some more things about sound design while I worked on this one. It's really awesome how you can create some totally new and unexpected sounds from such simple things!As for the scream, its actually the scream from "Descent Into Dementia" layered with one of Doomguy's screams (specifically the "ouchface" scream).After that, I wanted to build things up, starting slow with a simple bassline. As it continues, I introduce more elements, such as the clean guitars, and have the drums pick up the pace a bit.Suddenly, at 1:07 our hero's body suddenly jolts back to life! The distorted guitars finally kick in, and a very subtle synth melody plays in the background as well. I pictured Sin-Slayer slowly rolling over and rising to one knee. Loading and chambering a shell into his shotgun, he finally stands up straight.As depicted in the album art, now our hero gazes upon what appears to be another energy weapon, like that of Ultimatum!Knowing what now must be done, Sin-Slayer prepares to purge the base on Phobos. Before embarking, he simply proclaims:"I Live Again"If any of you are fans of "Blood" you guys will probably recognize that clip right away.Anyways, that's the first track! Hope you all look forward to more from Red Planet: The Lunar Projects! ~DARMP3 DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/lr7rwpsajj81cbn/DAR_-_I_Live_Again.mp3/fileNext song: "DAR - RESURGENCE": youtube.com/watch?v=Si1CseEzGsg----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2018 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Ultimatum Davester2296 B-Sides 2017-10-31 | Here it is, the final track! When I finished this one, I felt like this would be a good song to end the album on. I figured I would save "Triumph" and some of the other song ideas I have for a "RED Album II".So, first off, you'll probably notice "Hey wait, this is E1M8!". Close, I imitated E1M8 to try and set the mood for this ending. Nothing captures that feeling of absolute doom better than those note bends.After playing that little tribute to E1M8, I break out into pretty much a full-on improvised guitar solo for the remainder of the song. I had a whole lot of fun noodling around on the guitar here. Also, I just absolutely had to sneak in a little tribute to "Into Sandy's City" there at 3:40.On a side note, I finally, FINALLY got to use FL Studio's speech synthesis plugin! I could've recorded myself trying to speak like a computer, but I figured the job would be best left to a real one. Also, while the other songs don't happen in any particular order in this "story", this song takes place at the end of it all. The "Ultimatum" is the codename for the secret super-weapon (the weaponized Martian pyramids there on the album art).Our hero, Sin-Slayer, finally manages to fight his way into the depths of the Mars base. Reaching his destination, he activates Ultimatum in order to wipe out the invading legions of hell at all costs. "Warning, Ultimatum has been activated. All non-essential personnel, please evacuate immediately." says the base's computer system. Now, in a race against time, he fights against the overwhelming numbers of hellspawn as he tries to escape from Mars.That's the scene I envisioned as I worked on this one.Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this track, and have enjoyed listening to the album! ~DAR*Happy Halloween 2017!ALBUM DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5ihpezo05hldjhe/DAR_-_Ultimatum_of_the_RED_PLANET_%5B2017%5D.zipPrevious Song: "DAR - Matador of Cydonia": youtube.com/watch?v=smUEaTBOcFU----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comSoundcloud: soundcloud.com/davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2017 All Rights Reserved
DAR - Matador of Cydonia Davester2296 B-Sides 2017-10-27 | Hey all, I'm back again! Man, I can't believe that the album is nearly complete. I'm going to make two more songs for the album, to try and give it a strong finish. Those last two, "Ultimatum" and "Triumph" will both be uploaded at the same time that I upload the full album to the Covers channel.Anyways, having said that, time to talk about this latest track! This song has actually been sitting around for a long, long time. It had originally started back in 2011 or so, with the riff that plays at 1:10. I remember back then, a good friend of mine whom was also practicing guitar had shown me this little riff. We had both nicknamed it "palm mute idea" since we couldn't think of anything flashy at the time. We were going to try and make a full song out of it back then, but never got around to it.The riff and idea sat around for quite some time, since my friend had shifted his focus away from guitar to concentrate on other hobbies. Fast forward to 2014, around the same time that I originally started some of the tracks that would later go on to my "RISEN" album. It was around then that I decided to see what it'd be like to try my first attempt at a more "heavy metal" kind of song. "DAR's Riffs67" and then later just, "Matador" is what came next. I heavily expanded on the short "palm mute idea" riff, adding new parts like the bit at 0:25, and the muted strumming parts. This one also didn't have much in terms of lead guitar parts, or at least the usual kind of leads I play.Anyways, "Matador" sat around some more and began collecting dust, because I felt like it didn't quite fit in enough with the rest of my other albums... until now, that is.I was able to put this one together very quickly, it's been a long time since I've been able to put a song together in only one day! The song hasn't changed too much from its original iteration, though I did change and add a few things. Notably, I wanted to throw "Shawn's Got The Shotgun" a little nod with that guitar part at 0:09 (its a bit similar, and more sped up). I added two guitar parts to play alongside the original "palm mute idea" riff as well. I also gave the drums a bit more personality, compared to the original version I did back then. Most importantly, I added a lead guitar part halfway through the song.As for the name, I was really attached to the name I had given it back then, so I wanted to carry that over to the new name. The original riff always made me think of a bullfighter or something. Honestly, it all kind of worked out in the end though. I sort of pictured Sin-Slayer fighting some kind of large minotaur boss while I worked on this one again. Also since we're nearing the end of the album, I imagine the climax happening in the Cydonia region of Mars. So I named it, "Matador of Cydonia".Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this one! I also hope you all look forward to hearing the next two and final tracks of the album! ~DARALBUM DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5ihpezo05hldjhe/DAR_-_Ultimatum_of_the_RED_PLANET_%5B2017%5D.zipNext Song: "DAR - Ultimatum": youtube.com/watch?v=IwP2LqQZ8s0Previous Song: "DAR - The Slayer Stalks": youtube.com/watch?v=OWEMCcNdmoE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comSoundcloud: soundcloud.com/davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2017 All Rights Reserved
DAR - The Slayer Stalks Davester2296 B-Sides 2017-10-21 | Hey all, I'm back once again with a new track! I probably would've had this out back on Monday, but I spent most of this week letting a hand/wrist injury heal (I have no idea how I hurt it).The idea for this one started from the little clean guitar part at the end of "Descent Into Dementia". From there, I noodled around a bit on my Ibanez and made up the melody. I also experimented with a lower-gain guitar tone for this one as well.Originally, the song was going to be more mellow and lighter. In the end, I couldn't resist the urge to throw in the distorted rhythm guitars and my usual leads.In the beginning, I was thinking of the soulsphere pick-up as I wrote this song. I wanted to go for a song with a more mellow, cool, "blue" kind of feeling/atmosphere. So at first, I figured, "Maybe I should make something based off of the soulsphere powerup!". However, as the song began to take shape some more, "Soulsphere" didn't feel as good of a fit. It was because of the riff I used at 3:54, that I decided to name it "The Slayer Stalks". That whole segment really reminded me of my cover of, "The Healer Stalks". That, along with the use of claves and the subtle use of triangles.Anyways, I hope you guys all enjoy this track! ~DARALBUM DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5ihpezo05hldjhe/DAR_-_Ultimatum_of_the_RED_PLANET_%5B2017%5D.zipNext Song: "DAR - Matador of Cydonia": youtube.com/watch?v=smUEaTBOcFUPrevious Song: "DAR - Descent Into Dementia": youtube.com/watch?v=uajjrEZHzZs-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!Follow me at:Wordpress: http://theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.comSoundcloud: soundcloud.com/davester2296Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/dar9Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296Covers Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCVE4juL1ycDbsqlr9L6lo8A2017 All Rights Reserved
