How do I MAKE music for my WAD?

[revan1141]

So instead of downloading music that is probably copyrighted and have it not be uploaded to the archive as a result, I've been really itching to make my own music for my WAD, in the style of Doom of course.

I keep having good rhythms and beats in my head that I think would be easy to reproduce, but I honestly don't know shit about music or how to even make music for my WAD. I've always been more of a writer than a musician.

That being said, how can I start exactly?

[Tosi]

Learn some basic music theory, download a MIDI tracker (unless you want to make MP3/OGG files), and start playing around. The music theory is optional but helps to keep you from making an atonal cacophony with no rhythm.
Unfortunately, none of the music I've composed is remotely good enough to put in a level.

[JXC]

You can also make MID
I files with LilyPond, or you can make music in OpenMPT and convert it to Ogg, MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc.

[AD_79]

Sekaiju is good for midi making

[Fuzzball]

Theory is important- sure you can pump up DEM TUNES with a repeated 140 kick hi-hat snare hi-hat rhythm but if you wanted to make something catchy, that sounds pleasant on the ears instead of piano wanking...do a bit of research, some reading- listening to melodic music. Stuff that inspires you to make the kind of genres you want to go for.

[Nick Perrin]

revan1141 said:

I keep having good rhythms and beats in my head that I think would be easy to reproduce, but I honestly don't know shit about music or how to even make music for my WAD.

People are all giving valid advice here, but please realize that making decent music is a skill that takes years to develop. If you don't know anything about music yet, you may or may not have a few good moments in your material early on but composition is an endlessly deep craft that demands respect. Don't mean this to discourage, if anything, start going at it and if you simply enjoy making music you will make quick improvements!

Keep in mind that working with MIDI also limits the sonic quality of what you do, but the advantage is, if you're just starting to write music, it will also set a baseline level of sound quality than is higher than what you'd get if you tried to start recording real instruments with no prior recording/mixing/production experience. So MIDI is a good starting point for experimentation, and could be a gateway to more advanced audio tools in future. And of course for DOOM it's the obvious choice for easy compatibility.