*NO* Sonic & Knuckles 'Lava Passion' *FT*

My mixes must be notorious for being fallthroughs, as my e-mail say a confirmation date of February 6th.

But, then again, this might be for the better as my recording in the e-mail sucked horsecock. So here's a better one:

Sonic & Knuckles - Lava Passion

You can disregard the parts of the e-mail that says what the downfalls of the mix are, since they apply to the last version. This version will rock your face off and reassemble it upside down. Also, if you can't find the e-mail, tell me and I'll copy and paste it into a PM.

Enjoy.

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 22 Lava Reef Zone 1 & 23 Lava Reef Zone 2

Certainly showing some improvement bro. The percussion patterns were decent, but the tone on the snare was pretty weak, the whole set didn't sound like it was in the same place as the sax, and also sounded fairly robotic in the performance.

Live sax performance was decent, though not as smooth/fluid as it should have been, which can only be done through practice. Volume on it could have been toned down relative to the other instrumentation without losing much impact.

The woodwind-style after 1:45 sounded very mechanical too, IMO, making things sound jerky rather than smooth. Decent inclusion of Zone 2 from 3:07-3:27 shortly before the close. Arrangement was relatively OK, but I was a bit put off by how closely the source melody was followed most of the way through; aside from more interpretive stuff from 1:26-2:04, this was more of a genre adaptation and tempo slowdown than a major interpretation or expansion of the source material. The personalization in the arrangement is noticeable though.

Everything here is structured so rigidly that the piece loses a lot of emotion. The other Js would be better able to offer advice on making the sequenced material sound more fluid, but the ReMixing forum would offer advice there as well. Texture also feels sparse at times, but I hesitate to offer any specific advice on that as a more natural-sounding, smoother piece may lock together better and fill the soundfield better. Needs some serious fine-tuning, but again this shows some marked improvement versus your previous submissions.

NO

There are going to be parts of this review that are harsh. Before I really dig into this submission I want you to know that you've got enough potential and raw ability to make some really good music someday. I'm rooting for you, and I'm rooting for this mix. That being said, there are some serious issues here that need to be addressed.

For the live sax parts your phrasing and intonation are both really awful. Like awful in the "actually makes me cringe" way.

About 1 out of every 3 notes is

a) horribly flat

scooped up from flatness (which often sounds worse)

c) tongued before you hit the right fingering

d) phrased awkwardly

That's not a very good ratio if you're going to be incorporating live instruments in your remix.

At 1:07 your articulation is just....man what's the word. it's like you're playing drunk. the pitch is just sliding around like crazy and you're missing fingerings.

Consider 1:16. you either hit the wrong fingering or were on the wrong partial. Is this the best possible take you can get for this section?

Incorporating those semi-robotic woodwind samples with your live tracks is a really strange juxtaposition. I'd prefer you decide to either go the fully synthetic route, or just record those parts with a sax or whatever woodwinds you can get ahold. Mixing the two sounds pretty strange in this context.

What it comes down to in my opinion is just preparation and having a critical ear. Really practice those parts and have them nailed before you begin recording.

I'd like to hear Jesse weigh in on this, him being a sax player and all. My knowledge of wind instruments stems mostly from playing the trumpet.

There's a lot of room for you to grow, and I'm confident that you'll continue to improve if you keep at it.

NO

I agree that the live sax elements are pretty cool in theory, but the performance leaves something to be desired, and I think it's a bit too loaded with effects. In regards to overall production, lots of work needs to be done there. The drums are pretty bad overall. I can't say much positive about them besides the fact that they're playing a relatively decent sequence - but the tone is just BAD. You need to find some new samples there. There are lots of good free ones. The poor sample quality comes in again at 1:26. I don't even know what that plucked instrument is supposed to be. The dry mono synth sounds out of place and very dull. The woodwinds aren't terrible in comparison, but making use of more velocity changes and pitchbends would give 'em a bit more life.

The arrangement is actually not all that bad. It's god some pretty cool ideas. I like the variations and original material that's added. It's the execution that desperately needs work, so focus on that for now.

NO