Criticism of Freedoom soundtrack

[JohnnyTheWolf]

As of 0.11, I do have to say I find the Freedoom soundtrack to be generally excellent and fitting.

Well, except for C1M2. I will be honest and I mean no disrespect to its composer, but it just does not feel right: it is not catchy, it does not help create atmosphere and it just sounds like bad elevator muzak.

[Voros]

One of things I love about Freedoom is its music. I keep my sfx volume at 25% and music at 100% solely because I love the music. Heck, on IRC I mentioned that I like Freedoom because of its music

Map05 has this tone of happyness and dread for me.
map09, because it rocks, literally.
Map10, words cannot describe how climatic this music is.
Map15, fast music+fast action=awesome experience
map16 I love this track too much.
Map17, badass music with badass action
Map20, slow paced track in a large blood map
Map21, very fitting if you ask me
Pretty much all of chapter 3, since it's made by one guy (consistency)

Let's face it, picklehammer and Blueworrior are my two favourite musicians of Freedoom.
I could go one forever, but I won't.
Only c1m2? Got a replacement for it right here, if you wish for it to be replaced.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

I have yet to beat Freedoom in its entirety, but yes, I only have a problem with C1M2M's music so far.

[Voros]

C1M2's music isn't so bad, although it's a bit repetitive. What do others think?

[Teivman]

Aww come on. you can't replace the music in c1m2. its almost iconic.

[grommile]

C1M2's music would work very well on a different map. I'm not sure what that map would be, though it would probably have a logic-defying layout and a surprising amount of monster-free space.

[Voros]

Do these midis sound like Doom clones to any of you by any chance?
Former map13 former map02

[Jewellds]

No, neither of those tracks sound like anything from Doom to me.

The one labeled "former map13" is already in use as C1M3.

[Benjogami]

MAP04 midi is obviously pulling heavily from one or more Muse songs. Perhaps it's in the spirit of Bobby Prince's soundtrack to do something like that, but I found it quite distracting. ;)

[Teivman]

Voros said:

Do these midis sound like Doom clones to any of you by any chance?
Former map13 former map02

The former map02 music should still be in freedoom.

[Voros]

Jewellds said:

The one labeled "former map13" is already in use as C1M3.

Ahh I see.

Well, several tracks were replaced because the midis tend to stop playing in Chocolate Doom. Strangely most the midis that suffer from this are the Dave 3D ones. C1M2 was replaced with one of KevinHEZ's tracks.

MrD!zone said:

The former map02 music should still be in freedoom.

It is now in map25.

[Catoptromancy]

Remember music should be tested on at least several ports.

[Voros]

Catoptromancy said:

Remember music should be tested on at least several ports.

Which I did. It's always Chocolate Doom that comes up with the biggest problems.

[Voros]

Benjogami said:

MAP04 midi is obviously pulling heavily from one or more Muse songs. Perhaps it's in the spirit of Bobby Prince's soundtrack to do something like that, but I found it quite distracting. ;)

That track is made by Mogul, and here's an interesting quote from the "music should be curated" thread:

Danfun64 said:

...
-MogulFreedoomMusic8 actually doesn't sound that bad...maybe it's because it sounds like a mix of the Christian worship song Strong God (compare the first 18 seconds of MogulFreedoomMusic8 with this.) and the Luigi's Mansion theme. Similarly, MogulFreedoomMusic10 sounds like a ripoff of the Green Hill Zone theme, and unlike MogulFreedoomMusic8, it's not even a good ripoff.
...

Map04's midi is MogulFreedoomMusic8 btw. Should we be worried? This track gives a nice feeling of horror, and that's not something I always find in midi. In fact, this track would fit perfectly in a Hell (or should I say Horizon, as depicted in the transition texts) level. The only downside of this track, for me, is the part around 3:00.

Is this track really a ripoff? If so, is it too far from the "original" enough to keep it under the BSD license? We know Duke Nukem 3D managed to compose a Mission Impossible theme without running into legal problems.

Edit: double post darn it.

[Teivman]

Voros said:

Ahh I see.

Well, several tracks were replaced because the midis tend to stop playing in Chocolate Doom. Strangely most the midis that suffer from this are the Dave 3D ones. C1M2 was replaced with one of KevinHEZ's tracks.

It is now in map25.

Ah. ok.

[raymoohawk]

if something could be mistaken for a ripoff it should be removed, even if it was done from scratch. for example if i made a sprite from scratch and everyone recognized it as a pinky demon then it should not be added to freedoom. the same should apply to music and sound

duke nukem and doom may have gotten away with doing homages and rip offs, but free and open content projects do not and should not get such a lax standard. remember we want people to be able to reuse our stuff without worrying about copyright shenanigans

[Voros]

Whhops

[Catoptromancy]

I hear this every loop on map04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQkxYlp1Pg

[Voros]

Point is, is really a ripoff or is it just a bad coincidence?

Worth noting, I'm listening to the midi on a different midi player (it lacks some instruments), and I noticed that an instrument or two weren't playing. And it sounds more pleasing without said instrument(s). The instrument might be Drums or Choir Aahs or both. I just know that without the instrument(s) it sounds more cohesive IMO.

[Voros]

Catoptromancy said:

I hear this every loop on map04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQkxYlp1Pg

There's a vague similarity here, but it doesn't sound like a ripoff to me.

[Catoptromancy]

I think of that song everytime it map04 music loops it. Its not copyrighted, but still.

[Voros]

I just listened to both videos, and I still don't know if it should be considered a ripoff. They are vaguely similar but not enough to be labelled "ripoff".

[Catoptromancy]

I know its not, but I will remember christmas music everytime on map04.

[Voros]

Doom suffers from the same kind of problem, with its ripoffs from various metal music. I never noticed because I don't listen to metal or any music in fact. At least that one can't actually be confirmed to be a legit ripoff or be in violation of Freedoom's license.

Let's keep it in. Although preferably for the hell maps say switching E3M9's music with map04's.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

So I have been playing some Phase II recently and I must say chapeau!

 

Whoever composed the soundtrack did an excellent job. Although many tracks remind more of Sonic, Mega Man, System Shock and even, in some cases, Saint Seiya than Doom, they are still quite catchy and pleasant to listen to. The only way to make them even better would be for Andrew Hulshult or another talented musician to do an arrangement of them.

Edited April 23, 2017 by JohnnyTheWolf

[Voros]

Various people composed various tracks. @AndrewB @Blueworrior @Velvetic scragadelic @Blastfrog @jute @Mogul just to name a few.

Mogul may come back to Freedoom.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Well, kudos to them all!

 

I usually do not like custom MIDI soundtracks in Doom mapsets, but some of the music in Freedoom as of build 11.2 is just... wow. I mean, there are still tracks that I find average, but right now, I am playing Phase 1's E2M3 and I am totally in love with its track. It may not be very Doomy, but between two fights I just like to stop and listen to it for a while.

Edited April 23, 2017 by JohnnyTheWolf

[uhbooh]

On 2/19/2017 at 9:24 PM, MrD!zone said:

Aww come on. you can't replace the music in c1m2. its almost iconic.

How is it iconic?

[axdoomer]

On 2/19/2017 at 9:24 PM, MrD!zone said:

Aww come on. you can't replace the music in c1m2. its almost iconic.

It's almost elevator music. 

[Varis Alpha]

i also contributed one track to this project. i don't know if anyone put it to use, though; i offered to put in some more tracks, but they got rejected on the grounds that they were originally composed for Doom, and not Freedoom.