Revolution! MIDI Pack project (COMPLETE! Also a surprise on page 10)

Jimmy said:

KevinHEZ: Hey, nice work! This isn't currently slated for use anywhere else? It's definitely a great track (long, too!), and would definitely be at home in the pack, so I'll go ahead and slot you in. Only thing I might change about it is the length of the middle section where it plays the same four notes repeatedly for a good while. Both sections either side of that middle bit are great music, though.

Thank you, and no, it's not currently being used but it is credited under "Isotype" which is a project i'm hoping to launch in 2018.

I'll make a "shorter" version for the wad because this track is meant to have vocals on the final mix.

40oz said:

Sorry I have no musical abilities to contribute but I just wanna say that this is a really impressive turnout so far considering this project started 3 days ago! As much as I like stock Doom midis, I'd be interested in seeing other musicless classic megawads get this kind of attention too. :P

i wouldn't be obliged to give more megawads new music, either. TVR's a given, but Fragport's another one i'd like to see, and maybe even the DTWID projects, too.

Just way to say, @joe-ilya - You should learn a few basic major and minor scales for the piano. Hitting notes in those scales instead of "random notes" will be the biggest step on your way to making "real" music.

i have to admit, i'm very sketchy on musical theory myself. i'm not really sure on major or minor scales, or the phrygian scales Jimmy were talking about earlier. and yet i seem to have turned out alright over these past 3 years.

edit: Jimmy, your fix of my Westopolis track seems to have erased the pitch-bending of the guitar tracks, listening to it with the Microsoft synth. there's one at the beginning of the song, and more notably, at 00:45, the pitch-bending is completely absent.

Okay, i've shortened the middle section: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ba94yxgnrcs8zwc/%27The%20Revenant%27%20by%20Isotype.mid?dl=0

V2 of the alpha for map11 I posted in IRC. Barely had time lately, but I do plan to finish it this week. This version just adjusts the volume to be a bit higher in general:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dqjzj7m4w3kawl5/SmoothInfiltrator_alph2.mid?dl=0

Posting it now mainly since the criticism will be healthy, rather than hording the midi to myself =P

EDIT: Its called "Smooth Infiltrator", though that's probably obvious from the file name.

Doomhuntress said:

i have to admit, i'm very sketchy on musical theory myself. i'm not really sure on major or minor scales, or the phrygian scales Jimmy were talking about earlier. and yet i seem to have turned out alright over these past 3 years.

edit: Jimmy, your fix of my Westopolis track seems to have erased the pitch-bending of the guitar tracks, listening to it with the Microsoft synth. there's one at the beginning of the song, and more notably, at 00:45, the pitch-bending is completely absent.

I know a whole bunch of music theory, yet I suck, so it's not a big deal.

Doomhuntress: Oh dear, let me investigate that. I have a feel I know what I did - will endeavor to fix.

KevinHEZ: Thank you! Again, *very* cool and moody midi, will work a treat. :) Solidified your place in the roster. We're now at 10 complete MIDIs! Woo!

Kassman: Sounding like a very promising start! Eager to see what you come up with for the rest of it. With what's there, I can definitely see it fitting the Transporter level.

In terms of criticism, I would suggest the following - lower the synth bass down an octave to give it more of a crunchy, dark sound - higher up, that sound is distinctly thinner and less effective as a bassy tone. Though you can probably afford to bump it back up the octave when the bass comes in during the faster section. You might also need a crash cymbal or two to round off the beginning of the track - although I do like the "only kick and snare" routine going on for most of this, keeps it simple. It would introduce some ride cymbals or ride bells at 0:52 though, and definitely keep them going through 1:32. As far as the very end goes, I take it you're gonna add onto it so I won't say anything about it, but great work so far. Has a real David Shaw/Jeremy Doyle feel to it which is always a good sign. :D

Souls trapped between rotten bricks
Well, here's a demo of my track. Once again, it proves that my imagination is unstable and unpredictable, as the track doesn't suit map19 well. It sounds a lot better in later maps - 22, 28, 29, 30. Check it out yourself.

Also, here's my old sketch. Check if it suits map19 better, I'll revive and improve it if it does.

As for musical theory - I only know what is C# minor.

ClumsyDoomer: Wow, wasn't expecting this! It's very different to your PMP submissions, but it's still a great track, for sure. Love the guitar solo part. Whether it actually fits MAP19 or not I have yet to see, but being part of a map named "Xenocracy" definitely seems appropriate at least, heh. With something as epic and military and fast-paced as this, it wouldn't be out of place in a later map, as you say, or even MAP30. I'll keep it in the slot it's in for now unless I come to a decision beforehand about its rightful place, and we'll juggle things around when we get all the tracks submitted.

Your sketch is also highly usable, I reckon. I'd like to keep this as part of the "unassigned" list and maybe we can talk about doing something with it.

Again, thanks for your contribution!

Finished another one. I think.

Hangar 7

For MAP08, Rock It. Thoughts welcome!

ClumsyDoomer said:

Souls trapped between rotten bricks

This is amazing.
Too amazing...now I'm doubting whether I can really pull off 29 D:

I also really dig Clumsydoomer's track. Great build up and payoff from this one!

Eris Falling said:

This is amazing.
Too amazing...now I'm doubting whether I can really pull off 29 D:

Doomkid said:

I also really dig Clumsydoomer's track. Great build up and payoff from this one!

Now that's a pleasure. I think I can even show this track to parents in order to convince them that I deserve an electric guitar, lol.

I think that changing percussion may make the track fit better (it also a bit monotonous, just enlivening it a bit may improve the track in general), right now it's more like some RPG boss battle theme, but I can't imagine how it would sound with different percussion. What do you think?

In my opinion it's fine as it is. The fast percussion is still interesting and keeps the track flowing at a good, hectic tempo. The build-up within the first 45 seconds of the track is swift and rewarding. I feel like any variation at this point would hinder the impact of the track and probably slow it down - and I'm sure we'll be needing faster tracks for the more frenetic maps in this set, of which there are quite a few, particularly in the later third.

So yeah, no worries. :)

Clumsy's track is perfect for 29 IMO. I'll give up the slot and take on 30.

Doneski. (Clumsy's agreement obtained via IRC)

Sappers & Moles intended for teh MAP 15 slot, doing some dramatic brass stuff and providing a snare heavy beat. I think it's powerful but the tune still does a bunch of weird stuff because I am who I am

Man, with all this awesome stuff being submitted, I'm worried my midi might be too plain by comparison.. It worked well for me in the Plutonia pack, because I sorta struck gold with that "dark" sound, but here it just sounds like some 90's grunge riff.. Anyone have any ideas for things to add, or anyone else want a crack at it? I'm here with open ears (terrible joke intended) for anyone who might be wanting to offer some assistance.

yakfak: Yes! I really like this! Again, faster tracks that still fit the Doom aesthetic are hard to come by. The blasting snares and bouncing bass in this make for a really moody but frenetic piece. Will see if it fits 15, but I also reckon it'd be good for 14. Definitely fits something with a lot of crazy action going on that requires the player to be forever on their toes. Great work!

Took a first pass at each of my tracks. You should see "Super Mecha HG," "Black Colossus" and "I Sacrifice" in this folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/72q4sk9dhwui35m/AABRNsTm98-Mukx96mgv_5mSa?dl=0

Didn't have any atypical challenges with Map28's music. Map20 makes me feel indecisive, though. I've done my best, but striking the proper tone has been tough. (Remember, this is the brown castle level with a giant, fleshy X hiding a Romero head.) As for Map14, I adapted "Super Mecha HG" from, well, a rather unlikely source:

Doomkid said:

Man, with all this awesome stuff being submitted, I'm worried my midi might be too plain by comparison.. It worked well for me in the Plutonia pack, because I sorta struck gold with that "dark" sound, but here it just sounds like some 90's grunge riff.. Anyone have any ideas for things to add, or anyone else want a crack at it? I'm here with open ears (terrible joke intended) for anyone who might be wanting to offer some assistance.

i think having some simpler stuff in is fine. i sometimes have the problem of cramming in too much into my track, which makes for a very bloated experience and can sound kind of overwhelming to listen to. given that it's so early on in the mod, i think your song fits alright. i think Jimmy's point about a keyboard still stands, maybe make it play a lead melody in the middle of the song to lead (heh) the song into a direction, which would make all the other stuff compliment it rather well, as i feel it has a nice style to it, just that it needs something to push it forward.

otherwise, just practice a bunch. not counting any of the actual good ones, i have like hundreds of project files dating back to late 2012 since i first started doing this. i think you'll have an easier time telling how to make a song sound good if you just make a bunch of stuff.

Thanks for the feedback Doomhuntress, I'll definitely take it on board and should have a very slightly modified version posted soon. You make a great point that it's nice to have a mix of "busy" and "not so busy" tracks.

also, when you make a busy track, please make sure that it's balanced out so most of the track doesn't consist of constant e.g. guitar-shredding or pounding percussion. because that shit hurts my ears, and it detracts from the experience if the level is fairly long but the song is obnoxiously loud or the percussion hurts my brain to the point it makes me feel nauseous.

i say this as someone that does enjoy obnoxious music like breakcore and speedcore. the two things don't tend to meld together very well, because the consistently loud music demands your attention at all times, and the game itself does too because you need to explore around it. it just makes for an overall unpleasant experience.

Hellish Godzilla: Thanks for your contributions! Cool to see a bunch submitted at once. Right then, onto the tracks themselves:

Super Mecha HG: I think I made a mistake by clicking your video and listening to the theme this was based on beforehand, because the track, which obviously uses the exact theme, sounded a bit excessively derivative. I know I said that recreations of existing songs were totally fine, but here there's a small problem in that the track is really just that single melody. It's cloned across the guitar, synth brass, saw wave, strings, AND the bass, making the whole thing rather loud and invasive, especially with no velocity variation on everything. The percussion also feels a little messy in places due to how much of it there is - you're actually using both types of snare (acoustic and electric) as alternating drum notes and I would recommend against this in general.

The track also might need some extension. 1:24 is an okay length for a TVR! track since the maps are all relatively small and can be completed in basically no time flat, although this particular track I feel really needs exploration and fleshing out in terms of the ideas on show. I would aim for 2:00 at least, personally, adding as much new and varied content as you can squeeze out of that original song.

Black Colossus: I enjoy the start of this track, but like the previous, you have a lot of hyperactive percussion going on, which busies the track up to a fairly hectic level when the instrumentation itself is perhaps more in demand of minimal percussion to balance it out. This track I feel ought to pace itself by having the percussion only occupy certain bits of the middle section - the intro and outro should be completely devoid of it. And the middle part could stand to have the drum lines simplified, i.e. not so many snares - the "two snares" problem is present here as well. Perhaps things could stay more hectic towards the end, of course, since this track is for a "boss" level.

I like the slight melodic switch-up at 0:47. The instruments themselves should perhaps change up a little bit here, though. I also enjoy the solo, though I wouldn't necessarily have the lead instrument be a glockenspiel/music box combo, you probably only need one of those there.

I, Sacrifice: This starts out sounding pretty cool, rather "Demons on the Prey"-ish, although the opening melody seems a little repetitive. I'm not fully sure a repeated 16th-note saw bass works quite so well here, and then you introduce the tinkle bell/crystal FX line, and the notes played by it aren't agreeing with me. Your bass is playing in B♭ minor, and the bell instrument is closer to E♭ minor, so I would recommend lowering the notes in that melody down a fourth (5 semitones), it should sound more consonant that way. At the 1:57 mark or perhaps earlier, you can probably afford to change the key up to E♭ minor, so in that case you would move the bass and the other outlying instruments up five semitones.

Again the percussion is very busy, with a lot of kicks and snares bouncing this way and that. I would definitely dial it back for this track, since 28 is a large imposing castle map, and so the cymbals and timpani should be at the forefront of the percussion line, lending a slow, stomping, monstrous feel to the track.

---

I realise this is a lot of be asking for, so if you feel you can't do all of this, let me know if you'd like me to tackle any of it myself.

I am slowly making the track for the one that isn't Prefect. (MAP27?)

Hello? Echo-o-o-o...

MAP05's track is at long last done-ish. Ready to present it and add it to the FP.

Kind of craving feedback on this because it's probably not my best effort and I want to know how good a fit it's likely to be, what with being a bit stylistically different to my usual fare.

Last Resort (2:42)

You wrote in the metadata that it was made for 30in30-4.

That's because it kinda was. It was kind of a failed attempt since I gave up after 40 minutes or so, really not feeling it, but I did set out to "speedmidi" this particular track. I'm meant to be doing one midi a day through all of January anyhow as my 30in30-4 thread indicates.

I dunno, I might edit it to say it's for this project instead if I decide to go and make further changes to the track, this one is definitely the more major one.

Time for some feedback. Here's what i came up with so far:
Mining For Paranoia