MOD/S3M/XM/IT Tracker Music Compilation Pack

[Some1NamedNate]

I'm working on a music compilation pack that contains songs from the demoscene's top composers and artists. This would work great for players who are either tired of or had enough of listening to Doom 1 and 2's stock music. This would also work especially for MegaWADs, like Greenwar, that do not have soundtracks and thus use music from Doom 1 and 2. As of the time of this post I have only one track in it. As a proof of concept, here's the first beta of the WAD that has just that.

 

TrackerMusPack_Beta1.rar

 

If you know of tracked songs of any format that would like to be added to this pack, don't hesitate to let me know by listing some songs in your reply.

 

Thanks, Good Luck, and Have Fun!

Edited July 28, 2021 by Some1NamedNate : Added attractor

[Some1NamedNate]

In case you don't know what tracked music is, give the following Wikipedia articles a read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Module_file

[NeilForshaw]

Sounds interesting. So do people reserve map slots or is it just send in your tracks and someone decides where each of them go?

[Some1NamedNate]

I was thinking about a slot-and-track process. For example:

 

ExMx: Song by Artist

 

I was also thinking of "Hey, this track should go to ExMx/MAPxx because blah blah blah."

 

Then I would give those tracks a listen in full.

 

Now, when picking a track, make sure it's an appropriate duration, and not some half hour suite like Bejeweled 2.

[Somniac]

Awesome idea. Tracker music works super well in Doom IMO.

[Some1NamedNate]

Right? It's not MIDI either!

[Walter confetti]

I made something similar in my earliest mapping days...

[Nikku4211]

Well, I make tracker music myself, but it would be dickish of me to plug my own shitty music, so I guess I'll recommend Poseidon.mod by Doh.

 

I also get a good energy kick from Excelion(a.k.a. Nausea)'s tracks, even if they're clearly not the most polished. It's comparable to punk in design philosophy, I guess.

[HavoX]

On 7/29/2021 at 1:00 PM, VisionThing said:

Awesome idea. Tracker music works super well in Doom IMO.

I'm listening to one as I type this. Medieval Knights from Extreme Pinball.

[Some1NamedNate]

Apologies for the dormancy of this thread.

 

Here's the second beta of the Tracker Music Compilation WAD, which sadly has only track added. Note that the attachment is in the RAR4 archive. If you have problems opening it in your archiver, please let me know.

TrackerMusPack_Beta2.rar

[Some1NamedNate]

As always, suggestions can be posted in this thread.

[Jayextee]

I don't get it. Is this supposed to be "a compilation of neat tracker modules we found and thought would be great to play DOOM to" or more of a creative community project akin to the various MIDI packs started here?

[Some1NamedNate]

The former.

[Some1NamedNate]

The goal of this project is to put together a compilation of tracker music for use with megawads that have no original soundtrack, like Greenwar.

 

If you've ever played Greenwar, the music is just the stock Doom II soundtrack.

[Nikku4211]

13 hours ago, Jayextee said:

I don't get it. Is this supposed to be "a compilation of neat tracker modules we found and thought would be great to play DOOM to" or more of a creative community project akin to the various MIDI packs started here?

 

Okay, you know what, a tracker pack community project would be a good idea.

 

How many other people currently active in DoomWorld actually make or at least know how to make tracker modules?

 

I'm talking the standard MOD/S3M/XM/IT formats that PrBoom+ seems to support. Yes, I tested it, Pr really does support them.

[Marisa the Magician]

Well, there's Xaser, who has definitely made some VERY impressive tunes.

[Jayextee]

1 hour ago, Nikku4211 said:

How many other people currently active in DoomWorld actually make or at least know how to make tracker modules?

Off the top of my head I can only think of myself and possibly @Steve D? There's gotta be other people though.

[Some1NamedNate]

@Xaser SOS!

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

2 hours ago, Nikku4211 said:

How many other people currently active in DoomWorld actually make or at least know how to make tracker modules?

I have dozens of trackers, although I don't make sample-based module music all that often (I frequently make FM synth modules, though), mainly because if I am going to use custom instrument samples instead of General MIDI, then I just prefer to render a high quality audio file.

 

I don't know of many standalone modules. I do have a module music folder on my computer, but it just contains composers' soundtracks to games (over 30).

[leodoom85]

You know...the DUMP series has a good amount of tracker module music that can be enjoyed. Same for RAMP.

 

And good call for Xaser. Zen Dynamics wad reminds me immediately of him.

[Nikku4211]

2 hours ago, TheUltimateDoomer666 said:

I just prefer to render a high quality audio file.

I know that a lot of people don't care about file size because you can just keep buying SSD drives nowadays and there's Vorbis for lossy compression in many Doom source ports anyway, but it would make WADs take less time to download from the internet, as a good compromise between lossy compressed audio streams and MIDI.

 

And tracker modules often have that retro 90s feel to them, especially since they sound more consistently 90s than MIDIs do.

[Walter confetti]

6 hours ago, Nikku4211 said:

How many other people currently active in DoomWorld actually make or at least know how to make tracker modules?

 

I've made some experiments ages ago, but nothing exceptional. When i hear some tunes, i put the tracker view so i see how the tracks are composed.

[Steve D]

7 hours ago, Jayextee said:

Off the top of my head I can only think of myself and possibly @Steve D? There's gotta be other people though.

 

As an Amiga guy, I have tracker music in my blood, but alas, not in my skillset.

 

Every now and then I think about learning ProTracker, but then I come back to reality and remind myself, "I'm not a musician!" :D

 

I've used a lot of tracker music in my own stuff, for example Abcess and the still-unreleased Realm of Intensified Chaos, and all my official Amiga Demo Party maps. 

 

One problem with oldschool Amiga tracker music is that so much of it is pounding techno from demoscene prods, and was never intended to be background music for Doom maps. It was front and center with all the programming and visual tricks in demoscene prods, and often features very heavy percussion, which IMO makes it inappropriate for Doom BGM. As a result, searching for Doomworthy modules can be a looooonnnnng process, especially the way I used to do it by going to Amiga Music Preservation and downloading dozens of individual tracks, checking them out, eliminating 90%, rinse, repeat. 

 

Nowadays, I'm trying out a new method where I take advantage of YouTube tracker fans who make music compilations. This way, I can listen to long programs and pick out the songs I like, then go to Amiga Music Preservation or Aminet to see if they have them. Natch, as many of you no doubt know, The Mod Archive is primarily oriented to PC modules but also has plenty of Amiga tracks. I use music from both platforms, and the PC side simply has moar stuff to choose from.

 

Below is a compilation from one of my favorite Amiga music fans. I think it shows the problems I'm talking about. Based on what I've heard so far, Track 1 - Floor 23 and Track 5 - Sensual Deliria are bombass mods that I'd consider making a map for. But by the same token, they are borderline for being Doomworthy because of their percussion and dance beats. So what we need most is Doom musicians producing tracker mods, because they know what we need. 

 

 

 

[Syn]

I've heard tracker music before, and I've been interested in it for a while. Maybe I could give it a shot soon.

[Some1NamedNate]

Hey, all! I know it's been a while since for this topic to see some recent activity.

 

For those who are not familiar, I have two WAD (still) in the works that replace Doom and Doom II's stock MIDI soundtracks with two compilations of tracker modules. Now, this is no ordinary compilation of tracker music, and here's why.

 

Each tracker module should represent each aspect of the Doom and Doom II IWADs (e.g. title screen, map, intermission etc.)

At your discretion, you can put together a list of modules that you think should be included in the compilations. For example, "(ExMx/MAPxx) - Title by Artist)" and vice versa.

 

To give you an idea, I have attached a Beta 3 for the Doom II IWAD that you can download and have a look at.

 

Good luck and get brainstorming, Doomers!

TrackerMusPack_Beta3.rar

[BattleCat]

At first I thought this was a request for new music to be written. I might be up for that if you're interested. I started my music making with a tracker back in ~1997. I don't use trackers anymore but it would be fun to revive it. Here's something I made in 2003. I can do a lot better now.

[X-Virkut]

Thanks for the update dude!!

[Some1NamedNate]

Tracker modules, existing or bespoke, are solicited. I recommend those selections be representative of Doom and Doom II's aspects.