Chimpazilla Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 DjjD Jacob Diaz https://soundcloud.com/djjdstudios Sonic 3 "Hydraulic Pressure" Hydrocity Zone Act 1 Original made as a mix that was to be included on a compilation album, seems it wasn't meant to be. Oh well, just means another submission for here! This is a remix I did of Hydrocity Zone as it is one of my favorite vg tunes. This was about 4 days of work and I asked my brother to play some sax near the end. Again, was made entirely in FL Studio and I hope you guys like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Lots of good detail in the mix as I've come to expect from DjjD. I love the growls. Kick is really quiet, bass could have more presence, otherwise it's mixed well. The arrangement isn't blowing me away though. I feel like the track has a long intro, then one playthrough of the the source melody. The breakdown feels quite plain. From the breakdown starting at 1:36 all the way to the sax solo at 2:33, the track is leadless and loses focus. The sax playing at the end is competent but honestly I don't feel like it fits with the rest of the track, and it feels pasted onto the end of it. Also the ending is very abrupt. I'm on the fence here. Other J's, what say you? This is gonna be a borderline vote for me whichever way I go... 11/19/15: Listening again, this track has some excellent elements but just isn't there for me, arrangement-wise. My crits stand. Deia said it well, the second half needs to be reworked. That sax solo section could make a nice little bridge section, followed by another playthrough of the source material, with variation from the first time. Hope to hear this again soon! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The track starts out pretty good, and I was feeling the groove you laid down here. As Kris says, once the playthrough is up though the track just loses focus. I felt like a lead or a section was missing at times. Similarly the sax part at the end is fine, but then the song just ends. I'd love for there to be a rehash of the main melody or something then a better close out of the track. Sonically (the pun is real) the track is sounding good but the arrangement loses focus and fizzles out. I'd love you to rework the second half. No (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Intro and first section are off to a great start. I enjoyed your choices of synths, dropping things in and out to play different parts. It made things feel fresh when initially listening. I felt the growly synth just after the intro took up a bit too much of your sonic space and drowned out a lot of the other elements playing at that time. I understand it's a growling synth - there to catch focus, but the sections featuring it could have done with some peeling back of your other instrument layers. I also felt each of the parts felt a little thin (possibly due to EQ or multiband compression), but nothing I would go back and re mix the track for. The sax was great addition near the end of the mix, it felt like a nice breakdown built to change the mood of the track... and then things kinda ended. I had to check the clock just to confirm for myself how long the track went for. Being surprised that a song is already over is often a good thing, as it means you've left the listener wanting something more. But I did feel it ended a bit too quickly. All of the above wouldn't be as much of a problem if the arrangement did more to the original source tune, which is where I think this is lacking. I'd love to see some more of you in this mix than just a few extra notes here and there, as the other judges have already noted. You're awfully close though IMO. A bit more you, perhaps a stronger outro, and you're good. NO (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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