Donkey Kong Country 2 .- Stickerbrush Techno Symphony -.

[KatzuyaSagara]

>.< H-Hello...

I'm Sagara Katzuya and...well...Im pretty nervous you know...this site has wonderful remixes...and I Hope you enjoy this as I enjoyed doing this.

Made on Garageband. (I'm to unfamiliarized with other programs =( )

Please...be nice with me >.<

Take Care and Thank You for Listening.

[ella guro]

Everyone's loving this track lately.

I like how you did something different with the original right from the start, but some of your sounds could use work. The lower distorted synth is pretty good as are the background pads, but the sharp trebly synth you have really doesn't seem to work that well. It kinda sticks out like sore thumb. Also the percussion - I like how you're trying different patterns, it's pretty mechanical right now, especially that constantly repeating hi-hat pattern (which gets a little annoying after awhile).

I really like the background of swirling ambiance you have here. There's some subtlety that a lot of people have trouble grasping how to do right or they just don't try at all.

You lost me at around 1:23. I like that you were trying to change up the arrangement, but the way you're interpreting the source there doesn't really work for me - the sounds are too goofy and glitchy, given the more serious tone of the rest of the mix. You also simplified that part of the melody from the original quite a bit, and it could have used a lot more development to make it sound as epic as it's supposed to sound. I would just rewrite that whole section completely, to be honest...nothing about it really sat well, given the rest of the piece.

In general, you have these nice pads and this nice atmosphere...but then your lead synths stick out completely. It sounds like they're from a different song entirely. I would really work on finding sounds that mix in better with the ambiance you established.

The last thing is that the whole mix is rather quiet, and while that doesn't bug me as much it is something that tends to be expected of people on OCR.

Have confidence, though! I'm glad you posted this because there is definitely potential here.

[KatzuyaSagara]

Have confidence, though! I'm glad you posted this because there is definitely potential here.

*Bursts in crying*

Thank You!!! ^.^!!!

Well..yes...I see what's the matter, nwn, I'll do my best to improve this song and make it better...but...there's something I don't understand....

Is to quiet?...How can I make it sound Louder o,o or is well as it is?

Thanks and I hope more users can give me more advice.

[Sir_Snooze]

You're playing with a masterpiece of a source tune. I'll second Liz - your beginning is okay (the pulsing thing sounds a little bit off, timing-wise - on re-listens, it appears and disappears. Just check - for me?), but your lead synth isn't quite apropo. It doesn't mesh with the bass synth, I don't think. Try to get a blend going - I'll follow up below.

Try to remember what's going on in Stickerbrush Symphony. It's a laid-back but intensely energetic place. You've got a semblance of the energy going, but that laid-back thing comes from the blending of sounds in the original. You can hear only a few voices that are active - the rest are backgroundish. This sounds like Brambles on the 4th of July - it's not bad, but I'm not getting the essence of the original. You have too much going on, I think, and the (very decent) writing you've got going suffers for it.

So, in short - calm down a little bit here. Make your drums more organic - part of Stickerbrush's charm is that there isn't much of a beat demarcation. Only the hums give you a real downbeat - try that, then throw some drums in, keepin' em nice, tight, and simple. I appreciate the experimentation, but your current drums aren't doin' it.

Keep up the good work - like Liz said, there's potential here - I just think you've buried it with too much love.

[Emunator]

I was gonna hold off and leave a long, insightful piece of feedback on this mix because I thought it had potential and was worth working on (plus you used a wonderful source tune!) but I'm thinking Liz and Sir Snooze really nailed it completely. The ambiance is relatively well done, but your synths are pretty generic and don't complement each other or the soundscape you've crafted with the pads.

I also somewhat agree with the comment on the drums. They seem like they're a bit too loud and harshly mixed for this kind of song - I'm not saying you need to stick with the feel of the original, but given the rest of the sounds you used I think the drums need to be brought down a bit in order to mesh well with everything else.

Basically, Liz covered it all very adeptly and in more words than I could have used You'd be right to listen to her advice as well as some of what Sir Snooze added, as well. You've got an interesting expansion on the original but it's got some issues and sound choices that need to be ironed out.

Good luck!

[Rozovian]

alphakanal Automat, TAL-Elek7ro and LinPlug's FreeAlpha are free Audio Unit synths you can use with GB, which should give you a greater palette of sounds to choose from. Google them.

GB's built-in drums aren't great, but some creative mixing of the kits and the right effects and mixing can improve them from what you've got now. Dunno how close to the default they are in your mix, but my guess is that they're all from the hiphop kit. I could be wrong tho.

In any case, separating the drums and giving them each their own track makes it easier to control them (like hihat, kick, snare, crashes, other - 5 tracks, or whatever you prefer). You can use different kits' drums for them, EQ them separately, control their volumes more easily, stuff like that.

Might be a good idea to do dig up some drums in soundfont format (note: last I checked only .sf2 soundfonts work with GB) and use them instead. Google is your friend.

Enjoyable but kind'a newby remix. I think you're at the point where GB is holding you back. Time to expand it with new plugins and stuff.

[KatzuyaSagara]

Hello =)

What Mr. Rozovian is true, I lack some instruments I'd like to use (like an harmonica or a violin), and recently (6 am Mexico Time) I already figured how to install soundfonts to improve the range of instruments.

(I only need a good source on soundfonts, becouse I only know midifile.com)

Thanks for the advice everyone =) I won't let you down.

Also I want to ask....

I also like to sing...and in my channel (I'm very sorry for advertising myself o///o) I do some "cover songs of Sonic"...I'd like to know...how I sing? (I do all the vocals nwn) (If needed I'll post all my "remixes and covers" in this tread)

Take Care Everyone

Thank You =)