Celebrating Doomworld's Musicians - your favourite tracks!

[Alfonzo]

Let's have a bit of bloody mirth, shall we?

Between all the kerfuffling over mapping techniques and the dos and don'ts of level design, the fine musicians of Doomworld keep churning out crap to satisfy the commitee and their track-per-map quota, no questions asked. It's easy to forget that there's only a handful of guys who are doing all this legwork, and if just a few of them disappear the landscape of development for future projects would change irreversibly. Sure, other folks would step up to the plate and that's a great thing to be able to say, but would we ever see the likes of jimmy, stewboy, essel and co. again?

This thread is dedicated to celebrating the musicians of Doomworld and their greatest creations. Post the tracks you love the most, talk a little bit about why you like the music, and let's give thanks to some of the finest MIDI artists of the modern era.

James "Jimmy" Paddock:
Good lord, where to start: Jimmy has several hundred tracks to his name from 2008 onwards and I'd wager there's just as many projects with his stamp on it as well (almost!). What ever could the reason be? His tracks to me feel built on a foundation of progressive and alternative rock elements, with a noticable lean towards the the technical and with strong, memorable refrains. Muse, Symphony X and Pendulum being among his favourite artists should give a pretty good idea of the direction his music takes, but he's by no means limited by his chief interests. He's highly critical of his work and is always looking for ways to pull himself in new directions, as evidenced by his barmy stuff on The Adventures of Square. Pray to the music gods this guy doesn't go anywhere... although if he did, we'd still need a good 10,000 years to tire of his released works.

• Zero Degrees Kelvin (BTSX): A delightfully complex but focused track that really sets the mood. There's some great timing switchups as per the Jimmy standard, but those tinkling arpeggios and goblin highs really seal the deal for me. Together with the racing refrain and chord selections it very quickly became one of my favourite tracks.
  
  
• Quicksilver (BTSX Map15): The ultimate techno sprawl track I reckon, although that might just be because it features on a Mechadon map. The frantic build-up in the middle puts me on the edge of my seat every time, and the little pitch bends and other ornamental tweaks add a lot of "detail" without getting in the way or tripping up over the overall sound. Meticulously arranged. Powerful melody, too!
  
  
• Relics (Reverie Map23): A thundering tone - a stormy affair! The wavering saw melody whips you into a frenzy. Lots of jittering, stabbing chords between segments that keep you poised for the return of the main theme.
  
  
• Sacrificial Lamb: It's a cracking good number even if I can't see many folks listing it as one of their favourites, but to be honest I'm putting this here mainly because I want Jimmy to extend the hell out of the track. The main guitar melody is one of the best I've heard!
  
  
• Forgotten Eden (Hacx 2.0): Shit yes. Some great mixing of instruments here, and the track perfectly captures the way in which most Hacx tracks evolve with little or no respect to what sections have already been played. The transition into the swing segment makes me smile.

Stuart "stewboy" Rynn:
Stuart Rynn builds atmosphere with his MIDIs in a way that no other musician in the community can. Masterful mixing and layering of instruments give an added layer of depth to each of his creations, and it helps tremendously to set the tone and pace of a map. Picking a track to fit a map is usually as easy as putting one foot in front of the other, thus, although some folks might question how suited the tracks are to the idea of Doom in a traditionalist sense. Phooey to them, I say: musicians like stewboy are paving the way for more interesting and varied themes in Doom level design by way of highly evocative and emotionally charged tracks.

Here are some of my favourite tracks from The King of Panflute:

• Day of Mourning (Resurgence Map31): I was rather suprised to find that this is the longest track in stewboy's MIDI arsenal, unless there's something I'm missing. It's a very sombre track (gasp!) that layers harps and chorals around a very interesting use of organs. They cling to the higher register and sometimes seem to break the accepted "sound barrier," becoming ethereal in quality... or something. It also has a banjo segment. Yes.
  
  
• The Greater Good (Jenesis Map28): This is the definitive Prelude to Showdown. The subtle, marching drums (in 7/8 time) and thick chorals wash over you until you're instilled with that vital sense of the epic. A track that really squeezes every drop out of MIDI's capacity to generate atmosphere. Great use of brass and flutes, too.
  
  
• River: This track seems to be a very popular selection, and there's little wonder why. I first heard it when playing Jenesis's MAP02: The Canal, and was immediately impressed by its steady, sifting beat and its inventive cymbal and woodblock use. The bass and guitar steal into your ears and refuse to get out even hours after you've left the keyboard.
  
  
• Grotto (CC4 Map11): I've heard plenty of folks complain about the map this track features on, but for me the track is so strong that I can enjoy the experience of playing the map enough to look past its flaws. It's deeply foreboding and the use of echo effects, drums, brightness, ice rain and panflute really puts you into the environment. A truly menacing yet majestic grotto!
  
  
• Fall of the Kingdom (SoD Map27): You have arrived at the capital of Evil. Enjoy your fucking stay. I just can't get over that vibraphone + glock solo, my goodness.

More Alfonzian comments on more musicians to come, including esselfortium, Bucket, lippeth, Xaser, Pcorf... the list goes on!

Time to post your own!

[esselfortium]

I'm simply shocked that you made a Stewboy list without the masterpiece that is STARS.MID.

Cool thread though! It's always nice to see focus on the awesome music coming out of the community.

[ClonedPickle]

OP doesn't mention Mark Klem, thread is a 0/10

[Jimmy]

My favorite stewboy tracks have to be from a certain era in his midi-making career when he seemed to be churning out great-quality tracks at least once a week. That said, I'm only guessing that the following tracks are from the same sort of time, but they seem to have facets of a certain period in his compositional style.

Gigabridge - made possibly slightly later than these, an epic of a track that is the culmination of stewboy's style at this point in his career. It has so much going on, superb reverse cymbal/gunshot transitions, a subtly swung drumbeat, and fantastic usage of triplets.
Greenhouse - this is a track that keeps delivering the goods but doesn't feel overbearing, perhaps until the very end of the track when everything explodes in your face all at once - the saw lead and guitar chordal arpeggios right at the end are probably my favorite conclusion to a stewboy track I've heard.
Iceberg - this starts out pretty steady and subdued, but it has some great soloing and percussive mixups that keep it a perpetually entertaining listening experience.
Jailbreak - holy shit this has to be one of his best. This track does not let up. The guitars are relentless and pounding, and the saw leads are bombastic and loud, and this is all kept chugging along with an almost constant barrage of gunshots that actually really work in the track's favor.
Jungle - there seems to be no end to stewboy's technical prowess when it comes to composing - he takes the 11/16 meter and makes it work beautifully here, and also made me appreciate the MIDI alto sax so much more.
Stars - This track needs no introduction, as anyone who played SoD MAP31 will know. Listening to this track puts me in another dimension, it really does. The shiny, tinkling ultra-high saw waves just wash over me like I'm drifting in the furthest reaches of deep space.

Honorable mentions include Underground Lake, Gold Rush, Space Train, Assault, Sentinel, Flee, Trapped, and Yub.

He also recently released Dance of the Reindeer. Seriously, go listen to this now, this might be his best ever. Great bassy intro, fantastic layering of piano chords, beautiful harp, an almost orchestral-sounding middle section with its strings and french horns, an expertly-performed vibraphone solo, and a perfect flow of time and tempo changes. Mind-blowing stuff.

[Xaser]

Jimmy's post needs links! :P

Official release link for Dance of the Reindeer is here, though hopefully the midi's mirrored somewhere since BotB enforces its "need to be signed into an account to donload" thing still for some reason.

[Tristan]

Hey look, an excuse to ramble on indefinitely about awesome music. My kind of thread!
Unlike some, I've not played PWAD after PWAD after PWAD, so I'm not familiar with entire catalogues of our musicians (particularly PRIMEVAL), but I've heard a lot of good stuff in pretty recent WADs

James Paddock (Jimmy)
One of the first names I was aware of when (2009) I learned PC Doom existed and that there existed a community devoted to it. Nobody Told Me About Plutonia is by no means Jimmy's best work, but it may well have been the first PWAD music I ever heard. Jimmy's done plenty of awesome stuff, but some select favourites...

• Frozen Over (Supplice): OK, so it's not actually a released WAD, but I see Alfonzo listed a BTSX E3 track, so I assume it's ok :P This is a great piece of music. Is that a jet plane sound effect pretending to be howling winds? Frozen Over sounds exactly like its supposed to. The chords are very cleverly put together, and it was here that I learned about augmented chords, while I was seeking inspiration for my 7 minute journey of a soundtrack, Frozen Wilderness. While the entire track is amazing, the bit I love the most about it is the part with the piano and the celesta (1:19 - 1:40). Amazing.
  
  
• The Night Guard (BTSX E2M8): One of my favourite BTSX tracks, this feels like a fairly quick song when it gets going (yet it's only 95BPM), but still manages to keep that sad feel to it. The main bass-line is very simple, yet powerful at the same time, and also, songs like this are why we need Rhodes Pianos.
  
  
• Voyage (Jenesis MAP15): Very synth-y song. My favourite part is probably the introduction, but that's not to say the rest is no good, because it really is great. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I consider this track to be a bit like Coldplay, except it's actually interesting and actually good.
  
  
• Petrichor (Blood of the Stone) (BTSX E2M24): I don't think I really need to justify why I think this is great. 9 minutes of ominous, orchestral ambience, with both the key and time signatures varying throughout. We need more stuff like this being made. I still think this and Weather Warning are the wrong way around in the WAD though.
  
  
• Scattered Ashes (BTSX E2M13): YES. Heavy metal goes Egyptian. This one starts off awesome, and doesn't stop being awesome until its finished, and the version with Icytux on guitar and bass just adds another dimension to it. Love the trumpet's main melody in this one.

In addition to churning out some great music, I'm personally thankful to Jimmy because he gave me feedback on the very first MIDI I ever made, and kept me making them via the Plutonia MIDI Pack (and also tolerating the endless technical questions I had over that period and beyond :P), so uh yeah. Great stuff.

I too will return to this thread to ramble about other musicians later on! Awesome thread Alfonzo

[Alfonzo]

Eris Falling said:

Petrichor (Blood of the Stone) (BTSX E2M24): I don't think I really need to justify why I think this is great. 9 minutes of ominous, orchestral ambience, with both the key and time signatures varying throughout. We need more stuff like this being made. I still think this and Weather Warning are the wrong way around in the WAD though.

Yeah, this one probably would have landed on my vagarious little list on another day of the week. I love the shift into the major key midway through; it's a really bold move and it pays off pretty well on account of the track's pace and length.

It's funny you should think that it's in the wrong map, though: Jimmy and Tarns had and occasionally continue to have spats over the track featuring in a map that‘s roughly half its length, on average. Jimmy is understandably upset! On the other hand, I do think it fits the mood to a tee, so the track is getting the best showcase in that respect.

[SyntherAugustus]

ClonedPickle said:

OP doesn't mention Mark Klem, thread is a 0/10

Yeah Mark Klem was a big deal to me back when I was a kid playing MM2.

[esselfortium]

I like Petrichor on Perhaps Now The Vultures. I didn't think the gentle, lullabyesque opening would fit a Doom map, but it works here in the context of an eerie archvile map, like a moodier take on Plutonia's use of D_BUNNY on Hunted.

Weather Warning is a lovely fit for Unstable Journey, though I wouldn't mind if it were a bit longer!

Also, on the subject of Stewboy, ALIEN JUNGLE

[Tristan]

Yeah listening to Weather Warning again, I'm inclined to retract my previous statement, though it is a shame that a 9-minute track gets used on a 5-minute map, then straight after there's a 5-minute track on a 40-minute map.

Since I'm here I may as well ramble about another musician, hope I'm not stealing your thunder Alfonzo D:

Stuart Rynn (stewboy/Forty-Two)
This guy. I struggle to place his music into a genre. It's like classical music but with modern elements such as drums and synths and stuff added in. Is that New Age music?
Whatever it is, it's very distinct in the world of Doom music, to the point where, when I first heard Sewers from Doom Core, I went to the Wiki to identify it and its author, then when I found out it was him, it felt blindingly obvious. I've noticed that if the drums contain closed hi-hats playing 16th notes, that's a very strong indicator that it's his work. Pianos and delay effects also seem to feature prominently throughout his stuff.
While many of us seem to enjoy stewboy's work, it seems that the style isn't for everyone, eventually giving birth to the Great Music of Homosexual Salsa Dancers Disaster of 2014™™.

The way I see it, we're in a time now where the visual quality of a mapset is better than it has ever been, and with ever improving visuals in maps, they have their own strong atmosphere (BTSX, CC4, almost certainly Sunlust too). Note I'm not saying that plainer maps can't also be atmospheric. To bring the atmosphere to it's fullest though, you need to have music that compliments that perfectly. Sometimes generic heavy metal composition #65535 will just fuck things up. I feel that stewboy has the ability to compose music which adds another dimension to a map, and I'd like to think future WADs with custom soundtracks take a similar approach. (Side note: The music I've written for Revilution MAP31 is intended as a stewboy tribute of sorts, so I'm delivering on my own statement :D)

So, favourite stewboy tracks:

• Sewers (Doom Core MAP29): You know, I barely even remember Doom Core. We played it in TNS, I died at the start of virtually every map like I always do, and I remember almost nothing about the WAD, except for memfis saying on the first map that idmus29 was nice. I typed it in and uh, wow. I find myself unable to say why I like this one, but I love it. Maybe it's just very well arranged. 0:21-1:04 is probably the best bit for me, and additionally, the piano at the end sounds very nice. That tribute MIDI I mentioned above probably takes its entire inspiration from this song (though there's a bit of Hell's Limits in there too)
  
  
• Day of Mourning (Resurgence MAP31): I don't know if I used this simile before, but this song sounds like it was fucking beamed in from another universe via an exploding wormhole of greatness. I can't say anything against this MIDI, it's bloody perfect. I also noticed that it seems to be pushing MIDI to its absolute limit with what appears to be happening to the organs, but it sounds great. That main riff is nothing short of beautiful, and amongst the sad feelings this song evoke, there's also the more brighter sounding piano section just after the banjo, but that soon transitions into the discordant organs and the metal pad, which give it a more ominous feel, but even that returns to bright and happy sounding as the song heads towards the ending. Like the map its used on, this music seems to take on its own story, like it's fighting through sad times to get to a happier ending.
  
  Well that was deep. While this music is just wonderful throughout, 1:17 in particular has succeeded in bringing a tear to my eye on occasion, so mission accomplished?
  
  
• Garden (Jenesis MAP10): Not only do those previous two maps have amazing music, but thematically, the map and music are like bread and butter. And now here is the third in a row. Garden accompanies a sunset/twilight themed map set around some ancient ruins of temples and a lost city, with all the little caves and tunnels based around them. It may well be the most atmospheric thing I've ever played. Like Sewers, I don't really have much to say about Garden, but it's just nice. That whistling instrument somewhere in the middle (I think, don't have the MIDI to hand right now) is a nice touch. I remember when I was struggling with that Boom WAD I was making, I put Garden into the map as a placeholder to see if it would help.
  Spoiler

  It didn't, but that's beside the point.

• Hell Jungle (BTSX E2M18): Unless I listen to this with soundfonts, the polyphony limit isn't just broken on this song, it's sliced into chunks with a cutlass, smashed into tiny pieces with a sledgehammer, then detonated with a nuclear bomb. It'd be like the visplane count The Grotto from CC4. OK maybe I exaggerated slightly there, but the limit breaking is quite noticeable on the guitars, which is a shame because it's a great piece of music. In addition to very good string arrangements, the piano in particular on this one is extremely well executed, especially at the ending, which knocked me sideways.
  
  
• Neighbouring Tribes from BTSX E2M9 was also very nice, good use of world instruments and flutes.

Before someone jumps on me, I'm not so familiar with Stars, so I can't comment on it 8)
I'd also like to mention Earthlight Encounter. While it's nothing to do with MIDI or Doom, that's another one which is just amazingly beautiful. Stewboy has certainly influenced me, and I hope he keeps with this style of MIDI, because it's very nice.

You'll be at least pleased to know this is the longest ramble I can give on any of our musicians, but unless the thread just dies out I'd like to continue. Essel + Xaser next.

[ClonedPickle]

ClonedPickle said:

OP doesn't mention Mark Klem, thread is a 0/10

Was gonna edit this to make it less of a shitpost but fuck it, new post

Everyone knows Give In (With Pleasure). Everyone should know Galaxy, Anger, shit pretty much anything on the MM1/2 soundtracks. Probably Requiem too. Gonna give a shoutout to the tracks of his that I feel don't get enough attention.

Beligerance (shortened to Beliger???) [gothicdm2] - Honestly my favorite track of his. It's just that juicy.

State of Mind [strain] - STRAIN's got a lotta good hits, but the first two tracks you think of are probably Technodoom and Simple Solutions. Or maybe the Hell Prince Melody but that's Tolwyn; regardless this track's slight off-ness works great for Strain and straight rock-ness works great anywhere.

The Unjolly [gothicdm] This is actually fairly appreciated in the community but Mark himself didn't do an MP3 rendition of it on his youtubes until I begged for one so it counts.


Okay so here is where I would link like 18 more but I've pretty much already linked you to the Xaser-hosted midi archive of most of Klem's work. Go Forth and Listen wait that's a TGH track damnit whatever

[Alfonzo]

Well said, Eris (re, stewboy). I really like how his tracks compliment ideas and themes beyond the standard Doom ones. Hell, I was just scrolling through his stuff even the track named "techbase" sounds too big for the boots of yet another bog-standard crawl. Also, please steal more thunder!

Anyhoo, here's some comments on another musician and his work:

Paul "Pcorf" Corfiatis
Banjos. Bassoons. No fucks given. Paul is a musician whose work is now deeply engrained into the history of the game, reaching almost as far back as the "founding fathers" of custom Doom MIDI [plug Klem, Tolwyn, Doyle here]. I often struggle to appreciate his work, however, even after hearing a couple of tracks that instantly catch on. A lot of this is down to some key elements that are repeated in his style and his apparent disinclination in play outside his comfort zone, and it's probably not strange that I find parallels between his approach to music and level design. The same first part of the previous sentence could be applied. Having said this, Pcorf has entrenched himself into a musical philosophy that's quite unique when compared with the philosophy of others, and it's a good ground to stand on when you're looking to churn out tracks by the hundreds. Certainly there's an audience for it, and there are still plenty of neat tracks that spring to mind when I think of Pcorf's work.

• Crystalline (WoS Map25): A slow builder; the kind of creeper track that makes the player wind his play style right down to a crawl... at least until the banjo segment comes in. Thanks, Paul! I like this track's minimalst approach and how suited it is to the volcanic theme. Sometimes I confuse it with Kritian Aro's "Last Man Standing (Sacraficial Symphony)" on Map28, which was also used for the CC4 Vulcana sequel, I think.
  
  
• Frozen Mysteries (WoS Map18): Paul loves to lull you into a deep depression with his harps and choirs combination, and this is the undisputed Lord of the Sad. And I like it! The entire back half of WoS E2 was a magical pairing of music and theme (the cold landscape and sombre tunes), and Map18 serves as the culmination of this idea.
  
  
• Psychadelic Asia (PC_CP Map19): Birds. God damn birds as a main instrument. Only Pcorf. It's also pretty menacing and off-kilter.
  
  
• Race Against Time (2002ADO E1M7): I wonder if this was inspired by Klem's "Time x Time = Time" for GothicDM? The instrumentation is similar, as is the name. Anyway, I love the beat and delays here, and he switches things up a little more than he typically does for other track. Soounds like he had a bit of fun with this one!
  
  
• Gunshot Dance (2002ADO E3M8): Just a really neat melody! it feels appropriate for an epic closer. Also, a reminder that this is the map that gave us Exit Door Room. Pcorf, what in God's name is going on there.

There are many other tracks of Paul's that I was going to list but couldn't because they take a sudden turn in the middle that throws me off, somewhat. "Spooky" from Map23 of WoS comes to mind, or "Space Wars II" from Map31 of the same set, which has a perfectly competent middle section, only rather uninspired. Still, that's Pcorf at his corny best!

[40oz]

I've recently fallen in love with the Acoustic Grand instrument, specifically the tracks in Hell Revealed 2, composed by either Grave or Matabolist.

[Tristan]

Michael Mancuso (esselfortium)
The only music in Doom WAD's that I know has come from essel is the handful of tracks scattered across BTSX, and that there will be a set of Doom E2 remixes for TSoZD. While essel is known for his maps rather than his music, he seems to be equally skilled at both.
Essel's style is quite varied, from rocky tracks like Phobophobe, to synth-based stuff like Clonk, then straight into ambient with stuff like Lurking. Like stewboy, Essel can be considered a sort of master of the delay effect, with Lost City being particularly impressive. I hope we hear more stuff from him in Doom WADs following BTSX, unlikely as history suggests it is.

• Zenith (BTSX E3): So yeah I'm jumping the gun here, but this is already up there in my favourites in the BTSX soundtrack, and IMO it's the best one from essel. The string arrangements at the start are well thought out, and it just keeps adding layers. Overall it seems like quite a simple piece, the Brightness FX instrument is the only instrument present playing a melody (unless you count that pattern played by the Ice Rain throughout). It's also quite an innovative use of the power drums. Personally I wouldn't expect them to sound this good in a quiet piece, but it works very well. I'm wondering now what sort of level this will appear in. I imagine some huge majestic castle or something, but only time will tell of course.
  
  
• Lost City (BTSX E2M4): One of the few levels in BTSX that I didn't like, so I never really noticed this one until recently. I alluded to delay effects on this one, but to put it into more detail, the way that the pan flutes on this one are set to that delay AND have those crazy pitch bends on them form a combination that I'm not sure I can describe with words. It's pretty damn clever though.
  
  
• Cruel (BTSX E2 End): Probably the most unsettling MIDI I have ever heard. Various instruments start doing their stuff all at different times, with the result sounding like any kind of time signature has been chucked out the window, and I love it. This really makes you feel that everything around you has gone to shit, which I think is the intention of where it's used. I hope they expand that ending map a bit so we actually get a chance to hear it in full rather than just quitting the game after 10 seconds because we've already seen everything in the map.
  
  Oh, and one other thing about this one: Telephones. The effect they have at high pitches contribute a very eerie feel. Sounds a bit like un-tuned radio equipment.
  
  
• Phobophobe (BTSX E1M2): Can't really explain why I like this one, apart from the fact that the bit at 0:37 in particular is really good. Just has a nice feel to it I suppose.
  
  
• Womp (BTSX E1M22): Needs more cowbell. But seriously, when this one gets going, it turns into a very fast-paced piece of atmospheric synth rock...stuff. The drums have a lot of stuff going on, which becomes more apparent if you mute the other tracks. When the sawtooth comes in, this one really hits its peak, and I love the part at 2:47.

Xaser "Xaser" Acheron
Like essel, Xaser is much more well known for mapping rather than as a musician. My first experience of a XaserSong was Deevine from Jenesis. To be quite honest, I didn't really think much of it, but in more recent times I've discovered that actually, this guy can MIDI! Xaser's music seems to range from large-scale orchestral pieces to electronic stuff. Deevine kinda missed the mark for me, but the other stuff I've heard from him is quite something, and no matter what happens, he'll make sure he uses all 16 MIDI channels, even if some of them are completely blank!

Spoiler

Or his chosen MIDI editor just insists on doing that for some weird reason. Rather disappointingly, that's probably the reason

• Dread (PRCP MAP15): So here's the large-scale orchestral piece I mentioned. Not really much I can say about it, though the timpani and strings here in particular are very well used. The chords the song goes through are quite interesting, being similar to stuff like D_RUNNIN and D_DOOM in that regard. and then we have the ending. Wow! :D
  
  
• Ominus (BTSX E2M17): It starts off as some aptly ominous orchestral stuff, led in by a bassoon, then it turns into an epic explosion of low B equivalent bass synths, which I've labelled in my head as being in the dubstep genre. I could be full of shit there, as I'm not so good at determining genres (maybe it's D&B instead?), but that's just what I jumped to when I heard those synths and the style of the drums. If I am correct, I wish that it could set the bar so that the world of dubshit was made to this standard because this is a really fucking cool track.
  
  
• Angry Science (BTSX E2M26): Now I think of it, this reminds me of something, and I have no idea why, or what it could be reminding me of. I like it though, has a nice twisted sort of feel to an otherwise upbeat track.
  Oh and one other thing:
  
  

Hope to hear more Xaser stuff in BTSX E3, and other future projects.

Not sure who to talk about next though, I'm much less familiar with other musicians.

[Memfis]

Of all currently active composers on Doomworld stewboy is my favorite, but I also have a special place in my heart for PRIMEVAL. The reason for this is that I feel like he's the only guy that makes "real" Doom music. All others produce these, as Caleb13 once put it, "gay" midis. :)) And I don't mean anything negative by it, I just thought it was a funnily appropriate word to describe that sort of music. So yeah, PRIMEVAL is strikingly different in this aspect, as his compositions tend to be a lot less melodramatic, less complex and more action-like. I really appreciate that we have someone that makes MANLY soundtracks. :D

[Alfonzo]

Memfis said:

[PRIMEVAL] compositions tend to be a lot less melodramatic, less complex and more action-like. I really appreciate that we have someone that makes MANLY soundtracks. :D

Primeval's stuff is the most consistently metal and straightforward, yeah, and taking a look at his tracks in any MIDI composing software will show that he doesn't deviate too far from the standard arrangement of guitars, bass and percussion too often, except to select instruments that can be used somewhat analogously. This is probably being a little unfair, but I do find that his music can get quite grating, at times, and it's a product of his trying to keep things built around a repeated riff or motif and adhering to the 12 bar blues structure. Maybe he can still afford to shuffle up the beat and play around with the timing a bit more without sacrificing that traditionalist appeal? Or maybe much of it is just not to my taste? Probably that.

He's got some killer tracks, though. "Dead Planet" from Hadephobia Map29 is tremendous, as is "Lucifer's Throne" from Map30 of UR. I'll be sure to put up a little list of notable stuff later on.

[Tarnsman]

I'm pretty musically retarded so most of this stuff boils down to "I don't know Torn, it sounds good!"

Jimmothy Padlock (Jimmy91)

• Distant Tranquility (Jenesis Map 23): Pretty simple compared to Jimmy's modern stuff, I just like the speed and power of this one even if it does get repetitive.
  
  
• Within Reach (BTSX E1M24)" Jimmy is the king of what I like to call rock opera midis. You know ones that just keep going on and on and constantly evolved. Within Reach is probably my favorite example. It's just a great track with a great hook.
  
  
• The Hornet (TNT2 Map 23)" Pretty much for the same reasons as Within Reach
  
  
• Volition (TNT2 Map 10)" Pretty much for the same reasons as Within Reach. I do really like the brass levels and high pitched start of this track
  
  
• Petrichor (Blood of the Stone) (BTSX E2M24): This track is 9 minutes long. I picked it for a 2 minute map upon listening to the first minute and saying "yeah that fits my map". I have no regrets. Also this track is great. It does happy and calm in the kind of off-putting evil way that Doom music needs to be happy.
  
  
• Redshift (Unassigned): Part of Jimmy's more modern midis this is just fun to listen to, it's pretty different than his other stuff which really makes me appreciate it.
  
  
• Dark Matter (Supplice): A really interesting more unique track from Jimmy that is dark and melodic which I can always appreciate in Doom tracks.
  
  
• Scary Go Round: This midi has a laughing clown in it. That's amazing. This midi is amazing. We need more demon circus music midis.
  

Paul Corfiatis (PCorf)

• Coconut Crush (Square Goes To Miami): Can you make a tropical fun song in midi form? Yes you can and Pcorf did just that. Nearly all of Pcorf's midis that I like sound like they have no place in Doom but nothing tops Coconut Crush. Using Caleb's logic this might be the single "gayest" track ever made for a Doom engine production and I personally am extremely happy with that.
  

Michael Mancuso (esselfortium)

• Egypt (BTSX E3M30): This is one of my favorite tracks ever made for Doom, it's just a great building track that has so many levels and keeps evolving. It's as if Essel made a Mechadon map in midi form. A fitting final track for BTSX.
  
  
• Toybox (BTSX E3M Whatever Map Slot "Sordid Forst" goes in): The dark yet almost mysterious and somewhat medieval nature of this track is fantastic. As is the way it builds upon itself slowly. From 2 minutes onward this track is outstanding. It reminds me of one of my favorite Duke 3d Tracks in structure and like Bobby Prince's "Space Storm" it is absolutely wonderful.
  
  
• Zenith (BTSX E3M Whatever Map Slot "Let's Go Eat The Factory" goes in): I really like the smooth crystalline atmosphere the song provides and it was a major inspiration for the map as I listened to it nearly non-stop on repeat as I worked on it.
  
  
• Haven (BTSX E3Hub): Essel's Doom 64ish track is probably my favorite of the hub musics, slow, brooding, minimalist and dark as hell.
  
  
• Alter (BTSX Unassigned): I like to call this track Egypt-lite. It's another long building power ballad which makes great use of organs to really give of an epic journey through so massive hell cathedral vibe to it. (Also according to Essel this is the first BTSX midi he ever wrote and the fact that it still doesn't have a home is outrageous)
  

Axeljack Windelhiemvickersen (Xaser)

• Kashmoney Temple (BTSX E2M19): I really don't have anything to say about this track beyond that it's fan-fucking-tastic. That slow temple-y build, that part where it kicks the door down and goes full synth. All great stuff.
  
  
• Angry Science (BTSX E2M26): DEM Agogos. DAT Science. DAT Build Up. DAT Everything.
  

[SyntherAugustus]

Man I'd love to see another Jukebox like thing with all this MIDI talk. Or at least a collection of them somewhere.

[VGA]

Noone mentioned BTSX E1M1? I wouldn't exit the map because I didn't want the song to stop :-)

Paul Corfiatis makes some cool corny 90's-style summer tunes!

[PRIMEVAL]

Alfonzo said:

Primeval's stuff is the most consistently metal and straightforward, yeah, and taking a look at his tracks in any MIDI composing software will show that he doesn't deviate too far from the standard arrangement of guitars, bass and percussion too often, except to select instruments that can be used somewhat analogously. This is probably being a little unfair, but I do find that his music can get quite grating, at times, and it's a product of his trying to keep things built around a repeated riff or motif and adhering to the 12 bar blues structure. Maybe he can still afford to shuffle up the beat and play around with the timing a bit more without sacrificing that traditionalist appeal? Or maybe much of it is just not to my taste? Probably that.

No, no, it needs work, you're right. lol I try too hard to keep it as close to classic Doom music as I can and end up going overboard with it. I've been trying to expand my style a bit. Even I look back at some of my stuff and shudder. I consider any other musician on here much more skilled than I am.

[Alfonzo]

PRIMEVAL said:

No, no, it needs work, you're right. lol I try too hard to keep it as close to classic Doom music as I can and end up going overboard with it. I've been trying to expand my style a bit. Even I look back at some of my stuff and shudder. I consider any other musician on here much more skilled than I am.

If I had to throw in a couple of pennies then I'd say you have all of the musical chops but might be restraining yourself by wanting to satisfy an ideal of traditional sounding Doom music, yeah. Not that "traditional Doom music" means much to me anyway, just quietly, unless you're literally trying to copy Prince's style - some of Klem's heavy tracks feel more "Doom" to me that Prince's tracks. But if you're looking to improve by opening up to criticism then that's half the battle won (an old cliché, but it rings true)! Maybe some other folks that are more musically talented than I am can lend their opinions on how best to confront your particular problem.

There's some standout stuff in both UR and Reverie that I'd happily cram in some of my own maps, by the way... are you planning on doing any of the tracks for that project with Jimmy?

[Tristan]

John Weekley (PRIMEVAL)
In the midst of video game OSTs and Jimmidis that swarm across modern Doom WADs, PRIMEVAL is capable of providing quite a number of classic styled MIDIs. Out of the maps I've played with PRIMEVAL's music, only really two have stood out to me, those two being Behind the Mask from Resurgence MAP06, which is a pretty cool dark ominous piece, and some other track that I heard when I was on ZDaemon one time. I have no idea what the WAD was, or if it was in TNS or not, so I basically have nothing to go on other than it had a prominent church organ, and I don't think it was Unholy Realms MAP21's music.
The rest of it just doesn't stand out to me, it's generally just standard heavy metal stuff that I don't really take on board because, while I like some of metal music, it just sounds kinda dull to me when done this way. (sorry! D:)
Not that I have any doubt about your skill as a composer PRIMEVAL, I think that branching out into different styles is the way to go, and I hope that it works out.
I don't really feel right about criticising and giving advice to someone who's significantly more experienced with making MIDIs than I am, but that's just my thoughts. It's not bad music at all! I've heard plenty worse stuff, it's just that it doesn't stand out to me that much.

While not an original composition, I would like to mention Nobody Told Me The Healer Stalks, or whatever it was called. The song was written for the 'O' of Destruction remake in the short-live Go # It project. D_E2M8 and D_STALKS sound like one fucking weird combination, but PRIMEVAL pulled it off pretty well. Dunno if there's still a link to that anywhere.

(Oh and happy birthday)

Brendan Bradley (Bucket)
Before Jimmy started churning out MIDIs every 15 minutes, Bucket was my definition of SpeedMIDI. I can remember when the Plutonia MIDI Pack was in development, he had nearly run out of Plu- prefixes before some of us had even finished our first song. Then not even a year later, he does it again with the TNT projects.
Bucket's style strikes me as quite distinctive, yet at the same time he can make quite a wide range of stuff. Some weird stuff can turn up in a Bucket MIDI, and I do feel that results can vary, but when a Bucket MIDI is good, it is seriously bloody good.

• Plusfort (Plutonia MIDI Pack, 06) - Not even kidding, this is what I turned to when I decided I wanted to learn how to play Hammond-esque solos. That's some catchy stuff right there.
  
  
• Plurry (Plutonia MIDI Pack, 30) - I said Bucket can make a wide range of stuff, so it seems fitting to list this straight after Plusfort. I've heard this criticised for being too plinky-plonky, but I personally really like that. The music boxes start out all discordant and not really staying in time, each with different panning. It really invokes a feeling of "you're in deep shit now", and the Rhodes' add to that when they come in. The church organ and strings are used in a pretty cool way at the early points too.
  
  Then about halfway through it changes so that you've got the music boxes playing that same melody which has a creepy playful evil sound to it which is quite unsettling. A very good ambient track.
  
  
• (Here Comes) The Night Train (Revilution) - This is one of my favourites in Revilution currently. It's fast and it's pretty nuts to begin with, and it sounds like it would be perfect to finish off the second episode (having written the music for the following map, I feel it would make an awesome contrast too) I just worry that a fast 2 minute MIDI like this will grate on what I'm expecting to be a pretty damn big map. Maybe that will turn out not to be the case, in which case, happy days.

[jmickle66666666]

damnit alfonzo you coulda waited until people have actually heard any of my music ;)

[40oz]

Am I weird for liking Rich Nagel's string instrumental music in Eternal Doom? Does it not get enough credit for a reason?

[PRIMEVAL]

Alfonzo said:

If I had to throw in a couple of pennies then I'd say you have all of the musical chops but might be restraining yourself by wanting to satisfy an ideal of traditional sounding Doom music, yeah. Not that "traditional Doom music" means much to me anyway, just quietly, unless you're literally trying to copy Prince's style - some of Klem's heavy tracks feel more "Doom" to me that Prince's tracks. But if you're looking to improve by opening up to criticism then that's half the battle won (an old cliché, but it rings true)! Maybe some other folks that are more musically talented than I am can lend their opinions on how best to confront your particular problem.

There's some standout stuff in both UR and Reverie that I'd happily cram in some of my own maps, by the way... are you planning on doing any of the tracks for that project with Jimmy?

A couple pennies richer, thanks! I'm always open to criticism.
For music on the project with Jimmy, we may end up making something for a map or two, but nothing is currently planned to my knowledge.

Eris, thanks for the feedback and birthday wishes. :)
I still have the original (rather large) MIDI file for that song you mentioned: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62445669/Go%23It/Go%23It_01.mid

[Jimmy]

Jesus, Prime, didn't I cut that midi file down for you? xD It's 800kb and my local version of it is 70.

[SFoZ911]

Where can I find the BTSX E3 tracks that you guys posting about? I'm a little curious since I really like BTSX soundtrack.

[Tristan]

Some of Jimmy's are uploaded on his youtube channel. Kugelblitz, Keeper of Terrors and Zero Degrees Kelvin are all E3 MIDIs I think. Not sure if there's any others, though I thought Art of the Conjurer was for BTSX originally.

Essel also put most of his BTSX work on YouTube. Here's a link to the mighty Zenith, from which you can find the others.

edit: cheers primeval :D

[PRIMEVAL]

Jimmy said:

Jesus, Prime, didn't I cut that midi file down for you? xD It's 800kb and my local version of it is 70.

You did, I just... dunno where I saved it. lol

[stewboy]

Xaser said:

Jimmy's post needs links! :P

Official release link for Dance of the Reindeer is here, though hopefully the midi's mirrored somewhere since BotB enforces its "need to be signed into an account to donload" thing still for some reason.

Oh, okay! You can get it here too then: https://www.mediafire.com/?7rn0hu7nfki45lr
Are unregistered users able to at least listen to tracks, and just not download them?

I'd just like to take a moment to mention my personal favourite Jimmytrack - Reverie MAP22's "Aztec Gods". I definitely like the harmonies and the scale used. I know Jimmy has done lots of great midis but as a classical musician this is just the one that seems to appeal most to me.
I'll take the time to write a more detailed post in this thread maybe tomorrow - uni's starting up and as always I'm involved in far too many things. I'll also just quickly mention that I have a youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz5W2pjud-vVcmyCcVHfuIA) where I'll be putting up a bunch more doom midis eventually, once I figure out how to directly convert them to mp3 without being affected by Window's stupid polyphony limit. I'll also put up my album there at some point (https://stuartrynn.bandcamp.com/).

re: Day of Mourning, really glad that people like it! :D The opening bars were directly inspired from playing the map, and the rest of it grew from there, with some slight experimentation. The organs I'm glad I got the idea to try.
The only problem with it is that a 'G' in the choral instrument hangs over the end, and Zdaemon in its infinite wisdom doesn't cut off midi notes when it restarts midis, so whenever I'm playing map31 in ZD I have to idmus 32 and idmus 31 again every time it restarts. I'm really annoyed at myself for letting it hang over. I should probably start testing my midis in ZDaemon as well as other ports because there's at least a few aspects of midis that it plays differently (pitch bends being another one - try btsx e2 map01 in zdaemon and you'll see what I mean.)