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37 Audio Reviews

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Finally, here at last. I was eager to listen to this one as it's my favorite track from the Sonic & Knuckles Collection. I'll go in order. The saw at the start is sure to give someone a 'my eaaaars!' moment. It earapes so it should be a bit softer. Also it's delay is a bit off tempo. I would've preferred for the main lead to have been....a saw (yes kill me now lol) and pitched down an octave. Also you should've gone with the nice snare from the start, not introduce it in Act 2. I don't know why, but I hate the little weak snare that just sounds like pure snare and no drum lol. So further into the song, I hear the bass starting to overtake the mix again. I think it's safe to say you've fallen victim of.....the loudness war! I'm gonna help you. Trust me when I say, it's ok to turn down the master gain so it doesn't drive the limiter/compressor you're using to its limits. This mix actually reaches clipping in some parts, mostly in Act 2, so you should turn the gain down. It's ok to lower the bass as well, to allow other instruments to get through the mix. I know this mix and others you've made have real potential, but like a diamond it they need to be polished. Mastering is the musical polish. ;)
Oh, and I heard what you did in Act 2, don't think no one would notice, because I did. You know what I'm referring to! :P Great job, I expect greatness from you! lol

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! I can understand about the saw - I don't find it particularly ear-raping, but I could fix that. Finding a decent lead was very difficult; the saw didn't cut it there in any octave for me, so I stuck with a square-ish lead instead.

The bass is definitely a lot louder in this one; the problem is that pretty much everything else is high-pitched, and balancing the two is difficult for me. It's not a case of the loudness war at all - the gain was turned right down for this one, and it shouldn't have gotten anywhere near clipping. I think it's just a case of not getting the bass balance right.

I'm rubbish at mastering. :D And I have no idea what you might be referring to. ;)

This is awesome. Just one word, REVERB! Needs moar! And maybe a 'tinge' less bass. Other than that everything's excellent. Awesome Act 2 arangement. Great job, will fork over 5...stars that is lol. I'd feel bad giving you just 4.5 because of just one little thing or two. (actual rating 4.7) :P

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! I definitely need to be more liberal with reverb and delay, I tend to use them rather sparingly.

Man, this is so close to 5 stars, but there are a few issues that I want to address, and they're easy fixes. 1-bass is too loud. I don't mean almost, I mean above too loud, enough to throw the mix off completely in some parts. Personally I would have used a slap-ish bass like the original. 2-percussion too soft, especially the kick and snare. The kick needs more kick, or punch. It may just be the bass covering everything, so I'd lower the bass first. 3-more reverb on the main instruments. Again, may already have enough but bass can be covering it up. That's all. I'd like to praise the awesome usage of brass, pads, and the saw that finally fits perfectly for once. Amazing Act 2 remix, the best you've done so far! Also the song deserves a better ending, maybe a short chord stab will do the trick, I'd like to hear that brass and saw reverb into the distance. Bam, perfect ending! :D You do that stuff, and I will call this song a masterpiece lol.

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! The bass seems fine to me... maybe I need new headphones.

Aww yeah, the Flying Battery Zone! I'll start with the good. Killer bass, rocks the crap out of my Skullcandy Crusher headphones, but be careful, there is such a thing as too much bass, and this track just borders it (and yes I do have the bass set to a reasonable level on my Crusher headphones :P). ;) The instrumentation is great. Now what needs improvement (beware, yelling is coming up). *ahem* DUDE THE WHOLE TRACK WAS A MISSED CHANCE AT USING AWESOME REVERB, DELAY, AND VIBRATO!!!!! lol, really though, that would have made the track 9000X better. It currently just sounds dry. Also you went back to dull percussion! This needs like a power/electronic kit at least. And definitely hats and rides, even though they're not in the original. And thus concludes my rant. :D

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! Yeah, I needed more effects on this track. And you know I'm rubbish at percussion...

Amazing! I just wanna say I would've preferred for some of the instruments to have been down an octave, like the lead in Act 1, because otherwise it leaves the middle bass kinda empty sounding. The Act 2 part was entirely awesome, very atmospheric and party-ish. Would've liked some more percussion in it, like some bongos or congas. Overall very nice percussion. Also needs a better transition from Act 2 back to Act 1. I did like this very much so I'll just give it 5 stars (I personally rate it at 4.7, which rounds up to 5 on the Newgrounds scale :P)

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! I'll experiment with lowering the octave; there's something missing there. Congas sound like an awesome idea! I'm not entirely sure what happened to that transition - I swear it wasn't like that when I listened to it before!

Once again, a pretty fine rendition. I'd say to avoid overusing the saw on everything. The bass should have been something different as well. Also for the bell part at 0:22 I would have overlaid an electric guitar or something similar since the bell alone sounds a bit weak for it. Some hi hats would have been fine as well, especially in the 0:40 part where the percussion is mainly just kick and snare. :)

DigitalDuck responds:

Thanks! I do need to vary my instruments a little more. I have a pad on top of the bell, but it needs something more. And I'll try to sort out my percussion in future.

Sounds ok. I'd say it needs more pads, like overlaid with the brass at the start, and on the saw. And also better mastering would be awesome, maybe lower the master gain so the bass doesn't overtake much of the mix, or just lower the bass slightly. I have no complaints on the intermediate parts with the pianos and pads and stuff. ;)

DigitalDuck responds:

I actually slowly add more and more pads as the mix goes on; but it definitely needs something at the start. The bass overtaking the mix slightly was deliberate (it's automation) - the original does this too, and I wanted to accentuate it. Probably overdid it, though.

Sounds more like a remix than a remake but it sounds quite alright! It's very rhythmic and upbeat. Very well composed and instrumented. I can't complain much on this one, so heck, 5 stars for you! :D

DigitalDuck responds:

I can't take credit for the composition; that was one of Sonic 3's many talented folks...

And aha! The secret to five-star success is to make something that nobody can complain about! :D

Not bad, but not super amazing either. The main saw in Act 1 needs more expression/vibrato. It just sounds plain. The bass synth doesn't fit very well, especially on the parts where it's pitch is higher. This could've used something like a marimba definitely for what you used a piano for, maybe overlaid. I did like your Act 2 idea though, which was better executed than Act 1, but still needs some work on mastering for example.

DigitalDuck responds:

The saw is a little plain; I should've done better there. I like the bass; it was something fairly big and overpowering throughout the original, so I tried to do something similar.

Believe it or not, I did actually try a marimba (along with lots of other stuff) and didn't like the result. But maybe I'm just entirely wrong on that and the bass. :D

Mastering's always been a weak point on mine, as you know; I think I'm getting better, but I'm still miles off the mark. I'm glad you liked Act 2.

Hmmm, I'm gonna have to say this one isn't very well made unfortunately. The instrumentation just doesn't fit well, the mastering isn't great, the mix is muddy, and it sounds overproduced. I'd like to hear an improved version of this. :(

DigitalDuck responds:

I completely agree with every point on this. I'm only going to defend my case by saying that I've set out to do every S3K track, and this was the closest I came to making this one moderately listenable. It was a complete nightmare to work with at every stage, and as such I'm not likely to work on an improved version until I've gotten a lot better at this music stuff...

My name is Lazaro Gonzalez. I can do game development, music, sound effects, and 2D graphics, as well as video and audio editing.

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