prophetik music ⚖️ Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 This track was completely remade from scratch using modern drum samples along with the vst "Chipsynth MD". The very beginning of the orignal Marble Zone track is sampled along with some sound effects from the Marble Zone level in Sonic The Hedgehog. A caterkiller is a common enemy in that level that can only be defeated if you manage to hit it's head. This is the music I picture the caterkiller listening to as they slink along the grassy hills. I enjoy making tight playful tracks like these that use very little reverb. It gives the mix a very clean feel and really compliments that Genesis/Megadrive sound. Games & Sources Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) - Marble Zone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXukwNQG0uA , Orginally composed by Masato Nakamura.
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 (edited) i wasn't sure about the instrumentation initially (maybe i'm still not?), but this has some funky ideas to it. opens with some noodling around the opening riff, and gets to the melodic material at 0:19. it's not 100% the original melody, but has some stuff modified in it while outlining the skeleton of the original. i am not a huge fan of the changes, actually, but the implementation (beat, bass, lead) are actually pretty fun and unique. i don't know what 0:49's referencing, because it doesn't sound like the B theme and doesn't use the same chord progression. 1:16 is a solo with a...floppy drive? it's got some fun stuff to say, so maybe physical media wasn't a mistake. 1:45's a little more goofy and explores some alternative stuff. we get the melody back at 2:22 after that exploratory section for one more time through, and then it's done in kind of an unexpected way without as much prep as i'd have hoped. i'm going to check with the remixer, because what's here doesn't seem to have enough source ultimately. i don't recognize what's going on at 0:49, and from 1:10-2:22 doesn't seem to have any source in it at all since it's using the altered chord progression and i don't hear melodic material. so i'll check, but right now i only hear about 65s of source (0:00-0:15, 0:20-0:42, 1:07-1:10, 2:22-2:47) if i'm being generous. ? edit 12/23: update from the op: Thanks for the detailed feedback! At :49 the stutter style lead melody is the same notes of the B section of Marble Zone, though I admit it’s not as recognizable as the lead section in my remix. At 1:47 however, while it again is using the lead notes from the B-section, it is in fact less recognizable. If it’s overall not close enough for OC Remix standards I totally understand. Either way thanks for giving it a listen! the notes aren't quite the same - the original is Am/G/F, and there's no G# (would be an A# in the key of the remix) in the original, but i catch the outlining of the B theme now without the extra repeated notes that the original has. adding in those two sections is enough to get it well over the 50% line. and i like the track overall - while i wish there'd been some different choices around the ending and the adaptation of the melody, i think what's here is unique and fun, and it's a really neat vibe. YES Edited December 23, 2024 by prophetik music
Chimpazilla ⚖️ Posted March 26 Posted March 26 I think this is really cool and fun! Thanks Brad for checking on source use, that makes it easier, although it already sounds like enough to me, especially given that the backing chords/bass is used a lot. This is a really weird, unique and cool take on this source. I always listen to tracks in Cubase, and the master on this track is hitting a peak of +4db! I don't actually hear any overcompression artifacts, which surprises me. It is possible that a limiter has been applied with a 0db ceiling; some sounds are just fast/loud enough to escape the grasp of a final limiter, but 4db peak really surprises me. Since it doesn't sound overcompressed, I am going to overlook this, and I am hopeful that YouTube limiting won't bring out any artifacts. YES
Rexy ⚖️ Posted April 1 Posted April 1 The combination of Brad's initial breakdown and additional pointers demonstrated the number of liberal twists taken with that familiar Marble Zone melody. It has a funky FM-sounding groove, starting well with splicing the original bass intro and allowing for melodic transformation from 0:20 onwards. The A-section ended up fitting a reasonably straight-forward adaptation, the B-sections at 0:49 and 1:47 relied more on splicing the opening component of that melody into a transformed melody line, the solo spot at 1:16 served as a fun break, and the return to the initial A-section at 2:22 felt gradual with the bass and drums placed in. It sounds like Marble Zone, without necessarily sounding like Marble Zone - which makes little sense in writing, but please deal with it. :) Now, the mastering is definitely in the loud zone, and if it had more than the three-tone polyphony setup, it could border on sausage-fest with the instruments on hand. Thankfully, nothing sounds over-compressed or overly distorted. All tones and percussion are crystal clear, like the waters of Labyrinth Zone, and the choice of synths has as much power as that well-known Green Hill wrecking ball. I wholly respect your decision to go as bone dry as possible - yet the only thing I can nitpick over is hoping to experiment with other effects like phasing and delay to add more to the soundscape, but that is more of a matter of taste than acceptance. You made a track with the intent to make badniks (and everyone else) go dance, and it's a solid presentation all around. Nice going! YES
Recommended Posts