[djpretzel]

Hello DJP and OCR! This is Jivemaster. It's been 2 years! That's a long time to be away...

This is a remake of an unreleased mix I did back in 2001 that I wasn't overly happy with. I always wanted to do more with the song, but at the time ideas were scarce. Times went on and it was forgotten.
Anywho, I was rummaging through the depths of my unfinished remix archive and saw this in all its poorly recorded glory. Since I've been absent from OCR for the last 2 years, and my last Sonic mix was back in 2002 (shame on me!), I thought it was about time to release something again for all the people who have enjoyed my stuff in the past and for those new to OCR who may be saying "Jivemaster? Who's this Jivemaster fellow?!?". The people at OCR have been spoiled rotten with some fab Sonic stuff as of late, I hope they enjoy this too.

Remix title: Sonic & Knuckles Lava Reach OC ReMix
Game: Sonic & Knuckles
Track: Lava Reef Zone, Hidden Palace Zone
System: Sega Genesis
Original Composer: Howard Drossin
Copyright: Sega, 1994

Running time: 6:22
Quality: MP3, 128kbps

Link:
-Joel
www.jivemaster.com | joel@jivemaster.com

[Malcos]

Has anyone been able to get this? The link doesn't seem to be working for me.

[Harmony]

Originally Posted by Malcos

Has anyone been able to get this? The link doesn't seem to be working for me.

Works for me. I can host it here until it's judged.

[Malcos]

Thanks Harmony.

Jivemaster! It's been a long time man.

This mix is definitely hard-hitting, reminds me of the Battery mix. Love the dark sounds. However I did feel that the reverb was a touch too much on the drums in some of the really intense parts and it spoiled the clarity of the mix somewhat.

Not a big point, but I wasn't sure that the the chord structure fitted the melody at the 1.45-1.53 section.

Despite these issues I'm gonna yes it. Why? Cause the instrumentation and arrangement are stellar. Jive is back peeps!

YES

[Liontamer]

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 22 "Lava Reef Zone 1" & 23 "Lava Reef Zone 2"
http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonic2.rar - "Hidden Palace Zone"

I'm gonna put it fairly short and sweet (for me, anyway). Like Malc, I liked the arrangement but I also thought that the production and sounds were lacking. The cymbal activity in particular was way too trebly and prominent.

Using Lava Reef Acts 1 & 2 directly 1:30-2:00 & 5:31-6:17, I felt the arrangement there was too straightforward with just a whole bunch of muddy sounds surrounding it. (1:30-2:00 was the real culprit regarding clutter.) The guitar work at 2:00 was too muffled and needed to be more prominent, IMO. I don't mind an airy atmosphere here, but I needed a greater measure of sound separation and clarity. Obviously on the arrangement side though, there was a lot of time to go in other more interpretive directions, so I wasn't worried about that since the other ideas made up for it.

The arrangement was there, and I liked how the style changed up so often here, including Lava Reef Act 2 at 5:31 (though I didn't like the thin texture again). Some may say it dragged a little long or whatever, but I felt it was fine. Based on what I heard though, the sounds were a bit too thin sounding and default-ish, creating a relatively sparse atmosphere most of the time that I felt was overcompensated for with too much reverb. Lots of these sounds sounded as if they should have been fuller and more impactful. I know it's mostly a different genre, but I felt something like Battletoads and Double Dragon "Enter the Toad" had a cleaner presentation and richer sounds.

Sorry to NO, Joel, but it sounds like things need refinement/tweaking on the presentation side to give the atmosphere a little more clarity and the sounds a bit more depth. Hope you resub it, bro. As someone who appreciates the old school and the return of a former judge also, I certainly hope you're not discouraged over looking at it further, since I'd like to see you return to the front page.

NO (refine/resubmit)

[analoq]

oooh, this is really synthy.
percussion sounds like it could be from some electroclash label.
other times this sounds like some old rave music.

so what's not to like about this?
first is the dynamics.
it's not so much that there's hardly any to speak of, but the mix is tightly limited and the percussion is overcompressed/distorted.
this causes much fatigue on my ears.

second is just repetition.
this does not have enough material to sustain interest for 6 minutes and 22 seconds.

third is the "ok i'm done!" ending.
even a fade-out would be better.

it's not bad at all, but if those 3 things are addressed i could pass this, or maybe i'd just find 3 other issues.
either way, a resubmit couldn't hurt.
no

[The wingless]

403 - FORBIDDEN!

[analoq]

Originally Posted by The wingless

403 - FORBIDDEN!

the link works, but you have to copy/paste it.
in addition, harmony posted an alternate url.

try harder next time.

[Harmony]

Ok, I really like this. There’s some really cool vox in the first half (3:15 is tight), we go to semi-chill mode from 3:47-5:02 with really slick synth and pizz stuff going on and we enter full-on chill mode from 5:02-end where elements are thin but still engaging. Ending wasn’t cool at all but still a good mix as a whole.

There are a few things that would be so simple to correct that I have to go for a resub on this:

At no point did I think that the distorted guitar meshed well with the other elements. 0:56-1:15 it was out of sync. During 2:00-2:30 it was ok but overly distorted and loud. At 2:49 it was pointless. You get the picture. Try to better handle the guitar FX, levels and performance next time around.

Reverb is excessive as Malcos pointed out, especially during the first 3:47.

The chill mode ending section could be fiddled with to get some more interesting, even more engaging, sounds from those synths and certainly work on the ending.

It’s repetitive, but I don’t think it’s too bad; 6:22 is a little long for what’s in this mix though.

Fix these problems and you’re golden. Borderline…

NO Please Resubmit

[danny B]

I agree with a lot of the criticisms here, but overall I think it's made up for by other things. Yea, it's too long. Yea, some of the mixing is less than stellar. But overall, there's a solid rearrangement effort here. It's creatively paced and arranged, and there's a solid effort at variation and dynamics.

Jive does well not to overdo the presentation, a lesser musician would have gone over the top on some of these passages and made a real mess of things. I like the restraint shown in certain sections.

It does suffer from a bit of a "videogamey" sound throughout, but considering the presentation, I think that's more to its advantage than anything. It's certainly enjoyable, and as always - the right amount of rearrangement will overcome most SQ issues.

Minor issues here and there, but nothing I can't objectively say is bad enough to warrant posting.

YES

-D