.MID the way id did - Doom 2 Soundtrack Replacement [RELEASED]

I’d be content to call it complete after you have a go at it, CammyBanana.

Here's my work in progress for MAP06! I'm having trouble uploading files on this forum so please have a listen here:

The structure of the piece is:
-Roughly a minute of introduction going towards a creepy, almost painful place., 

-One and a half minutes of 'riff',
-Outro

I strayed away a bit from the 'sparse' feeling of Prince's original track and went more for the chaos and confusion that one might feel when playing. I did adhere to the alienating effect of his music, and the expansivenessof the original

Any feedback would be lovely! Some things that might be changed immediately if needed:
-In the introduction, I can go for more sparseness and not these dozens of woodwinds you're hearing now coming towards you from everywhere. This would leave in the opening chord and some more industrial sound, not this 'wooden' colour of the woodwinds.
-I can make the track around 6/7 minutes like the original, by repeating the 'riff' section once or twice (slightly altered ofcourse). The riff section can also build up slower etc. etc.

-The ending can be changed to have a crescendo to make a perfect loop with the beginning.

I like the vibe, Peccatum Mihzamiz, though it's hard for me to get the clearest picture with that soundfont, honestly. I'd be careful not to have too much explicit dissonance for too long, but the tension is cool for sure, I like the main riff. It feels like there could be some low end come in at some point. And the original map06 tune always makes my head bob when I play that level, maybe add a straight forward drum beat somewhere to lock in the groove. Just some ideas based on what I heard, but do your thing and keep going!

I gave map05 a bit of a facelift, it just didn't sit right with me, trying to consciously emulate Prince's style is way outside my realm, so I relaxed a bit and didn't think about it too hard, just tried to make something good. Anyway, I probably need to move on at this point but here's Coliformication03.zip

The No Doubt styled song I had an idea for ended up just being "Snakes" with nothing substantial to add, so I've scrapped that idea for the time being, but it was worth exploring.

My computer has been out of commission the last few days yet again, but I’m looking forward to hearing the updated version!

I AM CLAIMING MAP22

BLAST BEATS FOR THEM CHAINGUNNERS

I'm surprised map 01 hasn't been claimed, I'd like to take a swing at it, if possible.

EDIT: I swung, and it's derivative of both D_RUNNIN and Hanger 18, but hopefully the new take on it does some justice.  I can remove some of the rip-offery if necessary. The solo's got some rough edges and some transitions suffer from copy/paste syndrome but I'll clean it up after sitting with it.

DeerOnion01.zip

Dear Onion02.zip Updated. Let's see how many times I can edit this post without bumping.

Just a little bump - in addition to Peter claiming 22 and Lippeth claiming 01, Peccatum Mihzamiz has claimed 31 and decino has claimed 21. Looking forward to hearing everyone's work, and hoping to have a new MIDI skeleton put together soon too. I might even be able to get some flesh on it!

On 11/21/2020 at 7:43 AM, Lippeth said:

I swung, and it's derivative of both D_RUNNIN and Hanger 18, but hopefully the new take on it does some justice.  I can remove some of the rip-offery if necessary. The solo's got some rough edges and some transitions suffer from copy/paste syndrome but I'll clean it up after sitting with it.

This is great! I don't mind derivative work at all - some submissions so far have been remixes in addition to the original tunes, so this will fit in perfectly. I really like the sound of it.

Hi there. I've been playing around with software to make midis with, and came up with this thing. Maybe it has a place in this project? Feel free to suggest changes. I'm not sure which slot would be best.

https://user.fm/files/v2-e6c89a610b1a5fa98e541546d3c32e24/shotdown_b1.mid

True to Bobby Prince style, the riffs are lifted from an existing song, S.D.B.J. by The Jesus Lizard.

(In case you open the midi up in an editor, you'll see that everything is a little misaligned timing-wise. I can quantize the notes easily, but I can't figure out how to also quantize all the CC events with them. Hopefully that's not a problem.)

I am so pumped for this to come out.

On 10/3/2020 at 5:14 AM, Doomkid said:

Subtle/slowish rock or blues

You probably already know I ain't going for this lmfao.

MAP22, fast, frantic and claustrophobic map.

The MIDI is nearly ready. Just 1 more sitting until I'll be comfortable sharing it. I'm calling it 'MegaSphere - NM100S Pistol Start or Else'.

On 11/26/2020 at 6:27 AM, plums said:

Hi there. I've been playing around with software to make midis with, and came up with this thing. Maybe it has a place in this project?

Really nice MIDI you've got here, plums. Very catchy! I think it would work really well in the Map03 slot, if that's alright with you?

Also, would you mind if the velocity of each track was lowered just a tad, to say 95% of what they currently are? Sekaiju shows the DB meter hitting the top a lot, which  from my past experiences says it might be too loud. It's no big deal either way, just throwing it out there.

29 minutes ago, Peter said:

You probably already know I ain't going for this lmfao.

MAP22, fast, frantic and claustrophobic map.

Excellent, I look forward to it. (Just for anyone curious using the IWAD midis as descriptions was just a guideline, 22 will definitely suit an energetic midi!)

On 11/26/2020 at 7:33 AM, Gifty said:

I am so pumped for this to come out.

Really glad to hear it Gifty, hope we can deliver!

12 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Really nice MIDI you've got here, plums. Very catchy! I think it would work really well in the Map03 slot, if that's alright with you?

 

Also, would you mind if the velocity of each track was lowered just a tad, to say 95% of what they currently are? Sekaiju shows the DB meter hitting the top a lot, which  from my past experiences says it might be too loud. It's no big deal either way, just throwing it out there.

Excellent, thanks! MAP03 is just fine. I'll post a slightly quieter version later today. (Does it matter if the channel volumes are reduced instead of velocities?)

Sure, that's perfect. I'm honestly not great at gauging MIDI volumes, maybe it's even fine as-is. I just really want to be sure every midi has consistent leveling, which is oddly hard. The DB meter in Sekaiju only takes velocity into account and not track volume which makes it a bit tougher to work out..

1 hour ago, Doomkid said:

Sure, that's perfect. I'm honestly not great at gauging MIDI volumes, maybe it's even fine as-is. I just really want to be sure every midi has consistent leveling, which is oddly hard. The DB meter in Sekaiju only takes velocity into account and not track volume which makes it a bit tougher to work out..

Probably the best thing to do if you don't want to just eyeball it (eardrum it?) is to render the MIDIs to wav files and look/listen/analyze there. Timidity++ can do it with `timidity input.mid -Ow -o out.wav`, there might be a better GUI option on Windows, I'm not really sure what exists. Doing this on my track using an SC-55 soundfont shows it's got a lot of headroom, but I can still turn it down if you want.

edit: Version with slightly reduced velocities: https://user.fm/files/v2-1c5d13ff6d5db7266286ae5ebdda9ab7/shotdown_quieter.mid

Glad to see things are going smoothly!! Sorry for the silence, a couple other projects and life in general have been eating my time. Still working on 32, it's closer to done than not so expect it in the next week or so. I'll turn my attention to Wondering once it's done.

Also did decino honest-to-god join us?? That's awesome, I love his videos!! He also wants to write a song for the one map he hates the absolute hell out of so that ought to be fun for him

I'm an organization nut and the method Jimmy uses to track progress for his MIDI projects is very clean and concise, so I stole it:

LEGEND:
 [ ~ ] = slot claimed
 [ / ] = track in progress (with posted beta version)
 [ x ] = track completed

OVERALL PROGRESS:   21/35   [[ xxx-x-x-x--xxxxxx--xxx---xx-xx-xx-- ]]

---

Maps:

 [ x ]  MAP01: Entryway              -- "Dear Onion" — Lippeth
 [ x ]  MAP02: Underhalls            -- "En el Salón" — Alfonzo
 [ x ]  MAP03: The Gantlet           -- "Shot Down" — plums
 [ / ]  MAP04: The Focus             -- Unnamed track — Mr. Freeze
 [ x ]  MAP05: The Waste Tunnels     -- "Coliformication" — Lippeth
 [ / ]  MAP06: The Crusher           -- "Imperator Mens Aranea" — Peccatum Mihzamiz
 [ x ]  MAP07: Dead Simple           -- "This is My Boomstick" — Viscra Maelstrom
 [ / ]  MAP08: Tricks and Traps      -- Unnamed track — Doomkid
 [ x ]  MAP09: The Pit               -- "Into Retrowave City" — DCG Retrowave
 [ / ]  MAP10: Refueling Base        -- "Whipped and Chained" — Doomkid
 [ / ]  MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!   -- Unnamed track — Joe
 [ x ]  MAP12: The Factory           -- "Evil on Parade" — Alfonzo
 [ x ]  MAP13: Downtown              -- "SOON" – Bucket
 [ x ]  MAP14: The Inmost Dens       -- "Five Iron" — CammyBanana
 [ x ]  MAP15: Industrial Zone       -- Unnamed track — LazyGecko
 [ x ]  MAP16: Suburbs               -- "Data Track" — TrialD
 [ x ]  MAP17: Tenements             -- "This One's For Daisy" – STILES
 [ ~ ]  MAP18: The Courtyard         -- Claimed by yakfak
 [ ~ ]  MAP19: The Citadel           -- Claimed by Lippeth & DCG Retrowave
 [ x ]  MAP20: Gotcha!               -- "Boston Cream Pie" — CammyBanana
 [ x ]  MAP21: Nirvana               -- "Braachsel" – decino
 [ x ]  MAP22: The Catacombs         -- "NM100S Pistol Start or Else" — MegaSphere
 [ ~ ]  MAP23: Barrels o' Fun        -- Claimed by Viscra Maelstrom
 [ ~ ]  MAP24: The Chasm             -- Claimed by Roofi
 [ / ]  MAP25: Bloodfalls            -- Unnamed track — Mr. Freeze
 [ x ]  MAP26: The Abandoned Mines   -- "Archvile on Line 1" — Bucket
 [ x ]  MAP27: Monster Condo         -- "Sojourner Serenade (Unholy Vocaloid)" — Willy W.
 [ ~ ]  MAP28: The Spirit World      -- Claimed by STILES
 [ x ]  MAP29: The Living End        -- "Wondering" — Doomkid & Lippeth
 [ x ]  MAP30: Icon of Sin           -- "Echoes" – ZeMystic
 [ / ]  MAP31: Wolfenstein           -- Unnamed track – Peccatum Mihzamiz
 [ x ]  MAP32: Grosse                -- "Suplex the Stars" — CammyBanana

Other:

 [ x ]  Title                        -- "Faux Intro" — Doomkid
 [ ~ ]  Intermission                 -- Claimed by PSI Boredom Ω
 [ ~ ]  Text                         -- Claimed by Doomkid

This should be up to date; it's possible yakfak also claimed map27 but from the wording of their message I'm not sure if they meant to or if they were just referring to that specific song that it shares with map18. Update 12/5: I hope they just meant 18.

When I have a free moment I'll come back here and try to give some feedback on songs that have been posted since. Good luck everybody!!

@plums It still seems quite loud, but I see that you lowered all maxed note velocities by 7. The volume in the event list for most of the tracks is still 127, which for reference, the Doom 2 soundtrack usually keeps track volumes at 100 unless there's automation. As for the song itself, I like it! It almost has a map 10 vibe as far as the melody is concerned, but I can hear it in map 03 as well. I really like the synth brass harmony jumping between major to minor.

@Doomkid:

Please, do organise (either you or someone else) an analogous project in the future for The Ultimate Doom. In other words, I have retracted from this former post of mine after listening to the MIDIs posted so far.

3 hours ago, Lippeth said:

@plums It still seems quite loud, but I see that you lowered all maxed note velocities by 7. The volume in the event list for most of the tracks is still 127, which for reference, the Doom 2 soundtrack usually keeps track volumes at 100 unless there's automation. As for the song itself, I like it! It almost has a map 10 vibe as far as the melody is concerned, but I can hear it in map 03 as well. I really like the synth brass harmony jumping between major to minor.

Thanks! The major/minor switches are definitely Bobby Prince inspired, heh. There's actually quite a bit of automation and other fiddliness going on with the volumes, partly due to what I used to make it. It's definitely still louder than many of the stock Doom 1/2 tracks though -- if those are the target for volume levels I can lower it some more.

Yeahhh boiiii.

MegaSphere_-_NM100S_Pistol_Start_or_Else.zip

Also included map22-music.wad so you can easily try it out ingame. I think it fits so darn well.

Let me know your thoughts!

Edit: Fixed levels, as it was too quiet compared to regular Doom II tracks.

Edit: NM100sOrElse.zip

Here's a demo I recorded with 'NM100S Pistol Start or Else' playing. Staying true to the title of the track, it's a NM100S playthrough of MAP22.

Just finished composing a MIDI piece though I'm not sure if it'd fit the vibe of the remaining levels. Mind if I hit you up with a PM, @Doomkid?

Peter and decino contributing to this MIDI pack is very epic :O

@Doomkid I made a minor update to my MIDI recently and I'll upload the new version soon.  The only difference is more reverb for the drums which makes them sound really good on my SC-88 with the SC-55 map :D

Also, if any slots haven't been claimed yet, I could contribute a brand new DCG Retrowave MIDI for another map :)

15 hours ago, TrialD said:

Just finished composing a MIDI piece though I'm not sure if it'd fit the vibe of the remaining levels. Mind if I hit you up with a PM, @Doomkid?

Sure, please do!

6 hours ago, DCG Retrowave said:

Also, if any slots haven't been claimed yet, I could contribute a brand new DCG Retrowave MIDI for another map :)

I'd be happy for you to contribute another, there are still a few free slots so whichever one jumps out at you, just let me know and I'll reserve it for you :)

On 11/28/2020 at 11:48 PM, Peter said:

 

I like this one, really suits the energy of that map spot on. Very catchy riff with a lot of drive, and loving the seamless loop. Well done!

On 11/28/2020 at 6:36 PM, Diabolución said:

@Doomkid:Please, do organise (either you or someone else) an analogous project in the future for The Ultimate Doom. In other words, I have retracted from this former post of mine after listening to the MIDIs posted so far.

Great idea. Once this is wrapped up, it's definitely on the cards.

Claiming MAP13.

Can I claim map30? I have something already on the works.

And here's my submission for MAP13.

SOON.mid

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sG_FSYZw9aA71YWzkDol8lapoyQmdu9U/view?usp=sharing

@Doomkid Can I claim MAP16?  I like the epic slaughtermap :D

15 hours ago, Bucket said:

And here's my submission for MAP13.

 

SOON.mid

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sG_FSYZw9aA71YWzkDol8lapoyQmdu9U/view?usp=sharing

Holly F***!
Now Downtown feels a lot creepier and scary.
As always Bucket, this is killer track!
You made it in yesterday twitch session?

The MIDI!!!: Echoes

Something I've been working on a small bit, but it's a bit too short for map30 and I think needs a bit of work.

What are yall's thoughts on it?

It also needs a key change, and to pick up more at the end of the song.

8 hours ago, P41R47 said:

Holly F***!
Now Downtown feels a lot creepier and scary.
As always Bucket, this is killer track!
You made it in yesterday twitch session?

Yes. It took about 2 hours.

I feel like I made a song I would write within the confines of a Bobby Prince song... or maybe if Prince tried to adapt a song I wrote into the Doom format. Next week I think I'll try to write like Prince would from start to finish.

Really nice submission there, Bucket - a perfect fit for map13's eerie vibe. Well done.

10 hours ago, ZeMystic said:

The MIDI!!!: Echoes

Something I've been working on a small bit, but it's a bit too short for map30 and I think needs a bit of work.

This is a really nice start, I think if it was about 3-4x longer and slowly built up a catchy drum rhythm, and perhaps had a key change, it would be a nice compliment to the style you'd expect from the IoS.

17 hours ago, DCG Retrowave said:

@Doomkid Can I claim MAP16?  I like the epic slaughtermap :D

TrialD's midi is actually slotted in map16 presently, but maps 19, 26 and 27 are still free if you want one of those?

With that, we've now had 21 MIDIs submitted, some unfinished of course, but they're sounding fantastic overall. Will post the pack shortly!