JDoyle

Not mine, I think that's JD Herrera's remix from TNT:E midi pack.

I think my very favorite GM patch is 52: Synth Strings 2 on the Sound Canvas. It reminds me a bit of an ARP Solina with a phaser, and can sound very sinister. Other favorites are the marimba, kalimba and dulcimer. I love patch 88: Bass+Lead for basses but it doesn't always translate well to other soundsets.

I have only 1 (well, technically 2) other tracks that I know for certain were composed by Charles Li, one is a midi titled "Trippin' in a Groove Hole" The other is a song that he and I collaborated on titled "The Beginning" which I'm frankly too embarrassed to let escape into the wild of the internet. It's possible he also did Map23, but to me that track has the signature Jon El-Bizri minimalism which I don't hear in Charles' known work. Something that has been mentioned which I never considered is the possibility that Charles wrote Icarus's intermission music. It fits his sort of jazzy / funky style and is clearly not quantized, which we can see from his other songs. I wish I could get back in touch with Jon El-Bizri or Brian Kidby to finally put these mysteries to rest!

Oh that's a neat bit of trivia, I had no idea. I always used to boot to DOS to play Doom! But yeah, TNT had finished Evilution by late 1995, so it wasn't an option when the music was being written.

There was no Windows default midi sounds back then. Most people used whatever midi came built into their sound card ie: Soundblaster OPL or if you were extra fancy Gravis Ultrasound or Soundblaster AWE32. So there really was no standard for TNTs music. I believe the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth wasnt included till Windows 98 or XP.

I don't know if this is the kind of info you're looking for, but I believe most of us early "OG" guys were already composing midi music before the Doom community discovered us. You have to remember back in the "olden days" of the internet, there were no MP3s or sites to distribute digital audio music like Bandcamp or SoundCloud, so midi was pretty much the only way to get your music "out there" for people to listen to, other than physically mailing out copies of CDs. All of my early midis were uploaded to the AOL music and sound forum, and it was through there that a few random Doom2 mappers found some of my midis and asked permission to use them. Or in the case of the Dwango wads, didn't ask and I found out 24 years later hah! Around the same time (probably early1995), I had a good friend who introduced me to Doom and was getting into modding and mapping, and asked me to write music specifically for his levels, and that led to me joining Team TNT and working on Icarus. Anyway, most of the time, it was mappers contacting me through email asking to contribute to projects, most of which I turned down like an idiot (MM2, GothicDM) because I didn't have enough material at the time. Sorry for rambling, but if interested there's a great interview with Tolwyn and Klem by Matt Tropiano and Jimmy, that details their journey into writing music for Doom in the early days as well. http://doomradio.org/podcast/interview-with-tolwyn-and-mark-klem/

Hi, you may use my midi. The original file is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79YBwbj0yrTNTlIeG55WWhqNkk/view?usp=share_link&resourcekey=0-1En_vXhpkvxXDr3x-Bk_SQ

Are you remixing MAP31 from the original PG? I only have a version ripped from the wad with Slade. Or are you remixing MAP31 from this project, my midi "Cold"?

I seem to recall the the midis from Descent used SYSEX messages to detune specific drums on channel 10, such as pitching up or down the snare. I have a memory of ripping the midis from the game and examining them, trying to figure out all their tricks :) I don't know if those were Sound Canvas-specific SYSEX messages?

Not sure I understand the need to throw shade here, @Bucket. Is it because my midis bumped others off the originally planned soundtrack? How are my midis less "TNT-like" than Varis Alpha or Tristan's?

Stalker - by Simon Juncal and Dave Smukal Like a lot of people in the mid-90's my first foray onto the Internet was through America Online. In the Spring of 1995 I started visiting AOL's "Music and Sound" forum, where users could upload and download MIDI music from other members. It was there that I discovered a lot of really talented composers, one of whom was Simon Juncal. I seem to remember he and Dave Smukal uploading new MIDIs quite frequently and I really enjoyed their work. Unfortunately "Stalker" is the only one I kept a copy of, though I wish I'd kept them all! I corresponded briefly with Simon about possibly collaborating on a track, but it never happened. I do remember he mentioned he was using a Roland SCC-1 to compose. We also talked about writing music for video games, but he was focused on wanting to work on Quake and I don't believe he ever wrote MIDIs for Doom, though his MIDIs would have fit right in. He had a website for a while, but I can't find any info about him or his MIDIs anywhere on the Internet. Trippin' in a Groove Hole - by Charles Li Another MIDI found in the AOL "Music and Sound" forum, I don't remember if I'd heard any other MIDIs from Charles Li, but I really love this one. It's sort of funky prog-rock. I corresponded with Charles over email and we collaborated on a track together, which honestly didn't age very well. Around the same time, I had joined TeamTNT and started working on the music for Icarus: Alien Vanguard and I asked Charles if he wanted to contribute as well, which led to his two tracks being included. I lost contact with Charles after folks started moving away from AOL toward independent ISPs in the late 90's.

I love what you're trying to do here. I wonder if you'd be open to submissions? I have a few old MIDI files from the mid-90's that I feel should be documented somewhere on the internet, in some way.

Yes, it was a real challenge not to have massive voice-robbing on some of the tracks. If it's particularly bad on your track, message me and I can re-record it! I have the SC-55 and a Roland keyboard with the SC-55 soundset hooked up, so I can split the MIDI channels between them and get 56 voices going at once.

Hi Everyone! Congrats on another excellent MIDI pack release, the amount of talent represented in these packs is absolutely breathtaking! I've just finished recording everything through my SC-55 and uploaded the results to YouTube. Hope you enjoy!

Absolutely, go for it! I'm thrilled anytime someone wants to use my music.