Rebirth MIDI Pack - COMPLETE.

[Jimmy]

I'm claiming your slot rekta. This project needs finishing.

[Jimmy]

I see you liking my posts but not dignifying me with a response. Very mature of you.

 

 

Anyway.

 

Download "Rebirth MIDI Pack" beta (466 KB) - all tracks included.

 

So it's out - 14 months after the alpha was released, and nearly 2.5 years after the thread first went up. Well, better late than never!

 

This is the stage where feedback from the community will be imperative, because there may still need to be some adjustments made to all the tracks.

 

Try these in different soundfonts, MIDI devices, etc, and please report any severe playback issues including but not limited to:

- Mixing issues

- Stuck notes

- Improper looping

- Instruments not being set correctly

- Anything falling out of tune (especially on repeat listens)

 

Just please nobody upload these tracks to YouTube or anything just yet - it would be pre-emptive as they may not be "final".

 

Cheers!

[Alfonzo]

This MIDI pack had so much time to develop it could have crawled back up the birth canal for another nine months and still be able to learn musical theory before getting released.

 

Will stream this alongside Rebirth at some point. Thanks, Jimmy and team. Sorry for the mental imagery.

[obake]

4 hours ago, Jimmy said:

This is the stage where feedback from the community will be imperative, because there may still need to be some adjustments made to all the tracks.

 

Try these in different soundfonts, MIDI devices, etc, and please report any severe playback issues including but not limited to:

- Mixing issues

- Stuck notes

- Improper looping

- Instruments not being set correctly

- Anything falling out of tune (especially on repeat listens)

I'm not a musical expert, but I'll do my best to give general feedback (though those with more musical knowledge opinion's should be first and foremost).

 

I'll admit that I did not let the music loop (I can do that next time). Anyways, I've listened to one of the tracks in each GZDoom format, so here goes at least one review:

 

Map01 – Ripsaw

Thoughts: this track is awesome! Although it sometimes has a gothic tone, it is mostly a mix of science-fiction and rock, imo, with a quirky, alien synth.

 

How did it play in each of Gzdoom's MIDI options? Let's see:

 

Timidity: Plays almost flawless, though it does sound grainier at points than perhaps it should, but that may just be the format.

 

Fluidsynth: Perfect. No problems.

 

Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth: This was a lot quieter for some reason, which is probably just the format. The mid range notes do not sound as strong.

 

Libopn: Sounds a lot like a Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) track. It feels like some parts are louder than they should be.

 

Libadl: For some reason, the Libadl option takes a second or so longer to load than the others. Some of the beginning riffs are a bit screechy, with no problems after that.

 

Opl Synth Emulation: Like the Libadl format, some of the notes at the beginning sound screechy. Overall it feels like the Midi was not designed for this particular format.

 

Gus: Spotty, and the beat is off. Some of the more angelic organ notes are fine, but everything else sounds bad, as if notes are not even finishing. I do not know if it is Gus itself, or if the MIDI just does not work in this format.

 

Wildmidi: I've never been able to get the Wildmidi format to work, so I have no say on how it sounds here.

 

Hopefully these general thoughts are helpful. I may or may not get to reviewing more of these today, or starting next week.

[Hisymak]

On 5/25/2019 at 11:42 AM, Jimmy said:

So it's out - 14 months after the alpha was released, and nearly 2.5 years after the thread first went up. Well, better late than never!

Excellent!

I was so much waiting for this. Finally some Doom megawad for me to play! (while waiting, played some Heretic to have some change)

Will rather play through it once final midi pack is released to have the best experience.

On 5/25/2019 at 4:44 PM, obake said:

Opl Synth Emulation: Like the Libadl format, some of the notes at the beginning sound screechy. Overall it feels like the Midi was not designed for this particular format.

Well, I'd personally like to ask you and anyone who even chooses to try the OPL Synth emulation mode, to use this thing:

As you can see, this project should significantly improve the sounding of OPL synth to sound listenable and enjoyable. If Jimmy and you agree, I'd like to include this GENMIDI in the MIDI pack itself, and even do some tweaks specifically for this MIDI pack. So if you try it and find some MIDI or particular instrument sound really off, let me know and I can take a look at it.

Thank you!

 

By the way, in the past, I dared taking one of the Jimmy's tracks (Ripsaw) and record an OPL Synth rendition with my GENMIDI. Hope Jimmy didn't mind. Here's the track, you can compare with how it sounds by default:

https://soundcloud.com/hisymak/james-paddock-ripsaw

[obake]

So I went through the second track, utilizing your wad suggestion, @Hisymak.

 

Here are my thoughts:

 

Map02 – Viscera and Gravy

Thoughts: Trippy. Reminds me of a low-key Cyriak track.

 

Timidity: No problems.

 

Fluidsynth: No problems.

 

Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth: Besides being quieter, no problems.

 

Libopn: Tinny, some parts much louder than others.

 

Libadl: Beat is more glassy, does not sound good. Not always synced.

 

Opl Synth Emulation: Computery, more carnival-like. Grungy bass.

 

Gus: Can barely hear beginning notes. Sounds horrid (perhaps my computer is the problem?) It seems like only 1 instrument is allowed to be played at a time.

[Gez]

On samedi 25 mai 2019 at 4:44 PM, obake said:

I'll admit that I did not let the music loop (I can do that next time). Anyways, I've listened to one of the tracks in each GZDoom format, so here goes at least one review:

You should mention which soundfont or patch set you used for TiMidity, FluidSynth, and GUS.

[obake]

9 hours ago, Gez said:

You should mention which soundfont or patch set you used for TiMidity, FluidSynth, and GUS.

I used GZDoom.sf2, which may explain why some of the formats (especially GUS) didn't sound so good.

[Varis Alpha]

i've been crunching away at my tracks over here, fixing some issues they had when listening to them, and making my best attempt to have them vanilla compatible. i'll post links to the tracks i fixed here.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ffjlne6lannxe4d/freedom is so below (2).mid?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tcykbyhlqsi5ymh/Nether (With You)_2.mid?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y2e3bhnekf5rf9a/what could have been (2).mid?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ojnkd38ftw9sbfu/Wretched Abyss_3.mid?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6w1ygel41xvi0n8/Rising Colossus_6.mid?dl=1

 

all of the tracks should hopefully work fine now. Seething Hatred was already workable and should be just fine as is. the only problem i'm not sure how to remedy is that Sunfall Valley is exceeding the MUS size limit, because it uses a lot of pitch-bending and volume control. i don't know how to fix this is an efficient manner, so i'll just post a link to the current version of the file.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Viscra Maelstrom

[Jimmy]

Thanks, Viscra! I'll add those right away.

 

Pro-tip, by the way: replace the "=0" at the end of your dropbox links with "=1" to link to the file download directly. Saves having to open a new tab and then click a button to start the download. :)

[Varis Alpha]

shoot, you're right. i usually edit the links to link directly to the file itself, but i totally missed doing that this time. i fixed those links now.

[Hisymak]

Okay, so I just finished playing through Rebirth with the MIDI pack (took some time, but still).

As this thread is really quiet for some time, I'll finally make sort of a review about the gaming and musical experience I had.

First of all, about the megawad itself, which I played for the first time. It was good, but nothing very special (considering my early experience with things like Back to Saturn X E2). Though I liked some aspects, like custom textures and decorations and graphical remakes of some monsters (Baron of Hell and Snowman specifically). The main issue I had with this megawad was that the maps were very small and short, with average playtime about 5-15 minutes per a map. Which was not enough to remember the music and get familiar with it. The maps were not much rememberable, too, so I usually did not remember how a map two or more steps back looked like, which did not help much remembering the music tracks (as I usually link the map and music track together).

The MIDI pack consists of good songs, and like usually with any soundtrack or midi pack I heard, I liked some songs more and some less. Pretty much like the maps, the music tracks were not tied to some specific theme (again giving BTSX as best example). Here are my comments to some particular tracks:

MAP01 - one of the best songs from Jimmy, I very like it and even uploaded my OPL Synth rendition. The map it is playing in is VERY tiny (one of the smallest Doom maps I played), I could finish it before whole track played. The song is really good entry to a new megawad, but the player won't enjoy it really much. The map should be at least as big as the Entryway.

MAP05 - this one sounded funny to me, made me happier while playing that map. Hehe.

MAP10 - this song sounded interesting to me due to the choice of instruments and the melody. Especially the Tinkle Bell in the second half.

MAP12 - liked the part with Koto.

MAP13 - I was very nicely surprised how the song from Therektafire went well in the end. I was feeling that guy was not much serious, but probably with Jimmy's intervention (do not know how much, did not listen to the original song), it turned into nice track I liked.

MAP15 - I like especially the beginning part with Soundtrack FX. It gives the song a mysterious feeling. But like all the song.

MAP17 - I see Atmosphere FX is Jimmy's favourite instrument, isn't it?

MAP19 - a pleasant and calm song

MAP23 - really heavy song. (In this map, a very annoying map bug happened to me - I left the central arena back by the red-key door, but then the door closed and I was not able to open it again from outside. I was stuck, as there was no way at all to get back to the arena. It was the only time during the game I needed to cheat and use noclip, which I really hate)

MAP24 - probably the most special and interesting, rememberable and distinctive song in the MIDI pack. Interesting combination of melodies and instruments - Voice Oohs and especially the Percussive Organ and the special echo effects. I liked the map too.

MAP27 - another nice song from Jimmy

Text Screen - probably the "strongest" and most engaging Text Screen music I ever heard. Usually, when playing most of megawads, I quickly skip the text screen anyway so I do not listen to most part of the music. But in Rebirth, I always wanted to listen through the whole song.

I was disappointed that the song "Flight of the Fox" was not used in any map. I listened to this song during development of Midi pack and very liked it, and imagined how the map it would be used in would look like. But that did not happen. Hopefully that song will find its place in some other project.

Edited August 8, 2019 by Hisymak

[Jimmy]

Thanks for playing all the way through, @Hisymak! Very much appreciated that you took the time. Rebirth's bitesize levels appeal to the inner speedmapper in me and Vader has long been one of my favorite mappers, and is of course most famously known for his monolithic ZDoom maps like Blackrock and Thunderpeak. So The Rebirth to me is a really interesting time capsule into his body of work. Not all the maps are what I'd call "memorable" but I've certainly enjoyed playing through them multiple times.

 

Thanks very much for the review of the tracks. What I now have to balance is the issue of whether it's worth just releasing the pack as-is, without going over the whole assortment of tracks with a terribly fine-toothed comb. I'd like to lay this project to rest!

[Hisymak]

It's a pity @obake stopped his very detailed reviews at the second track. It was interesting to read. I feel that this megawad did not make much interest among people.

By the way, I forgot to mention that I used "OPL Synth emulation" MIDI device with Hisymak's Genmidi for all the time. @Jimmy you can include it as is, I don't think I would make any modifications there.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Hisymak

[Vader]

Stumbled upon this thread by accident a week ago... didn't know this project exists until then!
I'm really grateful to see all those talented composers dedicating their time and creativeness to an old-ass megawad like this, a big thanks to all of you :D
I took my time to listen to all of the contributions during the last week and the overall quality of this new soundtrack is just outstanding. It kinda makes me fear the few original tracks I did for this horribly pale in comparison and will stick out like a sore thumb.

Although I'm kinda proud of at least some bits and pieces of those tracks, I know that they are far from professionaly crafted :P

 

Anyway, I'd like to share a few thoughts on each track... I took notes while listening to them, but some of those are kinda cryptic and/or short and I don't have the time to listen to all of them again ATM, so forgive me that my comments on those are all a bit sketchy.

 

Intro - pretty nice
Map01 - awesome track, it's a shame the map is so short that anyone playing propably won't hear it all
Inter   - nice metal-like track, although for me it gives the impression that the mapset is going to be slaughterish... but it isn't :P
Map02 - kinda feels unsettling and a bit happy at the same time... really unique approach, I love it
Map04 - my notes read "awesomenessss!" And it is... love the mix between guitar and more calm parts (don't know what instrument that is) plus the change of pace about half-way through. Nice drums too!
Map05 - not my cup of tea TBH. The track is definitely well done, but I get a bit of a MegaMan vibe from it and IMO a more moody track would have been more appropiate for this map
Map06 - perfect match for this map, but the same what I said about Map01 applies here... of course that is definitely not the composers fault Especially love the parts about 2/3 into the song... reminds me of the spaceship levels in Turrican2 on the C64... one of my favorite games ever
Read   - Eargasm :D
Map07 - good metal-ish stuff here, great bass line and the guitar solo rocks
Map08 - great, don't know what else to say
Map09 - nice one, fits the map pretty well... could also work very well for an egypt or temple like map
Map11 - kinda relaxing but fits
Map13 - suits a city map really well, good stuff
Map14 - another track that would fit an egypt/temple map, but doesn't work that well in this case IMO. The song is really nice, however the map would be better off with a more dark and moody track I think
Map31 - Epic! Definitely one of my favorite tracks from this project :D
Map16 - Good but same as Map14... a more dark/moody track would be more fitting for this map. Might be just me though, because this one is actually build around a nightmare I had back then :P Also does have a Duke3d vibe to it IMO, wich is a good thing, but yeah doesn't really fit with what I had in mind :P
Map17 - Like it a lot! Reminds me of Geometry wich Jimmy made for "Theory of broken circles" (BTSX E2M15):D
Map18 - Nice moody track
Map19 - Kinda feels a bit Jazz-like wich isn't a music style I'm into, but still good
Map20 - I love this one, matches the map quite perfectly. My only complaint is that the silence at the end of the track is a bit too long, so the looping doesn't work that well. Or is there something I'm missing? I'm usually using Microsoft GS Wavetable synth as midi device, so maybe it sounds different with another setup (I don't know shit about this stuff TBH :P)
Map21 - as the Map06 track this one gives me kind of a MegaMan vibe, but it fits better this time... maybe it gives the impression the map is harder than it actually is, but anyway nice stuff!
Map22 - like in the Map04 track there is a very nice mix of more calm sections and heavier guitar dominated parts. Good one!
Map23 - heh in the notes I took down it just reads; "Headbanging :)". That's a good thing I guess :D
Map24 - has a Heretic flair to it and feels kinda otherworldly to me. I really like that and it even greatly enhances the atmosphere of the whole  map
Map25 - great one, I love it! Don't know if it fits the map that well, but honestly I don't care because the track is awesome XD
Map26 - metal-ish one here and also very nice and atmospheric. I really like the intro with just drums and the bass kicking in a bit afterwards
Map27 - another nice metal-ish one... don't know if this was done on purpose, but at the time when the track gets calmer for the first time, there're some higher pitched sounds in the background that remind me a lot of my own track for Map15 :) I also adore your talent for making e-guitars not sound shabby in midi format (that goes for all of the tracks using guitars, not just this one!), that's something I never quite got right in my short period of midi composing I guess :P
Map28 - lovely! Really atmospheric and a perfect match. I love the build-up in this one... could also work really well in a Heretic map
Map29 - like in Map14 and 16, I do have the feeling it doesn't fit this map all that well TBH. The track is really nice, no doubt about that, but for the penultimate map I propably would have wished for something more dark/sinister. It sounds even a little bit happy and would work better for an 'exploration-in-overrun-grassy-fields' like map or something like that IMHO :P
Map30 - Well, very nice and atmospheric track and fits nicely for a last map, however I wonder why the original track I made for this one was replaced TBH. My stuff is definitely inferior to all of this, but the one I made for this map is actually the one I'm most proud of. Sure it does have its flaws, but I still like it! I'd suggest to keep this song, but put it in the Map29 slot and replace the Map15 music (wich is propably my worst creation) with the Map29 track instead ;)

 

Once again, I'm more than happy to see this has been done! Thank you all for your time and dedication, I definitely appreciate it :)

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Vader : formatting

[Jimmy]

Hell yeah, thank you so much for the useful and in-depth comments, Vader! That's officially made this project a success, I think. :D Very glad to see you enjoyed the tracks.

 

I'll take a look at the looping on MAP20's track, that sounds like it could be a slight technical issue.

 

MAP30's track was written by me in a burst of inspiration that came about after waking from a dream, and I felt I had to use it somewhere. I may take your suggestions with regards to the track ordering on board, nothing should really get thrown away that way.

 

Again, many thanks :D

[Varis Alpha]

the end of map20's track being too long is because i put a lot of silence at the end to complement the outro of the track slowly fading out. i may have put too much silence, though, and a couple of bars could be cut to make it sound less awkward.

[Jimmy]

@Viscra Maelstrom How's this for a fix to shorten the silence? Good cutoff point, or too early?

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7sotw2jg04wq48k/Sunfall Valley (Open Fire)_4_fix.mid?dl=1

[Tristan]

Ugh, do we have to be moving stuff about? Thanatos does not fit MAP15 better than it fits 29 imo, and I already posted my videos of it months ago that show MAP29...

[Varis Alpha]

@Jimmy i went back and edited the fade out of the track so it doesn't stay on it for as long. cut off a good 13 seconds or so this way.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ksrrntn97fnlmg6/Sunfall Valley (Open Fire) cut.mid?dl=1

[Hisymak]

On 8/18/2019 at 8:33 AM, Vader said:

It kinda makes me fear the few original tracks I did for this horribly pale in comparison and will stick out like a sore thumb.

Although I'm kinda proud of at least some bits and pieces of those tracks, I know that they are far from professionaly crafted :P

 

On 8/18/2019 at 8:33 AM, Vader said:

My stuff is definitely inferior to all of this, but the one I made for this map is actually the one I'm most proud of. Sure it does have its flaws, but I still like it! I'd suggest to keep this song, but put it in the Map29 slot and replace the Map15 music (wich is propably my worst creation) with the Map29 track instead ;)

Oh... I don't think your tracks are bad or inferior, I like them along with rest of the MIDIs and I very appreciate you put some effort into creating at least a few custom tracks (while some mappers don't/can't do that at all). Whenever I ran into one of your tracks, it was recognizable to me and had a bit different feeling, but in a good sense. I even have some favourites among your tracks, namely MAP10 and MAP15 (see my comments). I'd be a bit sad if MAP15 music would go away as I really like it personally.

[Vader]

Thanks for the kind words Hisymak, I appreciate it :)

 

@Jimmy:

Fair enough :)

The track swap was merely a suggestion and I certainly won't complain if the current setup is kept... was just mentioning the map30 thing because I didn't expect it I guess.

 

 

 

 

[Jimmy]

Check it out. I actually deigned to release this.

Download Rebirth MIDI Pack (Final release.)

 

/idgames mirror pending.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Jimmy

[Tristan]

pogchamp, props to all logged in jimmies.

Great job to everyone else involved, glad to see another solid MIDI pack make its way out there!

[rehelekretep]

gonna play Rebirth now !

[P41R47]

Woah! Finally i can play The Rebirth with a neat soundtrack!
One question, @Jimmy:
Are there new text screens?
If not, can i make them? I was planning on doing one for my self amusement, but i could make them for this project if you like. 

[Tristan]

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/music/rebmidi

[Faceman2000]

This is awesome guys. :) I absolutely love these midipack projects and the excellent output they produce. It’s also super cool to see older wads like these get a nod - I mean, look at all the people that found this wad thanks to you guys!

 

Ive yet to play through it with this cuz I’m pretty swamped getting ready to graduate, but I’ve been listening to the songs and all I can say is great work to everyone involved. Y’all are rock stars.