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

SuperiorX

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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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I have all the tracks except BlackPanther and Cosmic Sounds (who isn't going to make it) for the Robotnik Bracket. Tallying Sonic Bracket votes now. 5 minutes!

Here are my reviews of the Sonic Bracket Round 1, as promised!

Ladywildfire – I really like the groove and arrangement in this song a lot. I can hear the Latin house influences for sure. Everything is sounding nice and crisp from an instrumentation standpoint too. The percussion and that ‘lead’ bouncy synth instrument play together well. Your vocals fit the atmosphere pretty well. As others have mentioned, I think the vocals have the most opportunity for improvement – I don’t think it’s a problem with your vocals themselves, but more so the recording. It sounds kinda tinny, or lo-fi as someone put it, like it was recorded on a subpar microphone. It’s missing a lot of a low-end bassy sound. I know nothing about proper vocal recording or mixing techniques tho, so unfortunately I can’t make any recommendations there. Great song tho!

Jason Covenant – damn this song is catchy! I could listen to that vocal hook over and over again. I really hope you finish this song up, as it has a lot of potential. The arrangement and instrumentation was a little sparse throughout, but given you finished this in an couple of hours, that’s to be expected. A shame you didn’t have more time to work on this.

halc – not much to say here. Awesome stuff you two ;) I think the vocal mixing is just fine. You want the vocals to be front and center in a song like this. Awesome groove and nice vocal performances by both of you.

Disambiguity – Glad you stuck with it and turned in your track. This does have a cool mysterious ambient atmosphere to it. As others mentioned, definitely work on beefing up the percussion and some additional instrumentation to fill out the sound. Some nice pads would accompany this track really well.

Sir_NutS – Really groovy song between the two of you! I like the percussion work and backing synth work in particular. The vocal performances are solid too. My only gripe is I feel there is a little too much distortion on Jive’s vocals. I assume this was a stylistic choice for the genre, but I feel they could be just a little cleaner. Awesome track regardless tho!

DJ Max-E – I really enjoy how this track continues to evolve throughout the arrangement. Really clever integration of the two themes and some really nice ambient percussion mixing. I also like the lead instrument that comes in about half way too. This track may be a little more “out there”, but I really enjoyed it.

Xenonetix – This track is a lot more fast paced than Max-E’s, and I think it fits the two sources very well. Mixing sounds a little muddy, particular with those pads that are overpowering the mix a little bit. I really like the piano stuff and that plucky synth instrument halfway through too. This definitely has sort of a JRPG battle music vibe, I dig it. Nice work.

Ivan Hakstok – This is a really original mix. You worked the two themes together really well. The instrumentation is what really sells this mix tho – the combo of that piano, fiddle, and lead guitar was executed really well. My only gripe is that wub-wub bass that comes in around 3:00 does feel out of place. It doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the instrumentation; feels like an odd choice. Still a really enjoyable track tho.

Ryan Jobson – This song is so fun and bouncy. Perhaps a little more straightforward cover of the sources – but you fit them together in a really clever way. Not much else to say, I really enjoy this mix, it’s just a lot of fun. This match-up was probably the toughest to decide between.

Amphibious – Classic Amph right here. I always love your epaino stuff. So smooooooth. Mixing is tight and crisp as always. It feels like it was mixed a little quiet overall, but not a big deal. Awesome transitions between the two sources – they were fit together very well. And that a cappella breakdown was sweeeeeeet. Feels like it could’ve used just a tad more reverb, as the vocals sounded a little dry, but awesome nonetheless!

Cash – Another really fun and bouncy song. Nice instrumentation choices! As the others have mentioned, the arrangement didn’t feel quite as cohesive as it kind of bounced around between sections. Really cool tho and a nice nod to Marble Madness too ;)

Trism – That intro is really cool. I love the overbearing percussion and pad work – it really sets a nice atmosphere. As the song progresses, a few of the bits feel out of place (Metropolis bass, as others have mentioned), and like something is a little amiss in the key signature. Nice interpretation of the source material though, it definitely is a unique take on these themes!

jnWake – DAMN! I really like this mix. The arrangement is stellar. You mixed the two themes together very well. I personally liked the big Green Hill transition epiano section; it was a great change of pace and was a lot of fun. Nice guitar work throughout too! The guitar mixing feels a little muddy, the lead feels a bit buried and like it should’ve been EQed more up-front so it could really shine. Not sure if that’s a reflection of the recording or just the mixing (I’m not familiar with mixing guitars), but that’s my only real gripe. Nice job!

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ad.mixx

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just as a disclaimer or whatever, my tracks borrows from twenty one pilots a bit, and i kind of even took a synth part from one of their songs "semi-automatic" and implemented it into mine. it was an accident at first, but i realized it worked well and just kept it in. it was small but just wanted to make sure people knew.

edit: blackpanther huuuurrrryyy!!!!!!!!!! i need a matchup!!!!!

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BlackPanther Newbie

BlackPanther

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Poopy pants. I got rushed out of the house to do some things. I'm in the process of uploading my track now.

Didn't fully finish it, but I do have the rest of it laid out for when I get the time to work on this some more; I do think you guy will enjoy what I have, if not, then I appreciate you listening at least, =D!

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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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OK - Voting on the Sonic Round 1 mixes is closed. Results have been updated in the first post in the bracket graphic. Sonic Round 2 begins now! Tracks are due next Sunday, February 16th at 12pm (noon) EDT!

Sonic Bracket Round 2 features two rematches from the SZRC 2012: halc vs. ladyWildfire and Amphibious vs. Ivan Hakstok! Such drama! As well as anticipated match-ups of DJ Max-E vs. Sir_NutS and SuperiorX vs. jnWake. Good luck everyone!

The Robotnik Round 1 mixes will be up soon :-D

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halc Newbie

halc

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Bring it. Any special rules for this round?

No special rules, but I personally will be attempting the quote below. I'm heading back to Indy for a few days next week so I'm going to have to turn in my mix by Thursday afternoon, so we'll see if I can get lyrics written and recorded by then.. >:D

must include rap and no fewer than 4 pingas jokes
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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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OK! The Robotnik Round 1 entries are available for download! 15 entries were submitted. Phonetic Hero advances by default. Voting is now open: voting ends next Sunday, February 16th at 12pm (noon) ET.

Sonic Round 2 entries are due next Sunday, February 16th at 12pm (noon) ET as well. Good luck!

so I'm going to have to turn in my mix by Thursday afternoon

Same here... I'm entertaining visitors next weekend, so my mix will need to be done by Friday. Good luck jnWake, I'm looking forward to our match-up!

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Garpocalypse Newbie

Garpocalypse

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into the mixes now. Nova you have no idea how long i've been waiting to see someone use new scool in a remix. (nuschool? New Skyool?) Did you draw a picture of sonic and end up with that as a groove?

Dusk are you friggen kidding me? We both used the 2 sources in similar ways. :)

Edited by Garpocalypse
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Brandon Strader Newbie

Brandon Strader

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into the mixes now. Nova you have no idea how long i've been waiting to see someone use new scool in a remix. (nuschool? New Skyool?) Did you draw a picture of sonic and end up with that as a groove?

Dusk are you friggen kidding me? We both used the 2 sources in similar ways. :)

BH3eeME.gif

Will the metal be delivered?!

For your next entry? ;-)

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NovaReaper Newbie

NovaReaper

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into the mixes now. Nova you have no idea how long i've been waiting to see someone use new scool in a remix. (nuschool? New Skyool?) Did you draw a picture of sonic and end up with that as a groove?

Dusk are you friggen kidding me? We both used the 2 sources in similar ways. :)

It was pretty much me just picking random Synth1 sounds and see what works. :<

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theshaggyfreak Newbie

theshaggyfreak

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Just some notes on my remix, Smooth as Ice...

I'm trying to do more jazzy styled stuff. It's a genre I really enjoy and feel that there could be more jazzy VG remixes in general.

I tried to make it sound as natural as possible with only using (mostly) the instruments that come with Kontakt in Komplete. If I had more time, I would have hunted down some folks to record the parts with real instruments. Its' a bit difficult to do that in such a short period of time but I think I'll eventually have that done.

When I'm writing jazzy pieces like this, I generally pick what instruments I'm using beforehand and stick with them. I really do try and imagine it being played by a live group of musicians. Here's the set of instruments I used in case you can't pick them all out: Alto sax, tenor sax, clav, vibes, drum kit, bass, and guitar. The guitar is probably the worst offender of not sounding natural. I could have probably recorded this myself but lacked the time to do so. I'm hoping to have XPRTnovice eventually do the sax parts and I'll be doing the bass parts.

I attempted to keep things tight but loose if you get my meaning. I think I more or less achieved that but it still needs work. I think I could have a bit more variation in there too. I think a lot of that would come with it having more real instruments rather than sample libraries.

Flexstyle, I took a listen to your remix and am quite impressed! While it's not exactly the style of music I like, the production is very good! Having vocals with it certainly does trump my song. :)

Edited by theshaggyfreak
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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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Mixing Metropolis and Sky Road feels so weird haha. Sky Road Zone 1 seems a bit more fitting but I want to try and challenge myself with Zone 2...

It probably won't be a rock remix this time though. Looking forward to what you do SuperiorX!

Yeah Sky Road is pretty tricky. I gotta admit, I usually use midis for reference when I'm first starting out on my mixes for competitions like this. And given that Sonic Lost World is so new, there are no midis for the game, so this is really pushing me outside my normal routine. I have no idea quite yet what my mix is going to be, this shall be interesting!

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jnWake Contributor

jnWake

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Yeah Sky Road is pretty tricky. I gotta admit, I usually use midis for reference when I'm first starting out on my mixes for competitions like this. And given that Sonic Lost World is so new, there are no midis for the game, so this is really pushing me outside my normal routine. I have no idea quite yet what my mix is going to be, this shall be interesting!

Zone 2 is mostly on G minor, but the intro begins in C (forgot the name of that mode!). Song uses a lot of 7th chords too :razz: Zone 1 is mostly on D major, but it has some weird alterations...

I don't have a MIDI for it but I guess you can figure the song out by knowing the key at least :-D

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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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I found one for Frozen Factory. :-P

:-P yeah I've seen one for that zone and Windy Hill. But no Sky Road :-|

Zone 2 is mostly on G minor, but the intro begins in C (forgot the name of that mode!). Song uses a lot of 7th chords too :razz: Zone 1 is mostly on D major, but it has some weird alterations...

I don't have a MIDI for it but I guess you can figure the song out by knowing the key at least :-D

Thanks! Yeah, I can pick the key and chords out myself, it's just a pain in the butt and takes up time that I wouldn't have needed to use if I found a midi. This does make me want to play Sonic Lost World tho now cause the music is pretty cool :)

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