OCR03564 - *YES* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Chemical Fusion"

[Gario]

ReMixer name: jnWake.
Name of game(s) arranged: Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Name of arrangement: Chemical Fusion.
Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Chemical Plant Zone".
 

Note: This mix is included in the Sonic 25th album headed by Black_Doom.

LINK TO ARRANGEMENT: 

Mix comments (same as the album ones):
 

So, this'll be a slightly weird thing to say for a Sonic tribute album but I've actually never been a Sonic fan. Well, I guess that's because I never owned a Sega console so I didn't get many opportunities to actually play Sonic games as a kid. Despite that, I do have vivid memories of playing Sonic 2 and failing spectacularly and frequently at the Chemical Plant Zone stage. While the memory itself isn't particularly pleasant, it also comes with awesome background music!

When the opportunity came to participate in this album, I immediately thought of covering one of Sonic 2's most obscure and less remixed tracks: Chemical Plant Zone! Uh, something's wrong with that affirmation... I tend to like covering tracks that aren't that popular but I couldn't help myself this time, since this track is simply phenomenal. So, when I started doing the mix I listened to the many (many) remixes of it that exist both here and on YouTube. To my "surprise", a large percent of them where what some people would call "technomanga". Ok, that isn't really surprising but this song is actually pretty funky so it surprised me a bit that nobody (that I could find) actually had done a more "conservative" remix, style-wise. With that in mind, I went for a more conservative take on the track inspired on its jazzier/funkier roots instead of the dance-oriented approach most other remixes went with.

Talking about the remix, I also settled on a small goal: using FM patches. To get a bit of that Genesis feel I tried my hand at crafting some patches with FM8 for this remix. The bass patch and the two synth leads were born this way! I'm no expert at using FM8 but I like how they came out!

On the arrangement, I didn't go for anything really complex but I'll detail it here anyway:

- 0:00 - 0:30: Pretty straightforward take on the first section of the source.
- 0:30 - 0:45: Based on the second melody of the source. Chord progression is "original".
- 0:45 - 1:27: Synth/Guitar solo duel! Backing chords are an alteration of the first section. Also, drum solo!
- 1:27 - 1:43: Straightforward take on the second section of the source.
- 1:43 - 2:09: Based on the melody of the previous section.
- 2:09 - 2:34: Based on the third section of the source (the transition that ends the loop). 
- 2:34 - End: Based on the first section of the source, taking some liberties here and there

Hope you like it!

Also, I should thank to timaeus since he gave some feedback when I was finishing the track and helped master it.

 

[MindWanderer]

I'd already heard a version of this for the album evaluation and liked it well enough then, and this version is further improved.  The small crits I'd had back then have all been addressed, and production this time is firing on all cylinders.  It's an eccentric approach, succeeding at bringing something new to an overused source.  Weird but a lot of fun.

Not much more to say here.  It's solidly good to go in my book.

YES

[Gario]

Fusion jazz Chemical plant. Reharmonized, but entirely recognizeable. Slick production.

I dig.

YES

[Sir_NutS]

Just great.  Excellent adaptation, production and performances.  It was awesome how much you managed to get out of the source here, spinning and expanding it in so many different ways and they all make sense.  Kudos.

YES

[Liontamer]

Nice job always keeping the source tune in play, even when your original writing ideas took the forefront. Awesome!

YES