Celebrating Doomworld's Musicians - your favourite tracks!

[kristus]

My favorit custom midi must be the one in Map04 of Darkening E2. Great tune and it works perfectly with the map Vindication.

[Coraline]

No mention of Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel and his amazing Eternal DOOM OST?

[vdgg]

Apart from the aforementioned: Vile Flesh MAP05 (Gwyn Williams). Very catchy.

[kristus]

Chu said:

No mention of Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel and his amazing Eternal DOOM OST?

http://mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-3278903-1-What-a-Shame.jpg

You just did.

[Tristan]

stewboy said:

https://www.mediafire.com/?7rn0hu7nfki45lr

Wow, this is very good!
Also I couldn't help but notice vi-IV-I-V a couple of times here, so there goes my theory of some agreed contract between Doomworld musicians never to use that :D

once I figure out how to directly convert them to mp3 without being affected by Window's stupid polyphony limit

I use FL Studio for this process. There's an option on the little interface that pops up when you select one of the instruments, and one of the tabs has a max polyphony section. Setting it to 0 disables the limit

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.)

For the record, I noticed the hanging choir on Nevan's UV max of that map which was done in PrBoom+
I haven't noticed anything weird with pitch bending in ZDaemon on BTSX E2M1, but I did hear a lot of sudden tempo increases, which were kind of annoying. I've come across similar things in my own stuff in various ports, so I'm not sure what causes it.

[Memfis]

The problem with Eternal Doom OST... The songs are highly repetitive and 2 minute long at best, while some maps might very well take over an hour to figure out. See anything wrong here? I still kind of like a lot of it but... not while playing the wad.

[darkreaver]

Many great songs and musicians honored in this thread. I just wanna give a quick shout out to the track in map01 in PRCP. So simple, so effective. Wasnt it made by Jimmy? Not able to check right now.

[AD_79]

PRCP MAP01's MIDI is a Primeval MIDI, says Doomwiki.

[darkreaver]

Didnt occur to me to check the wiki :P Anyways, PRIMEVAL made a nice one there!

[Shadow Hog]

I've actually been listening to a fair bit of MegaWAD music at work the past few years, mostly inspired by ripping the MIDIs out of Jimmy's Jukebox mod. Quite a few tracks that stick out in my mind (although lacking musical education, I'm probably going to end up using words in ways I shouldn't be in an attempt to gush about them):

• "Plucked and Hammered" by Bucket for the Plutonia MIDI Pack - While it doesn't really have a hook per se, I do find the harp arpeggio that drives the opening more than sufficient. Eventually it transitions into what I think is a low-octave clavinet playing the same note repeatedly, which is probably the part about the track I remember the most. The overall piece brings to mind one of the slower stages in a WAD where you're exploring some dark caves, sandwiched in between other stages that are more high-octane - the calm before the storm, yet a bit of downtime after another. I don't know if this track wound up getting used in the compilation, but I'm a fan.
  
• "Rainforest" by stewboy/42 - This is probably my favorite track in the entirety of Jimmy's Jukebox, and one of the ones I like to come back to when testing out soundfonts. The track tends to have me imagining the ruins of an old castle, covered in vines and currently undergoing a spot of rain. The person currently exploring them sees remnants of the royal family that used to reside there; as the explorer grows somewhat melancholy for their fates, they start seeing ghostly apparitions of ballgoers waltzing about what's left of the ballroom. I'd really like to make some kind of medieval castle/ruins stage that uses this thing at some point, to perhaps bring that sort of idea to life, and am honestly curious as to what map it was made for in the first place.
  
• "Jailbreak" by stewboy/42 for Speed of Doom MAP33 - Starting with a single string chord, it starts building on that before transitioning into the acoustic guitar that basically drives the entire track, never really letting up until it's all over. If I had to ascribe a scene to this one, it wouldn't be a jailbreak as the track title states, but more the start of some sort of hopeless battle (slaughtermap?) with the sawtooth punctuating some well-placed rockets bringing down the horde's strongest members as the lone warrior does everything he can to turn the odds in his favor.
  
• D_HITLER by Xaser(?) for Turbocharged Arcade - The opening immediately brings to mind the goofy exchanges between the Doomguy and Walltexture-Hitler, with each line in the exchange coming in rhythm of the blaring horns - far too fast to read, but therein lies the joke. The rest of the track doesn't really disappoint, either, working more than well enough as suitable battle music. It helps that it gets progressively faster and higher-pitched as you move on to "HITLER2", "HITLER3" or "HITLER4" (or the "EHITLERx" variants thereof; haven't quite memorized the order, although putting "EHITLERn" before "HITLERn" makes for a rather nice progression), only serving to highlight how long the joke's been going on for, yet somehow making it funnier for it.
  
• "Cyber Passage" by Jimmy, intended for Plutonia 2's intermission screens - I really like the organ driving the track. It's a little goofy, yet surprisingly catchy all the same. I can't help but think the track would work pretty well for a city stage of some sort, even if it's a bit on the short side (only clocking in at 59 seconds). In fact, I had wanted to include it in SRB2 2.1 for a city-themed multiplayer stage I was working on - said stage never made it into the roster, however, which I suppose is just as well (I've learned that they and I have very different tastes in music, so I don't know if I could've gotten this track past 'em).
  
• "Launch Time" by Jimmy for The Adventures of Square E1M9. Unambiguously my favorite track from the only available episode (as of writing). I really like the chord progression the chords are using - something about it just instills a sense of wonderment in me. Works fairly well for a stage where you hijack a rocket to go visit space, to boot.

Granted, most of my interest in these tracks is less for the stages they're attached to and more for their own sake. Heck, this isn't even all of them, just the ones I have time to write about right now.

[stewboy]

Eris Falling said:

I haven't noticed anything weird with pitch bending in ZDaemon on BTSX E2M1, but I did hear a lot of sudden tempo increases, which were kind of annoying. I've come across similar things in my own stuff in various ports, so I'm not sure what causes it.

That's actually what I meant - something to do with how ZDaemon handles pitch bends causes temporary tempo increases.

Shadow Hog said:

"d_rainfo" (need correct name, although I anticipate "Rainforest" is part of it) by stewboy/42 - This is probably my favorite track in the entirety of Jimmy's Jukebox, and one of the ones I like to come back to when testing out soundfonts. The track tends to have me imagining the ruins of an old castle, covered in vines and currently undergoing a spot of rain. The person currently exploring them sees remnants of the royal family that used to reside there; as the explorer grows somewhat melancholy for their fates, they start seeing ghostly apparitions of ballgoers waltzing about what's left of the ballroom. I'd really like to make some kind of medieval castle/ruins stage that uses this thing at some point, to perhaps bring that sort of idea to life, and am honestly curious as to what map it was made for in the first place.

The track is called 'Rainforest'. I made it back in 2009 I think in anticipation for Scythe X's inevitable 'green' themed maps. Unfortunately, the midi is the worst I've ever seen for breaking Window's poly limit, which wasn't around when I made it. So, it will not play correctly on most modern Windows systems. The track 'Rainforest' from my album is basically an extended version of it with some new ideas.

Eris Falling said:

I use FL Studio for this process. There's an option on the little interface that pops up when you select one of the instruments, and one of the tabs has a max polyphony section. Setting it to 0 disables the limit

This is actually a really good tip! I couldn't find any option for it, but exporting to .wav seemed to ignore the poly limit anyway. I will do this for a few of my most limit-breaking midis and put them up on YouTube.

Edit: I have done so for 'Hell Jungle'. It actually feels kind of good to hear it without the poly limit - I've literally never heard it like this before! Since I made it, I've found ways of trying to skirt around the poly limit (such as not being completely reckless with piano sustain, which in most of my pre-2014 midis could be a problem) but it's too late to do it to that one.

[SFoZ911]

"Waiting" by Esselfortium is an amazing track that I can literally listen for hours without getting bored of it.

[Tristan]

Aw shit, I've run out of people to ramble about at great length.

Just a quick mention to Jimmy's Within Reach, Atomic and Vinefort. All very good tracks I didn't mention in the post earlier.
I did find out today though (thermal physics) that Kelvin is not referred to as a degree unlike celsius or fahrenheit, and therefore Zero Degrees Kelvin is scientifically incorrect. Don't tell him.

[esselfortium]

Eris Falling said:

I did find out today though (thermal physics) that Kelvin is not referred to as a degree unlike celsius or fahrenheit, and therefore Zero Degrees Kelvin is scientifically incorrect. Don't tell him.

The song is actually an interpretive musical piece about a zombieman named Kelvin who is facing east. It's all part of the elaborately woven tapestry that is BTSX's storyline.

edit:
esselWork: close
it's actually about a zombie named Kelvin who never went to college

I apologize for this grievous error.

[Havoc Crow]

David Shaw - Backroad Wanderer: An excellent, atmospheric tune. I don't actually think it fits a typical Doom map that much, but it's a great piece of music on its own, very moody and wistful.
Mark Klem - Terror: A creepy, thrilling tune, perfect for the final level. I wish it was longer, but it's a very listenable song all the same.

I'll be unoriginal and toss in some BTSX tracks again...

Michael Mancuso - Entering: It gets me every time I start BTSXE1. A truly great, moody, sad tune, perfect for setting up the sorta-melancholic mood of BTSX.
Mystproj - Haunting! A great song for the quiet, exploratory, magnificent levels which are all about exotic eye-candy. (The first time I played the hub map, I managed to exit exactly in time with the song's ending. Very satisfying when the developing song accompanies you making progress, like in a well-choreographed movie.) Stands on its own as well.

Stuart Rynn - 24: More BTSX goodness. A mysterious, alluring tune which constantly seems to demonstrate new facets, like a flirtatious woman.

James Paddock - Scattered Ashes: A truly badass tune which sounds like something of an angry Western with horse chases and desert city shootouts. You don't listen to this song, it is the song that takes over you and judges you ("Are ya badass enough for this, ya little git? Well are ya?").
Petrichor (Blood of the Stone): This song feels like it has so much packed in it, like a bottomless rucksack of gloom. Misery, mystery, tragedy, seductiveness, desolateness. Its sheer variety makes it like a slow, yet oddly elusive snake which you cannot get a grip on.

Xaser Acheron - Ominus: Jagged, metallic. Spikey. Predatory, carnivorous, and it wants you. This is what this song feels like. It sounds like a bandit raid in progress and makes the world feel unstable around you.

Huh. I ended up sounding weird near the end there.

[Shadow Hog]

stewboy said:

The track is called 'Rainforest'. I made it back in 2009 I think in anticipation for Scythe X's inevitable 'green' themed maps. Unfortunately, the midi is the worst I've ever seen for breaking Window's poly limit, which wasn't around when I made it. So, it will not play correctly on most modern Windows systems. The track 'Rainforest' from my album is basically an extended version of it with some new ideas.

That's a shame. I use BASSMIDI, myself, which doesn't have nearly as low a poly limit (actually it was noticing that limit on Windows 7 after being used to a higher one on XP that made me seek out things like BASSMIDI in the first place), so I'd honestly never noticed.

(Amusing sidenote: my default soundfont of choice, 8MBGMSFX.sf2, makes Hell Revealed 2's MAP12 track have percussion driven by car screeches. It is the silliest thing. I'd record it, but the laptop I'm presently on lacks "Stereo Mix"; I'd have to do it on my desktop at home.)

[Bucket]

I like yakfak. He wandered into the Plutonia MIDI project, posted a handful of brilliant Zappa-esque tracks and then disappeared again.
Where did he go? No one knows. He belongs to the night.

[Doomkid]

That Doomkid fella is a musical genius, I especially love his works in Revenge of the 90's and TheDevilzWork. While all custom tracks were composed cooperatively with friends, his soul and artistic vision shines bright in each one, leaving Doomers yearning for more! Everything from moody ambience on map16 of rot90, to rock solid Doom tunes like map02 of tdw, to dark, haunting tunes like his submission for the plutonia midi pack. Simply ingenious!

...
Jokes/narcissism aside, I've always loved Jimmy's midis, but bucket really blew me away with his "go 2 it" remix, which I still listen to from time to time while mapping. Honestly, everyone who worked on the plutonia midi pack really left a good impression on me - I fucking love that wad, it's filled to the brim with incredible compositions!

[Tristan]

Doomkid said:

I fucking love that wad, it's filled to the brim with incredible compositions!

except map12 wtf was the author thinking

[Joshy]

Eris Falling said:

except map12 wtf was the author thinking

I know right, don't even know why I used it for my graytall map.

[Psyrus]

Bucket said:

I like yakfak. He wandered into the Plutonia MIDI project, posted a handful of brilliant Zappa-esque tracks and then disappeared again.
Where did he go? No one knows. He belongs to the night.

His piece "HOSILFU" (caps intended?) is an interesting listen. It was one of the pieces that caught my attention while browsing through the MIDI pack. It has a catchy bass riff for one. I also tend to be a sucker for complex chords i.e. the harpsichord part. It may sound somewhat dissonant, but it still manages to work.

[Doomkid]

Eris Falling said:

except map12 wtf was the author thinking

go ez on the poor guy

[Shadow Hog]

Shadow Hog said:

Amusing sidenote: my default soundfont of choice, 8MBGMSFX.sf2, makes Hell Revealed 2's MAP12 track have percussion driven by car screeches. It is the silliest thing. I'd record it, but the laptop I'm presently on lacks "Stereo Mix"; I'd have to do it on my desktop at home.

Incidentally, this is the resulting recording.

The car screeching kinda adds to the piece, in some sort of bizarre sense. At any rate, it sure as hell makes it more memorable.

[gemini09]

Lots of favorites already mentioned here. Doom music has a very special place in my heart.

Time to turn the spotlight over to ICARUS: Alien Vanguard!

It has a recurring theme in its soundtrack, from the title music to read-me text, to map02 to map07 and 12, and possibly more, and I absolutely love the tune that is this main, recurring theme.

Other favorites from the soundtrack is definitely map15 to name one, but I haven't played the megawad enough to recall every single one of the tunes, but I have been wanting to make a new mini-megawad where the Icarus soundtrack is once again employed.

Also, I second that Eternal Doom praise.

[Avoozl]

I can't remember much custom music but I liked that one track used in MAP01 of Jenesis.

[Devalaous]

You lot should listen to Eris Falling's stuff! *shameless plug*

[Tristan]

^for the record, no I didn't ask him to post that :P

edit: Alfonzo, what happened D:

[Alfonzo]

Yes, hello! Will supply more commentary when I next decide to sit down and listen to MIDIs and/or the thread tries to walk off into the sunset. I have the lasso ready.

[Varis Alpha]

most of the musicians i have in mind has already been mentioned here, but i haven't seen anyone mention B.P.R.D's stuff yet. the stuff in Equinox is quite dreamy, such as the track in map01 and map07, though not all the music can be credited to him it seems (the intermission music and map 03 are the most noticable ones, although i just found out that map 13 is someone else's composition, too.) Grove also has pretty moody music. the only downside with the music is that some of the songs are so loud they actually peak in certain sound-settings like FMOD.

other than that i agree with most of the other musicians named in this thread, such as Jimmy, Mark Klem, Pcorf, Kristian Aro, Stuart Rynn, essel, etc.

[vdgg]

Replaying 11EOB and have to add: Jon Landis!!! (E2M1/E2M5 in particular).

Plus, Justus Johnson for just one track: MAP01 from Caverns of Darkness