ReMix:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Ethereal Skies" 2:28

By Pumpkin King

Arranging the music of one song...

"Sky Chase Zone"

Primary Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega , 1992, GEN), music by Masato Nakamura

Posted 2013-12-12, evaluated by the judges panel


From newcomer Pumpkin King (Joe Dumpe) comes a lovely & relaxing solo piano arrangement of Sonic 2's 'Sky Chase Zone', which lends itself exceptionally well to the delicate, ivory treatment:

"The original tune is very chill and calming... A relaxing and nicely paced song. So I wanted to convey it a little more by taking advantage of my applied reverb, and playing the tune without any of my typical arpeggios. So I played it nice and slowly and added my own section in the middle of the song. I used Logic Pro as my DAW. I used the Galaxy Vintage D library for the piano sound."

There's a pretty wide stereo separation on the piano, which means that higher-octave portions of the arrangement are pretty far right, and it always sounds nice when the bass comes back in on the left & fills things out. halc writes:

"excellent piano tone, wasn't as bothered by the reverb personally, but I agree that it is a bit heavy. excellent tone and sequencing. gonna echo Shariq here, the arrangement isn't too crazy or interpretive, but a nice adaptation with plenty of flourish, and the performance is beautiful. Nice work."

While most solo piano ReMixes DO have less verb, and this is swimming a bit, it works rather well for this specific arrangement, which never bangs out any triple-forte action that would make it truly problematic, and instead maintains a serene, floating altitude. A very pleasant, meditiative debut from Joe, with enough personalization to make it his own & a peaceful, transcendental calm. I'm literally going to become a father any day now, as we're actually PAST Anna's due date... this seems like a great candidate for a lullabye/newborn playlist, so I'm thanking Joe in advance for a mix that's appropriate for ALL ages!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Pumpkin King
on 2015-10-27 09:54:25

Hey thanks MrKyle! I do check in from time to time. So your comments, as well as others, are always much appreciated!

I'm thinking this could be a perfect morning alarm, right? Just add some chirping birds with some outdoorsy ambience to the mix and you're all set.

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MrKyle
on 2015-10-26 10:30:52

So it might be unorthodox to come back and post a second comment on a remix, but I just wanted to let Joe know that I've been running this thing on repeat for awhile and it just sits better and better with me the more I listen. I think an artist needs to know when their work is appreciated at the core, and it is! Makes Monday morning a lot smoother.

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MrKyle
on 2015-10-20 12:55:34

Super beautiful. Brings back memories and captures what I felt like playing a lot of sonic in general. Maybe the reverb could have a few EQ tweaks, but I really dig the effect.

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DimeTower
on 2015-08-30 23:38:28

Wow, how did I miss this the first time around?! It's a wonderful song for this kind of take. I feel like I'm wearing fine dress and sipping a drink while looking out the window of an airship, perhaps a zeppelin, while a master pianist caresses the ivories nearby. Airy, simple, sweet.

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WillRock
on 2013-12-16 21:58:53

Piano sounds wondeful. This is pretty soaked in reverb, yet not enough for it to be a massive problem. However, the soundscape could have been as full with a little less. Awesomely emotional, very nostalgic, I dig it! :D

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Pumpkin King
on 2013-12-14 12:52:00

Thanks guys!

Rexy, I really appreciate the kind words! Especially coming from a talented pianist like yourself haha. I'm sure you could make a good version of this song as well. I will say that I've been getting better and better over the past few years with the piano. I'm kinda focusing on different stuff now and using my keytar, but there's nothing like sitting down with 88 keys and playing piano.

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Crulex
on 2013-12-13 10:46:05

Sure, there is a lot of reverb, but it doesn't quite bother me that much. Lovely playing and a very cool OCR debut. Nice and short, this ReMix hits the spot.

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Rexy
on 2013-12-13 07:27:50

A week ago:

"Hm, Sky Chase sounds lovely to do on solo piano. Perhaps I could experiment with this?"

Last night:

"Holy crap, Pumpkin King beat me to the punch! And he did good :O"

Seriously, I really like your piano performances in the Dwelling of Duels, and I'm so glad you managed to keep those skills sharp for OCR submission and all. Really proud of how far you've come!

Yeah, I too appear to be in the drowning verb camp with this, but it can also help a bit to high-pass the reverb as well to prevent the low-to-low-mids from getting all cluttered.

But the performance was nice and raw; very reminiscent of pu_freak's early work, and from what I saw of you developing a nice character in the DoD it could flesh out equally as well with other tracks outside of it.

Welcome to the clan! :)

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Pumpkin King
on 2013-12-13 03:10:46

Really appreciative of this, thanks!! :)

Yes, there was a lot of reverb. If I were to change anything, I'd probably decrease the low frequency levels in my reverb plugin just a bit.

If anyone wants to check out my performance as well, it's here on my youtube channel! And any more comments are welcome of course!

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timaeus222
on 2013-12-12 20:58:24

This is really nice. I can hear that there's a LOT of reverb, but ultimately it's still a-OK with that treatment! :)

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Final Kingdom
on 2013-12-12 15:40:15

I really love the chill atmosphere the song conveyed. Although there was a lot of reverb, I think that it still fit the song perfectly. Great mix for sure.

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Neko069
on 2013-12-12 15:13:00

OMG THIS IS AMAZING! Totally relaxing, refreshing, and with a clear scent of love. I have never realized how much did I love this song until hearing to this. Congrats!

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djpretzel
on 2013-12-12 14:46:23

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix!

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega , 1992, GEN)
Music by Masato Nakamura
Songs:
"Sky Chase Zone"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Piano,Solo Piano
Additional:
Arrangement > Solo
Time > Duration: Short
Time > Tempo: Slow

File Information


Name:
Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_Ethereal_Skies_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,647,187 bytes
MD5:
7f04dcd3406e121c2d73780813e8ed03
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
2:28

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