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*NO* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 'Forbidden Memory'


Liontamer
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Hey guys.

Here's a new song for the panel to review.

Remixer: Random Hero

Game Source: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) - Hidden Palace Theme (Sound Test: 10)

Other sources: NONE! other then my own ideas.

Sequencer: FL Studio

Instruments: EWQLSO PRO XP Gold & Symphonic Choirs

Song Info.

If anyone is familiar with the rumours/stories that have been going around the internet concerning the one of the mysterious unfinished level in Sonic 2 known as "Hidden Palace", then they have probably heard about the story line in which Tails was originally supposed be a some sort of guardian stationed at this place. In this song I wanted to convey the loneliness that might have been felt by Tails as he spent all that time, alone, performing his solemn duty. The boy's choir was used to hopefully represent Tails' seemingly young, innocent nature.

Compared to my other songs, especially the two which can be found at OCRemix, this one is a very sad, emotional piece (it almost made TWO of my friends cry). I have been working on it off and on since 2005. It has changed dramatically since then, and now is probably the song with the most original material of all my work to date.

The song finally started to take shape earlier last fall. It was 60% complete when, on November 12, 2007, my grand father passed away due to a massive heart attack. This may have coloured the last part of the development and might be the reason for it sounding as sad as it does. If this song does make it onto the site, I would like to dedicate this song to my grand father, Klaus Staeben. He was a man who loved music of all types, no matter the source or what other people may have thought about it, a lot like myself.

Enjoy

Ryan

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http://project2612.org/download.php?id=37 - 31 "Unused (Sound Test 10)" [Hidden Palace Zone]

The choir vox opening things up was a bit fakey sounding with just the one voice, but once more voices joined in for the harmonization at :15, the sound was a lot more serviceable, albeit overly quiet and on the thin side. Seemed like too much of a volume disparity between the vox and the strings once the latter picked up at :50.

These samples weren't bad at all, but there's something not quite right about how everything pieces together. The higher strings strained for realism, and the overall "performance" has slightly stiff timing, though it could just be the sequencing of the pizz strings at 1:23 throwing me off.

Later though, the piano at 4:39 had the same issues with the sample sounding thin and exposed and the timing feeling too mechanical. The whole track has that kind of underlying issue with it, the lack of realism in the sounds being accented by the sequencing.

I'm generally down with the arrangement, Ryan, and am a big fan of the energy and grandioseness written into it. But the execution here lacks in the details that help a sequenced arrangement flow smoothly. I wouldn't mind a second opinion from zircon or anyone else that has a bead on this, just for someone to better articulate what the issues are. But as is, I'm trusting my ear on this one. The writing is solid, but the production needs more finesse. Very close; don't be discouraged at all, Ryan, you could get this one passed. Make sure to get some feedback before you resub!

NO (refine/resubmit)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quite a moving song. There's a lot of emotion in this one and I think it's a wonderful tribute. Very expansive on the source tune.

I'm really feeling this one up until 0:47. I think the higher string that gets introduced there sounds unrealistic though (maybe the sample is being stretched too high?), and the rigidness of the playing doesn't help that. And unfortunately, I can point to places like that across the entire song. The section starting at 3:01 suffered from the same rigidness and sounded like the string parts were just being looped. Solo piano section also sounded off. I'd like to see the parts move more naturally. Basically, I think I'm saying the same things as Larry but in a different way.

There are some key issues holding this back, and the rest to me works great. For instance, I thought the section starting at 1:20 was quite nice and the rigidness of the playing did not detract. Please polish it up and resubmit!

NO (resubmit)

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Excellent arrangement, quite an emotive piece as well. I particularly like the last third of the song. However the strings are the biggest issue for me, as though they weren't originally sampled anywhere near the pitches they're being played at. This isn't so much of a problem in the second half of the mix - it's at 47 seconds where there is a string section, and the strings that play the highest notes, sounds very unrealistic and spoils what is a great arrangement. Same at around 2.32-2.55. This may seem like a nitpick to reject a mix based on one instrument but since it forms such an integral part of the piece, I would really like to see a resubmission of this because it's a really great arrangement.

NO (Good candidate for resubmission)

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