Doctor Who: Fool's Gold
 

I've been working feverishly on a new recreation of Murray Gold's Doctor Who theme for the past week now, and I now have a product (with several different versions) that I'm proud to show off to everyone here.

I have been working on this theme for two reasons -- for one, my skill level has been steadily increasing and I've been getting better and better at making full pieces on the computer, so I wanted to do a proper recreation of the Gold theme. For another, Tom has requested a new version of the Gold theme to use with his video productions. Hopefully, this theme satisfies both those goals adequately. ;)

While this theme is intended to be based mostly off of Murray Gold's series one Doctor Who theme, straight recreation wasn't what I was after for this project. I wanted to add some of my own style and put some new elements into it that had a more electronic feel. I think I've achieved that well.

Probably the biggest change is the addition of numerous synth elements. I wanted a very strong electronic presence in this theme, as I feel that's absolutely essential to any Doctor Who theme. For this project, I decided that none of my electronic components would be made on the computer. Every electronic component you hear in this theme (aside from the original Derbyshire elements) has been produced on my two real vintage analog synthesizers, a Roland Juno-6 and a Yamaha DX21.

For one thing, I added a pulsating backing bass sound throughout the entire theme which really helps contribute to the pace of the theme and its almost sinister feeling. I also added the horn-like bending note towards the beginning of the theme -- this was performed live and recorded off the Juno as well. I also expanded on this concept and added a similar bending note at two other points in the theme. I added a quiet synth melody line too, as well as some filtered white noise effects, all courtesy of the Juno. I definitely wanted a distinct electronic presence in this theme... there's talk that Murray's new theme might be completely orchestrated, and to be honest I'd hate that. It's probably pure speculation, but it irks me just the same, and he can't forget the roots of the theme. There are some other minor changes I've made too. I redid the ending, for one. I didn't want it to end on quite so triumphant a note so I tweaked it just a bit to make it sound a tiny bit darker.

Anyway, I have posted all the various versions below along with a brief description of each.

However when posting these here, I will add a small disclaimer: I do request that these themes are not distributed outside of the forums in any way and are not used in any production without my consent. I want to keep these themes close to me for the time being -- a DannyStewart.com exclusive for the moment. Thanks for your understanding, and I hope you enjoy them!

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Opening Theme
This is an opening titles version of Fool's Gold. For this version, I started out with my finished closing project and trimmed it down to fit the opening titles. I didn't really change too much, except I made the whole thing a bit punchier because I think the opening version's always been compressed a bit more. For this particular rendition of the opening theme, I also had some fun with sound effects. I synchronized my audio file to the full-length opening titles sequence, and added a bunch of neat effects. For one thing, I added the TARDIS sound into the mix every time we see it fly by on screen. I also added little whooshes when the actors' names and the name of the show fly by. I'm very pleased with the result.

Download: Opening Theme v2.0 (old)
Download: Opening Theme v2.6 (current as of May 30, 2006)

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Opening Theme (Clean)
This is a "clean" version of the opening titles mix, with the standard sound effects left in (the ones that appear in the closing version), but the opening-specific ones taken out (like the TARDIS and name whooshes).

Download: Clean Opening Theme v2.0 (old)

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Closing Theme
This is the grand finale. The "normal" rendition that I am most proud of, and the one that took 90% of my time and effort. I worked on this theme for literally six days straight, nearly non-stop. Every free moment of mine was spent listening and re-listening, tweaking and editing. This is a full-length, proper closing rendition of Fool's Gold intended for the preview and the closing credits. I tried to incorporate a little bit of everything in this mix -- the punchy urgency of the original series one theme, some of the higher orchestra strengths of the newer versions, a little bit of influence from the album version, and a lot of synth elements that came from me.

Download: Closing Theme v2.0 (old)
Download: Closing Theme v2.6 (current as of May 30, 2006)

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Album Version
Since Murray Gold went all out and did a crazy album version, I thought I might as well too! For this version, I took my existing Fool's Gold closing theme project, recut it so that it roughly equates back to the format of the original Derbyshire theme, and added a whole slew of new electronic sounds to it, from a brand new driving electronic bassline to new synth leads and pads throughout the whole thing and even down to all new electronic effects. It's quite insane in a way, but I think it came together admirably and its works extremely well. What makes me even happier, of course, is that every single new electronic sound I've added to this theme came from one of my two real hardware synthesizers, either the Juno-6 or the DX21. I said to myself, "well, I may not be able to use a real orchestra, but I can certainly use real synthesizers!" So the electronic sounds are all sounding very clear, authentic, and cool. This one was certainly a lot of fun to make. ;)

Download: Album Version v2.0 (old)
Download: Extended Theme v2.6 (current as of May 30, 2006)

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I hope you all enjoy the various iterations of my Fool's Gold project! As I've said it's been a tremendous amount of fun to make, and I think the result is extremely rewarding. :)

You already know all this but extremely good work, though you should have put the Electronic Mix in there for completions sake ;).

PS: Nice squashy bits.

Excellent mixes, Danny. But like I say about most of your work... It needs more mastering! It would be AWESOME if it wasn't so muddy :P

I'm sorry you feel that way. I spent a long time mastering these mixes (I really did). I got everything how I liked it, to the best of my ability.

I must admit I prefer it the way it is...makes the orchestral bits sound more orchestral and the electronic bits sound more electronic :P.

I think you missed that part :P

Nope... just that I saw more need to respond to the second part. :P

You need to get more variations of the poking-tongue we use it so much.

Stay on topic people! >_>

I actually prefer the tongue smiley as just a regular "colon" and then a "P." The "P" when left alone looks less happy and I prefer that.

=P

The message I have entered is too short.

Excellent music! Magnificent! :D
You've probably mentioned before on your other works, but what software did you use to make these? I have a funny feeling I'm getting a new keyboard for Christmas (which I'll be opening later today!) and I want to know what good programs there are. Thanks!

He uses FL Studio and EWQLSO :P

No longer entirely true, I'm afraid. This track does indeed use EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra for all of the orchestral elements but it was sequenced in Sony ACID Pro 6. I've found this to be much better software than FL Studio (although I still have a soft spot for FL) and because of this new software I was able to turn out this mix faster than usual and also, IMHO, sounding a lot better too. Thanks to ACID I can now see everything that's going on in the track at once and make changes to more things a lot quicker. Also, as I noted in the original post, the electronic elements in this theme all came from my two real 1980s synthesizers -- one of which is a Roland Juno-6 and the other is a Yamaha DX21. These were the synthesizers used by Dominic Glynn to make his Doctor Who theme and incidental music and I found them for relatively cheap on eBay so I got them. They are both excellent synths.

I was half right.

Close enough :D

Nice stuff, it certainly doesn't sound muddy to me. I like the ending you added to the Closing theme.

By the way, did you hear the closing theme of TRB? I believe it was the orchestral version, although I was focusing quite a lot on the S3 preview so I can't be sure. Once the preview ended, I think it was orchestral.

Bizarrely they used the Christmas Invasion arrangement at the end of The Runaway Bride, despite the preview trailers for it clearly having a new theme arrangement...

Thanks muchly, Jez. For the record, I've gone back in and RV is right -- the mid-range frequencies are a bit high and the high-end frequencies are a bit low. I'm working on correcting this and I'll have a new version posted soon. It should sound a lot clearer and more punchy, so I hope you enjoy it when it's ready!

oh these are brilliant, they have the sense of mystery of the original, and feeling of the orchestral versions, but there is a lot of your own style in there which I love. The bassline on the album version reminded me of the Peter Howell bassline strongly, it added a good effect.
You should post these on Whomix, it'll show the people who ever doubted that you ever help Hardwire with his mix's big time, and I can tell you something, you'll ge a big response for them, and a good one too.
Who else here thinks Danny should post them in?
So what do ya say, will you do it?

I believe that answers your question :P.

Ben's a hawk.

I don't believe he said that he wouldn't do it, just not right now. I'm just asking if he has plans to do it in the future at some point.

I do plan to do it in the future at some point. However right now I want to restrict the audience, get feedback, and see if there's anything I can improve first before releasing them to the public. RV has already made a valuable point and Tom would like something added, so they will definitely be worked on further before release.

Haha. Hahahahahaha.

Valuable.

Glad you're entertained but your frequency comment was helpful.

It took a bit of tweaking, though. For a moment I thought you were going to cry and then I would have cried and we all would be in a very sorry state.

Good news. I am pleased to say that updated versions of the Fool's Gold closing theme and album version are now available for download from the original links on the first page. In this version, I've corrected many of the frequency issues (here's hoping it's okay this time around), plus some new layers such as harp swells and staccato horns. Comments would be appreciated, so please let me know what you think of the new versions! (Please note that the opening themes are unchanged.)

Nice improvements. Great stuff! ;)

Thank you, Dalek! :D

These sound a little Hardwire-ish. Did he work a little with you on these?

I will take that as high praise indeed. But no, HardWire offered no direct assistance on these except "beta testing" if you will -- listening to early mixes and mostly just providing encouragement and occasional small pieces of advice here and there. Thank you though! :D

All the more praise for you then. Congratulations! :D

Thanks again. :D

You deserve it. ;)

Alright, I'm afraid I have no choice but to call this project finished. ACID now crashes just about every time I try to open this project, and if by some chance it does open, it's far too unstable to get any work done. I've loaded this track down with way too many layers and samples and I guess the software just can't cope anymore.

Here is the final version of Fool's Gold. It's the album version, since that's the one I put the most work into (and the one I infused the most of my own ideas into).

Click here to download the final version of Fool's Gold.

This better be good, I stopped my Joseph Arthur playlist to hear it. ;) :P

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On a first listen (through the phones, of course!), it sounds great. I love your stracato string synth. On it's own, it sounds like it would be terrible, but it sounds great embedded within the sounds of the brass, bass and percussion.

If I had one negative on this song, it would be that the lead instruments aren't apparent enough. In particular, I think the "Derbyshynth" (as I like to call that "instrument") is perhaps a bit too quiet compared to the brass!

It's certainly a brilliant and noteworthy recreation though, excellent work. :)

Edit: And it was worth stopping Joe Arthur in his tracks too. :D

Thanks for such in-depth commentary, Jez! I'll reply to each point individually.

Thanks very much. The staccato strings don't exactly sound terrible on their own, but they do sit well (better) with all the other instruments in place.

I noticed the same thing just recently. It got to the point where everything had so much presence to it that if I turned up anything any more it would start to lose it all. Unfortunately as I said, it's damn near impossible to tweak this track any further as it was originally made. Just pretend as you listen that the Derbyshire elements are made to compliment the orchestra rather than supplant them. ;)

Thanks very much, Jez. I appreciate it, and it's good to know that it was worth stopping Joe Arthur in his tracks. :D

to me, it sounds as if there is a more powerful beat to it than the last version, whether you did anything to it or not I don't know, but it seems more powerful here.

I can't say anything other than 'extraordinary'! :D

Thanks, guys. Ben -- I think what you're hearing is that I'm using stronger compression than I did last time.

that'll be it it, it works well.