I have recently had the chance to participate in something I’ve never done before: a musical collaboration on a single piece. Composer James Paddock approached me via a Direct Message on Discord and asked if I’d like to collaborate on a work for one of the user projects going on in the Doomworld forums. I agreed, and a day or two later Jimmy (as he’s known on the forums) sent me the first section of the song.

Boy, was I ever in over my head! Jimmy is a great composer, hands down.

Fortunately, I was able to find a few spots where I could insert a solo piano melody, with my line complimenting his work. I sent the MIDI file (we’re doing this for the Plutonia 3 user project, which needs MIDI files) back to him with my work. A few days later, I received another stellar installment. This time, we were able to discuss the project across the Discord chat application. We made some tweaks, especially to the tempo of the piece, and I then set about writing more melodic lines. Unfortunately, I had to stop halfway through for reasons I can’t go into here, but Jimmy carried on for me, even going so far as to incorporate some of my melodic ideas into his writing for the second half of the piece. He did a bang-up job on the end product, creating a fantastic work of music.

If you would like to hear it, it’s posted as “MISSION UNPOSSIBLE” on Jimmy’s YouTube channel. Please give it a listen when you get the chance!

A while back, I teased that I’d written three new songs over the past few weeks, and that you’d have to stay tuned to find out what they were for. Well, the song count is up to five, and I can now disclose the projects (yes, plural) that they’re for.

They’re for Doom user projects. (*GASP!*)

Yes, I’ve become involved in writing music – vanilla General MIDI files, to be specific – for a couple of Doom user projects over on Doomworld. It’s a departure from my Apogee/3D Realms-only history, but I figure there’s no harm in spreading out every now and then. Besides, it’s purely volunteer work, and I’m not violating any contracts or copyrights by doing it.

I was initially approached by user Cammy to volunteer for a “TNT: Evilution MIDI Pack” that he was spearheading. He convinced me, and I got to work. In the end, I wound up writing three songs for that pack.

Cammy further urged me to join the Doomworld community, which I did. There I learned of another MIDI project: the “Ultimate MIDI Pack – A community music replacement for the original Doom.” I jumped on that bandwagon, asking user and project leader northivanastan if I could write songs for levels E4M4 and E4M3, in that order. He gave his permission, and I completed both songs just recently.

The “TNT: Evilution MIDI Pack” won’t be released until June 17th of this year, so you’re going to have to wait a little while to hear the three songs I did for it. You can follow its progress if you join Doomworld and watch this thread.

The Ultimate MIDI Pack songs have already been released in increments, so you can log onto its thread and listen to my two contributions, “Vitamin B6” and “Ant Farm Melee,” at this link. Just download the latest .ZIP file release from the thread and look for the songs for E4M3 and E4M4.

Keep in mind that these are plain General MIDI files, and will only sound as good as the General MIDI device you have on which to play them back. I’ve tried to optimize them for the bog standard Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, but I wrote them using the Mighty Roland SC-88Pro. I hope you have a good GM synth for purposes of playback.

Thanks for listening!