Maps made worse by their music

[Chris Hansen]

2 hours ago, Gothic said:

There is a map in Kama Sutra (can't check rn) that uses the worst Michael Jackson midi I've ever heard

 

 

326 views is actually pretty impressive! :D

[NuMetalManiak]

2 hours ago, The_SloVinator said:

'One Bloody Night' has Map 03 & Map 05's very repetitive music. I think Map 03 has a midi version of some boss battle from some JRPG or something.

Just eh... doesn't work with the maps you play. Very annoying when it loops & a very rare moment where I just turn off the music.

MAP03's music is the Barubary boss battle theme from Breath of Fire 2. Honestly imo it doesn't even sound great for that particular boss either. I think MAP05 was the outside level that had Final Fantasy 4's Underground theme, which is okay honestly.

2 hours ago, Gez said:

MAP18 from Epic 2. In the middle of all the MIDI soundtrack, that OGG feels out of place. It doesn't help the recording quality isn't very good, and all these triumphant trumpets aren't my cup of tea to begin with.

 

Good thing there's changemus to get the MIDI alternative.

Glad I'm not the only one who prefers the Xenogears track for this level, it fits the adventure mold of MAP18 Gunman well.

 

Also seconding any particular track that is too short for longer levels, particularly Into the Beast's Belly.

[Phobus]

*takes notes for next project*

[Deleted Account]

I like e3m2 but for some reason I find "Donna To The Rescue" to be an insufferable track for me.

[JustCallMeKaito]

Heretic's E4M9.

One of the worst maps ever created, with some of the most backwards progression I've ever seen, one of the most repetitive songs I've heard, and a massive chunk of the level being either 0 brightness or flashing lights. After just 10 minutes, it feels like the music is taunting you with every drum beat.

 

[magicsofa]

I made a horrible song for my map05 submission to Hadephobia. The map itself was ok/meh, but the tune is jarring and stupid. I won't make the mistake of purposely going for "annoying circus metal" ever again. Hopefully.

[roadworx]

5 hours ago, Gothic said:

There is a map in Kama Sutra (can't check rn) that uses the worst Michael Jackson midi I've ever heard

oh, god...i couldn't think of any maps that were made worse with the music, but...i completely forgot that that map existed lmao

[Doomkid]

Kama Sutra is one of those wads I've never played much, but man that MIDI is bad. It's been like 6-7 years ago now, but I think that shitty MIDI may have been the original basis for a tune-up I did - https://doomshack.org/~doomkid/midi/AlienAntFarm_Smooth_Criminal.mid

[Li'l devil]

Ahaha, I find that Kama Sutra MIDI hilarious. It sounds like someone made it as a joke.

[TheMightyHeracross]

If people want to use MIDIs of rock or metal songs or whatever in their WADs can they please remove the awful ""vocal track"" from it? Imagine if Erik Alm's maps with Symphony X music had a fucking trumpet or whatever mimicking the singing? Awful!

[ketmar]

lucky me, i simply don't hear any music when playing. it is there, but my brain filters it out as unimportant noise. to actually hear it, i have to stop playing and start listening. so authors can put anything in their wads, or even put nothing -- i won't be put off by listening (or, actually, not listening) D_RUNNIN again and again. ;-)

[Ashurion Neonix]

Hell revealed map 08. Mist ache from RotT really doesn't sound that good in my opinion especially through my PC's built in midi. (I didn't have any file for timidity and the only other option was soundblaster.)

[SCF]

7 hours ago, ebrl said:

Man, I know I'm going to get absolutely shredded for this, but I'm about halfway through Eviternity and I think barely any of the maps so far had fitting music. Imagine my shock when I checked the soundtrack list and it was all Jimmy Paddock this, Stuart Rynn that, Mark Klem here and there, etc, basically an all-star cast, all these dudes with amazing music everywhere else. I think Eviternity is just going for a vibe that I don't really vibe with.

 

No shredding here because you're entitled to your opinion, but I'm surprised to hear it because I thought almost all of Eviternity had great music that fit the maps very well, especially the chill tunes of the snow episodes.

 

However...

 

I really don't like the music for Map32. It's not bad, but listening to the same slow, droning metal riffs for an hour gets really tiresome and it ends up making the map feel like a slog to me. I think those kinds of very long maps either need music with more variation, or something ambient that blends into the background

[Doomkid]

4 minutes ago, TheMightyHeracross said:

If people want to use MIDIs of rock or metal songs or whatever in their WADs can they please remove the awful ""vocal track"" from it? Imagine if Erik Alm's maps with Symphony X music had a fucking trumpet or whatever mimicking the singing? Awful!

Sometimes this is good, but sometimes the vocals are a crucial part of the melody and removing them kinda makes songs suck...

 

My advice instead is to switch it away from a Fiddle or Brass Section or something to a Guitar, or other instrument that actually sounds decent, and lower the volume of that track a bit. (why do MIDI transcribers always pick bizarre instruments for the vocals? I swear it's always like a Pan Flute or something, and is often 2-3 octaves higher than it should be and much louder than the other instruments...)

 

As an example that the vocals can often add something to a MIDI, I think most people would be in agreement that my tune-up of "Man in the Box" that adds the vocal line is more interesting for the ears than the old version that was frequently used in wads.

 

Old version: https://www.midi-karaoke.info/20cb2e05.mid

 

My slight tune-up: https://doomshack.org/~doomkid/midi/AliceInChains_02-Man_in_the_Box.mid

 

...This is an exception to the rule, though, I'll readily admit.

[Uni]

Definitely E2M3: Refinery. It's *the* first example in Doom history of using the intermission music in a level. Not that Refinery is such a great level by itself, in my eyes it's not as bad as people usually remember (aside from that terrible STARTAN room) but the music definitely doesn't improve it.

 

Plutonia did it better with the text screen music.

[Doomkid]

Never realized this was a minority opinion til this thread, but hearing the full version of the cool intermission MIDI was the most memorable part of that map for me. It's a long MIDI that at least has the courtesy to add new layers/harmonies in as it goes despite being a tad repetitive.

[Noiser]

10 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

My slight tune-up: https://doomshack.org/~doomkid/midi/AliceInChains_02-Man_in_the_Box.mid

Oh that's a nice version of Man in the Box! Can I use it in the future?

[Doomkid]

Just now, Noiser said:

Oh that's a nice version of Man in the Box! Can I use it in the future?

Of course! Don't wanna derail the thread much but I have some full MIDI album conversions on the main list, and I definitely plan to make/edit more in future: https://doomshack.org/~doomkid/midi/

[BaileyTW]

Despite my current gripe being a map that uses the wads repetitive intermission MIDI, I actually don't dislike E2M3's use of the intermission midi. Sure it's repetitive in actual melody but it changes up and even if it is a little grating, so are the map visuals and I think that unintentionally makes the map better for me.

[Gifty]

Underhalls, all day every day.

[Devalaous]

2 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Never realized this was a minority opinion til this thread, but hearing the full version of the cool intermission MIDI was the most memorable part of that map for me. It's a long MIDI that at least has the courtesy to add new layers/harmonies in as it goes despite being a tad repetitive.

 

Intermission music is usually skipped over, which is a shame. I recall at least one version of TNT Revilution's intermission theme (I think it was called Darkest Hour?) being so good I literally listened to it for hours on end during the initial development phases, multiple times. We stuck the old intermission theme 'Atmosphere' into Map 31 to reference TNT's Map31 too.

[Ashurion Neonix]

10 minutes ago, Uni said:

Definitely E2M3: Refinery. It's *the* first example in Doom history of using the intermission music in a level. Not that Refinery is such a great level by itself, in my eyes it's not as bad as people usually remember (aside from that terrible STARTAN room) but the music definitely doesn't improve it.

 

Plutonia did it better with the text screen music.

I personally don't mind the music playing in E2M3 but I do agree that using the same music in the intermission screen, making the same music play before, during, and after, is really obnoxious. As for plutonia, I never really cared about the music in that map.

[Luleta]

i can't stand running from evil or at doom's gate anymore from listening to it so many times.

so usually when a map has it i tend to idmus.

[kirbyguy11]

6 hours ago, Ichor said:

E2M3. It would be fine if that wasn't the intermission music, but after hearing it after every map, it just sounds wrong with that same music starts playing for the next map. As if the actual music was missing and it defaulted to the intermission music.

 

Would you not be annoyed if it played D_E1M4.mus?

[kirbyguy11]

1 hour ago, JustCallMeKaito said:

Heretic's E4M9.

One of the worst maps ever created, with some of the most backwards progression I've ever seen, one of the most repetitive songs I've heard, and a massive chunk of the level being either 0 brightness or flashing lights. After just 10 minutes, it feels like the music is taunting you with every drum beat.

 

I literally thought you meant Ultimate Doom's E4M9.

I didn't notice the word "Heretic" until I looked at it again.

I was really confused at first because there were many sky flats on the ceiling, and they were not flashing lights or 0 brightness.

[Mr. Alexander]

Any level that uses "Bye Bye American Pie." I'd take D_RUNNIN or Underhalls's underwhelming music over that one any day of the week.

[yakfak]

underhalls's music rules

[Roofi]

5 hours ago, Chris Hansen said:

 

 

326 views is actually pretty impressive! :D

 

Hehe , I uploaded this music years ago. I actually like this midi for my part.

[dew]

10 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

The one time I felt forced to stop the music was in Hell Ground map 04, because it was triggering something in my head as I started to feel horribly depressed and anxious out of nowhere. That shit had never happened to me before, playing doom I mean. No disrespect to the musician or Eternal, also I should clarify it wasn't the song's fault, just a sad coincidence perhaps.

Heh, if you thought it was anxiety-inducing in Hell Ground, you might want to avoid playing McGee's Alice where the music builds anxiety along with the settings and the narrative of protagonist's hidden suicidal tendencies.

 

There's plenty of funny midi choices, because midi renditions of popular songs are inherently funny. However the one music choice I cringed over the most is Bloody Steel map01. Not only is Kavinsky's Roadgame extremely aggressive and doesn't really fit what's happening on the screen, but the mp3 is also hilariously badly compressed.

[Dreemurr Deceevurr]

2 hours ago, Li'l devil said:

Ahaha, I find that Kama Sutra MIDI hilarious. It sounds like someone made it as a joke.

 

 

I thought it was meant to be a ringtone given how simplistic it is. The infamous Doom Rampage had among its commercial MP3s a map that used a MIDI ringtone version of Trapt - Headstrong that only used the chorus. Imagine a 20 second loop of that for however long it would take to get through that map (assuming you don't just cheat or quit because the WAD sucks).