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*NO* Sonic & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"


Gario
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ReMixer Name: DusK
Real Name: Dustin Branscum
Email:
Website: http://www.itstartsatdusk.com
User ID: 24328

Game: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, because it's one game dammit
Arrangement Name: "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"
Song Arranged: "Minor Bosses", I think?
Platform: Sega Genesis
Composer: Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Jun Senoue, Howard Drossin, and/or Michael Jackson
Release Year: 1994
 
 
Comments: I'm honestly not sure why I never submitted this, considering I'm actually really happy with it. I originally took it because I felt like this source is really under-appreciated, and I wanted more under-appreciated music to get some recognition on Speeding Towards Adventures. I feel like this is kind of a throwback to my earlier mixing style; just taking stuff that I liked, turning it metal as hell, and throwing in some synth for flavor.
 
I also feel like my synthwork has improved a lot since then as well. It's like an enhanced remake of my remixing style.
 

Damn, I wish S3&K would get an enhanced remake.

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I've had to listen to this for two evaluations, and it's remained pretty much the exact same. The mixing is loud, but it's metal loud - it fits the bill well enough, even if it gets overly crowded toward the end with the metal and synths. I've noted that the notes at 1:41 - 1:43 don't work for me at all, but two seconds out of the whole track doesn't sink it for me. I think one could nitpick that the synths are often pretty plain, but I don't mind that too much with the rest of the track being solid metal fare. Otherwise, the arrangement is pretty solid work.

It's perfectly fine to post for me, and was a pretty cool addition to the album.

YES

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I was also part of those two evaluations, and unlike Gario, I had reservations then, and I still have them now.  Loud is fine, but the main harmony synth (0:40-1:03 and 1:37-2:02) is quite buried, and the melodic synth introduced at 2:42 steps all over the guitar's spectrum.

Also, the synth still jumps up in volume at 3:23 for some reason.

Basically, I have the same criticisms that Gario did, I just think they're more severe than he does.  All the sections that involve either of the synths I mentioned are overly crowded and need to be separated out.  There's plenty enough going on that you can give each of the instruments a little more headroom and still hit "metal loud" as intended.

NO (resubmit)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm hearing the issues between the two others here, and I am pretty firmly between them myself on where I stand. I love the overall energy here, and the menacing feel is pretty great all around. There's a lot of variation not only in the instrumentation, but also varied drum patterns and structure. I do think the second half balance is a little bit off, as MW mentions, but I think the synths being a little overpowering to the guitar isn't as big of an issue as the guitar is playing a more backing pattern. I will say that the notes at 1:40ish are definitely not working for me, but it's one small section overall.

I think this is good to go, though there are some great things you can take note of for your next mix!

YES

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • DarkeSword changed the title to 2017/07/26 - (3Y/1N) Sonic 3 & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"

I'm with MindWanderer. The arrangement's strong, but the mixing's too cluttered. I've tried giving it the benefit of the doubt, but I ultimately agreed that it's not mixed well. I'm not against power in a rock track, but every section with the source melody or the backing chugs in play was too cluttered, and that's a dealbreaker. The synth at 2:42 & 3:21 did step over the guitar, and the sequencing was really stilted there as well. Dustin's usually got things on pretty solid ground, but there are just too many sections where the mixing is sloppy.

NO (resubmit)

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  • Liontamer changed the title to 2017/07/26 - (3Y/2N) Sonic 3 & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"
  • Liontamer pinned this topic

The intro soundscape - while full, isn't too bad, although is pretty much at capacity right from the starting point. Around 30 seconds in however when the synth comes in things get crowded, which gets progressively more crowded when we get to the main theme chorus portion. Parts seem to share a little too much frequency space. At 1:37 when the lead guitar comes in, while sounding great and easily heard, comes at the cost of clarity for the underlying elements which were already having a hard time finding their own space to begin with. At 2:42 the synth here fits great and lets the other parts breathe better.

This is a shame because I really like your arrangement here - I feel it's a solid rock take on the original theme. Guitar tone is strong and suitable, with no piercing element that I can make out. Drums surprisingly don't become too muffled with the amount of layers going on, but cymbals at times do get lost. As the others have mentioned here your primary problem is clarity. I think a lot of this can be fixed by controlling your rhythm guitars more, either via a volume reduction on the far panned left/right channel parts, and possibly even some HPF to slope off some of the lows in them that may not be needed, then some general rebalancing of your parts. It wouldn't take much I don't think - it's definitely close, but I'd rather see a clearer version of this posted than let this through as is.

NO

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  • 2 weeks later...

The arrangement is dynamite, but wow the mixing is crowded.  Even the source tune is pretty crowded with so many things happening at once, but in the metal interpretation it is really fatiguing.  I suggest trying to mix so the elements have their own space better, or possibly removing elements here or there.  Your synths and guitars are all blasting in the same frequency range right now and it's just too much.  Some creative panning could help a lot too, for example put the synths in the center more and let the rhythm guitars be wide stereo, or let the synths even replace the rhythm guitars for a few bars.  You can experiment until you get a soundscape that is wider and isn't stepping all over itself.  The arrangement and performances are great, it's just the mixing for me holding it back.

NO (resubmit, please)

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  • Liontamer changed the title to 2017/07/26 - (3Y/4N - Nutri / Sir N) Sonic 3 & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm suuper borderline on this one.

On one hand, it's a great arrangement of (IMO) a forgettable OST.  Tons of energy behind it.  Good performances, good drum writing.  Overall enjoyable track.

As mentioned, the mixing is killing this one for me.  As the intensity builds in the song, so does the amount of crowding to the point where important elements are suffering.

Note: Sounds like some flubbed notes at 1:40, though it's a brief section.

I really like your take and would like to give it a pass, I just don't think I can with the mixing how it is.  I can understand both sides opinions on whether or not it's a dealbreaker, but unfortunately for me it is.

NO (borderline) resubmit, please

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  • Liontamer changed the title to 2017/07/26 - *DON'T MOVE* (3Y/5N) Sonic 3 & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"
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On 10/12/2017 at 9:31 PM, Chimpazilla said:

The arrangement is dynamite, but wow the mixing is crowded.  Even the source tune is pretty crowded with so many things happening at once, but in the metal interpretation it is really fatiguing.  I suggest trying to mix so the elements have their own space better, or possibly removing elements here or there.  Your synths and guitars are all blasting in the same frequency range right now and it's just too much.  Some creative panning could help a lot too, for example put the synths in the center more and let the rhythm guitars be wide stereo, or let the synths even replace the rhythm guitars for a few bars.  You can experiment until you get a soundscape that is wider and isn't stepping all over itself.  The arrangement and performances are great, it's just the mixing for me holding it back.

NO (resubmit, please)

I agree the mix gets very crowded, and that the arrangement is pretty good, though it does repeat a bit.  The guitars are clashing with the synth frequencies for sure, but I'm not sure panning could help here, the guitars are already panned very widely, and the synths sometimes sit int he center, other times they rotate through the stereo field, and that doesn't help much.  I think different synths that aren't as frequency rich as the saw wave-based ones here could work, or moving them up an octave.

Either way, if the mix gets cleaned up a bit, I can see this passing easily.  Right now it's just a bit too crowded, not too far from the bar, but not over it.

NO (resubmit)

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  • Gario changed the title to *NO* Sonic & Knuckles "Hedgehog Elimination Engine"
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