Mega Man & Sonic the Hedgehog - Blue Bomber Blue Blur Collision Competition

[Tuberz McGee]

Bring it Zero!

I look forward to hearing your mix, as well as the rest of them!

Good luck! <3

[Cash]

I wonder if Yami ended up submitting anything this time around. I had a lot of fun working with Needle Man.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Cash

[SonicThHedgog]

Well, it was inspired by the Archie Comic series

http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=916850#916850

*Re-enters thread

[acarmelo1]

Hi guys,

When will round 3 be available?

[Cash]

Hi guys,

When will round 3 be available?

As soon as DarkeSword posts the music, not sure when that will happen. I'd imagine sometime soon.

[DarkeSword]

Putting music up tonight.

Just wanna make a change to submissions rules. Nobody's in any trouble, but I'm going to have to ask you guys to not use MediaFire as a host for your files. Apparently the service has turned to complete crap, and has pop-up ads that try to get me to download EXE files and also features Applebee's commercials as CAPTCHAs.

I recommend using Dropbox or SoundCloud to host your submissions. Thanks.

[jnWake]

I'll be commenting on entries during the week, just wanted to give some comments on my match-up:

The name of Tuberz' entry made me laugh. Turbo Man as an epic orchestra song is a bit funny, the melody doesn't really lend itself to epicness . Using the intro riff from Prison Lane with the blues scale is a bit risky, some harsh harmonies there. I liked the part at 2:56. Use of sources is very balanced here, the arrangement is mostly good but drags on a bit (a lot of repetition in the first 3 minutes) and has some slightly questionable harmonies.

About my song, I tried to keep the rocking feel of Prison Lane while incorporating Turbo Man elements. I only used the main melody (in the 1:40 section and in the ending) and the bridge melody (it works as a bridge here too) of Turbo Man, while I took the main chord progression and the main melodies from Prison Lane as the base of the song. The guitar solo is my interpretation of the solo in Prison Lane. I hope you enjoy the slow part of the song!

I liked the contrast between the two takes on the sources

[MindWanderer]

I've discovered an interesting dilemma in Mega Water S in the Toxic Caves: a lot of the secondary patterns of the two songs are really similar. I just did what was supposed to be an arrangement of the transition in MWS and ended up with something darn similar to one of the transitions in Toxic Caves. Really looking forward to see what therex does with this!

[WiFiSunset]

Looking forward to mixing Turbo Man . Good luck jnWake.

I'll post my reviews later on in the week.

[Tuberz McGee]

The name of Tuberz' entry made me laugh

I hope you translated it!

The arrangement is mostly good but drags on a bit (a lot of repetition in the first 3 minutes) and has some slightly questionable harmonies.

Yeah. Mah bad. That's why I get for not writing orchestra pieces with manuscript and pencil. :/

At least I could've used Sibelius and tidied it up. Oh well. I thought it was funny, so I thought it was nice for the style change.

[DarkeSword]

Guys, the music ZIP has been updated with Mr. L's track. Seems like I missed it when I was doing the track compilation. Voting isn't affected, but make sure you all re-download round 3 to get all 9 tracks.

[acarmelo1]

Putting music up tonight.

Just wanna make a change to submissions rules. Nobody's in any trouble, but I'm going to have to ask you guys to not use MediaFire as a host for your files. Apparently the service has turned to complete crap, and has pop-up ads that try to get me to download EXE files and also features Applebee's commercials as CAPTCHAs.

Those EXE files are just homeless baby virus and worms, that wants a home.

[Mr. L]

Guys, the music ZIP has been updated with Mr. L's track. Seems like I missed it when I was doing the track compilation. Voting isn't affected, but make sure you all re-download round 3 to get all 9 tracks.

Thanks DarkeSword!

--

Really liking the entries so far!

Great job, everyone!

Edited June 4, 2013 by Mr. L

[NovaReaper]

So, I figure it's time to post my ideas on my matchup.

I'm honestly surprised it turned out as well as it did, because I had never remixed a song or even used my mixing program until Saturday night. Burst Man was simple to use, and that became my main focus. Aquatic Base? Not so much. I didn't have time to play around with it, so I just slapped a part in and called it a day, which I feel is pretty shameful.

Anyways, source breakdown:

0:00-0:05: Burst Man A Background

0:05-0:25: Burst Man A Part

0:25-0:54: Aquatic Base A Part

0:54-0:58: Burst Man A Part

0:58-1:08: Aquatic Base B Part

1:08-1:39: Burst Man A Part

Also, please give me feedback if you can. I really want to get better so that I could give Cash and Change, Theory of N, and therex a run for their money! (And to mainly be a better remixer.)

Cosmic Sounds, I actually really like your song! Mainly the Burst Man parts, but I also love how you made Aquatic Base interesting!

Edited June 4, 2013 by NovaReaper

[Cash]

Aquatic Base? Not so much. I didn't have time to play around with it, so I just slapped a part in and called it a day, which I feel is pretty shameful.

Hey, at least you didn't do that for both themes, like I did in round 1. And I also think you did a better job than my round 1 mix!

Also, please give me feedback if you can. I really want to get better so that I could give Cash and Change, Theory of N, and therex a run for their money! (And to mainly be a better remixer.)

Thanks for including me in this list, it validates my belief that my music is getting better!

I'll definitely give you feedback when I get around to it!

[acarmelo1]

Round 3 Review

Well, only one real Battle this week.

jnWake vs Tuberz

Both songs were incredibly,well done and I have listented to them plenty of times today, but I had to choose one for my vote, and it was jnWake

jnWake:

You song, in my opinion was like an epic theme song for one of those awsome chacarters on a Anime, one that will appear speaking some epic stuff.

It had energy, it was well balanced, just epic. My Favorite for this round.

Tuberz:

Your song, the intro sounded like a james bond theme, but then it showed some emotion, this is a well done remix/song. Love the 1:29-2:18 part. In overall a great job.

If you would had paired againts any other you would had win

Cosmic Sounds vs Nova Reaper

Nova Reaper:

I liked you intro, but then it was weird I thought I was going crazy, with bunch of noises in the background. When the sudden Piano started I thought it was someones cellphone.

Cosmic Sounds:

You had my vote for this one, liked your song.

Really sad, like when a chacrater you love dies on a video game.

therex vs Xarnax42

Xarnax42:

It was different, but too short to judge.

therex:

You had my vote, I really liked the use of ingame sounds for your remix, and you knew not to abuse from them. In overeal great song.

The other 3 songs dont know why are not in the contest. but will review them

MindWanderer:

Are you a sax player? Wow this was cool, and would love to hear and see this been played live at a jazz bar, having some drinks. Really jazzy.

Mr.L

Nice song, I like your style very smooth, but it is missing something.

Something that people will remeber and that will stay in plp minds.

A powerful lead, or something like that.

Cash and Change

Hated the intro, but like whats happens after 0:57, the piano thing at the intro

reminds me of hallowen theme song.

Top 9

1) jnWake

2) Tuberz

3) MindWanderer

4)Cosmic Sounds

5)therex

6)Mr.L

7)Cash and Change

8)Nova Reaper

9)Xarnax42

[Cash]

Cash and Change

Hated the intro, but like whats happens after 0:57, the piano thing at the intro

reminds me of hallowen theme song.

Yeah, I agree. I had all my pieces, but ran out of time when it came to putting them together. My intro, outro, and transitions suffered as a result. Thanks for the review!

[Mr. L]

Mr.L

Nice song, I like your style very smooth, but it is missing something.

Something that people will remeber and that will stay in plp minds.

A powerful lead, or something like that.

Thanks for the comments!

The relaxing, smooth soundscape, if you will, was intentional here.

As for the lead, I'm still trying to find 'that one lead', one mix at a time.

But, overall, I'm glad that you liked it!

@NovaReaper

Welcome to the world of remixing! I started kind of like you did - all I had really done previously was make MIDI rips / mashups (and only a couple of those).

The important thing is that you started!

[MindWanderer]

Notes as I listen:

• Marbles in a Needle Stack: I gotta say, Cash, you've certainly gotten a lot better over the last year. I'm not a huge fan of some of your synth sound choices, but some of the arrangement here is truly stellar. The opening was really clean and energizing, reminded me very much of NES Ninja Gaiden. But yeah, it certainly fell apart when you tried to add Marble Zone.
  
• Burst Man Comes Back: That this was your first attempt should surprise no one, I think. Find some better soundfonts/samples/VSTi's. I recommend starting with Sir_NutS's guide: http://sirnuts.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-budget-music-producer-kit.html. It's a little dated, so there are some better alternatives to a couple of his suggestions now, but it's an excellent place to start. And don't ever just use the original music and try to dub over it. I know that with Aquatic Base, the usual cheat of finding a MIDI and starting with that isn't an option, since there isn't one out there, but hopefully you won't have to get that desparate again over the next 3 weeks.
  
• Soul Aquas: Rise Above the Clouds: Well, you clearly have string backing down. Violin riff at 1:17 really doesn't work. Otherwise, the few seconds you have of overt Burst Man is really good, possibly the best Burst Man I've heard (I'm not a huge fan of the MM7 track in general). I don't really hear the Aquatic Base melody at all--it doesn't have much, but you should still use what it does have. When this is all over, you should try an Aquatic Base mix with pieces of Kingdom Hearts and/or Chrono Trigger. Your mixes seem to trend in that direction, and I kept wanting to do that while working on my own Aquatic Base mix.
  
• Speeding Ticket: I can tell right off the bat that you ran out of time to tune the production, it's not up to your usual standards. And also, using electric guitar to remix an electric guitar source? I mean, it's all reasonably well done, it's just kind of meh. Turbo Man is kind of tossed in at the end, too. Better luck next week.
  
• Fantasia ~ Op. 1 No. 1 Deve Andare Veloce: Well, this was unexpected. Soundscape seems a little narrow for orchestral (although I have my cheap headphones on right now). Great arrangement, great harmony. A little light on Prison Lane. Seems like you accidentally ended up with a couple of measures of the Temple of Fiends from Final Fantasy 1. Great use of Turbo Man, easily my favorite use of the source so far in this compo. Should go faster, though.
  
• Submerged: A little more melodic than your usual mixes, and I like that. Typical Mr. L fare as far as style goes, but your production and arrangement skills keep steadily climbing. Keep it up!
  
• I Am the Quick Man: Nice singing, nice try. Could definitely use some compression, and there's one or two notes off key.
  
• The Soulful Sonata of Dr. Kwick Mann: Some nice light synth. Fun arrangement, nice creative interpretations, nothing too ambitious as far as instrumentation goes. Overall just a solid contribution.
  
• Sex with Squirrels: Was originally going to be "Sex in the Grove," but the more I came to dislike how it was going, the more I preferred the silly and apropos title. I was going for a classic jazz organ quartet, and discovered far too late that I don't actually like the Hammond organ as a backup instrument. Volume balance is way off--I tried to improve my skills with compression/limiting and did not get very far. EQ is also way off. Ugh. At least the power of the famous tenor sax soundfont was good enough to please one person, even if I didn't have time to humanize (and that particular soundfont is hard to humanize, since it's completely intolerant of overlapping notes).

[jnWake]

Reviews for the rest!

Mr. L - Classical Mr. L song! Ambient stuff with nice pads and stuff. The synth bass is a bit too low, if you raise the volume a bit it'll add a lot of tension to the song. I think you're still struggling in figuring out how to make melodies stand out, but I feel you did a better job at that this time. Pads are nice but you could experiment by doing the melody first and the pads later. I liked the synth that does the arpeggios by the way.

Xarnax - Well, this is very short but sounds promising. A shame you haven't been able to participate much in the competition, because it seems you could do some interesting stuff. Regarding this song, the volumes are very inbalanced, voice takes over everything...

therex - Interesting mood. Snare feels a bit weak, drowned by almost everything. The pads in the first section are a bit too high pitch-wise and low volume-wise, they seem important but are hard to hear. The section at 1:00 feels empty before the pads and the rhytm synth enter. Overall, I like the song but it feels like it's lacking something.

MindWanderer - I don't think this is worse than your other mixes, I'd even say it's better. Percussions are a bit lame but I like the direction you went with. Sax sounds nice but it could use more "tricks", like bends and more vibrato (there is some, but I'd use more!). Some parts feel Mario Kart-ish! I think this is actually very promising, I'd add more dynamic percussions and a backing piano and it'd be a pretty good song

Cash and Change - Wow the drums are loud (kick especially). I like the piano at the intro, but the bass sound is very bad. At 0:39 there's a very painful dissonance, you should look at it because your songs tend to have some off-key sections (0:53 sounds a bit odd too). Section beggining at 0:56 could use livelier drums, the rhytm starts becoming stale by this point. The change at 1:55 is very welcome, nicely done there. Transition at 2:05 is super forced (maybe you could have transposed Marble Zone to the key you were using instead of doing that strange piano thing), and the Marble section sounds very similar to what you did last round. I'd like to see you play with more source interaction

NovaReaper - It's clear this was a bit rushed. The Burst Man section could use better volume balance and also some panning to separate the different sections (winds and strings). Sampling the song directly is a bit strange and the piano lines that you add are compeltely off-key most of the time. I guess next round, with more time to do the mix, will have some more interesting ideas!

CosmicSounds - You're getting better at making your samples sound better! I feel the attack on the strings is a bit too quick most of the time though, you can add a lot of emotion by making the attack slower in long notes. Piano samples is pretty bad sadly, sounds like a toy when compared to the strings (also feels like it lacks low frequencies and has a bit too much reverb). I'm not sure where you used Aquatic Base here...

Overall, the arrangement is nice, but I'd really like to see you experiment more, not all orchestral songs are slow paced and dramatic! Also, you tend to not use low pitched instruments at all and that makes your songs feel like they miss something.

Speeding Ticket: I can tell right off the bat that you ran out of time to tune the production, it's not up to your usual standards. And also, using electric guitar to remix an electric guitar source? I mean, it's all reasonably well done, it's just kind of meh. Turbo Man is kind of tossed in at the end, too. Better luck next week.

Production is always rushed for this things! But yeah, I did it quite fast, even though I like how it sounds. I used electric guitars because I wanted to keep the spirit of Prison Lane in the mix. Turbo Man is used in more sections than the ending, but the ending is the most noticeable use clearly.

Edited June 4, 2013 by jnWake

[Mr. L]

Submerged: A little more melodic than your usual mixes, and I like that. Typical Mr. L fare as far as style goes, but your production and arrangement skills keep steadily climbing. Keep it up!

Thank you for the comments / review, MindWanderer!

Awesome job on your arrangement, man!

Reviews for the rest!

Mr. L - Classical Mr. L song! Ambient stuff with nice pads and stuff. The synth bass is a bit too low, if you raise the volume a bit it'll add a lot of tension to the song. I think you're still struggling in figuring out how to make melodies stand out, but I feel you did a better job at that this time. Pads are nice but you could experiment by doing the melody first and the pads later. I liked the synth that does the arpeggios by the way.

Thanks for the comments / review, jnWake!

About the bass, I was wanting it to add to the underwater feeling, if you will, but I guess I submerged it too much, volume-wise.

I really do need to work on melodies. Old habits die hard, with the pad / soundscape coming first, but with that said...

... I'm going to try changing things up for these next 3 entries!

Edited June 5, 2013 by Mr. L

[WiFiSunset]

Here's my Source usage for my song.

00:00-00:25 (Aquatic Base Source Intro, literally) How was this not heard?? XD

00:38-00:48 (Aquatic Base Source 1:46-1:53).

00:53-1:20 (Burst Man A)

1:20-End (Chords from Aquatic Base 00:00-00:12)

1:50-2:01 (Burst Man

2:03-2:15 (Aquatic Base Source 31-33 Piano)

A little background info on the title. I though about how it sounded uplifting, and then thought about naming it "Rise Above the Clouds". Then I thought about how I name my songs knowing that people around the world will hear it; and that it will affect, inspire, and a lot of other endless possiblities. Which then made me think about the tornado that occured on Oklahoma, and then I thought that the title was perfect X). I hope that it makes anyone out there feel as if you can simply rise above the clouds . I also name songs based on how they make me feel, this one sounds uplifing, and positive .

Soul Aquas: Rise Above the Clouds: Well, you clearly have string backing down. Violin riff at 1:17 really doesn't work. Otherwise, the few seconds you have of overt Burst Man is really good, possibly the best Burst Man I've heard (I'm not a huge fan of the MM7 track in general). I don't really hear the Aquatic Base melody at all--it doesn't have much, but you should still use what it does have. When this is all over, you should try an Aquatic Base mix with pieces of Kingdom Hearts and/or Chrono Trigger. Your mixes seem to trend in that direction, and I kept wanting to do that while working on my own Aquatic Base mix.

Thanks! A Crono/Kingdom Hearts/Sonic ReMix Sounds cool....you're giving me ideas XD. Yeah, the violin triplets leading into 1:20 was my way of keeping things moving while shifting keys.

CosmicSounds - You're getting better at making your samples sound better! I feel the attack on the strings is a bit too quick most of the time though, you can add a lot of emotion by making the attack slower in long notes. Piano samples is pretty bad sadly, sounds like a toy when compared to the strings (also feels like it lacks low frequencies and has a bit too much reverb). I'm not sure where you used Aquatic Base here...

Overall, the arrangement is nice, but I'd really like to see you experiment more, not all orchestral songs are slow paced and dramatic! Also, you tend to not use low pitched instruments at all and that makes your songs feel like they miss something.

That's a Huge comment , thanks! I'll try to find better piano (and harp) samples, so that when I use them they sound good. It's funny that you mention slow orchestrals when I plan to do the excat opposite type of Orchestral for this round (Sonic + Turbo Man = fast and epic).

I compose using String Orchestra most of the time, so the low instrumment would be the Bass/Contrabass.....it's important not to let the bass overpower the other instruments within a section, unless they have the main/ or prominently supporting part (not for our round though).

Thanks for the critiques, it helps me progress . I plan on experimenting for our round .

Also, please give me feedback if you can.

Considering that you're just starting, that's pretty good . I'm glad that you liked my song! As for beginning tips, try reading these threads.

Zircon's thread here helps (the links are on the last page): http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3314

http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43377.

These helped me when I first began working in my DAW.

I'll post my Reviews later.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Cosmic Sounds

[Cash]

@Mindwanderer and jnWake

Thanks for the reviews!

I really hate what I did with Marble Zone this round. I'm afraid all my energy went into Needle Man, which is really the only section I like. The rest is bleh if you ask me.

I'm still learning how to incorporate two sources into a coherent whole. I never work with multiple sources outside of competitions, so I'm still struggling. I'll put more focus on this in the next few rounds, hopefully it'll pay off!

Also, I think I should tone down my drums, I've gotten lots of comments saying they're loud (well, no one has explicitly said this a bad thing, but I get the impression that it is).

EDIT:

Cash and Change - Wow the drums are loud (kick especially). I like the piano at the intro, but the bass sound is very bad. At 0:39 there's a very painful dissonance, you should look at it because your songs tend to have some off-key sections (0:53 sounds a bit odd too).

I hear that dissonance at 0:39, it's sounds like the bass is the problem. The synth string I used for a pad might also be contributing. Or maybe it's just the arrangement. I'm not surprised if I have off-key sections in my music, I don't know much about "key" in music. Plus, I'm still not very good at creating counter-melodies.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Cash

[Rexy]

Voted on the tracks this morning - good turnout! Nothing much to add here other than the fact that MindWanderer's track title left me unable to keep a straight face for nearly 10 minutes xD

[NovaReaper]

Dang, I did not expect so much suggestions already! Really guys, thank you so much!

Burst Man Comes Back: That this was your first attempt should surprise no one, I think. Find some better soundfonts/samples/VSTi's. I recommend starting with Sir_NutS's guide: http://sirnuts.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-budget-music-producer-kit.html. It's a little dated, so there are some better alternatives to a couple of his suggestions now, but it's an excellent place to start. And don't ever just use the original music and try to dub over it. I know that with Aquatic Base, the usual cheat of finding a MIDI and starting with that isn't an option, since there isn't one out there, but hopefully you won't have to get that desperate again over the next 3 weeks.

Thanks for the link! Also, you're implying that I ever used a soundfont/sample in my life, which is a little too much faith in me. Anyways, you've showed me something new, so thank you again!

NovaReaper - It's clear this was a bit rushed. The Burst Man section could use better volume balance and also some panning to separate the different sections (winds and strings). Sampling the song directly is a bit strange and the piano lines that you add are compeltely off-key most of the time. I guess next round, with more time to do the mix, will have some more interesting ideas!

I'll be sure to keep the panning in mind! I only directly sampled the song because I didn't have time to do anything else. Rest assured, I have some decent ideas kicking around, I'll just hope I can execute them.

@Cosmic Sounds: This (http://ocremix.org/info/Category:Tutorials) is a more complete source, but thank you anyways!

Edited June 6, 2013 by NovaReaper