Flexstyle Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) Remixer Name - Flexstyle feat. OverClocked University Remix Name: SZRC Anthem (Busiest Days of my Life) Game: Sonic 2 (Genesis), Sonic 3 (Genesis) Source: Aquatic Ruin Zone - , Ice Cap Zone - Remix: (MP3 V1 download available) EDIT: okay you guys here is one with less compression ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? So, this was my losing track in the Sonic Zone Remix Competition 2014, but it's also the one I'm most proud of at this point. Stevo (Level 99), Andrew (OA), and Deia (DragonAvenger) all pitched in and got me some excellent instrumental tracks in the span of about three days on incredibly short notice, and they all ROCKED this track. Stevo, in particular, REALLY brought the heat with multiple layers of rhythm AND clean guitars. The vocals are done by yours truly using a crummy Sennheiser e815 handheld mic--which is good for live vocals and not much else--SO MUCH VOCAL EQ. Didn't even bother to use a stand or a pop filter or anything while recording because screw you, mate. (That's the punk rock attitude, right?) I deliberately chose the Ice Cap zone theme for this competition because I wanted to see what I could bring to an "overused" source tune. Just had to have a bit of a challenge. Well, I'm pretty sure nobody's done a punk rock spoof of the Jetzons before! The lyrics are a bit "referential," so basically the story is that I did this song during midterms/finals (for one class) week in my final semester of school. Since I also work on the days I'm not in school, I don't usually have a lot of time to work on music, hence this ode to FL Studio. Growing up is serious business, yo! Anyways. I'm aware of a couple flaws in the vocal mixing 'n such, but I wanted to let this be since it's the first time I've done this genre. Zero changes from what I submitted to the competition. I'll have something even more polished the next time, hopefully! LYRICS: All through the day I have no time To play with my F L Studi---o And so I must wait Til I get home To play with my F L Studi---o I wish I had time Throughout the day To play with my F L Studi----o But I am a working And learning man No time for my F L Studi----o SZRC Busiest days of my life How time flies by -------------------------------------------- Aquatic Ruin Zone - Ice Cap Zone - Edited June 24, 2014 by Flexstyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Love the Hard Times reference! Can't not love this. Super awesome arrangement, great use of both sources, killer performances all around. Love it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 LOUD! (waveform sausage) I'd prefer just a drop less master compression. I've loved this since you first shared it with me. I still find the vocals a bit buried and too wide, but those lyrics are great and you've got a great voice, and you've done a nice job with the backing vocals too. All the performances are wonderful, nice job everyone! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) Mike's vocals were OK, but the way the word "studio" is sung seemed too low and didn't quite fit with the music in that spot. I get that the approach is kind of a robotic vibe, but it didn't click there for me in that one repeated spot. During the more crowded sections (e.g. :39-:52), there's a lot of indistinct sizzling noise in the percussion, and the guitar chords. Literally from :53-:56 as the guitar fades, I literally hear the soundscape go from too cramped to nice and spacious. And then at 1:06, the guitar returns and I'm getting the same issues, i.e. Mike's vocals fighting for space and the cymbals sounding too hot and slightly distorted (best example for cymbals: 1:53-2:05). 1:32-1:46 in particular needs room to breathe. What was the point of the call-response "throughout the day" at 1:09 and "and learning now" at 1:14? They're pretty buried in the track and on first blush sounded like garbled artifacts rather than an element adding texture. So anyway, the arrangement is a straightforward pass, so I'm sorry for glossing over that, but the mixing is too compressed for too much of the track. I'm surprised I'm saying this given the participants involved, but I definitely think this needs another pass on the mixing side before it's ready for primetime. Pull back the volume a bit, re-EQ some parts and give the fullest sections more space; right now, there's too much of this track that's pushing it re: volume and resulting in indistinct mixing. NO (resubmit) EDIT (6/23): What can I say? You need to treat my old-man ears with kindness and respect. Hey, if a non-musician like me can get a production call right every so often, I'm content. So this version's still a little cramped, in that the cymbals don't sound like cymbals and just sound like indistinct, lossy sizzle, IMO, and 2:36-2:52 for the close was getting crowded. HOWEVER, the rest of the mixing's way more on point, so I can look past those issues now that most of the other elements have room to breathe and the track sounds much more spacious and balanced. Even the way "studio" sounded in the spoken word-ish vocals was smooth when you can fully hear the vocals; same goes for the call-response vocals at 1:09 & 1:14. Really strong energy and performances. Glad to finally sign off on this one. YES Edited June 24, 2014 by Liontamer vote changed to YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 (edited) Gotta admit, I agree with Larry that there's a lot of crowdedness going on in this. I think you can go through and clean this up a bit to make it easier to hear the parts and your vocals, Mike! Also, thanks for being patient with me on this and getting that bass part in! Edit 6/24: Nice fixes! much more clarity on the vocals, and the rest of the parts as well. Lovin' dat bass >.> YES Edited June 24, 2014 by DragonAvenger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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