Heretic music pack?

[Kresjah]

To be honest, I know that this thread isn't 100% jHeretic related, but there are several reasons why I'm posting this here. Anywas the post is as follows.

Some time ago, I had an attempt of refining "the Docks" track (E1M1) for Heretic. After some work with the track in Reason and having some problems with mapping some of the instruments correctly, I laid it to rest.

Then earlier today, I got that urge again to do some MIDI remake work again, so I thought I'd have another go at some Hexen music. I listened through the MIDIs and found that "the River of Fire" seemed like an ok track to work on with the mood I was in. So I opened up Reason once again, imported the MIDI file and started working on it.

I attempted to keep the track as true to the original as possible, yet with enough changes to make it seems like it was recorded with real instruments and in a real environment. Therefore, I kept the original layout and mapped the midi tracks to instruments that sounded fairly equivalent to the original. The only changes from the original track are the following:

* Reverbing
* Instruments that sound more real than the original, but at the same time resembles the ones in the original track fairly well (I think at least)
* EQing and some compression
* Some small volume changes in the instruments

Some of you will understand that, some of you won't. No matter, I'm sitting with the current thought: "Should I make an attempt at a full remake pack of the Heretic soundtrack?". In that case, I will make it including DEDs so that you will be able to include it in jHeretic (and that's one of the reasons I'm posting it in this forum, because it will be made with jHeretic mainly in mind).

Anyways, I want feedback from the people here. Seeing as this forum is not just a general forum, but a forum for Heretic players, I'm posting it here, rather than elsewhere, where I can find people who knows how the Heretic environment is and who can tell me if I'm able to capture it fairly good or not. So, tell me what you think people... What do you think of this track ("The River of Fire", link below)? Does it capture the feel good enough? How does it sound compared to the original MIDI files (also supplied as link below)? Do you think I should try to make a full pack, or do I need to improve my skills before going there?

Last note: Please refrain from post like: "Your music sucks!", "your just an idiot because your tracks sucks!" or likewise. There will always be someone out there who don't like my tracks, and there will always be someone who could have done it better then me, and of course, you are entitled to your own opinion... nevertheless, I don't want a flamewar in this topic (and music is one of the subjects that, unfortunately, has a tendency to get flamed). Still, I'm open for constructive critisism... to be honest, I like constructive critisism, helps me realize what needs to be improved, but please, refrain from flaming.

Thanks in advance :)

LINKS:
* Original MIDI track by Kevin Schilder - The River of Fire (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/MUS_E2M3.MID)
* My remake of the track - The River of Fire (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/h_e2m3.mp3)

EDIT: After getting my thoughts together before listening again, I think it still needs some work done regarding the general bass level of the track in comparison with the original.

[Kresjah]

Bump? Seems like no replies. Wellwell, I haven't given up though.

I've been working a bit more on "the River of Fire", tried to give it a more punchy, and bassy feel. It has gotten better, but it still needs work. Also toned the brassens down a bit, but I'm not satisfied with them.

For those of you who knows a bit about music, after listening more to the MIDI, the main instruments (which I have used brassens to replace) seems to have a reversed attack. I haven't been able to make one here in Reason 2.5. Anyone has an idea of how to do this?

I've also worked on another track, the episode/game ending (also called Hub if I'm not mistaken). I'm way more satisfied with this one, and I hope it gives a better impression of what an almost finished track would sound like. Once again, I've supplied the corresponding original MIDI file. See the links below.

Hope I can get some feedback on it. Thanks in advance!

LINKS:
* Original MIDI track by Kevin Schilder - The River of Fire (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/MUS_E2M3.MID)
* My remake of the track - The River of Fire (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/h_e2m3.mp3)

* Original MIDI track by Kevin Schilder - Hub (Ending) (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/MUS_CPTD.MID)
* My remake of the track - Hub (Ending) (http://home.no/fragagib/h_music/h_cptd.mp3)

[The Orichalcon]

I made this today if you're interested:

http://www.geocities.com/reaction5f/PRC25_TO_-_Ashen_des_Mystic_Urn_Bonus_Mix.mp3

It's a remix of E1M6 from heretic.

I'll take a listen to your ones later on.

[Kresjah]

It seems that the site is currently unavailable, so I haven't gotten to hear it yet.

Have been doing some more work since my last work. If you go to the official page of my music pack (now renamed to jHeretic Soundtrack Pack), you will see that there is a sample of my version of E1M6. Feel free to download that one too and have a listen. It's by far the track I'm most pleased with as of yet.

EDIT: The link to the page is in my signature ;)

[Catsy]

At the risk of giving an underwhelming reply, Kresjah, keep up the greak work. You chose my favorite Heretic track to tackle first (River of Fire). It sounds good, although it sounds like you changed the syncopation of the melody a bit, but only for one or two parts.

[Kresjah]

Thank you catsy! My personal favourite is actually "the Cathedral", but of some reason, I found it more interesting to try out "the River of Fire". To be honest, I am in no way satisfied with it at the moment. It needs a lot of work. The version you have download ain't the latest one (I have done some more work on it, but haven't put that online).

When I started the remake of "the River of Fire", I didn't have any MIDI players that showed which instruments each track used, so I was more on a "guessing what it was meant to be"-spree. When I did get hold of such a player (it's called MegaMID if you're interested), I was made aware that I had some instrumental errors in that particular track.

Notice the two main, melodical instruments. I replaced them with brassens... after taking a look at the MIDI file through MegaMID, I was greatly surprised to see that it wasn't in any way brassens that were supposed to be there. It was actually a violin and a distortion guitar. The version that's out on the net still has brassens.

I've decided to not replace the version on the net with an updated one at the moment, due to the fact that the guitar samples are awful.

Regarding syncopation... I actually haven't changed anything else than tweaking the sound of the instrument (EQ, compressor) and working with reverb. Everything else has remained in it's original state. Probably just an audible illusion :)

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By the way, if anyone are interested in helping a bit, I'm currently on the hunt for samples of these instruments:
- Taiko drums
- Marimba
- Distortion guitar (something similar to the distortion guitars you find in many of the Heretic tracks, like "the River of Fire" [E2M3] and the track for E3M3 which I can't remember the name for)

I would be happy if anyone had samples (or could make samples) for these instruments, whether it was as .WAV files or Reason refills (or patches), although I do prefer Reason refills (or patches) as they make the work a lot easier.

[Harry]

cool, those sound nice on my comp without a soundcard... I wonder what they will be like with the other one with the soundcard :D

[Catsy]

I'm afraid that all of my samples are circa 1995 or earlier. I can dig through my old tracking directories and see what I can come up with, but I promise nothing.

However, I would mention that it's 100% irrelevant what the original instrument was /supposed/ to be. I very frequently used to layer multiple instruments to achieve a sound that was unlike either of the originals. The bottom line is, does it sound like what you wanted to achieve? :>

[Kresjah]

Catsy: I partially agree with you, but my point with this pack isn't just to make a great sounding pack, but also to remake the tracks the way they were intended to sound (if they used digital audio back then). I might later on release my own remixes of the tracks, where I can use instruments as I see fit.

Of course, as you say, one ccan use several instruments to find the way to the sound I'm trying to achieve, but on the other hand... the sound of brassens and a distortion guitar is, well, not the same.

Even if the samples are from the older days, if the quality ain't too low (and there ain't to much feedback in the samples), I'd still be able to use them. :)

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Harry: Hehe, damn, you're lucky. Being able to listen to it without a soundcard? That's been my greatest dream since the dawn of time :p

[porjay]

i liked the ROTT track you remixed *bang*

[Ffabbia]

Let me get home from work m8, and I'll respond properly to this post. I have a collaborative proposition for you (as one musician to another).