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Taw Tu'lki

My MIDI-tracks for Doom & another games

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On 11.12.2017 at 9:49 PM, RaphaelMode said:

Good music! Simple, but in a good way. I alraedy found a good use for at least one.

Thanks. I think you will enjoy them.

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Hello! As a composer it always intrigues me when new folks show up to share their stuff. :D

 

I'm going to offer you some critique, and try to balance the positive with the negative. I've got a pretty keen ear for quality, having been a composer for this community for over a decade now. (geez...)

 

Overall I think you've got a good handle of melody and song structure, and I think these songs are definitely of adequate length for Doom maps - but your mixing and instrument choice might still need some work. Additionally I think you might need to find a middle ground between harmonic simplicity and complexity - some of this feels like you tried to do too much, and some of it feels like you could've done much more.

 

Detailed critique incoming!

 

= MUSIC PACK 1 =

 

BLACK: Got to say, bagpipe is an ugly instrument in that octave - I'd definitely swap it out for something smoother like Synth Strings. The melody and harmony flow nicely here, with a simple chord progression that doesn't outstay its welcome. You build the percussion nicely here, too. The rhythmic use of the Choir Aahs at the end makes it kind of sound like it's performing a vocal line, which isn't bad per se, I just wonder what you were going for here, is all. The line gets a little bit chromatic right at the end, with the use of F and F# together in the key of E - this struck me as a bit off-key, so I'd urge you to check which key signature you're working in and be certain of which sharps and flats you want to stick with. :)

 

DEMON: Nice bassy intro, although the use of the two separate bass voices together muddies them a bit harmonically. The use of String Ensemble makes me think of TNT MAP20's track, and I like it. The organ-only interludes could probably be spiced up a bit somehow. From what I can tell the track repeats its main idea three times, though I couldn't quite tell the difference between the first and second repeats. The New Age synth in the third repeat is a little questionable, as it seems to be "doing its own thing", irrespective of the harmony you've established in the two prior sections. I think you could outright axe that "ti-tika ti-tika ti-tika ti-tika" thing that it does when it first comes in - it adds nothing particularly fresh.

 

EARTH: Started out promising - the shuffle beat is something we don't see as often in Doom-ish music. Once the track kicks in, it really loses something, though. I think everything's just a bit too high-pitched - the bass voice has no power in the octave it's in, and I think you have a little too much stuff going on in the upper register. When the low strings come in, you get some of the balance back in, but you also pitch the Charang down into the same octave, so those two instruments are fighting for harmonic space. Definitely play around with the octaves these instruments are working within, and see if you can strike a slightly better balance. There's a really good track lurking in here somewhere. :)

 

REVENGE: Quite a frantic change of pace, this one. The banjo-like rolls on the guitar bring some real excitement forward. I'm not really a fan of the bells, though, or really much of the percussion here, I'm afraid. The track as a whole isn't weak per se, but I struggle to think where it could fit in Doom. Can't think of much else to say, sorry! D:

 

SUNRISE: Hmmm. Here the Pizzicato Strings are far too repetitive, as is the percussion, I think. Some of the melodies certainly work, but they're not really working together enough - every melody is given a bunch of repeats, then it's onto the next one. The strange chord right at the end kind of suggests to me that you were running a bit low on steam here. I have to thumbs-down this one, as it really doesn't do much for me. :(

 

WALTZ: Not bad, but I think it needs more variation, particularly in the bassline and percussion, which remain fairly static throughout. I can totally see what you were going for though, with the inclusion of piano and brass like the French Horn, and the saxophone, and certainly that could be an interesting blend of instruments in a track like this. Definitely listen to some jazz and lounge music and I'm sure you'll pick up on their stylings.

 

= MUSIC PACK 2 =

 

ANOTHER: Straightforward but quirky chord progressions. Wasn't overly fond of the first guitar solo, but the second one is pretty solid. Unfortunately gets a bit cacophonous and confused towards the end. I think there's a bit of an over-reliance on transposing the first few ideas into different keys (which is known as parallel harmony), without much regard for a more diatonic style of harmony. The bassline is perhaps an octave too high, and then a lot of the instruments end up reaching quite high towards the end.

 

DEMON2: Could probably do with some volume balancing. The staccato chords on the guitar are a little too loud against everything else and the drums are a little muddied. The chords themselves once the track gets going end up feeling quite "busy" and entangled, and I think you need to decide on whether to have a sharp or natural C in this song's key signature. You have the melody using the sharp C, but the chords have a natural C, and this causes some confusion for the ears. I mean, polytonality is a thing, but that's something to save for when you want to get super technical and advanced with your music - here it seems like you were just a little indecisive - no offense!

 

The song has a good flow and structure to it otherwise, and the fadeout works nicely. It actually evokes a pretty interesting atmosphere, overall.

 

DGATE: Nice guitar work on this one. Again, I think your chords could stand to be more diatonic rather than employing parallel harmony (simply transposing a single chord up/down a set amount), although here there's a pretty clear divide between these two approaches (at 1:00, to be precise), so I think for this track it works fine, for the most part. The underlying bass voice at the beginning cuts out when the guitar comes in - I'd have kept this going, personally. The percussion is super understated here, but that works in the track's favor, for sure. The Chiff Lead I probably wouldn't have gone with, though. Not bad, this!

 

HERETIC: Demented pitch bends at the beginning and end. I think again there need to be some volume adjustments, the guitar seems a little too loud, and high. Not much to say about the composition here, I think the track's structure is pretty sound. The detuning effect at the end is kind of curious, and I can see how this'd loop the track nicely, so points there for thinking of that.

 

KURYOKHIN: A kinda cool chord progression, kind of sullied by how unadventurous the lead guitar is, leading to a track that really doesn't seem to do much. The orchestra hits kind of come out of nowhere, and I don't think they lend much to the track. The high-pitched Sci-Fi lead at the halfway mark sounds like a horrible alarm and it just repeats so much. Thumbs-down for this one overall, sorry. :(

 

LOSTMY: Funky start. You have a good handle on stuff like this. The bassline feels extremely static, but the upper melodies for the most part do their bit to make up for it. The key change halfway through is welcome. Not much else to say on this, as it doesn't really seem to branch out into much else.

 

MYDAD: Cool sense of harmony in the beginning section, even if the melodies themselves are a bit lacking. Good key changes at the halfway mark, but again, the melodies don't really pick up much pace - I think you have a lot of literally-one-note melodies - nothing wrong with simplicity, but I think here it doesn't support the track. Towards the end the ideas do change up, especially with the introduction of the Brightness lead, but again I think you might need to solidly decide on a key signature to work within. It's not too bad, but yeah, definitely aim to get an ear for diatonic harmony, brush up on the theory behind it, whatever it takes to get the idea.

 

NOMORE: Quite a few layers going on here, despite the song being a little downtempo, which keeps it interesting. The key changes are cool, very Prince-ian. Even the descending chromatic stuff is in a similarly inspired vein, and I don't think I mind it, even if it's still a little out of left field. The track has a subdued section at the end which wraps things up nicely. Not bad at all, this one.

 

SAMPLE: Ah, now this track honestly makes pretty fantastic use of diatonic harmony. We start in D Dorian, then go to E Phrygian, then to C Ionian, then to B Phrygian, and eventually A pentatonic. That's five different modes of harmony you've employed, while using only one sharp note (F# in the B Phrygian part)! The ideas are a little disjointed, and the transition points are a little out of nowhere - perhaps due to the song's shorter length - but I really like the overall sound of this one, gotta say. I'm not super sure about the Seashore effect during the A pentatonic part, it doesn't really provide much for the track's rock-oriented atmosphere.

 

THEDREAM: This might be the most evocative track out of all of them, at least at first. Very cinematic and uplifting in terms of the chords used, and the introductory flourish is particularly nice. It's balanced mix-wise nicely, too. Good use of dominant seventh chords. Unfortunate, really, that the melodies don't seem to do much beyond simple arpeggios, and it becomes very apparent after the repeat of the main phrase that the track isn't going to do much else. The change at the 4:00 mark comes way too late, I think. You had a really nice idea with this track, but I think the repetitive nature kind of sours it.

 

It's definitely salvageable, though, and I'd love to see you work on this a little more, maybe shorten it and gradually ease in new elements as the track progresses through just a couple of repeats of its main phrase, then you can bring in the guitar-based B section, then have one last repeat of the main phrase with all the elements coming together very strongly in a dramatic climax - then you can have your repeat of the intro, which is of course how the track currently ends (effectively, I must add!). Heh, hopefully that all makes sense.

 

===

 

In the Universe Dreams: Here's an example of a track that starts out sounding nice and balanced - you have the Muted Guitar and Finger Bass occupying a different octave and hence working well off each other. Nice piano, too! The instruments in the upper register play off the lower ones nicely, and that guitar enters at just the right time too (though some of the notes are a little off-sounding, have to say, especially the crazy-fast licks). I do get the odd feeling that some of the notes are off a bit, timing-wise - maybe it's worth quantizing everything to the 32nd note, just to be certain. Good work with this one, probably my favorite of the bunch.

 

===

 

Honestly all these tracks do have good points and I can see they have a character to them as well, one that you're still working on developing. Can I ask what you've already heard in the community's roster of musicians? There's smatterings of Prince in there, of course, for sure - but I'm wondering where or whom you've pulled your inspiration from. Either way, it's working nicely for you - I can see your improvements between Music Pack 1 and 2, and "ItUD" is a good song with just a few tiny little foibles that you can easily iron out.

 

Thanks for sharing these! I hope I've not been too mean on ya. D:

 

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@Jimmy thanks for the critic. I'll try harder.

13 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Can I ask what you've already heard in the community's roster of musicians? There's smatterings of Prince in there, of course, for sure - but I'm wondering where or whom you've pulled your inspiration from. 

I'm just a music lover and I was inspired by many musical compositions in many styles. Something I wrote from scratch but something I created as a cover to famous song.

 

For example:

 

DEMON DEMON2 are based on The Cure - Kyoto Song

 

NOMORE is inspired by The Stranglers - Nice 'N' Sleazy

 

KURYOKHIN is the cover version of Sergey Kuryokhin's  "The Tragedy InThe Style Of Minimalism" (so I called it in honor of the author of the original composition)

 

DGATE is based on Dio - Straight Through The Heart

 

At the moment I'm listening to the punk-rock, new wave, post-punk, coldwave and indie.

 

P.S. Some midis, like a DEMON2HERETIC THEDREAM sound pretty under XG, not GM, because I created them under XG.

Edited by BJ34

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Is here anybody who make a wads or mods for Doom in anime, JRPG, popular cartoons and popular games for NES or SEGA styles?
I've made a suitable MIDI-track.

I Am A Worm

 

Spoiler

If you want to complete midi-tracks, you can also download Music Pack 3 .

 

Edited by BJ34

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Rumpus is silly-sounding and enjoyable, reminds me of an early 80s synthpop song that you'd find in a Dwango wad, heh. Don't have any major problems with it, perhaps apart from the slightly repetitive outro.

 

3, 2, 1, Go has some very questionable high-pitched chords early on (I think I understand what these are, though, the use of them ties in with the MIDI name, clearly), but levels out nicely once the song gets going. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to develop much beyond how it starts, and this is the longest track so far - the riffs and percussion track are kinda repetitive.

 

Euphoria is overall a little bit too chromatic and chaotic for my tastes. Those elements can blend together quite nicely in a lot of cases, but here the melodies just feel like they don't quite know where to go, and the cluster chords on the Goblins seem very out of place - plus that outro is way too noisy. I enjoy the piano though, and you've done a good job of varying up the percussion.

 

I Am a Worm sounds adorable. I'll find a way to use this, see if I don't. :D

 

Thanks for continuing to share your work! :)

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2 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Euphoria is overall a little bit too chromatic and chaotic for my tastes. Those elements can blend together quite nicely in a lot of cases, but here the melodies just feel like they don't quite know where to go, and the cluster chords on the Goblins seem very out of place - plus that outro is way too noisy. I enjoy the piano though, and you've done a good job of varying up the percussion.

 

It was my musical experiment. I decided to make something psychedelic like a music under the drugs (try to listen it with a various soundfonts of course if you have a VirtualMIDISynth and another similar softs). I called it "Euphoria" because it creates an atmosphere what people feel when they dance under the influence drugs (I myself have never taken drugs) like an LSD or MDMA or something that have an adrenaline. Also I've converted it on mp3 format .

 

2 hours ago, Jimmy said:

3, 2, 1, Go has some very questionable high-pitched chords early on (I think I understand what these are, though, the use of them ties in with the MIDI name, clearly), but levels out nicely once the song gets going. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to develop much beyond how it starts, and this is the longest track so far - the riffs and percussion track are kinda repetitive.

 

This music has been playing in my brains since 2009. I don't remember which band or song inspired me. 

 

Thx for critics again.

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New MIDI-files

Leave Me Alone

Tango For John Romero (Some Lessons)

Spoiler

I want to say you that second MIDI has one mistake. When I created it in Cakewalk and saved it as a MIDI, I've seen that file lasts 17:56, however in the original it lasts 4:50. So I have solved that mistake with using TS-WIDI by the cost that my MIDI has only one channel (but with different instruments likes in the original MIDI-file). You can see it if you open that file in FL Studio or another MIDI-editor. Also I've lost one note. I hope that this error is trifling.

 

Edited by BJ34

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Chinatown is a happy little number with a kind of 80s/90s-pop vibe - a slow buildup leads into a catch major-key melody which uses pentatonic scales in much the same way you'd expect a track with this name. I really like this! The track crescendos with a rapidly rhythmic koto solo that embellishes the previous melodies established in what I guess is the chorus section. There's a cheeky shakuhachi-like flourish at the midway point which made me smile. Ends with a big splash from the drums.

 

Leave Me Alone is a funky, foot-tapping uptempo track with some cool bass supporting the rhythmic structure of the whole track. There's a few notes from the harp I think that are a bit of an odd choice, but actually veering off the rails melodically is something that kind of works in this track's favor. Nice one. Wish it was longer.

 

Tango for John Romero (Some Lessons) is a fantastic name. It starts out sounding like it could've come straight out of doom2.wad, albeit slightly more upbeat than usual. It even has key changes similar to Prince's work. While a highly repetitive track, the synth strings steer the track in cool ways by being just slightly adventurous with embellishing the harmony. The D_BUNNY ending is questionable... but I think I can forgive it. It's done pretty well. :D I actually really like this one and ought to find a use for it somewhere.

 

You Lost The Game is a very slow burner, with tolling bells and a slow brush kit (underused kit!) giving way to some heavy-duty choir chords. Highly atmospheric, very much evoking an air of defeat and desolation. It's not terrifically rhythmically diverse, though. Having some extra layers come in over those sombre chords in the first half would be fantastic, or just varying up the drumkit a little. Understated is good, but I'd avoid having your tracks disappear deep into the background. Gotta hold the listener's attention with a "top line" - i.e. a main melody!

 

Cool Eyes, Heart Under Ice - another really cool and intriguing name. An eight-minuter - wow, you've come far. Starting out with an electronic drum track, it seems like a slow builder. The melodies and chords that soon enter jar the listener by deliberately eschewing conventional harmony and falling out of tune. Things become more grounded with the entrance of a bassline, although that doesn't stop the various melodic lines from continuing to freewheel all over the place. The strings that enter with some pleasing ascending diatonic melodies seem almost out of touch with everything that's come before. A noise that I can only describe as an "angry telephone" enters with ear-grating volume to bring us crashing back into a disjointed and unsettling soundscape before we loop back to the start at the 4:00 mark, where finally the drums change up. A chunky charang embellishment gives way to a major key modulation where we hear the first proper solo of the song on the polysynth. From there the charang leads us out again. Honestly this track leaves me in two minds - I like the boldness of the change-ups and the dissonance in the soundscape, but some of these sounds like the heavily down-pitched cluster chords and the angry phone buzz are just a little too grating. The track is long enough that it probably wouldn't get too annoying listening to it on a loop, but those parts would still certainly stand out, and probably not pleasantly. Not a bad effort, though.

 

Funky Beach is a galloping, guitar-and-bass-driven jaunty little number with some harmonised oboe(?) providing the main melody. The rhythmic change-up on this melodic line around a minute in is welcomed, as is the slowdown at about 1:45. Not bad! Would serve well for an introductory map in a megawad.

 

I Have No Birthday, lol, what a name. A nearly-six-minute, plodding, heavy guitar and saw-lead track vaguely reminiscent of the work of TeamTNT. The metallic pad that enters about a minute in is an interesting choice - seesawing between a few different harmonic contexts. The string melody that enters has bizarre harmonisation as well, which honestly adds some much-needed spiciness to the track. A droning, detuned guitar solo follows this, destabilising the harmony that's been firmly grounded by the rhythm guitar by this point. At the halfway mark, loud gunshots punctuate lead-ins to the next grouping of measures. The harmonic structure and key completely change about 4:00 in with bold modulations between Gm and Em, while the strings continue to just play by their own dang rules. Pretty cool.

 

More people need to listen to these! I can't be the only one commenting! D: There's some useful stuff here for sure and I've enjoyed listening to how you're continuing to grow your style.

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Thx for critics

On 11/10/2018 at 11:34 AM, Jimmy said:

I actually really like this one and ought to find a use for it somewhere. 

 

I think it must be used for Final Plutonia MAP11 instead "Sweet Little Dead Bunny" because that MIDI is too short for long and hardcore map and sometimes gets annoying. Unfortunately, Final Plutonia was created before I created my MIDI.

Edited by BJ34

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I have recently been downloading the packs and started to listen to some of the midis. They sounded very good so far, but I want to give them a proper listen and thus need time. I'll hope to comment once I have more to say. But rest assured, your posts are not in vain @BJ34 and thanks for the great midis!

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Thx for everybody who listen my midis and appreciate them.

Now, I should to take a break from MIDI-creating. Because I have a study session and also I want to develop skills in another creativity (drawing or literary composition). So, I add two last midis and take a break.

Crazy Man (Who Wanna Stop Me Now)

It's Impossible To Live Without Belief (title music for your wad)

Spoiler

Of course you can download my music pack if you don't want to download my new midies separately

 

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My first MIDI music, but it was converted in MP3 format without changings. I don't know what you should to do with it. Maybe remix it or use for indie-games like Baldi's Basic In Education & Learning.

Le Fleur De Papier

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