What music style fits doom the better?

[Cutman 999]

Since the original iwads had music in the style of 80's and 90's metal, and most midis i heard from custom megawads seems to be farther than this style, what are your opinions on this topic?

[OniriA]

More of this preferably. 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by OniriA

[DankMetal]

I think that any kind of music that makes you feel tense, badass, melancholy or pure fear could fit with doom. I would love to hear more gothic /deathrock inspired midis in the style of horror vacui or sisters of mercy tho.

Something like this would be epic on a more dark, grimdark kinda pwad:

 

[Async Unicorn]

Dark Ambient and Metal (which is already inspiration for the soundtrack).
Maybe some gothic stuff.
It all goes to dark music though.
 

[OceanMadman]

With the right map, pretty much anything. Even stuff like classical music. 

 

Though I have to admit the 80s/90s hard Rock stuff doesn't appeal much to me

 

[aRottenKomquat]

I like the Doom 1 rock/metal tracks the best. Anything else just sounds wrong to me.

[MFG38]

Depends on the map.

[Cutman 999]

8 hours ago, DankMetal said:

I think that any kind of music that makes you feel tense, badass, melancholy or pure fear could fit with doom. I would love to hear more gothic /deathrock inspired midis in the style of horror vacui or sisters of mercy tho.

Something like this would be epic on a more dark, grimdark kinda pwad:

 

Good song btw

[tornado potato]

There's this general impression that the original Doom soundtrack consists mostly on metal tracks, but as early as in e1m2 we have a song that is not fast paced rock, it's more on the moody side. And then e1m3 is full on dark ambient, with electronic bass and creepy synths. So yeah I'd say the original music is equal parts dark ambient and metal/rock. What I've noticed is that wads tend to use tracks which fall outside of these two variants: upbeat electronic, fast paced with synth leads. This kind of style IMO is not that fitting for Doom (I mean in general at least. Of course depending on the style of the wad, it may fit perfectly if that's the intended atmosphere)

[Biz!]

Lovin' the doom 2 ost

[SupremeBioVizier]

Imps song, victory and Daisy's song are the only ones from the old days that mean a lot to me, only ones I'd put in my maps...I was just thinking what else would go well...not a clue, some original DOOM soundtrack covers on yt are magnificent takes.

[Murdoch]

Mostly polka and waltzes.

 

Nah, rock and metal for most levels. Something driving with a melody that's catchy but not too invasive that it gets in the way. Slower, more ambient stuff for suitably designed maps that are more about atmosphere than frantic combat.

[Maribo]

Doom's low fidelity (in comparison to modern games), the way the art style looks, and the kind of maps that some people have evolved to make lend themselves incredibly well to music that lies far from the IWAD music style: Things that sound dream-like, ethereal, tearjerking. I honestly much prefer music in this vein to the rock & metal-inspired Doom.

For consideration: The Mucus Flow, NAP , SubTerra Remix, Up, Epiphanies of the Lonely.

[Noiser]

 

[aboyes1989]

I prefer the dark ambient soundscapes that Aubrey Hodges created, much as I do Trent Reznor's Quake soundtrack.

 

However, I do remember, as a kid I had the Bon Jovi 'Someday I'll Be Saturday Night/Good Guys don't Always Wear White' single and I used to blast that on repeat through media player whilst playing Doom 2.

[AbeAwesome]

I'll be blasphemous here, but since DOOM is a video game, I personally think silence (as in the absence of music) fits it best.

I mute the music in 99% of games I play I play; instead I listen to audio-books (or talk radio back in the 90s and early 2000s).

 

That said, I do usually leave the music in DOOM/II on because it's so catchy, but I'd rather it wasn't there to tempt me.

In this way, classic DOOM is one of a very select group of games that I play with music; and I always play WADs with music the first time because I want to experience the authorial intent.

[Turbulent]

On 8/17/2023 at 7:53 AM, MFG38 said:

Depends on the map.

I agree. By the way I just used your track Mephisto’s Lament. Killer stuff.

[MFG38]

1 hour ago, Turbulent said:

By the way I just used your track Mephisto’s Lament. Killer stuff.

 

Thanks! Warms my heart knowing that my MIDIs are finding good use. c:

[OceanMadman]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:15 PM, AbeAwesome said:

I'll be blasphemous here, but since DOOM is a video game, I personally think silence (as in the absence of music) fits it best.

I mute the music in 99% of games I play I play; instead I listen to audio-books (or talk radio back in the 90s and early 2000s).

 

That said, I do usually leave the music in DOOM/II on because it's so catchy, but I'd rather it wasn't there to tempt me.

In this way, classic DOOM is one of a very select group of games that I play with music; and I always play WADs with music the first time because I want to experience the authorial intent.

Even if it's an interesting take, personally I think music in games is very important. They can create atmosphere, and make the player feel as the developer wants them to feel. 

[AbeAwesome]

7 hours ago, OceanMadman said:

Even if it's an interesting take, personally I think music in games is very important. They can create atmosphere, and make the player feel as the developer wants them to feel. 

 

True, music is a great tool for emotionally manipulating your audience. You make a very good anti-music argument.

[OceanMadman]

18 minutes ago, AbeAwesome said:

 

True, music is a great tool for emotionally manipulating your audience. You make a very good anti-music argument.

If their attemps of manipulation only succeed on creating atmosphere and making the game more immersive, perhaps they should try better :P. If you don't want to be "manipulated" by them, maybe the best thing to do it's to not enter the world they created at all.

 

Music is like the soul of media. They can add flavour and a new level of artistry to a movie, a game, a show or whatever. Without music it would all feel more empty. Imagine a horror film with no creepy music, fantasy films with no beautiful compositions, or a doom wad with no energetic, melancholic, dream-like, or whatever midi that would fit in the map

[openroadracer]

For DooM, I honestly prefer hard and fast. I lean more into the "DooM is a fast-paced power fantasy" camp, so it needs something that keeps you rolling, keeps you pumped up.

I like to lean heavy on the electric guitar riffs, seeing stuff like the F-Zero X soundtrack as most appropriate. It needs to be fast, it needs to be powerful, and it needs to go hard with the guitars.

[xScavengerWolfx]

Well depends on what you want.

 

For me if it Doom 1 and 2 i want something that makes me rage and throw hands with demons i.e like metal and hard rock of the 80's 90's and the early to mid 00's. Now if you want something more in the style of quake 1 with haunting corridors, monsters hiding in the shadows, mysteries of what the place is, i would go for like industrial / dark synthwave for my doom games. I'm a sucker for more dark and moody style of music when playing WADs, sure i like the sound of white knuckle fast paste thunder pounding midis but that kinda kills the vibe for me unless it's going to be a slaughter fest then i'm ok with it, i like the more dark, moody, feeling dread, and fearing what is going to be behind the next door kind of music. 

 

Like i'll give an example from one of my maps from my ultimate doom wad Abandon: Shadows of darkness (no this is not a shameless plug in to promote my wad, this is an example i am giving). In my ultimate doom wad i am doing there is a map in episode 1 called Torn, now this map is very short and sweet (will be getting an remake in the future) i made it dark, moody and kinda unsettling, i needed the right midi for it. I've tried fast paste, white knuckle midis, nope made the map feel like trash with that, i tried a more clamming relax midi...nope kinda made me get bored with the map. I finally tried a moody midi with a piano in it.......oh man did i strike gold. The midi i used was from Ofisil's Ultimate Doom Wad: Doom: Damnation, and the midi is called Communion. This midi right here made that map more moody and dreadful in a good way, i love playing that just to listen to the midi while i explore a small tiny map i made.

 

Overall what i'm getting at is this, we have different taste in music, we have different thoughts on what kind of midis do and don't work for doom but overall for me at least i like the more dreadfilling, doom and gloom midis that make me fear the maps and fear the spooky monsters that are hiding in the shadows of a run down facility.

[BGreener]

On 8/16/2023 at 9:53 PM, Cutman 999 said:

Since the original iwads had music in the style of 80's and 90's metal, and most midis i heard from custom megawads seems to be farther than this style, what are your opinions on this topic?

 

I feel the original Doom soundtrack by itself showcases how well a variety of styles can suit the gameplay.

 

We all know how Knee Deep starts out, but it's also incredibly fitting with how it ends. The second episode can get so quiet that you might even think there's no music playing. If your PC back then didn't have the hardware, you may have been able play with PC speaker sound effects: No music, just the sound of monsters and fighting, resulting in another fitting tone and mood.

[KubaloBlackMT]

"Opening to Hell" is one of the tracks that to me sounds much scarier with the midi instruments than if it were orchestrated with live instruments.

[Cutman 999]

1 hour ago, xScavengerWolfx said:

i would go for like industrial / dark synthwave for my doom games.

That would be really cool. The only wad i know tried synthwave is violence, darksynth like the stuff you find in indie games like Hotline Miami and Furi could fit really well combat centric maps.

[xScavengerWolfx]

1 hour ago, Cutman 999 said:

That would be really cool. The only wad i know tried synthwave is violence, darksynth like the stuff you find in indie games like Hotline Miami and Furi could fit really well combat centric maps.

True, i mean Hotline Miami has some really good tracks

[Mystic 256]

Doom to me has a 80s/90s Sci-Fi Fantasy Action Vibe

 

probably a mix of Speed/Thrash/Power Metal and Electronic/Techno

 

 

 

[Chookum]

I lean hard into Doom's arcade influences and draw a lot of music from arcade and console games into my maps.

Apparently during the 90s, Capcom did some research into what sounds carry the best in an arcade (mindful that they're competing against dozens of other machines and even themselves), and they figured out it was strong drums, and strong basslines that carry furthest.

 

Granted, the music for a map is dependent on what mood you want to convey.

[0x00]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9oQeW7owoI&pp=ygUPZGogdHJhY2Ugc25pcGVy

need more WADs with jungle/drum n bass, especially tracks like this. the harsh and dark sounds/atmospheres + the energy i think would be a great fit for DOOM.