djpretzel Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 ReMixer Name: JD Harding Real Name: JD Harding E-Mail Address: jd_harding@comcast.net Website: None Game Title: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Game System: Sega Genesis Theme Title: Zone Boss New Song Title: Boss the Boss Yeah, it's me again. After ocremix.org's judges shot down that Daughter of Zeal mix, I took a vacation from remixing for a year to get my act together. Then I went back and listened to the remix, and it made sense to me why the mix wasn't accepted. So I spent a couple months getting to know my music software better, and after a week of work I came up with this. Sorry, the only way I can get this to you is through vgmix.com, as I no longer have a website of my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonic2.rar - "Boss" (Robotnik Theme.gym) Some generic-sounding, but well put together stuff for the intro. Nice gated pad going on at :13 with the gradual fade-in. Bass kicks at :23 were rather cheesy, as were the drum kicks at :37, but whatchugonnado? Beats arriving at :41 were pretty lo-fi sounding. Still waiting for something to develop by the 1:00-mark, but there's time. Melody arrives via some robotic e-piano coming in at 1:08. As soon as the lead started playing in chords and getting louder, especially at 1:28, things were just getting cluttered. Looking for the beat structure to change at least a little bit at 1:35, but it didn't happen. Realy need some variation there. Doesn't need to be drastic. Nonetheless, I liked the original section there, as there were some good ideas for the lead. You should try and punch up the foreground material from 1:35-2:16 more and give it more presence. Melody faded back in at 2:17, but took a back seat to support some other material started up at 2:29. Nothing hugely engaging there, but for the genre, this was still some good though formulaic stuff. Still not a fan of the drum kicks at 3:05, and the groove at 3:15 is still by-the-numbers, also leading to what felt like too long a stretch without hearing the source material again until 3:39. And when the melody came back in, it was played yet again by those sames sounds and was drowned out by all the electrosynth activity. Then the source usage stopped again at 4:06. Came back from 4:34 to 4:47 for the finish. The limited usage of the source material was an issue that plagued the track, especially at the end. You really had some good ideas going to kick things off, but after 2:29, the Boss theme became a really limited part of the track. Use the melody more, and develop some more arrangement ideas for it, otherwise you start moving into the "too original" category by the time the track is over. Vary up some of the instrumentation and patterns more since this is such a long piece. Don't retread the ideas here quite so much. Also, I'd like some of the other judges to weigh in on the production side, as this seemed to be missing something. The sound was rather dulled and could be sharpened up, but I can't pinpoint the issue there. Nonetheless, good work so far, JD. I hope you feel encouraged to continue some further work on the track, as this has potential and was an otherwise solid effort. I'd like to see you continue to improve your game and make it back to the front page. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 For a trance arrangement, I think the sounds aren't too bad - the dullness is probably more due to the 128kbps encoding. However, I agree that some of the synths could be a little sharper or better designed - the unison effect on some of them makes it so that the attack is really loud. You might want to put a slight attack - out of 127, maybe 10-15 or so, so that it doesn't make the volume spike when the synth hits. Also, the arpeggio thing you've got going for half the track kind of gets old considering it's playing the same notes over and over. So, I do partially agree with Larry that the execution needs some more tweaking.. if you're using a VST-capable sequencer, check out all the new VSTs over at www.kvr-vst.com; many of the ones that came out recently are really great for adding unique and fresh sounds to a mix. I think the arrangement is solid considering how simplistic and short the source is. Nonetheless, considering that the mix is almost 5 mins, I think it could be tightened. Perhaps changing some of the original material to be a little more related to the source tune would help, or cutting out some of the repeats entirely. I always think that putting in breaks of some sort, eg. a thick saw pad chorale, or a breakbeat/dnb interlude, really helps to breathe life into a dance song while keeping the energy up. Try experimenting with stuff like this and I think you will like the results. Overall, this is an enjoyable song, it just doesn't quite meet our standards in its current form. To reiterate, there are a few issues with the production, and the structure could use some fine-tuning. I would encourage a resubmit. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 *LIGHTNING ROUND* -Takes a bit too long to get to the meaty section (gratuitous intro) -transitional parts pretty plain and drawn-out (much like the intro) -repitition without development/evolution NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 wingless said it all. when the melody comes in, it sounds completely inappropriate. the song sounds tacky until the melody cuts out and the pads come in. the best parts of this song are the parts that have nothing to do with the original. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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