What are some WADs that deserve a new MIDI Pack?

In light of the fact that Alien Vendetta has a brand new MIDI pack and there's also a TNT and Plutonia MIDI Pack, .MID the Way id Did, and a Revolution! MIDI Pack, it'd be cool to see if there are any WADs that could get a MIDI makeover.

I personally think that Scythe 1 could get some new MIDIs. What are some famous WADs you think could a makeover as well?

Hell Revealed.

Scythe 1 is a clear choice, most megawads tended to have custom music even back in the day, so midi packs aren't as useful, even if the soundtrack isn't bespoke, the tracks aren't going to fit as well as the tracks picked.  As well as most of the wads that didn't not aging well.  Scythe 1 is the only exception.

2 hours ago, HavoX said:

Hell Revealed.

Would be nice.

2 hours ago, HavoX said:

Hell Revealed.

If I can get it together...I would like to try that.

3 hours ago, HavoX said:

Hell Revealed.

I don't think Hell Revealed needs a full midi makeover. It's famous for its ROTT soundtrack to the point where those tracks are as synonymous with HR nowadays as they are with the original Rise of the Triad. Maybe some replacement tracks for the later levels, though, as a lot of them just default to their original Doom 2 midis.

This is a question I've been pondering myself in the last couple weeks. For the record, I don't have any more MIDI Packs planned for the immediate future - starting a new one won't make my plate any clearer, and no wads immediately leap out to me as candidates I would love to arrange a team to score for like TNT and AV did. To be frank, I don't believe the future is going to be quite as rich in MIDI-Packery as the past year has been, mostly thanks to all the IWADs/official releases being taken care of now.

As for the criteria to be MIDI pack-able, it's sort of a complicated issue if you ask me; it's not just a matter of "were MIDIs written specifically for this wad Y/N". It would be criminal, for instance, to do MIDI packs for wads like Valiant, Sunlust, or Scythe 2, which mostly pull their soundtracks from a huge variety of unique sources and fit their maps superbly. I would be much more inclined to see MIDI packs for wads that either have no custom music at all, or near-exclusively pull from exhausted resources like the IWADs, Hexen, Duke 3D, etc. - that's all good music of course, but nothing we haven't heard before at this point, and I think we can agree that most levels which reuse those tracks would be made more interesting by having something new. TNT and AV were very much in that camp in my opinion, and both had such strong legacies that in a way it felt wrong to me that they didn't have more original music under their names. Now that they're both done, I'm not so sure where to go next!

I know this runs counter to what I've done so far, but for future MIDI packs, I'd like to encourage people to start looking a bit deeper and choosing wads from off the beaten path. Music is a very powerful tool for establishing the mood and personality of the level in which it plays. If you produce a good MIDI pack for a wad most people haven't played, you're not just giving people the opportunity to experience something new, but to have them experience a more distinct and memorable version of it. Look for neat wads with no music that flew under the radar, and start composing - you'll give it an opportunity to shine again!

1 hour ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

Heck, Team TNT has like four dm wads with nothing other than an intermission track. Plenty of stuff you could do there.

I've actually thought about this, too! I've noticed a startling lack of multiplayer wads that have their own tracks, probably just because it's inherently more niche than singleplayer - but maybe that's just more reason to write some new tracks for these wads so more folks will check them out.

I think Alien Vendetta rounds out the obvious suspects, alongside the projects that are still in progress, although I can still see small collaborations being done to replace the soundtracks of lesser known WADs.

One thing I'd like to see more of, as opposed to MIDI packs, is MIDI concept albums / 30+ minute epics. Something that is made to be listened to outside of the game, does interesting things with the format, and has some ideas to tie it together.

Also, with how much MIDI the community has produced, and how many composers are now active, mappers now have little excuse not to include community music in their WADs. So I hope this makes for much more fitting and interesting music choices for the WADs that do reuse music.

Scythe has yet to be done. I think scythe is in need of a midi pack.

aside from my half dozen album drafts i have of music i've made for Doom projects, i've also been working on a MIDI album that isn't tied to any Doom project. it's about half a dozen songs finished, with just as many ideas remaining. i don't know when i'll finish that album though, since i still have to release the Doom stuff first.

Kama Sutra

Scythe

Scythe 2

Deathless

Twzone

If Hell Revealed, the songs need to be ROTT-like in style, fast, catchy and full of energy.

HR doesn't need a new soundtrack, the ROTT music is so ingrained into the WAD that it's inseparable to me. 

Nathan Lineback's Marswar PWAD should have it's own MIDI pack, replacing those MIDI conversions of 90s tracker songs.

I think Doom Zero could use a MIDI pack to do away with all the Doom II MIDIs.

I don't think Hell Revealed really needs one. Scythe 1 would be better candidate.

I'd like to see the reverse midi pack. Start putting ROTT, Hexen, and Standard Doom MIDIs on BTSX.

What about more recent projects like the 1K Lines Community Projects Trilogy? It has some bespoke tracks in it, but it mainly also borrows midis from other midi packs like Revolution! or The Rebirth.

HR does not need a midi pack, it has a lot of custom songs, scythe is full of vanilla doom songs, therefore it is the one that most deserves to have a midi pack IMO.

The first Scythe would be awesome, IMO

I still think Obituary is deserving, it's a 1995 classic using only stock music, and the predecessor of projects (memento mori, requiem) that had all custom soundtracks.

not Hell Revealed, and definitely not Going Down which was a popular suggestion last time we had a thread like this iirc. Out of the big names that are left, I could see a pack for Scythe 1. Maybe D2TWID too.

16 hours ago, Cammy said:

I would be much more inclined to see MIDI packs for wads that either have no custom music at all

 

I'd like to encourage people to start looking a bit deeper and choosing wads from off the beaten path. Music is a very powerful tool for establishing the mood and personality of the level in which it plays. If you produce a good MIDI pack for a wad most people haven't played, you're not just giving people the opportunity to experience something new, but to have them experience a more distinct and memorable version of it. Look for neat wads with no music that flew under the radar, and start composing - you'll give it an opportunity to shine again!

Nothing will ever fit these criteria better than Cleimos II. 

6 hours ago, Jimmy said:

All those saying Hell Revealed...

 

NO.

I totally agree. It's soundtrack is iconic and shouldn't be changed. People associate so many maps with so many songs from RoTT that it wouldn't work without them.

And you know what, I think Scythe shouldn't get one either. All the Doom 1 music was used because Alm was making Knee Deep style maps, I think the music serves it's purpose to reinforce the feeling Alm was trying to convey. Scythe 2 would be even more of a crime . . . . 

1 minute ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

And you know what, I think Scythe shouldn't get one either. All the Doom 1 music was used because Alm was making Knee Deep style maps, I think the music serves it's purpose to reinforce the feeling Alm was trying to convey. Scythe 2 would be even more of a crime . . . . 

I think I only disagree, because if it was just e1 music I would agree but because of the mixture of other music makes me think that the wad would do better with a new soundtrack because of the vanilla midis.  Midi packs are designed to give the wad a different feeling and I think that Scythe could benefit if only because of how prominent it's lack of original midis.  Scythe 2 doesn't need a midi pack.

1 hour ago, A.H. Sankhatayan said:

Nothing will ever fit these criteria better than Cleimos II. 

Noted.

5 hours ago, Tristan said:

not Hell Revealed, and definitely not Going Down which was a popular suggestion last time we had a thread like this iirc. Out of the big names that are left, I could see a pack for Scythe 1. Maybe D2TWID too.

 

D2TWID would be a great shout in my opinion. It would be interesting whether it would be a freestyle project or one that tries to emulate the style and sound of Bobby Prince.

1 minute ago, cannonball said:

D2TWID would be a great shout in my opinion. It would be interesting whether it would be a freestyle project or one that tries to emulate the style and sound of Bobby Prince.

That’s kind of what MIDtwiD is, no?