*NO* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 "Massive Arms"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: Matt Frequencies

It's been 6 months since I last had a go at submitting - in the meantime, I've been refining my style, and a lot of life stuff has happened, so feeling brave enough to have another bash.

This track is kind of a 'magnum opus' moment of all the things I've learned in the last period - everything is new, synthesiser wise, no sampling of the original track. 

I've leaned into writing 'stories' in music, and this song was a prime candidate for that - a very dual natured song, a hostile dangerous theme contrasted against a heroic moment, I've always seen it as a tug of war between Sonic and Robotnik - so I decided to extend that out, instead of looping it, this song tells the story of that massive clash up on the Death Egg with each main section having a different focus and meaning. I've called it "Massive Arms" because of the epic cinematic vibe I was going for.

Technically, this was made in Reason 13, with the main organ, choir and bass tones coming from my 1991 Yamaha TG100 I inherited from my brother. The lead square and guitar tones are the Europa rack instrument, and the drums are a combination of sets that I've enjoyed using in my other songs, one a bit darker/meaner than the other. Lots of sidechain and automation going on in here.

It's still a very highly compressed song as I made it to use in my DnB sets when I DJ live, and it needs to stand up against some of that really intense music from the likes of Doctor Werewolf or Pendulum, both of which I used as references for mixing, but hopefully this time around - a bit less fatiguing to the ears.

The biggest technical shift for me has been learning to use the stereo field to really help things stand out where they need to, and there's a LOT of that going on in this track, so I hope you enjoy the ear candy!

---

Games & Sources

Sonic 3 - Big Arms (Final Boss) - 

Edited 6 hours ago by pixelseph

[prophetik music ⚖️]

fun original.

opens with some big, effected synths right in the front of the stereo field. drums are very treble-heavy initially (outside the kick of course) - there's a lot of 10khz+ content in those hats and snare. the beat kicks at 0:42 alongside some sfx. there's not a lot going on initially outside the kit - just bass and an arpeggio stab, and we get a 303 added in after a bit. this section goes on a touch longer than i'd expect given how little's there. we do get a transition into a more chippy, distorted sound around 1:27, and this functions as a break until the drums come out of the closet again at 1:52. there's some pretty hyper bass work initially and then we get a recap of the earlier fairly-thin section from 0:42 (which is the A material from the track).

there's another break at 2:35 with the B material, and some sonic theme-adjacent material at 3:00. this builds up and is eventually The Big Chorus at 3:20. i still don't feel there's enough going on in the backing elements for this section - there's nowhere near the intensity or beef of some of your reference tracks for the backing elements. they're very bland and smooth, and that contrasts negatively with the angular lead and aggressive drums. the lead rises to a sustained peak, and then it's done.

i think what you have here is a really neat idea. the original's two-phase approach and intense, slow melodic line fits a dnb approach really well, and you've got a pretty solid overall shape for the track with a good amount of breaks and intense sections. what i don't feel is in place yet is the actual payoff sections - almost every section of this track feels like it's missing something. the opening big section at 0:42, like i said earlier, is just kit/stabs/bass, with nothing in the middle of that. similarly, the big hit at 1:40 is the same instrumentation and has nothing in the in-between area until 2:15 - and that instrument is both hard to hear clearly due to modulation on it and is pretty low in itself. last example is the big payoff chorus at the end, at 3:30 - the backing material are these big, bland block chords in pads. this should be the most intense, invigorating section of the song, and most of what i can hear are overly-loud pads.

so i think that you need to take another look at each section and find something to make it interesting and compelling. listening again to Hold your Colour and In Silico, each big payoff section that they have in their songs has simple instrumentation (like you have), but each element is uniquely compelling in their own right. finding a way to hit that balance here is what you're missing right now.

 

 

NO

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

Cool concept!  But I agree with proph in his assessment that the sections don't really pay off, they each build fairly well but what they build to isn't satisfying.  I feel like there's a lot of great ideas here, arrangement wise, but as he said there's something missing in almost every section.  The sections also become repetitive as they move along, as the same patterns and instruments repeat over and over.

These sounds are strange.  They sound dated to me, but more than that they sound dry and midrangey which makes this less pleasant to listen to than it could otherwise be.  I think these timbres could be processed to sound much better than this.  The drum kit is weak, which is a shame for DnB, and the drum samples themselves are not fitting for DnB.  I hear zero sidechaining so the piece lacks groove.  The master is extremely and unnecessarily loud and somewhat overcompressed (I'm pretty sure that pumping is overcompression and not sidechaining!)  Ok I just read the writeup and you've said there's sidechaining, but I don't hear it, it's not being utilized to its full potential.

The low end feels so weak to me, and this also makes the heavy midrange sound even more midrangey.  Looking with an imager I see the lowest range (150Kz and below) is somewhat stereo spread, which is causing the low end to feel weak and unfocused.

This arrangement has a lot going for it, just needs more mixing TLC and some arrangement and writing adjustments to get it where it needs to be.

NO

[pixelseph ⚖️]

No reason to hold this one in suspense more, my fellow Js have identified exactly my thoughts. I don't think the instruments in and of themselves are bad choices, but I do think something is missing that would make them shine more - whether that's with saturation or other effects would be up to Matt.  The arrangement overall works, but individual sections feel plain and last too long; as an example, :42 - 1:25 feels like it's said all it needed to say by :53, such that by the time the pitch ramp comes @ 1:14, I'm pretty fatigued by the repetition instead of enjoying the transition. 2:36 - 3:30 is another example - the section has changes inside it, but nothing in those changes feels like a compelling reason to have the section run as long as it does. The big pay-off at 3:30 loses all its steam for me since I was expecting something like it 30 seconds prior.

This isn't too far from passing, it just feels like it's stuck between being a sketch and being fully realized. A tighter focus on managing the low-end and mids as Chimpa suggested, as well as tightening up the arrangement, would get this over the line for me.

NO (resubmit)