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Sonic 3 Death Egg Funk


metaphist
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Wow, this really is funky like hell, good work!

I really like the bassline, but on the first glance it seems much like a midi - in my opinion, making pops differ from slaps (another sample?) and perhaps finger bass in the fast parts (before the synth bass kicks in) would make it more realistic.

Synth leads really fit into the groove, it surprised me as I expected some guitar work there.

Nice job overall, hope to see this completed soon.

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Figured I'd throw this up while my writer's block clears. Trying to switch the tone in a new section but haven't figured it out yet...

The middle section has no drums currently since I'm still trying to get them right, but sometimes I think it sounds ok with no drums there...

--> Death Egg Funk <--

What bass is that? sound font?

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I'm really liking the groove here... very funky. A couple things I noticed: the drums throughout, and especially in exposed areas like the intro, sound hollow and fake. I imagine they're just a place-filler, but I'd put some beefier sounding drums in there, or maybe a little reverb. The drum writing is great though, I think it fits great with the groove. The bass, again especially in the intro, sounds a little cheesy, but I actually think I kinda like it, it seems to give it more of that 80's feel. The ending is rather abrupt and anti-climactic, but given this is a work-in-progress, I assume it's not done.

Overall I really like it, hopefully you finish it up! Good job.

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Thanks for the comments, guys! No, that's not the full arrangement, as I plan to add another full section to close things out.

Yes, the bass is a slapbass soundfont, not the greatest quality. I'll search around for something better, but I agree that the cheesiness might end up fitting in with the synth work after all. I'll also toy around with a finger bass in some parts as hakstock suggests.

I also agree that the drum, mostly the snare, could use some oomph. I'll try some other samples and better layering and see what I get.

The next version will probably be pretty close to the final, hopefully I won't slack and take too long :P

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Thanks for the comments, guys! No, that's not the full arrangement, as I plan to add another full section to close things out.

Yes, the bass is a slapbass soundfont, not the greatest quality. I'll search around for something better, but I agree that the cheesiness might end up fitting in with the synth work after all. I'll also toy around with a finger bass in some parts as hakstock suggests.

I also agree that the drum, mostly the snare, could use some oomph. I'll try some other samples and better layering and see what I get.

The next version will probably be pretty close to the final, hopefully I won't slack and take too long :P

Cheesy? I love sounds like that, fixs this song great!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Any progress on this awesomeness metaphist?

Funny you should ask, I just uploaded a new version ;)

The link again for the lazy's: Death Egg Funk

I think the arrangement is pretty solid, I'm not sure about the organ near the end though. Could use some production advice as always, but any advice at all is welcome of course.

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Wow... this is a rather significant update. I never downloaded the previous version, so I can't compare directly, but I could tell there were some major and minor changes. Here's my critiques:

I really liked some of the minor additions in the beginning of the track, such as the higher pitched background synth from 0:44 - 1:00, and the expanded bass section from 1:15 - 1:45. I think they really added to the soundscape. Nice synth melody improv from 2:02 - 2:16.

The "transition" section from 2:17 on felt like it meandered a bit, especially the parts from 2:32 - 2:47. Maybe tighten it up a little, make it feel a bit more cohesive & purposeful. From 2:48 - 3:02 was great though in my opinion.

Yeah I'm not really a fan of the organ from 3:03 - 3:30. I think the arrangement is great, but maybe not the best instrumentation choice? It seems to blend with rest of the soundscape and sound a bit muddled. Maybe it's just a matter of choosing a different sample or tweaking the EQ.

The ending, although not bad, still feels a bit anti-climactic to me. Overall great track though, definitely way better than anything I've made, so take my critiques for what they are. I really love the style throughout, keep it up!

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Thanks for the feedback, glad you like where it's going!

The "transition" section from 2:17 on felt like it meandered a bit, especially the parts from 2:32 - 2:47. Maybe tighten it up a little, make it feel a bit more cohesive & purposeful. From 2:48 - 3:02 was great though in my opinion.

I've always been a bit bad in the transition department. I think I can tie things together a bit better there.

Yeah I'm not really a fan of the organ from 3:03 - 3:30. I think the arrangement is great, but maybe not the best instrumentation choice? It seems to blend with rest of the soundscape and sound a bit muddled. Maybe it's just a matter of choosing a different sample or tweaking the EQ.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure why I'm still tring to use that damn Organ. I actually had the guitar playing that part before but for some damn reason really wanted an Organ to get in there. It is me or are they just damn hard to work with? I'm done - going back to the guitar probably :P.

The ending, although not bad, still feels a bit anti-climactic to me.

I kind of slacked off there to get another version out, but I do plan to do something. I have two ideas - end with some crazy runs of some of the instruments a la "Midnight at Club Corel" from the FF7 album (god damed amazing), or go back to the main theme one more time and THEN do that. However, If I can't pull something convincing off, I'll probably have to suck it up and leave it herp derp :/

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I've always been a bit bad in the transition department. I think I can tie things together a bit better there.

And that part wasn't bad at all, just that one little section (2:32 - 2:47) sounded a bit off.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure why I'm still tring to use that damn Organ. I'm done - going back to the guitar probably :P.

hahah, yeah I think the guitar might work better!

I have two ideas - end with some crazy runs of some of the instruments a la "Midnight at Club Corel" from the FF7 album

That would be amazing and I think it would sound great. You kinda already had something going like that at the end, but then it just sorta faded out.

Can't wait to hear what you work up next!

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I love this mix. The electric piano solo at 2:46 sounds just awesome, but I'm a sucker for electric keyboard stuff like that. The bass is a pretty generic MIDI slap bass, but it kind of works with the other synths. A higher quality sound sure wouldn't be a bad thing of course, but its not necessarily bad the way it is, either.

Overall some VERY funky beats and an awesome take on this source. I always liked this song in the game but this version is really fantastic, keep it up.

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All the individual parts of this song here are very clear in the mix, which is great, and sets a massive sound for this song right from the start. Thumbs up from me here.

The bass is very VERY artificial sounding, but you know that anyway! MIDI bass rarely fits well into compositions in my opinion, but although what you have here sounds very fitting with the piece, I have one piece of constructive criticism.

My pointer is the same as one previously mentioned on this thread, and get another bass voice with pops in there, and possibly some string slide noise too. Chop and change this with your original bass line and it should sound far more realistic. A song called Katana by Losers from their album Beautiful Losers uses MIDI slap bass, morphing into synth bass and that is probably the only other song aside from yours I've heard where it fits really well xD

The section from 1.15 to 1.45 makes me think of Sonic being flung through those teleporter rings on this level!

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All the individual parts of this song here are very clear in the mix, which is great, and sets a massive sound for this song right from the start. Thumbs up from me here.

That's actually good to hear ^^

The bass is very VERY artificial sounding, but you know that anyway! MIDI bass rarely fits well into compositions in my opinion, but although what you have here sounds very fitting with the piece, I have one piece of constructive criticism...

Ah yes, I've heard of such techniques but never actually tried it. I'm actually coming off of some FM Synthesis chiptunes as my inspiration for this mix, so I think that's why I went so synthy and was ok with the basic slap bass. It's actually quite interesting now that I think about it, because I could go full FM with the slap bass for a more chiptune feel, or try to go for believable realism instead, rather than just sitting lukewarm in the middle. I'll have to mess around, thanks for the ideas.

The section from 1.15 to 1.45 makes me think of Sonic being flung through those teleporter rings on this level!

Y'know, I've been thinking about including those teleporter ring sound effects into the mix this whole time, and you may have given me the best place to do that ;)

Awesome feedback, appreciate it.

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Yeah I second the comment on the individual parts of the song sounding very clear and crisp (except for that damned organ), which is great.

I could go full FM with the slap bass for a more chiptune feel, or try to go for believable realism instead, rather than just sitting lukewarm in the middle.

I was originally opposed to the artificial slap bass as well, but the more and more I hear it I think it really fits the piece. I'd be interested to hear what full FM sounds like, but I don't think a "believable" bass sound would mesh well with the funky 80s vibe I get from this track.

Y'know, I've been thinking about including those teleporter ring sound effects into the mix this whole time, and you may have given me the best place to do that ;)

VG sound effects when used well (like in tSoS album) and not just for kicks are great. I think they would work well in that part of the song.

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New version (I accidentally left it in a higher bitrate so it's a bigger file)

Sorry, MarioPhreak, organ solo is gone :/ Couldn't get it to sit well, didn't feel like wraslin' with it.

Didn't really mess with the slap bass either. Tried a few realer sounding ones but they didn't seem to fit as well, and I don't think I could pull off a straight FM slap bass.

Added a "wah" guitar to replace the other and fill in some sections, among other things.

Will probably label it finished soon then see what the mods have to say. I can't work on it much longer as it's already been a while and I have another song to get too. If anything I'll let it simmer a bit then visit it one last time before I close the books.

One thing I find odd is that I usually come up with a name long before I start the remix, but that's not the case here and I still haven't come up with one :P

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Nice update! I like the expanded intro section starting with the new little part from :15 - :28. Sounds slick.

The offbeat syncopation at 0:50 - 0:52 bugs me a little bit cause it sounds a little out of place, but that could just be because I'm so used to the previous two versions. The more I've listened to it the better it sounds.

Great use of the sound effects at 1:13. Perfect placement for them. What is that new part on the wah guitar starting at 1:15 - 1:45 in the background!?! I know it's from a Sonic stage, but I don't think it's from Death Egg. I can't place it and it's bothering me. Sounds good nonetheless though.

I still don't know how I feel about the first part of the transition section (2:48 on is absolutely fantastic though), I think I like it more than the previous version, but it's hard to tell. I still feel like it meanders a bit.

Wah guitar > organ. I like that section much much better. The organ just wasn't meshing well. The guitar does the trick though.

Sound effects at 4:00 again nice. 4:02 has that damned background piece that I can't place. Again, nice.

The wah guitar shenanigans at the end are good, I like them. The ending still doesn't scream awesome, but overall I like it the best of the 3 versions thus far.

As for names (not like you were asking :)!!), I like to give my songs terrible punny names based off the track I'm mixing. So we've got "death" and "egg"... hmmm... you could go with "Funk till You Die" or "Funky Side Up". Enjoy.

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I seriously LOL'd at your name suggestions. I'm really liking Funky Side Up though, so if I don't come up with anything better, I'll use that ;)

Hah awesome! If ya do, maybe I can get a shoutout when this thing gets posted (in 2 years) ;-)

The guitar riffs aren't actually from anything in particular, but they do resemble chemical plant zone a bit, so that might be what you're thinking of.

Hmmm... maybe. I can hear the resemblance, but I was really thinking those riffs were directly from a specific Sonic zone. Maybe it just sounds like it should be. Oh well.

A lot of the little things I mentioned in my last post don't really seem to bug me after a few more listens. I think I was just used to the old versions. I'm still a little torn on the ending though. At first I was thinking something with more energy, a bit more punch to it would sound better, but now that I've been thinking about it, the whole song is pretty upbeat high-energy, so the more chill, laid-back ending may actually work better. That's entirely a matter of preference though, from a production & quality standpoint, what you have now is solid. I'd say this thing is ready for mod review.

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...what you have now is solid. I'd say this thing is ready for mod review.

Thanks for the blessing. I'll probably revisit the ending one last time in the end, as I'm not completely happy with it myself. I'm just a little burnt out as far as details go so I left it alone. It won't be the deal breaker of the song if anything, so it'll do for now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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