Proper Duke3D Roland SC-55 Music Pack (At Last!)

[MusicallyInspired]

Rather than bump my old confusing multi-paged outdated thread, I decided to just make a new one. Due to real life I wasn't able to finish, but at long last I've finally gotten around to rerecording this soundtrack. This is the complete Duke Nukem 3D soundtrack as recorded from the Roland Sound Canvas (SC-55) MIDI module with which it was composed and meant to be heard in-game. For those who never read me previous thread or forgotten, you may notice that it sounds shockingly similar to Windows' GS Wavetable MIDI driver. That's because it was made by Roland who also created the SC-55. It's not exactly the same, however. Besides the obvious higher quality output, the SC-55 accepts various controller commands to MIDI instruments that Windows' GS Wavetable driver does not. So there's a lot people have been missing out on in that regard when playing simply with Windows MIDI.

My previous rendition of this recording in the old thread contained twelve improper recordings of the original MIDI files. Duke Nukem 3D's MIDI files aren't regular MIDI files that you can expect to play properly from WinAmp or some other MIDI player. They are in a format called EMIDI which contains some extra controllers that WinAmp (and eDuke32, incidentally) doesn't support like loop points, track designation, track exclusion among others. Also some of the MIDI files have doubled and sometimes tripled instrument channels for the FM (Adlib) and Gravis Ultrasound as well as the regular SC-55 channels which aren't meant to be heard when playing with the SC-55. I recorded 12 of the tracks improperly with some of these channels still intact. But this time around I deleted the improper channels and the result sounds much better, and obviously more accurate. The twelve tracks that were improperly recorded were Stalker, Urban, Whomp, AlfredH, Warehaus, 233C, Missimp, Gloomy, PrepD, Gotham, Subway, and Floghorn.

So without further ado I give you at last the properly recorded Duke Nukem 3D soundtrack as it was meant to be heard in-game from the Roland SC-55 MIDI module as a music pack for eDuke32 or anything that'll take OGGs instead of the original MIDIs (like xDuke). Just drop the ZIP into the autoload directory of eduke32 (or unpack the OGGs from the ZIP and place them in the same directory as the game files for xDuke, I believe). Some others (including me, as I stated earlier) have attempted to create this same music pack but failed to correct the improper channels being played back, so this is the only music pack in existence that is truly the way the Duke3D soundtrack was meant to be heard in 1996, save for the looping points. Another interesting note is that from some videos on YouTube that I've watched the XBox360 LiveArcade version of Duke3D also plays back these MIDI files incorrectly because the GUS and FM channels aren't deleted/muted and the result is a skewed version of what the soundtrack should be. So this music pack is more accurate than 3DR's own 360 port.

Duke3D Roland SC-55 Music Pack - 122 MB ZIP

The tracks are encoded in Vorbis OGG format at Quality level 3 (somewhere between 96kbps and 128kbps nominal bitrate, which is somewhere equal to a 256kbps encoded MP3 and much smaller file size). I had to upload to MegaUpload because my website wouldn't let me upload the entire 122 MB ZIP file. It kept getting to 119 MB and then would disconnect on me. So hopefully nobody finds this too difficult to work with. I'd appreciate any offers for mirrors as well if anyone cares to share any.

Here's an example of one of the incorrectly recorded tracks from the previous music pack.

Stalker (Incorrect)
Stalker (Correct)

[NightFright]

I'd say this has been worth waiting for. While there are a few tracks in the other music pack that sound better (but deviate from original sound quite a bit), this should be kept together for consistency purposes. If you wish, I could incorporate these tracks as they are into an all-new EDuke32 music pack v2.0 (with changed credits, of course) plus the few ingame sound replacements I had additionally included.

[hightreason]

I shall download this later and compare it to mine, but from reading it would appear to be awesome, and should be a lot better than mine.
I'll probably use this with eduke32 now.

[Spiker]

Indeed it's a nice contribution

[NightFright]

Throw everything else away and just use these tracks. There can be only these!

[hightreason]

Downloaded it, it's awesome.

[NightFright]

EDuke32 Music Pack has been updated to v2.0. It's identical to MI's pack (except for included voc music from old pack and readme file), so it can also be used as a fast mirror.

In case you liked some of the tracks from older releases, be sure to backup your previous music pack first so you can exchange your favorite tracks if required.

[MusicallyInspired]

Glad it's getting a welcome response. It's nice that people can finally play the game the way it was meant to be heard.

I still look forward to others' remade music packs and such. That old Stalker one was really cool, can't remember who made it, though.

Also a while back me and another guy were starting up a metal-ized Duke3D soundtrack. He's long since disappeared and I don't really feel like working on it all by myself so we can pretty much call that project canned. If I feel like making one every now and then I will, however, and if I end up finishing the whole thing at some point then that's cool too. But don't look out for it.

[Jinroh]

Sounds great, I'll dl when I get home. ^_^

Stupid firewall at work. Blah blah...T_T

Look foreward to hearing it though.

[NightFright]

Thundik81 will archive older EDuke32 versions, but I'll eventually open a soundtrack selection on my own. With each version increase, there should be a different style so you can actually choose which one you like best. While v1.x versions are some kinda mixture of what was available till now, v2.0 is the classic release. Future versions can try different approaches in style.

*EDIT*
I am now close to being finished with listening to the new tracks. Simply amazing, very true to original MIDIs. No wonder it took so long to complete them. I also notified Mark McWane about this, he will be shocked how his old soundtrack finally got outdated.

[MusicallyInspired]

It's true to the original MIDIs because they're being played back unedited (besides the accompanying doubled FM and GUS channels that I deleted) on the sound module it was meant to be heard on. For example this is what I hear when I play Duke3D in DOS on my old 486 and select Sound Canvas in the setup program for music output.

I just want to be sure everyone knows that I didn't mix this, choose any new instruments, or write it myself. These are the original MIDIs on the original sound module that was the best possible way you could experience the soundtrack if one had a Sound Canvas back in 1996 while playing Duke3D in DOS. It doesn't really take that long to record them. I just didn't have enough time to do it. All you have to do is open the MIDIs in a MIDI sequencer like CakeWalk (which I used) and delete the FM and GUS channels and let it playback through a Sound Canvas and record it on your computer via the Line-Input of your sound card.

[NightFright]

At least it proves the simple solutions are sometimes the best ones. Many have tried to tune the tracks to death, sometimes almost beyond recognition. McWane's "Storm" for example was way too fast, "Missimp" contained weird tunes. Others weren't satisfied with the Mark Knight contributions. Delivering some kinda "Roland emulator" with this pack is just the right thing to do.

[MusicallyInspired]

Originally Posted by NightFright

At least it proves the simple solutions are sometimes the best ones.

Indeed! But this isn't an emulator. This is the real thing. I have the MIDI box sitting on my desk right now. The Windows MIDI is the emulator really (and not a very good one).

[NightFright]

I know, that's why I put it into quotation marks. But it helps people to get SC-55 music without requiring to have the real module in place. Something similar was done by Michael Massay for the Doom soundtrack BTW, with amazing results as well.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ah, I see what you meant now. The music pack is a kind of "Roland emulator." Sorry about that. Yes, that's why I created it because I'm sure others would be interested to hear what only rich people could afford back in '96 . (Not that I'm rich, these SC-55's are rather cheap on eBay now)

[NightFright]

Back then, I had a Gravis UltraSound (GUS) with 1MB onboard (upgraded from 512KB). I thought it had the coolest music ever, but obviously, that Roland music still kicked its butt big time, even back then. Dark Forces soundtrack, sweet geez, must have sounded really neat on SC-55. "The way it's meant to be heard!"

[MusicallyInspired]

Indeed. After the Roland MT-32 and the switch to General MIDI and GS, the Roland SC-55 became the mainstream MIDI synth for PC gaming. ROTT sounds good on it as well. I just recently acquired the Sound Blaster AWE32 a few months ago (Creative's attempt to match the GUS) and the sound is interesting. Duke3D didn't really utilize it well, but it sounds nice on some other games.

I would have liked to hear a version of the Duke soundtrack on the MT-32, though. I wonder what that would have sounded like....maybe I'll make a track or two with it.

[Hendricks266]

This may be a lot to ask... But could you do the same process for the addon MIDIs as well? I'm not sure if they were even designed with this process in mind or not.

The file is attached. The Nuclear Winter music is NW*.MID and the Duke Caribbean music has assorted file names. I removed any duplicates (that's why there is no NW6.MID).

[MusicallyInspired]

Absolutely. I used to have the MIDI soundtracks for the add-ons but lost them in a HD crash a while back. They were indeed made with the Sound Canvas in mind, I believe, but even if they weren't it's nice to have consistency! I'll see if I can get these recorded in the coming weeks.

[sirlemonhead]

I remember hearing some Monkey Island music played through an MT-32..sounded great

Thanks for this. alienz sounds fantastic (my favourite of the duke3d songs)

[MusicallyInspired]

Mine too! Even in Adlib FM Synth it sounds great! I was surprised when I first played that song back on my Sound Canvas and the pitch of the heavy snare drum was raised making it sound a lot nicer than Windows Roland GS MIDI waveset.

[hightreason]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

making it sound a lot nicer than Windows Roland GS MIDI waveset.

I had heard a soundcanvas before then, but had sold mine (i got another one a few years back though), first time i heard that windows GS wavetable synth (that isnt compatible with GS so why it says it does i dont know) i nearly threw up, i thought it butchered the poor old soundcanvas, i went to the lengths of getting a CMI8738 with the old drivers so i could get the adlib fm sound instead, damn microsoft synth.
Have you ever heard these MIDIs on a yamaha xg synth?

[Daedolon]

Definately getting this, I will probably use it until I can grab an actual SC-55 for myself.

Thanks alot!

[NightFright]

I actually had a Yamaha XG synth wavetable module for my SoundBlaster card. As far as I can remember, it rocked. BTW, the MIDIs for DukeDC HRP were sent through a Yamaha e-piano.

[supergoofy]

Yamaha XG synth wavetable is really amazing for midi files.

[Radar1013]

Originally Posted by NightFright

*EDIT*
I am now close to being finished with listening to the new tracks. Simply amazing, very true to original MIDIs. No wonder it took so long to complete them. I also notified Mark McWane about this, he will be shocked how his old soundtrack finally got outdated.

What? His tracks are outdated? Dude, the synthetics and sound libraries he uses are more than 10 years newer than the SC 55 module. So techinically, the SC 55 is outdated. But i understand that the SC 55 sounds exactly how the originals were meant to sound so i respect that. But just remember that just because the music pack isn't using Mark McWanes tracks doesn't mean they are "outdated".

Anyway, i am definately going to download these tracks! I can't wait to hear how they sound properly recorded!

[Oasiz]

I have a spare yamaha DS-XG in my card jungle, maybe I should have a listen if I find it.

Thanks for the SC-55 pack! I really love to compare and hear the difference.

On another note, what is dosbox simulating? gog.com duke with waveblaster selected has some nice instruments.

[hightreason]

Originally Posted by Oasiz

I have a spare yamaha DS-XG in my card jungle, maybe I should have a listen if I find it.

Thanks for the SC-55 pack! I really love to compare and hear the difference.

On another note, what is dosbox simulating? gog.com duke with waveblaster selected has some nice instruments.

I think it simulates SoundBlaster & AdLib by default, WaveBlaster and other types of that sort i think output to the Microsoft Synthesizer by default.
DosBox can alos do Gravis Ultrasound Emulation, but you need to poke files about that you cant own unless you have the card, and it does emulate the gravis pretty badly i think.

[supergoofy]

I have a preinstalled/preconfigured sound pack for Gravis Ultrasound for DOSBox but the midi doesn't work well for games, in many cases DOSBox crashes or stops responding.


Actually there are 3 versions of Yamaha S-YXG50 that work with Windows 2000/XP/2003

v4.21.03 US-T
v4.21.07 US-R
v4.23.14 US-S

But seems that v4.21.07 US-R is newer from v4.23.14 US-S, according to a webpage. I cannot give you the link of this page.

Unfortunately Yamaha ceased development of Yamaha S-YXG50 SoftwareSynthesizer

[hightreason]

I know, it's a shame they did, i have an XG compatible module lying around somewhere, but i use my Yamaha 724 card more, it has the synthesizer on the card, and it's better than the software one, although the software one is still cool.

[Hendricks266]

Here's to one year of EDuke32 OpenAL support.

[Radar1013]

What do you mean? Are you saying that OpenAL in EDuke32 was officially supported on this day?

[Hendricks266]

From the readme of this pack:

- Use official EDuke32 snapshot dated 2008-03-08 or newer for OpenAL support.
  Get it here: http://wiki.eduke32.com/stuff

[MusicallyInspired]

Here's the add-on MIDIs as recorded from the SC-55. The Caribbean Vacation ones sound the best. The Nuclear Winter ones sounded like they didn't put much work into it so they don't sound as nice. But still better than Windows MIDI!

This is a RAR containing just the OGGs together in one folder without a music.def file because I don't know what order the tracks go in. So you can't just drop it in the autoload directory and expect it to work. Someone else will have to do that. But here are the tracks anyway.

Duke3D Add-ons Music Pack - 23.9 MB

Duke it Out in D.C. doesn't have added music does it?

[supergoofy]

1. Link doesn't work

2. Duke It Out in D.C. has its own music. But I don't know if it has it in midi format.


MusicallyInspired let me check my cd and I will let you know.

[edit1] I cannot find any midi files for music, not even inside the ssi. So I suppose no additional music for Duke It Out in D.C.

This means that the DukeDC HRP has custom ogg music files.


[edit 2] I will search my CD to make it sure.

[edit3] NOPE, no midi files.

[MusicallyInspired]

1. It's still uploading.

2. It had to be MIDI since the original DOS version wouldn't support anything else.

---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------

Ok then.

[NightFright]

DukeDC used normal Ep.3 MIDIs by default. It was my idea to give the levels are more individual touch by replacing the whole Ep.3 soundtrack with new tracks. I still have most of the MIDIs still I sent through an online synthesizer, but some were replaced recently.

BTW I must admit I first confused this with the pack Besli promised ages ago. He delivered an amazing "Stalker" recreation, and then he stopped production. Well, I guess he should be done with all the tracks now, but for some reason, he never published his pack.

[Hendricks266]

*drools* Thanks so much! These sound awesome!

I am considering replacing the current HRP music with these.

[Cipher]

I would agree with that decision. These MIDI's were designed on a SC-55, and this project has always strived to be close to the original, and you can't get much closer than that.

[Hendricks266]

I will be using these in the HRPs instead of the ones run through PistonSoft MIDI to MP3 Converter, submitted by Matéos.

Do you think this pack would be made better (best?) by using this for Grabbag?