List of Unusual Suspects » doom

Doom Turns 18

Tolwyn — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:08:37 +0000

Doom is 18 years old. I guess it's significant, because if Doom were a person it could vote, smoke, and drink in some countries. Doom is an adult now.

I first saw Doom in its original shareware release weeks after I came home from college in the office of my High School band director, Ray Dietz. id Software created a masterpiece.

Happy 20th Anniversary, id

Tolwyn — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:14:38 +0000

id Software literally changed my life when I got out of college and likely has led me to where I am today. Thanks, guys.

They have a 30 minute video that you just have to watch.

I Remember My Place

Tolwyn — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:51:45 +0000

Warning: I start many sentances with prepositional phrases. Sorry about that.

I've been pretty blessed musically in my life. From the 80s, I was a camp counselor at the Lake Wenatchee YMCA Camp and was told that I changed the lives of some kids. In the 1990s I had the fortune of being able to leverage my home recording studio to write music for video games and challenge my musical skills. In college, I got a (minor) degree in music. My nine-year-old is now taking piano.

I have a Roland D50 keyboard that is older than most of you reading this post, I have a Kurzweil K2000 keyboard, the 5th production keyboard off the line (#2 was Stevie Wonder). I've had a recording "studio" for 28 years. I don't do this for a living, I do it for fun.

In college, my friend Mike and I tried to be recording artists. At the time, I would tell you I couldn't sing my way out of a wet-paper sack. I still don't think I can, but friends and acquaintances close to me now say I can. So, I wanted to share one of my favorite songs I've ever recorded. It's a song by Chris Rice called "Other Side of the Radio." Enjoy!

Other Side of the Radio

Flattery Times One Hundred

Tolwyn — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:12:49 +0000

JD Herrera, a young man from Italy, has been covering some songs from Memento Mori II from Doom2. One of them is And Blood Will Spill by yours truly. I did this back in 1997. It's humbling and exciting to hear someone else do your music.

Back When I Was Cool

Tolwyn — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:57:22 +0000

Some of you may not know this, but I used to write music for the most popular game of all time, Doom. Doom was the crucible in the evolution of PC games. I occasionally, because I'm totally vain, Google myself and see what others have to say about me.

lupinx-Kassman said:

-Almost every song Mark Klem and Tolwyn has made for a project.

Agreed, so I am surprised no one has mentioned STRAIN yet. Especially that crazy medley from level 2 and really memorable tunes from levels 11 and 14.

When it comes to entire WADs, Icarus is #1 for me. It has a recurring theme (and a cool one!) that appears on levels 2,7,12,26... maybe more. Also the music from the 1st level is worth mentioning. And 22 (But it's actually a J.S.Bach's fugue; I couldn't be more surprised when I heard it in a Doom level)

MM: levels 9,11,14. MM2: levels 5,9 (fantastic riff),14 and 26 (when all of a sudden, a theme from MM appears).

Requiem seems much weaker, but levels 7 (a tribute to Rush) and 11 have cool tunes again.

OK, if I had to skip Klem & Tolwyn, I would choose HR2. Heavy metal tracks suit the levels well and this music is not as naive as "heavy" music from original Doom.

Ahhh. Good times. For the record, I still write music, and actually still write music for games, but I don't normally use the nickname Tolwyn anymore.