Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone Cover

[S A U C E F O N D A]

Hello everyone! I've recently rekindled my passion for music after a long hiatus and have started exploring it again. I used to be a hip-hop sample-based producer, but I found myself getting bored with that style. Now, I'm eager to learn how to compose video game music by remaking tracks from my favorite games.

I recently remade the Green Hill Zone theme and would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism. I believe that understanding my areas for improvement is essential for my growth as a musician.

Thanks!!!

https://youtu.be/RK4bJ3kPt7c?si=gTmsTLUayJs95Y9n

[Seth Skoda]

I like the overall sound design, pleasant vibe. Especially the strings, fantastic. Needs a bit more punch with the drums and bass imo. Doesn't shake my system much, even with the bass boost on.

A huge complaint I have here: I feel like the backing sticks out too much, especially right at the beginning. If it was being used as a transition into some original content, it would be fine. But it sticks out in an almost jarring way with seemingly no purpose.

And, of course, you need some original content. It doesn't need to be crazy, as I found out in getting a remix accepted recently. Just own it, make it your own. You'll notice that a lot of accepted remixes here start with the source material, divert into an original section, then return to the source to close out. The sky's the limit!

[S A U C E F O N D A]

12 minutes ago, Seth Skoda said:

I like the overall sound design, pleasant vibe. Especially the strings, fantastic. Needs a bit more punch with the drums and bass imo. Doesn't shake my system much, even with the bass boost on.

A huge complaint I have here: I feel like the backing sticks out too much, especially right at the beginning. If it was being used as a transition into some original content, it would be fine. But it sticks out in an almost jarring way with seemingly no purpose.

And, of course, you need some original content. It doesn't need to be crazy, as I found out in getting a remix accepted recently. Just own it, make it your own. You'll notice that a lot of accepted remixes here start with the source material, divert into an original section, then return to the source to close out. The sky's the limit!

I've already thanked you in Discord, but I'll say it again—thank you!

Your critique really helped me identify areas I need to improve, mainly mixing and EQing, so I can make my basslines and drums hit harder. Like I mentioned in my original post, my goal was to create something pretty close to 1:1 to practice composing and understand how some of my favorite producers build their tracks. But I think it’d be cool to venture off the beaten path and create something more unique within that framework. I might take that approach with this track down the line.

I'm still learning, but this feedback has been super valuable to my growth!

[Master Mi]

The overall soundscape is really beautiful, except some few things I would change:

1) The little piano intro sounds like a pretty stiff 'n' static lead-in, especially concerning rhythm and tonality.
Maybe compose a different piano intro with some nice chords, vary the rhythm, let it breathe a bit and change MIDI velocity that it will sound more natural - or use a fitting synth instead (but the piano can fit really well for the little intro if you make some nice changes).

2) Strings sound kinda solid most of the time, but especially the repeating part from 0:40 to 0:52 could need much more dynamics and bit compositional variety to sound less annoying.

3) Work a little more on compositional variety, feel free to incorporate a little break, and for compositional enhancement and elevation, feel free to fall back on the cool lead sound from the original for a certain period of time.


But apart from that, pretty cool 'n' fresh approach. ))

[S A U C E F O N D A]

On 9/21/2025 at 5:21 AM, Master Mi said:

The overall soundscape is really beautiful, except some few things I would change:

1) The little piano intro sounds like a pretty stiff 'n' static lead-in, especially concerning rhythm and tonality.
Maybe compose a different piano intro with some nice chords, vary the rhythm, let it breathe a bit and change MIDI velocity that it will sound more natural - or use a fitting synth instead (but the piano can fit really well for the little intro if you make some nice changes).

2) Strings sound kinda solid most of the time, but especially the repeating part from 0:40 to 0:52 could need much more dynamics and bit compositional variety to sound less annoying.

3) Work a little more on compositional variety, feel free to incorporate a little break, and for compositional enhancement and elevation, feel free to fall back on the cool lead sound from the original for a certain period of time.


But apart from that, pretty cool 'n' fresh approach. ))

Thank you for the in-depth review, this has been SUPER helpful.

1. A lot of my stuff might be stiff is due to me playing the notes on my keyboard, then manually clicking them in on the piano roll or quantizing them into place.. I guess I got hyper fixated on everything being strictly on beat--but I didn't realize that could be a negative (maybe it makes it sound less human?) 

2. Yeah, it started to annoy me, as well. But it blends so well in the original track on the Genesis, I guess that's where I need to learn more and practice more mixing.

3. Yeah, some people on the Discord said to do that to make it my own. Despite this being a 1:1 learning experience, I would like to create something that I could submit for an official remix. So, for further practice, since I'm familiar with Green Hill Zone, I'll try to make an actual remix. I'm currently listening to other genres and jotting down ideas throughout the day.

Seriously, thank you for the help! You've (and everyone else) has me inspired to stick with it!

[Master Mi]

On 9/24/2025 at 4:25 PM, S A U C E F O N D A said:

1. A lot of my stuff might be stiff is due to me playing the notes on my keyboard, then manually clicking them in on the piano roll or quantizing them into place.. I guess I got hyper fixated on everything being strictly on beat--but I didn't realize that could be a negative (maybe it makes it sound less human?)

The somewhat monotonous sound of the strings will hardly be noticeable to ordinary listeners.

The creative expansion of the remix composition is particularly relevant if you want to submit the remix to the jury at OC Remix for evaluation.


But the really disturbing thing about the remix, the thing that really grates on the ear, is currently the stiff, undynamic, and artificial-sounding piano intro.

Even for a piano-like synth, it really doesn't sound good, and you would hardly play it in this machine-gun-like way.

Play it rhythmically in the form of smaller waves with different, more harmonious-sounding note lengths and shorter pauses in between - so not so much like “bam dam bam dam bam dam bam dam,” but perhaps more like “ba-da-ram bamm... ba-da damm... ... ba-da ram ba-damm.”

...

Use different velocities of the piano VSTi by adjusting the MIDI velocity dynamics settings, as this sounds more lively and varied than if a piano key is played continuously with the same volume and timbre.

And it's best to stay away from the quantization function, especially since it can cause individual notes to be quantized incorrectly or far from the actual intention.
If some notes played on a MIDI keyboard are not quite in time with the rhythm, it's better to move them individually in the MIDI editor as needed if they stand out negatively in terms of timing.

When I use the quantization function in my DAW, it's really only when I'm using a MIDI file as the basis for a remix, in order to “de-quantize” the beat-perfect notes in the MIDI file with a randomization feature in the quantization function to loosen them up and make them sound more human and natural, because the notes then deviate slightly from the beat.

In my DAW, I also have a similar feature for randomizing MIDI velocity dynamics, so that I can make everything sound more dynamic, lively, and varied in advance, before I actually start composing and developing the remix piece by piece.

…

Take a look, for example, at (the final part of) the piano intro I wrote for my Crisis Core remix, which I recorded on a MIDI keyboard and then edited in places using the MIDI editor:



There you can see just a few notes that fall exactly on the downbeat of the bar.
The timing is pretty good - but not perfect.

The note lengths and rests also vary in a way that I absolutely wanted to play this piece.

Sometimes the playing style is a little faster in certain places, and then a little slower again, sometimes a little harder and louder, then a little softer and quieter again - like successive waves of varying strength and intensity.

And so you can hear how it sounds, here's a link to the audio source:
 

...

I also spontaneously wrote a little alternative piano intro for your soundtrack, based on how I imagine it could sound much better, so that it doesn't sound so synth-like and it might sound a little more natural for piano playing:

 

Of course, in that case, you would have to adjust the synth bass and drums accordingly to the alternative playing style.
But it could sound quite reasonable if the actual part of the song starts immediately after the final broken piano chord is played.

Instead of a fast introductory piano melody, it would also be conceivable to use, for example, 4 increasingly powerful chord sequences as a piano intro.


But feel free to try out different approaches that suit your taste and style. ))

Edited 1 hour ago by Master Mi