DOOM's music remastered in OPL3

[bertrandguegan]

On 3/26/2022 at 6:56 PM, zokum said:

I think doom’s sound lib, dmx, supports some opl3 features, bit not all. There Are some bugs and weirdness in the implementation. There is a project making a new instrument set that details this a bit better. The current set is a generic 128 gm set, not made for doom. It plays any midi you throw at it reasonably ok. This makes sense since they probably used other instruments in doom 2, and in differensiert ways. Pwad support is also important.

 

I was afraid that it might be the case. I mainly use OPL3 features (4 ops, pseudo 4ops 2x2,...) to create the instruments. What project are you talking about? That sounds interesting.

[bertrandguegan]

work in progress for E2M2 "The Demons from Adrian's Pen"

This is a spooky one !

 

 

[Hisymak]

34 minutes ago, bertrandguegan said:

I was afraid that it might be the case. I mainly use OPL3 features (4 ops, pseudo 4ops 2x2,...) to create the instruments.

Just a note, GENMIDI does not support true OPL3 4-operator voices, but only two OPL2 voices playing simultaneously for a single instrument. A big bonus here is detuning of the secondary voice, which may create really great sounds, and that is a big improvement over common music libraries supporting only single-OPL2-voice per instrument already.

I was once playing around with 4-operator voices, but could not come up with anything interesting. But combining two different voices, or even the secondary voice having same values as the primary and using detuning gave me pretty good results I used in my GENMIDI.

You can still use new OPL3 waveforms in GENMIDI.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Hisymak

[bertrandguegan]

10 hours ago, Hisymak said:

Just a note, GENMIDI does not support true OPL3 4-operator voices, but only two OPL2 voices playing simultaneously for a single instrument. A big bonus here is detuning of the secondary voice, which may create really great sounds, and that is a big improvement over common music libraries supporting only single-OPL2-voice per instrument already.

I was once playing around with 4-operator voices, but could not come up with anything interesting. But combining two different voices, or even the secondary voice having same values as the primary and using detuning gave me pretty good results I used in my GENMIDI.

You can still use new OPL3 waveforms in GENMIDI.

Ok ! That's a good thing that GENMIDI supports 2x2 op (I use detuning a lot too ;) but... I absolutely need the 4OP function (for kick, snare, electric guitars, bass, pads&synths...almost everything)

 

So far I used no less than 40 different instruments in 4-op mode. It's about 2/3 of all the instruments I created for this soundtrack xD

[zokum]

You should check out the genmidi replacement instruments, and you could also supply your instruments to the replacement project if they're sufficiently different and reasonably good sounding. There's a chance some of them might be improvements.

[bertrandguegan]

2 hours ago, zokum said:

You should check out the genmidi replacement instruments, and you could also supply your instruments to the replacement project if they're sufficiently different and reasonably good sounding. There's a chance some of them might be improvements.

I still have a bunch of 2x2 ops that should fit well in GENMIDI ;) That being said, there would be no guarantee that it would sound better. The instruments I created where meant to be played together as a whole, for each track. Even if sometimes I'm using the same instrument for different tracks, there is always individual adjustments (so they could fit better in the global "mix")

Are you talking about the DMXOPL project? So far I've only heard about DMXOPL and Hisymak's project.

 

[bertrandguegan]

"They're Going To Get You" (E2M4), another spooky track. 

 

I like the "electric noise" effect here.

 

 

 

[Gibbon]

Are these going to be larger sizes?  Like KB's or MB's?  Just wondering :)

 

So far they sound amazing!

Edited March 29, 2022 by Gibbon

[ImproversGaming]

Hey,

There seems to be a lot of background hissing on the OPL3 remastered version (clearest before the actual track kicks in). Just thought I would mention. Only noticed on the most recent update (E2M4). 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[bertrandguegan]

6 hours ago, Gibbon said:

Are these going to be larger sizes?  Like KB's or MB's?  Just wondering :)

 

So far they sound amazing!

Thank you !! :) 

 

First released will be an OGG pack so I would say something around 3-5 Mb for a track. 

[bertrandguegan]

6 hours ago, ImproversGaming said:

Hey,

There seems to be a lot of background hissing on the OPL3 remastered version (clearest before the actual track kicks in). Just thought I would mention. Only noticed on the most recent update (E2M4). 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

You're right, but that is completely intentional :D 

 

Does it sound weird to you? This background hissing is also an original feature (but ok I mixed it louder) 

[ImproversGaming]

Wow, I am the wrong person to ask. I know very little about music and am tone-deaf, but it sounds quite different to the original. You obviously know better than me so please ignore this if it is not useful. I am not sure how to describe it but:

Original: background sounds sharp (and rings/hums)

Remastered: background sounds are not so sharp (more broadband) and more static/white noisey

 

I think the background in the remastered one grates a little and feels like white noise. However, I could be way off - stick to your judgement. Maybe I noticed it because of the change from OPL2 to OPL3, where there is a patch of just the background where it feels particularly strong. 

 

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

There is some hiss in the OPL2 version, although I don't think it's intentional; it's just a side effect of the FM synthesis. The instrument used in that track is Tremolo Strings; it should sound like a soft violin.

 

I do like the interpretation of the OPL sound representing background noise from the computers in the level rather than an instrument, however.

[bertrandguegan]

1 hour ago, ImproversGaming said:

Wow, I am the wrong person to ask. I know very little about music and am tone-deaf, but it sounds quite different to the original. You obviously know better than me so please ignore this if it is not useful. I am not sure how to describe it but:

Original: background sounds sharp (and rings/hums)

Remastered: background sounds are not so sharp (more broadband) and more static/white noisey

 

I think the background in the remastered one grates a little and feels like white noise. However, I could be way off - stick to your judgement. Maybe I noticed it because of the change from OPL2 to OPL3, where there is a patch of just the background where it feels particularly strong. 

 

 

I'm taking any feedback into account and I value your opinions :) 

You're right, the difference is quite noticeable, but it sounds better playing the track from the start (there is a long fade-in) ;)

[bertrandguegan]

1 hour ago, ImproversGaming said:

Wow, I am the wrong person to ask. I know very little about music and am tone-deaf, but it sounds quite different to the original. You obviously know better than me so please ignore this if it is not useful. I am not sure how to describe it but:

Original: background sounds sharp (and rings/hums)

Remastered: background sounds are not so sharp (more broadband) and more static/white noisey

 

I think the background in the remastered one grates a little and feels like white noise. However, I could be way off - stick to your judgement. Maybe I noticed it because of the change from OPL2 to OPL3, where there is a patch of just the background where it feels particularly strong. 

 

 

I'm taking any feedback into account and I value your opinions :) 

You're right, the difference is quite noticeable, but it sounds better playing the track from the start (there is a long fade-in) ;)

 

29 minutes ago, TheUltimateDoomer666 said:

There is some hiss in the OPL2 version, although I don't think it's intentional; it's just a side effect of the FM synthesis. The instrument used in that track is Tremolo Strings; it should sound like a soft violin.

 

I do like the interpretation of the OPL sound representing background noise from the computers in the level rather than an instrument, however.

 

That's really interesting ! I honestly interpreted that hissing as intentional :) But what you said make sense as Doom's music was composed using a Roland unit. I'm quite happy with that sound, it took me some time tweaking the OPL3 to obtain that noise ^^

[bertrandguegan]

9 tracks left ! Full pack should be released soon :) 

 

 

[bertrandguegan]

"Waltz of the Demons" -> E2M7

I haven't checked yet, but I think this is the only DOOM's track with a 3/4 time signature

 

 

[bertrandguegan]

I have some great news : I just finished all the tracks.

 

Now, I just have to turn them into loops and I'm done :)

 

Full pack should be released at the end of the week.

 

Before that, here's a complete version of E3M1 "Hell Keep". Enjoy !

 

Thanks everyone for your support.

 

 

[kwc]

Congrats dude! These sound great.

[ImproversGaming]

Brilliant, looking forward to this! Thanks for all the updates along the way.

Have you finalised your thoughts for your next project? Sorry, just interested as this has been fun to follow.

[Okej5722]

Oh, these are excellent! Especially since I've always preferred the OPL versions of the midis.

[bertrandguegan]

Voilà ! It's done ! 

 

Thank you again everyone for your support, it helped a lot :) 

 

Link for dl the full soundtrack is in the description.

 

I also made seamless loops versions for in-game use ;) 

 

 

[bertrandguegan]

On 4/14/2022 at 9:25 PM, ImproversGaming said:

Brilliant, looking forward to this! Thanks for all the updates along the way.

Have you finalised your thoughts for your next project? Sorry, just interested as this has been fun to follow.

 

Hehe, maybe, I should talk about it soon ;)

[Alex S.]

On 3/26/2022 at 1:56 PM, zokum said:

I think doom’s sound lib, dmx, supports some opl3 features, bit not all. There Are some bugs and weirdness in the implementation. There is a project making a new instrument set that details this a bit better. The current set is a generic 128 gm set, not made for doom. It plays any midi you throw at it reasonably ok. This makes sense since they probably used other instruments in doom 2, and in differensiert ways. Pwad support is also important.

 

 

Correct but let me expand:

 

The DMX sound library initially did not support OPL3 synthesis, at least when Paul Radek of Digital Expressions shipped his first version used in Raptor: Call of the Shadows...

 

However... over time, as the library was updated and changed, newer versions found in Id Tech, starting at engine release version 1.2, supported OPL3 music and phase-shift stereo surround. The DMXOPL lump found in Doom, Heretic, Hexen and Strife contains the patch maps and programs to generate the FM synth sounds. The engine "telling" the library to use OPL3 depended on a few things. First, the engine config file would need to be set up to expect a Sound Blaster 16, or Pro Audio Spectrum card. Next, the user's rig must have one of these cards installed and using the newest drivers and not use an IRQ over 7. Lastly, there should be an environment variable in DOS set up like: DMXOPTION=-opl3 -phase. If these conditions are met, then boom, you have OPL3 music.

[Alex S.]

Hey man, I just hit up your YT channel and got the files downloaded. You did a bang-up kick-ass füçking amazing job, dude! SO glad to have your remasters as part of my ever-growing collection o' Doom stuffs!

Edited April 16, 2022 by Alex S.

[bertrandguegan]

On 4/17/2022 at 1:00 AM, Alex S. said:

Hey man, I just hit up your YT channel and got the files downloaded. You did a bang-up kick-ass füçking amazing job, dude! SO glad to have your remasters as part of my ever-growing collection o' Doom stuffs!

 

Thank you very much Alex ! It means a lot to me ! 

 

There was a LOT of work involved... But it was worth it (I hope so ;) )

 

[Alex S.]

4 hours ago, bertrandguegan said:

 

But it was worth it (I hope so ;) )

 

No hoping involved. Your remasters are amazing dude.

[bertrandguegan]

On 4/19/2022 at 12:37 AM, Alex S. said:

No hoping involved. Your remasters are amazing dude.

 

Thank you!!

 

I shouldn't be able to work on it before next september but I'm thinking about doing the same with DOOM II ;)

   

[Alex S.]

1 hour ago, bertrandguegan said:

 

Thank you!!

 

I shouldn't be able to work on it before next september but I'm thinking about doing the same with DOOM II ;)

   

I think a lot of us would enjoy listening if you did decide to do that. After Doom II, however, I would vote on Hexen; That game has a highly-underrated score.

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

I listened to the finished pack. I noticed Sign of Evil (E1M8) is missing the drums. Was this intentional? Also, the OGG versions need to be re-rendered because they sound...weird. Listen to Dark Halls (E1M3) for example. The notes are all wonky. In fact, there are several oddities throughout the OGGs. There's a noise at the start of E1M8 and several other tracks, and the OGG for E2M1 sounds horrible.

 

As for my opinions on the pack, I like that many instruments make use of stereo effects and are made to sound much more aggressive. The drums also benefit from OPL3's features by sounding heavier. However, there are just a few parts where I prefer the OPL2 sound due to personal preference. I think the guitar vibratos in E1M1 sound better in the original version; the sustained notes have quite a nice effect to them. In the OPL3 version, the sustained notes sort of just fade out slightly; they don't really sound like vibratos. Also, I think the guitar in the OPL3 version of E1M8 sounds more like a violin as it lacks the sharp attack from the original version. Some may find the slower attack makes the lead in the OPL3 version less grating, though.