SZRC - The Sonic Zone Remix Competition 2014 [TheGuitahHeroe wins - complete ZIP available!]

[wildfire]

Wildfire - bloody loved it. I was getting OutRun vibes from this. Hoping you're bringing some of this flavour to that Sonic R project of yours because, hell YES PLEASE!

Hell. Yes. Prepare yourself for all dat flavour.

Glad you liked it!

[theshaggyfreak]

What's parallel mixing?

You'll often hear people talk about doing Parallel Compression but you can do that with EQ, etc. If you do a Google search on Parallel Compression, you'll find a lot of stuff about it. That concept can work in a lot of various situations and it's quite popular with vocals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_compression

[Cash]

Thanks for the feedback DiGi Valentine, theshaggyfreak, and therex!

Cash - Very fun, very bouncy, you have a nice little song here. Good stuff.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! It was fun to make.

Cash - Nice composition albeit is a bit on the sparse side. Some sounds pop out of the mix a bit too much and could use some taming.

Thanks, I spent a lot of time on composition. I wanted to put in more layers, but ran out of time. I also heard those popping out sounds, again the time was a factor.

Cash - Soundscape is a tad empty. Drums can be brought out. Synths are getting a bit more complex than your older stuff, so nice work on the improvement. Ending is a tad odd.

Yep, I agree that the soundscape isn't as full as it could have been. Time was my enemy this round. I'm glad you think my synth work is improving. That's validation that I'm getting better!

[Ethan Rex]

So I'm getting out of my funk

[Chernabogue]

SPOILERS: All my SZRC are going to be MIDI dubstep black metal.

[Garpocalypse]

SPOILERS: All my SZRC are going to be MIDI dubstep black metal.

With latin folk-kazoo-funk influences?

Just so long as you use a Hurdy Gurdy as the featured instrument chances are i'll be into it!

[Phonetic Hero]

I always wanted to touch up my first SZRC1 track and never got around to it, so I've decided that I'm going to make this track in a similar style. But this time, I've got a much more profound love of orchestral hits and Genesis samples

Also I kinda got a lot on my plate, so I'd told Matt that I might not be able to commit a whole lot of time to my mixes, but... damn it, I think my competitive spirit is getting the better of me

Edited February 3, 2014 by Phonetic Hero

[WiFiSunset]

The music's in a .rar file?? So much for listening to the Round 1 mixes xD. I forgot what the program used to open those are called.

[Phonetic Hero]

The music's in a .rar file?? So much for listening to the Round 1 mixes xD. I forgot what the program used to open those are called.

Look up jzip dude! Free and easy to use file decompressor

[wildfire]

The music's in a .rar file?? So much for listening to the Round 1 mixes xD. I forgot what the program used to open those are called.

I recommend 7zip

[SuperiorX]

I hope you Robotniks are making some music magic for us this week! As others have echoed, some of these match-ups couldn't have been scripted better. I'm stoked to hear the results!

I always wanted to touch up my first SZRC1 track and never got around to it, so I've decided that I'm going to make this track in a similar style. But this time, I've got a much more profound love of orchestral hits and Genesis samples

Also I kinda got a lot on my plate, so I'd told Matt that I might not be able to commit a whole lot of time to my mixes, but... damn it, I think my competitive spirit is getting the better of me

Excelllllent, my plans are working perfectly

The music's in a .rar file?? So much for listening to the Round 1 mixes xD. I forgot what the program used to open those are called.

I'll switch it to a ZIP and I'll make it a ZIP going forward, I think I just defaulted to RAR. I use WinRAR, which is also free, if I recall.

[jnWake]

jnwake: Very sweet stuff, loved the calm atmosphere at the start that breaks into good ol' metal. drums sound a bit muddy but the guitars are clear enough, the arrangement was very good and both tracks were joined almost seamlessly.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, drums are a bit muddy, I had some trouble with the snare particularly...

Very nice track. All I can really say is that the themes feel too separated, but they're pretty different, so it's tricky to combine them. I like the ending

I actually combined them a lot. I guess the big separation is the middle section where I totally switched styles for a bit

Nuts vs. Wake: WAIT THIS WASN'T A MATCHUP?!? Both great tracks, really enjoyable and great work from all y'all. Just wanted to mention that here. :3

Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you don't remove my track from your playlist.

jnWake - Love that Green Hill breakdown in the middle, very nice touch. Good song overall, loving the guitars.

Glad you liked it

jnWake - Beginning atmosphere is nice - I like the tone on that flute. Whoa, interesting shift to rock guitars. Lead guitar seems too far back in the mix, especially when compared to the rhythm guitars. Nice job bringing the flute back in, it works well with everything else.

That flute tone is some weird exotic flute I found in Kontakt Factory Selection. It's pretty neat haha.

jnWake - The lead guitar sits a bit too much in the same sonic space as the rhythm guitar. I'd have like to hear it come forward a bit more. Nice guitar work, though! The panning of the hat near the half way point seemed a bit weird to me. Good tune!

I'll have to check on that. I'm quite sure I EQ'ed the guitars so that they don't clash much frequency wise, but maybe I just planned to do it and then actually forgot to do it...

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've been listening to the tracks and I'll comment on them during the week!

[Disambiguity]

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement and feedback! I've quite a bit I still need to learn, but I wouldn't have gotten even close to what I ended up with without everyone's support (and Beth's peer pressure ).

Well, I've got a number of things to work on for next time. Better get practicing, I guess

[wildfire]

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement and feedback! I've quite a bit I still need to learn, but I wouldn't have gotten even close to what I ended up with without everyone's support (and Beth's peer pressure ).

Well, I've got a number of things to work on for next time. Better get practicing, I guess

This, IMO, is the entire point of compos: to become a better remixer/musician by challenging yourself.

[Chernabogue]

Bingo Highway was certainely composed by a man under the influence of acid.

[Brandon Strader]

Hey guys, I poopbutted myself in this compo, but I'd love to collab with anyone who is up for it, especially jnWake! So if you need like.... vocals, or acoustic guitar, or electronic guitar (which you could amp yourself!) let me know!

[Eino Keskitalo]

I was thinking of asking you for a guitar solo, Brandon! I'll try to get the skeleton of the track down ASAP.

--Eino

[Tuberz McGee]

Totally have a large portion of this mix sorted.

I actually found myself loving my opponent's source way more!

Like... that synth line in the back is hella sweet!

Good luck denizens of the Pingas bracket.

[Garpocalypse]

Hey guys, I poopbutted myself in this compo, but I'd love to collab with anyone who is up for it, especially jnWake! So if you need like.... vocals, or acoustic guitar, or electronic guitar (which you could amp yourself!) let me know!

Should I make it past the first round I may have a few ideas for you BS.

[NovaReaper]

Totally have a large portion of this mix sorted.

I actually found myself loving my opponent's source way more!

Like... that synth line in the back is hella sweet!

Good luck denizens of the Pingas bracket.

It's hard for me to do your song though! I'm probably just going to do both of my acts.

[SuperiorX]

It's hard for me to do your song though! I'm probably just going to do both of my acts.

You have to incorporate parts of your opponent's theme in your mix. That's the main point of the competition

Try looking for ways you can incorporate parts of Tuberz's theme into backing parts of your theme. Like accompaniment or harmony parts. It can be subtle and creative; it doesn't always have to be featuring the big main melodies of each theme.

[orlouge82]

I am really sorry jnWake and others... just the worst timing possible, between working a double friday night, then sleeping a double, then Groundhog Day I shouldn't have procrastinated as long as I did because I ended up not having time

Strader?? STRAAAAADER!!! This is how things turn out after the Sonic compo two years ago?

[Rexy]

I'm currently looking at how the votes are standing after a couple of days. I'm not quite too sure what happened, but:

* urdailywater still needs to contribute to the remaining 4 match-ups for his previous 2 to count.

* StarDragonJP only voted in the Oil Ocean / Volcano Valley matchup so far and should contribute to others to make his vote count.

* And DJ Max-E is yet to vote in his OWN matchup.

So if you're any of those three, I suggest you get a move on before it's too late. Though, given there's 5 days it's probably not too late just yet o_O

[SuperiorX]

I'm currently looking at how the votes are standing after a couple of days. I'm not quite too sure what happened, but:

Yeah I noticed that too. I know in some cases people vote on some right away and then come back later to decide on others. But yeah luckily there is still a lot of time left. Hopefully everybody will grab the mixes and we'll continue to get strong voter turnout throughout the week! Looks like there are a handful of close matchups that may go down to the wire! Exciting!

I appreciate everyone who's been leaving reviews in here too. It's great to receive some feedback! I'll plan on leaving some myself when I place my votes and close voting this Sunday! Thanks everyone!

[ad.mixx]

I just haven't taken the time to listen to the other mixes yet. I will though.