*NO* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 'Polar Groove'

# Your ReMixer name:

Digital Element (formerly Section 3 Studios)

# Your real name:

Maurice Willems and Sanjay Sampatsing.

# Your email address:

NemesisTheory@gmail.com

# Your website:

N/A

# Your userid:

I forgot.

# Name of game(s) ReMixed:

Sonic 3

# Name of individual song(s) ReMixed:

Ice Cap Zone

# Your own comments about the mix :

Hi! It's been a while. This one was also, as always, made in FL Studio, quite the lengthy process as it was a tough song to make. Must've altered like a hundred times before it got anywhere. Finished it today, final touches and all, we're quite proud of the result. It's pretty varied, and switches tempo and rhythm/style halfway through. We hope you enjoy it.

# Link to song :

Additional suggestion: Pump up the volume!

I'll do my little speech that I do again every time we get an Icecap sub. This is a very popular stage to remix, and so the bar is quite high indeed.

The strings here are extremely lush, unfortunately the drums don't cut through them as nicely as they could have, and so some impact is lost. However we get a groove section later on, which due to the earlier nature of the mix, sounded empty and sparse - more melodic elements need to be added to that part to keep the interest level high. For me the drums could have been even more 'in-your-face'. This needs some more work, but this is the closest I've come to yessing an Icecap sub in a long time.

NO(Resub?)

http://project2612.org/download.php?id=61 - IceCap Zone 1

Interesting opening. Strings seem too muddy and bleeding into the other sounds, such as the piano. The beats at :31 definitely needed some more presence, a consistent detrimental factor. Electrosynth brought in at :40 sounded really out of place with the rest of the sounds, and didn't help the texture. The fact that it was the melodic lead and buried so deep didn't help.

Decent original section at 1:04, but again everything sounds muddy, indistinct and lossy. String articulations at 1:20 sounded kinda cheap, and the shrill electrosynth lead at 1:27 again sounded out of place with the rest of these more ethereal sounds.

Changed up into some really ugly, dirty electronic bassline at 1:51. Beatwork writing at 1:57 was fine, but again the sound choices were weak and didn't compliment to intended energy level of the writing. Yeah, Malcos was saying he was expecting something produced more "in-your-face" due to the arranging here, but the production is lackluster; I see what he's talking about. The textures you have are fairly decent, but need that extra push to sound great.

The sequenced bow movements from 3:00-3:14. sounded straight-up awful and just take me, as the listener, right out of the piece. You had a lot more beef with the beats at 3:14 as compared to seconds earlier. The arrangement from 3:14 was a lot stronger on the whole than the ealier couple of section. The melodic interpretation isn't too high, but the personalization factor was strong. Excellent shimmery/glassy effects from 3:41 until the end.

If you could have cleaner, more balanced production, and more meat and stronger textures for the first section like the power of 3:14's section, this would be more solid ground. It's all about touching up the finer details now. The arrangement seems reasonable to me. You guys never resub anything! Keep working on this one so it has the chance to get posted!

NO (definitely resubmit)

Well, just when I think there cannot possibly be any further progress with the freaking ice cap theme, I am proven wrong. Thankfully

Really pretty solid stuff here. I've had this one on my speakers for the past week and a half. Here's the bottom line. This is definitely good stuff. Beautiful intro, I love the strings (sounds like mixologic to me) and the mellow dance kick. I like the slower tempo.

Overall, this is pretty simplistic. Initially, I had some gripes here and there--mainly either production issues, or somecrap to do with instrumentation in various places. I wasn't a huge fan of the transition at 1:52, but I can live with it. I really enjoyed the slower take on the theme for the first half of the track, but I also dug the energy and vibe of the 2nd.

There's plenty of fun things going on across the board to justify a YES at this point. Particular highlights were the introductory strings with bass and kick and piano followed by the pre-main melody riff from :40-:47. Strings at 1:04, though the tiniest bit awkward in the beginning added some nice funk to the chill vibe. Short attack strings at 1:20 added some good diversity to the playing field, too. 2:20 was pretty adrenaline-pumping, what with the drums, electrosynth, and string leads. Finally, I really enjoyed the choir pad at 3:14 and the 3-2 suspension/resolutions*.

So there you have it--that's the scoop from the BGC corner tonight.

YES

*(I'm a tad rusty on my music theory)

Ugh, I had a vote typed out for this and it got deleted. I'll summarize my thoughts briefly.

The good:

* Arrangement is creative. I like the changeup of style in the middle

* Great variations on the theme

* Good concept overall

* Good synth design

The bad:

* Second half of the mix could use more of the original melody, it feels a little too liberal since you're mainly relying on the chords and original riffs for awhile

* Ending is abrupt

* Production is crowded + muddy throughout, bass is too loud in the second part. The drums have no punch, the leads don't stick out enough, the strings kind of fade into the back of the mix, etc

Overall:

This is a really strong submission but I think the production drags it down a little bit. If you just polish that aspect (less muddiness, more clarity) and maybe add a little more of the ice cap melody to the second part of the mix, I think this would be an easy YES.

NO, RESUBMIT

I think it's all been basically covered. I really, really like what you've done with the arrangement! It's very creative and refreshing; however, the second half start at 1:54 with the heavier percussion could use some filling in here and there. 2:13-3:00 really dragged on in particular because not a lot was changing. I think if you condense some of those ideas so that there are more things actually going on at once, the result will be stronger.

The production could use some polish, especially concerning the material up until 1:54. As others have pointed out, the percussion really needs to cut through some more, and the texture sounds a little muddy. Try a little less reverb on some of your instruments, and a bit more panning. (Not too wide, though!)

This is going to make an excellent edition to the Ice Cap collection once you've touched things up a bit. Don't be discouraged!

NO PLEASE RESUBMIT!