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MusicallyInspired

Doom II Roland SC-55 Music Pack (and others)

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Decided to make a new thread for this and future releases, as there has been some interest in them. I just finished recording the Doom II Roland SC-55 soundtrack and it's available now in OGG, MP3, and FLAC.



Doom II Roland SC-55 Music Pack UPDATED V1.2!
(added missing duplicate tracks)

Each track fades out at the end for out-of-game listening experience but contains metadata info for loop start and end points so when playing with ZDoom or Chocolate Doom (or any other port that might implement metadata loop tags in the future), the tracks will loop seamlessly and imperceptibly while preserving end-note and reverb information without being cut off, giving the illusion of playing with a real SC-55.

The packs are boosted and slightly compressed so that they are on a more equal volume level with sound effects, otherwise the music gets drowned out easily. However, also available are the untouched raw uncompressed music packs which have no compression or volume enhancements for the audiophiles out there that want the absolute purest experience possible. I do, however, recommend the boosted packs for in-game play. Enjoy!

I also have other game music packs available on my website Roland SC-55 Music Packs, hosted by Duke4.net. Currently I have music packs for Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Doom II, Rise of the Triad, Shadow Warrior, Blood, Descent, Descent II, and Hocus Pocus with many more planned to come. Next on my list to record are Heretic and Hexen.

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It will do both FLAC and Ogg, but only if you use the latest development build. You also need a specially-built version of SDL_mixer with support for the libraries compiled in. Basically it's complicated at the moment, and I'm hoping to make it all a lot easier in the future.

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I might give it a go later on, as this music sounds amazing and I would love to get it going inside a game of Doom.

Thanks MusicallyInspired!

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Thank you so much for the soundtracks!! The loop points are brilliant and especially appreciated!

Also thanks for providing both a mastered and original version! Absolutely brilliant :)

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My pleasure. I'll hopefully have Heretic and Hexen out there before too too long. I'd like to get the Doom engine games out of the way. I've never played Strife, however. Is it worth recording for as well?

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Ack! Sorry, guys. I'm removing the download for the Doom II and Hocus Pocus soundtracks temporarily. I discovered I miscalculated all of the loop metadata tags. None of the tracks will loop properly. I have to recalculate all of the sample values and reupload new packs. I'll let you know when that process is completed. Should take just a couple days max. Certainly by the end of the weekend. My apologies again for screwing these up!

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The wiki music page states that various repeat doom music tracks are not identical.
I don't think that in all cases this results in changes to the way they sound, but
I'm pretty sure that at least one set does result in different sound.
Your Doom pack doesn't seem to account for this. Repeat tracks are just copies.
Not a particularly big deal, but it does bother me.

Do we have an doom music experts with more info on this?

Btw, they sound great. The boosted tracks have real oomf and are just great to listen to on their own.
They could certainly solve music problems on Linux systems for me with the new chocolate-doom builds.

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i recall that The Dave D Taylor Blues has a different version of the track on the first map it appears on (D_DDTBLU), but that all the other songs (D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3) are different in that they have a cymbal crash at the beginning of the track. i don't know if there are any other differences in the Doom 2 soundtrack, however.

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Doomhuntress said:

i recall that The Dave D Taylor Blues has a different version of the track on the first map it appears on (D_DDTBLU), but that all the other songs (D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3) are different in that they have a cymbal crash at the beginning of the track. i don't know if there are any other differences in the Doom 2 soundtrack, however.


The ending of D_DDTBL2/3 is different too, with the last note in the synth lead being sustained until the end of the track. (Something that has caused playback issues in numerous source ports.)

I'm pretty sure all the other songs have only one version.

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I went and completely forgot about the duplicates. I didn't even include them. I was going to simply copy them and rename them like I did with the duplicates for Doom 1. However, if they are different I'll rerecord them. Are the Doom 1 duplicates different in any way? I assumed they weren't because the MUS files I used were the exact same size, from what I remember. I can always go back and check that, though.

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The trivia section of these wiki pages mentions track differences.
http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Doom_music
http://doomwiki.org/wiki/Doom_II_music

These size differences don't necessarily mean the tracks sound different though.

I thought I remembered there being some differences, I just couldn't remember exactly what.
I'm guessing that Doomhuntress and plums have it right though.
It's the "The Dave D. Taylor Blues" tracks that are different.

D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3 do have cymbal crashes right at the start.
They also have a sustained note at the very end.

Thanks for considering these small details.

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Quick comparison of the Doom 1 songs with different versions, by rendering midis to wavs and pasting inverted versions of one track over another:

E1M9 vs E3M9: timing is slightly different between the notes on the two versions. You probably wouldn't be able to tell from listening. It sounds like it could be the result of different versions of a MIDI to MUS converter, maybe. Will investigate more.

E1M7 vs E3M5: Also some timing differences. Will investigate more as well.

INTERMISSION vs. E2M3: Exactly the same audio output.

E2M7 vs E3M7: The volume of the bass string is 80 in E2M7 but 100 in E3M7. Identical otherwise.

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According to XWE, a big difference between D_DDTBLU and its copies are the instrument lists:

D_DDTBLU:

[7 Channels + Drums]
Instrument 01: #014: Tubular Bells
Instrument 02: #029: Overdriven Guitar
Instrument 03: #034: Electric Bass (picked)
Instrument 04: #051: Synth Strings 2
Instrument 05: #079: Ocarina
Instrument 06: #080: Lead 1 (square)
Instrument 07: #088: Pad 1 (new age)
Instrument 08: #097: FX 2 (soundtrack)
Instrument 09: #108: Kalimba
Instrument 10: #136: Bass Drum 1
Instrument 11: #138: Acoustic Snare
Instrument 12: #142: Closed Hi Hat
Instrument 13: #146: Open Hi Hat
Instrument 14: #152: Chinese Cymbal
Instrument 15: #156: Cowbell
Instrument 16: #165: High Timbale
Instrument 17: #169: Cabase
Instrument 18: #173: Short Guiro
Instrument 19: #182: 82
Instrument 20: #185: 85
D_DDTBL2 & D_DDTBL3:
[7 Channels + Drums]
Instrument 01: #014: Tubular Bells
Instrument 02: #029: Overdriven Guitar
Instrument 03: #034: Electric Bass (picked)
Instrument 04: #051: Synth Strings 2
Instrument 05: #079: Ocarina
Instrument 06: #080: Lead 1 (square)
Instrument 07: #088: Pad 1 (new age)
Instrument 08: #097: FX 2 (soundtrack)
Instrument 09: #136: Bass Drum 1
Instrument 10: #138: Acoustic Snare
Instrument 11: #142: Closed Hi Hat
Instrument 12: #146: Open Hi Hat
Instrument 13: #152: Chinese Cymbal
Instrument 14: #155: Splash Cymbal
Instrument 15: #156: Cowbell
Instrument 16: #165: High Timbale
Instrument 17: #169: Cabase
Instrument 18: #173: Short Guiro
Instrument 19: #182: 82
Instrument 20: #185: 85
D_DDTBLU has a Kalimba instrument (#108) in the list while D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3 are missing this and have a Splash Cymbal (#155) instrument instead.

The song loops six times and each time it calls another instrument patch for a particular MIDI channel. In the first run-through it's an Ocarina instrument, in the second it's a Tubular Bell instrument, in the third it's a Synth String 1 instrument, in the fourth it's a Soundtrack pad instrument, and in the final loop it's a Kalimba. Since the Kalimba instrument is missing from the copies it just plays as the Soundtrack pad instrument twice before returning. The splash cymbal is added at the beginning of the track instead.

The held note at the end of the two copies is a Square Wave instrument whose note is held longer than in the original D_DDTBLU, but which does exist. It's extension doesn't make much sense musically speaking or game development wise for looping.

What this looks like to me, as a composer, is an oversight or possibly outdated versions that were fixed. id took the music files and without realizing it used older versions for the second and third copies which had these issues. It's feasible that they may have overlooked the hanging note, being such a small team and having so many music files with duplicates everywhere. Hard to keep track. Of course, this is all conjecture and it's impossible to know for sure.

Also, regarding the timing differences in the Doom 1 tracks, I noticed that between D_DDTBLU and its copies that there is an extra note of silence in the MUS data from the two copies where there isn't in the original. This could account for the an extra microbeat of timing added before the tune actually starts. I'm not entirely sure how the MUS format works, but it looks similar to the MOD format, judging from XWE's preview, and when that happens in a MOD everything is pushed ahead by that much. Could be what happened to the Doom 1 track duplicates as well.

What do you think? I personally favour the outdated theory. However, the splash cymbal almost seems like it could belong. Yet, the missing Kalimba instrument is a source of doubt for me. I could do a version for all three that includes the splash cymbal AND the Kalimba and removes the stuck note. Or we could just stick to the original format. Any votes on this?

As for the Doom 1 tracks having different volumes for instruments, that doesn't bother me too much. But if enough people care, I can rerecord those too. It just doesn't seem worth it to me, though, seeing as they are identical otherwise.

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My vote is for the original format, it's what I grew up with. That starting cymbal and sustained note on the end of DDT is burnt into my memory. However, it sounds like the differences in the original doom tracks are negligible and probably unnoticeable and it doesn't bother me if they go unchanged.

Also, great work on the research. Certainly an interesting read.

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Doing some more comparisons. There's also one extra bar of percussion in the intro of D_DDTBL2 compared to D_DDTBLU.

MusicallyInspired said:

What this looks like to me, as a composer, is an oversight or possibly outdated versions that were fixed. id took the music files and without realizing it used older versions for the second and third copies which had these issues.

That sounds quite plausible to me.

Also, regarding the timing differences in the Doom 1 tracks, I noticed that between D_DDTBLU and its copies that there is an extra note of silence in the MUS data from the two copies where there isn't in the original. This could account for the an extra microbeat of timing added before the tune actually starts. I'm not entirely sure how the MUS format works, but it looks similar to the MOD format, judging from XWE's preview, and when that happens in a MOD everything is pushed ahead by that much. Could be what happened to the Doom 1 track duplicates as well.

MUS is basically MIDI with a bunch of information stripped out. Critically, there's no tempo information; all songs run at 120 bpm internally (IIRC). Based on my understanding of MIDI, this means that songs composed in a different tempo probably have their note values quantized to the nearest tic values you would get in a 120 bpm song. So having a difference of any timing at all at the start of the song could offset each note by a tic or two. On second thought, I think this is wrong. There is no tempo info in MUS, but the tics should still line up at the same places. So, not sure what's causing the timing differences on a select few notes.

Anyhow, I think a different version of D_DDTBL2 would be a nice addition, but none of the other songs are different enough to warrant a second version.


edit: Some more info on Doom 1 music:
D_E3M9 has an extra 500ms (1 beat at 120 bpm) of silence at the start compared to D_E1M9. Likewise with D_E3M5 compared to D_E1M7. Removing that silence, the songs are almost identical, apart from a few notes where the timing is off by a few tics. As far as I can tell, the notes are exactly the same - would have to compare the midi files to be sure, but if there are any differences they're quite trivial.

So, the only Doom 1 song with anything close to a noteworthy difference is the volume is E2M7 vs E3M7, and I really don't think that warrants two versions.

I will do a bit more research and then update the wiki with this info.


edit2: Aha, the note timing is the same, but there are occasional differences in other MIDI data - for instance in D_E1M9 there is an unnecessary drum program change at 3.121 seconds (event 137) that does not exist in D_E3M9. This would cause the MIDI rendering of any other events at the same time to be delayed ever so slightly, because of the way MIDI works. What this extra MIDI data is doing there, I don't know, but it's likely outdated files as with D_DDTBLU, only with less of an impact on the song.

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Fascinating.

I don't mind recording D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3 to add the cymbal and leave out the Kalimba, but the stuck note feels like a bug to me as it simply makes the song sound awful. The note is immediately muted once the actual instrument finally plays that specific note again in its sequence, which isn't until after a few other notes. That's not intentional, I can 99.999% guarantee that. I can't imagine any self-respecting musician, especially Bobby Prince, making a conscious compositional choice to utilize this.

Also, in the MUS format, especially if it's anything like MOD or XMI, you can't have more than one note playing at once for an instrument unless you use another channel because each channel is a column and only one note can play in a row on a column at any one time. There's no way you can have stuck notes persist over other notes that don't unless the MIDI device is misinterpreting MIDI data, which happens with glitches like this. It's not receiving the end-note message so it thinks the note is being held down. Since it's impossible in this format, from what I can see, for MUS files to hold a note down over other notes (because they would just silence the other note) and seeing as it's non-existent in the original file, I call glitch.

I want very badly to remove this stuck note as it screams glitch and bug to me, nostalgia or no, but I will keep the cymbal and leave out the Kalimba for D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3.

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MusicallyInspired said:

I don't mind recording D_DDTBL2 and D_DDTBL3 to add the cymbal and leave out the Kalimba, but the stuck note feels like a bug to me as it simply makes the song sound awful. The note is immediately muted once the actual instrument finally plays that specific note again in its sequence, which isn't until after a few other notes. That's not intentional, I can 99.999% guarantee that. I can't imagine any self-respecting musician, especially Bobby Prince, utilizing this type of thing as a conscious compositional choice.


With the way this actually plays in vanilla Doom 2, the stuck note is immediately stopped as soon as the song restarts. This is generally accepted as the "correct" way of playing that version of the song (whether that was the intent of Bobby Prince or not); many source ports have some kind of accommodation so that the note gets cut once the song loops, as opposed to continuing until that note is played again, which as you said sounds awful.

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I'm trying to find the pack of MIDIs that John Romero released of unused music tracks for Doom. His website seems to be down so is there a mirror somewhere? I'd like to do a special music pack of these unused tracks on the SC-55.

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I updated Doom II's music pack to V1.2 which includes the duplicate files I missed. I made a special rerecording for D_DDTBL2/D_DDTBL3 which is slightly different from the original. Not much, but enough to warrant a rerecording. The only thing I fixed was the stuck note bug at the end of the track. The rest are straight copies of the originals. This nearly doubles the file size of the pack, but it's necessary, otherwise levels would play with the original MIDI music instead of from the music pack.

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MusicallyInspired said:

My pleasure. I'll hopefully have Heretic and Hexen out there before too too long. I'd like to get the Doom engine games out of the way. I've never played Strife, however. Is it worth recording for as well?


I haven't played Strife either, although I've seen favorable reviews of it and am looking forward to playing it (maybe using crispy-doom?). I think you should watch Ross' review of the game, or if you can't be bothered to watch through it in its entirety, skip to 13:57, where Ross talks about the music. He's actually asking for a midi expert to make a custom soundfont and while that might not be your thing, if SC-55 can make the music sound better than the crappy softsynths/soundfonts we're playing with, I'd say absolutely go for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPrU7LSqiX0&list=PL6PNZBb6b9Ltgl6WM5rn2pjrXd_qdit2S

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