Cyvergence has done several remixes the past few years. This series of back stories is about revisiting the thoughts and process that went on behind the scenes.
Today I will focus on the unofficial I Am The Doctor remix.
Truth be told, I found Season 1 of the 2005 "reboot" rather cheesy. The soundtrack was cheesy, set designs were cheesy, and let's not mention Rose's mom. Then along came the David Tennant era. I was hooked as I laughed and condensed a silent tear here and there. Matt Smith's quirky, yet dangerous style grew on me after a period of doubt. And yes, Amy Pond is a cute companion.
One dark stormy night as the stars slept with their eyes wide open, a purple Dalek descended from the heavens with a plunger looking for something to suck. "B-L-I-M-E-Y!", it communicated.
I woke up immediately, brewed a cup of coffee, and searched for a MIDI version of the Doctor Who theme song.
"MIDI file?", you ask with one eyebrow raised? Yes, it was a cheesy moment, and also a lazy moment (the caffiene was still trying to pass the blood-brain barrier). I found it hard to detect keys and chords by listening, and I wanted to work on a remix "now!"
"How do I turn this into my own track?", I asked the silent metronome in the top left corner. Sadly, it didn't respond. Then, the angelic brain voice boomed from above: "Respect it!".
"Yes, oh great brain voice that may have me committed for attempted Schizophrenia.", I spluttered.
That was it! Don't change too much, and respect the original tune that remained largely unchanged throughout time and space. It was, after all, an unofficial mix, and I didn't want fans to tear me apart like an angry TARDIS.
"Do, however, make them dance!". I shivered at the thought of scratching an itch while wearing a straight jacket.
That by itself doesn't sound too spectacular, but adding to the fact that commercial synthesizers weren't available and that the composers did a ton of work with tapes and manual tuning the bass oscillators, I was quite amazed.
From the article:
"Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop used musique concrète techniques to realise a score written by composer Ron Grainer. Each and every note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string [...] The swooping melody and pulsating bass rhythm was created by manually adjusting the pitch of oscillator banks to a carefully timed pattern. [...] by cutting tape recordings of filtered white noise"
I would say it's quite an achievement.
I kept the remix straightforward, true to its roots. Even inserted samples from the TV series (BBC, please don't sue me). It was quick, done, dusted...
... and bland.
"Oh great angelic brain voice, you suck sometimes."
"Uhuh."
I tinkered around for a few more days. Patched this and screw drivered that.
Then it suddenly came together. The distorted saw bassline, the gliding tuning lead, additional ghost notes, etc. just merged together, like fish sticks and custard. I also applied creative license to the bassline's scale, which can be heard in the second half of the track. It worked, I liked it, and it remained true to the original.
The track was bounced off a few friends, the mix was fixed, mastered (special thanks to the NuL guys, more on them in a later post), and uploaded to Soundcloud.
You can listen to it here:
Well, one year later it is still the most played track on my Soundcloud page from countries far and wide, and played at clubs. No angry fan tried to rip me apart, and no takedown notice from BBC (yet ;) ).
In all fairness, this remix is a tribute to a surprisingly great series and no money is made from it. I'm just happy that fans enjoy it, and I certainly had fun working on this project.
(The Doctor Who series and characters appearing thereon are copyrighted by the BBC. The term "TARDIS" is trademarked by the BBC.)
Today I will focus on the unofficial I Am The Doctor remix.
Why Doctor Who?
I like Doctor Who. In fact, I love it to bits. Why? Because fezzes are cool, and so are bow ties. |
| Fezzes are cool indeed. |
Truth be told, I found Season 1 of the 2005 "reboot" rather cheesy. The soundtrack was cheesy, set designs were cheesy, and let's not mention Rose's mom. Then along came the David Tennant era. I was hooked as I laughed and condensed a silent tear here and there. Matt Smith's quirky, yet dangerous style grew on me after a period of doubt. And yes, Amy Pond is a cute companion.
The Start of a New Remix
How did the remix start?One dark stormy night as the stars slept with their eyes wide open, a purple Dalek descended from the heavens with a plunger looking for something to suck. "B-L-I-M-E-Y!", it communicated.
I woke up immediately, brewed a cup of coffee, and searched for a MIDI version of the Doctor Who theme song.
"MIDI file?", you ask with one eyebrow raised? Yes, it was a cheesy moment, and also a lazy moment (the caffiene was still trying to pass the blood-brain barrier). I found it hard to detect keys and chords by listening, and I wanted to work on a remix "now!"
Fezzing Up
I blasted open the great glorious doors of Renoise, imported the Midi file, searched and pasted the leads into a new song and... well... nothing. There was no goal, no vibe, nothing to work towards. With every remix I work hard to inject my own feelings and style."How do I turn this into my own track?", I asked the silent metronome in the top left corner. Sadly, it didn't respond. Then, the angelic brain voice boomed from above: "Respect it!".
"Yes, oh great brain voice that may have me committed for attempted Schizophrenia.", I spluttered.
That was it! Don't change too much, and respect the original tune that remained largely unchanged throughout time and space. It was, after all, an unofficial mix, and I didn't want fans to tear me apart like an angry TARDIS.
"Do, however, make them dance!". I shivered at the thought of scratching an itch while wearing a straight jacket.
Researching The Origins
I stepped back, and travelled along the wormhole of Interwebs to understand the origins of this "basic" tune. The discovery I made was quite revealing. According to this Wikipedia article, the song was done in 1963.That by itself doesn't sound too spectacular, but adding to the fact that commercial synthesizers weren't available and that the composers did a ton of work with tapes and manual tuning the bass oscillators, I was quite amazed.
 |
| Delia Derbyshire: Fifty years later, and still respected. |
"Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop used musique concrète techniques to realise a score written by composer Ron Grainer. Each and every note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string [...] The swooping melody and pulsating bass rhythm was created by manually adjusting the pitch of oscillator banks to a carefully timed pattern. [...] by cutting tape recordings of filtered white noise"
I would say it's quite an achievement.
 |
| Ron Grainer: Composer of the original Doctor Who theme song. |
Waving the Sonic Screwdriver
Research was complete, and the real work started.I kept the remix straightforward, true to its roots. Even inserted samples from the TV series (BBC, please don't sue me). It was quick, done, dusted...
... and bland.
"Oh great angelic brain voice, you suck sometimes."
"Uhuh."
I tinkered around for a few more days. Patched this and screw drivered that.
Then it suddenly came together. The distorted saw bassline, the gliding tuning lead, additional ghost notes, etc. just merged together, like fish sticks and custard. I also applied creative license to the bassline's scale, which can be heard in the second half of the track. It worked, I liked it, and it remained true to the original.
 |
| Batteries not included. |
The track was bounced off a few friends, the mix was fixed, mastered (special thanks to the NuL guys, more on them in a later post), and uploaded to Soundcloud.
You can listen to it here:
It's Bigger On The Inside
What was the result of the remix, you ask?Well, one year later it is still the most played track on my Soundcloud page from countries far and wide, and played at clubs. No angry fan tried to rip me apart, and no takedown notice from BBC (yet ;) ).
 |
| All cats agree. |
In all fairness, this remix is a tribute to a surprisingly great series and no money is made from it. I'm just happy that fans enjoy it, and I certainly had fun working on this project.
The Lesson
Does this inane story actually have a lesson to be learned? Indeed it does:Fezzes are cool, respect the fez.
(The Doctor Who series and characters appearing thereon are copyrighted by the BBC. The term "TARDIS" is trademarked by the BBC.)
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