Chimpazilla Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 metaphist (Paul Ford, 8822)new site: music.metaphist.comSonic the Hedgehog (sms) - Green Hill Zone "A Blue-Green Color"This started out as me trying to mix "Green Hill Zone" in the style of a Sonic R song, mostly taking inspiration from "You're My Number One." At one point I was trying to mix in some of that source so I could include it on the Sonic R album project that was going on at the time. Although that would have been awesome, I couldn't really make it work out, so I just scaled it back to Green Hill Zone and didn't worry too much about it resembling Sonic R in any way, though you can still hear the influences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 jumps right in with no lube or drinks to soften up the mood. 1,2,3,4 cowbell and then onwards to a very busy place. once it gets goin with the traditional source lead at 0:25s, it balances out much better and then it's fun but you've gotta work on that intro because it really pales in comparison with the rest of what follows and is probably the only compositional weak point. i'm down with your chord breakdowns to space out the main A section of the source by rethinking the B section; this is expertly done. definitely can sense that sonic R feel though i think this is better on its own. the sound bites are great; their use is just right. not too much, the pacing is on point, the context relevant, check, check, check. generally speaking, the track stays fresh, teasing us with modal changes and a rethinking of the source's chord voicings while not only pontificating about mixing through the sound bites but also by giving us some cerebral arrangement skills. very cool stuff. MIXING. i dig. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Right off the bat I love your sounds, but it's SO cluttered. The piano and the bass are fighting, and the lead synths fight on top of them. Your part writing in the rhythm section is just way too busy. You need to tell the bass to seriously CHILL. If you want to have a breakdown where the bass goes all out, that's great but you can't just have the bass having a freakout for four minutes. Start by deleting about half of the notes from the bass part. Do that. Then see if the keys and leads don't sound better. You might have to go through a similar process in the key parts, though instead of deleting half, maybe delete a third. Seriously. You've got some great ideas in here but I can't remember any of them because you have them ALL going at once. Establish the groove. You're not getting paid by the note here. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 I actually find myself agreeing STRONGLY with Vig on this track but I don't know if I would have been able to put my finger on it on my own. There's some really strong vibes here, and I think you've stumbled upon a REALLY cool approach to the classic Green Hill melody, but right now your part writing is too busy and the instrument lines are stepping all over each other. The end result is just cacophonous and unfortunately undermines the chill mood that you seemed to be going for It's hard to tell for sure, but I feel that you could also do some balancing work by bringing some of your backing instruments down in volume just slightly so they're not competing quite as much. Perhaps you could retain more of your complex writing with a different approach to mixing where everything isn't quite as loud? Really, I dig this a lot, like nearly all of your submissions, Paul, but this one's overflowing with ideas and needs to get parsed down a bit. (Did anyone else hear "shit shades and hues" at 1:52/3:39? ) NO (resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I very much like your track. It doesn't muck around, things get straight to the point, giving us a jazzy off-beat rendition of everyone's fave Sonic level. Lots of you throughout this mix, lots of ideas pour in, and you have some nice choices of sounds. It's great to hear a fresh take of an over-remixed source tune that takes things in a direction you haven't heard. I am with the others when they say that things feel cluttered, but I don't feel it was so cluttered that things weren't listenable. I was able to hear pretty much all of your elements all the way through - your piano was audible throughout the mix, even when going off into the background to do its own licks here and there. I feel the key problem you have with this mix is on the mixing side. Not with EQ or usage of stereo space, which seem mostly ok - but with individual track volumes. Some parts are needlessly high in volume compared to others, and your lead lines don't stick out as much as they could, leading to that cluttered feeling. Having a rethink of your levels would bring more audibility to this mix. My other complaint (but only a minor one), is that I wasn't a huge fan of the vocal samples from halfway through the mix being reused at the end of the track. It took the originality of that part down a peg for me. It would've been great if there was more difference between its usage when/if used each time. My only reason to give this a No would be to have the mixing cleared up a bit to strengthen what is already there. However we have heard mixing jobs far worse than this and they have passed the panel. There is so much originality in this mix and it is still very listenable as is. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Wow, I'm surprised at the votes so far. This sounded great to me, and I pretty much didn't agree with any of the criticisms that were said, except maybe to a minor degree. I LIKED the busyness of the bass and other instruments, and I thought it had a wistful, unsettled feel. 2:31-3:03 was the only section I might agree with it being too busy. Again, Jive's comments on the mixing - I can see where he's coming from, but that it's so minor that it's barely a problem. I'm a solid YES on this. I feel totally sold on the concept, execution, and writing here. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Cool mix. Definitely digging the concept and approach. Gonna keep this vote short. I do agree that there could be some improvement on the mixing levels to get a better balance. Overall, though, while the track is pretty busy, the various parts in general came through clearly enough to be distinctly heard. The swing feel of the arrangement is sweet. Am I the only one who found it humorous that everyone here is talking about the mixing of the track and the voice samples are doing the same? Subliminal message perhaps? YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Didn't agree at all about the production being a dealbreaker -- not even close. IMO, Jivemaster had the best critique on the mixing, i.e. there could be improvements with the mixing, the voice sample could/should have differed more the second time around, but overall, it's an easy pass anyway. Source usage was well above 50% of the duration of the track, so I didn't need timestamps, but just going on the most overt part and ignoring some of the melodic variations that were more about rhythmic similarities with totally different notes, I heard the source from 24.5-45.5, 1:03.75-1:41, 1:49.5-2:00 & 2:21.5-3:41. The arrangement was fire. Awesome work, Paul. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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