Music Remastered

Okay, well I gave another go at my Chemical Plant HD cover and I tried to make the horn noises sound as realistic as possible. Hopefully this appeals to everyone here and if it does, I'll submit it. I kept the old sound that I had for the bass though because I really liked it. It's the only unchanged instrument.

Download link: http://dl045.zshare.net/download/2959c42de...20zone%20HD.mp3

 

Eh... it's not horrible, but it's lacking a lot of polish. That bass instrument sounds extremely unrealistic, and is for some reason panned to the left. The horn instruments, while not bad sounding, don't sound very realistic, and sort of sound "whiny" and unfitting of the song. The song lacks a wide, encompassing feel, and as a result I'm not too fond of it.

I'd much prefer that scubaSteve revamps his version; it was sounding very good before, but if he's going back and improving it, it should sound even better when it's done! Can't wait.

 

Alright fair enough. Maybe I'll try my luck at aquatic ruin's music then.

 

Well turns out that I already made a midi track of Aquatic Ruin Zone a while back, and I just had to convert it to VSTi and change the instruments to my liking. I am satisfied with the results myself, but someone may think differently. Any input would be appreciated.

http://dl042.zshare.net/download/f8beed023...ic%202%20HD.mp3

 

It's not bad, actually. I gets close to the original. I agree that the bass is kinda off, and it needs some mastering. Right now, it kinda sounds too MIDI for me, which is not fitting for a HD Version of Sonic 2. But work on this, I got a feeling this could work.

I like that one! Even though you're sometimes a little off with the choice of your instruments (for example at the beginning, e.g. the loud ta-di-da-di-daaa at 0:03, or some background instruments). I wouldn't recommend a harp (sounds to me like a harp, or a Laute) for the main melody line, as it's too slappy. Try reverbing it a little bit, or choose another instrument, or something. But I do like your ARZ rendition!

 

OK ... so here's my very first "real" song made in Reason 4. It's the Aquatic Ruin Zone music, whose rhythm is a real bitch to re-create. Didn't use any pre-defined MIDIs for this. Maybe it still sounds too generic, or the trumpet's too aggressive. It's still WIP - just please tell me what you think.

http://www.sinister.ch/Aquatic%20Ruin%20Zone%20by%20SDM.mp3

And here's a version with another kind of reverb and a less aggressive trumpet:

http://www.sinister.ch/aquaticruin2.mp3

 

I think that part should sound more or less like in "The good, the bad and the ugly", since that's what it's seemengly based on. Not sure what instrument it is, but it's certainly a wind-based one.


It sounds quite good anyway, and very faithful despites the different tempo. It's one of my favorite versions of ARZ so far, along with Hunter Bridges' (but that one differs way too much from the original).

 

NES, I would pretty much echo what has already been said about your renditions. In my opinion the CPZ horns aren't so bad - mostly they need work on the staccatos. See if you can use modulation to shorten the attack on those notes. I think the reverb you're using is also making them sound worse - it sounds to me like either the room size is too small or the decay is too short (possibly both). Actually, listening to your ARZ, I would say the same thing about the reverb there. By upping the room size and decay and then lowering the overall reverb level a little you'll get much less of that unrealistic "dense" reverb sound.

Strike, there's a few things that need fixing so far. The first main drum pattern (which, yes, was unusually difficult for me to recreate as well) is off a little. Since it would probably take a while to explain, and because it is out of a massively convenient coincidence that pictures are worth a thousand words, here's one measure of the MIDI track for my ARZ drums:

Your hat pattern is especially off, both here as well as in the intro (and it's the same in the intro as it is here). I have an issue with the reverb you're using as well, since it sounds like it's just inserted at the end of the mix, and it's way too much on the bass and drums. Are you doing this, or do you have the reverb set up as a send effect on a mixer? If not the latter, I would very strongly reccommend it... oh, and since you're the only person in here actually using the same software as I am (and as you've said, you're just learning it), feel free to ask tons of questions as Reason is the one music program I know pretty much inside and out, and I would love to help.

 

scuba, thanks for the huge reply.

Yeah, if you listen to the drum channel isolated, your ears just won't adjust and "catch" the beat. It only falls in place when you listen to it as a complete song.

The reverb was a Hall 2 one, I let the Mixer's main out run through it and then into the Compiler (or whatever it's called) to add the illusion of the track being played in a hall - which, in my opinion, fits the ARZ quite well. I don't think that's what you call a Send effect, though. Imagine it like this: Every sampler/EQ or whatever it is goes to the mixer, the mixer goes to the reverb, the reverb goes to the finalizing tools.

The hats I did not adjust to the original. I thought the original ones to lack some drive, so I just let a drum lane run on record, and play it the way I "felt" the noticably samba-esque beat.

Forget about the first one I posted, it's horrible - the trumpet is really really aggressive and it sucks. The second one is quite a bit better. Still needs work though.

I'll rework it. Thanks! Reason 4 is really great though. When I found out that I could assign automation to really EVERY knob, I knew I loved the software. As you might hear from the trumpets, I put the entire track on record and assigned the mixer lever (trumpet) to my keyboard (modulation) to make it fade louder on longer notes, which for me is a characteristical thing for brass instruments.

 

I wasn't disputing your reasons for using the reverb or anything - the problem is that when it's simply put at the end of the mix, it just doesn't sound realistic. In a real stage environment you would have instruments that are closer or farther away, so they would sound drier or wetter, respectively. So by setting the reverb as a send effect of your main mixer, you can adjust the reverb level of each instrument individually. Also, by "Hall 2" do you mean the RV-7 algorithm? I would strongly recommend using the RV7000 instead, not because it has more options (though that's definitely a plus), but because it's just way higher quality.

OK, so in case you aren't sure of how to set up send effects, here's my typical set-up (flip the rack to see the routing): http://www.filedropper.com/reverbsend
Then you just use the corresponding "aux" knob on the mixer to send more/less of the signal to the effect. That RV7000 setting is also what I usually start with before tweaking it for the song, and kind of brings me to another point. The EQ setting on the reverb (a low cut starting around 200 Hz) is something that I'd argue is necessary almost 100% of the time, because reverbed bass at those frequencies will not only turn your mix to mud, but it is extremely fatiguing to listen to.

Anyway, very cool to know that you're already messing around with automation . It's practically the key to getting more realistic sounds out of samples.

 

Yes, ICEknight is very right! The wind instrument, when played in aquatic ruin makes it sound like very passionate playing. I do have a version that someone posted earlier in the thread: http://retrohack.org/07.mp3

I love the way the lead instrument in this version sounds. The whole thing sounds exactly how I imagined Aquatic Ruins music in HD. My personal favorite.

 

Yeah man, automation really gives it that real instrumental feel - 0:30, for instance, where I made the claps fade louder. I added that stuff because it makes those little moments that build up rhythm. But now that I've listened to it again after two days, I realize it still needs A LOT of work. Sounds generic. But at least I do have the basic instruments, so I can just work with those. The nastiest part was to actually PLAY the instruments, especially the drums

Thanks for your set-up. I'll check it when I'm home. I believe I've used the RV-7 (the one with four knobs: Size, Damp, Dry/Wet and something I can't remember. The Send-thing sounds just like what I need.

Oh, and the ta-di-da-di-daaaa in the beginning (0:03) needs reworking. It just blurs out. Thanks a lot!

Yeah, that one's nice. The main melody instrument is indeed beautiful, but a little too much in the background for my taste; also, I have the feeling that the bassline is kinda off at certain points. But you're right, it's a very melodious and atmospheric rendition.

 

So ... I reworked my rendition of ARZ. Used a lot of Send Effects, played with EQs.

I wanted to make it become something between organic and synthetic, but with a nice touch of reverb, which in my opinion fits the zone pretty well. Also, I tried to make it a little "lighter" than the original.

Hope you like it ...

http://www.sinister.ch/aquaticruin3.mp3

EDIT: After re-listening to it, I think the sax (main melody) is too aggressive, at least in the "intro". Please tell me what you think.

 

Hi everyone, the name's Tora. I've been lurking around the boards here for a few months and finally decided to dive in and offer my contributions.

As my first submission I wanted to present my rendition of Hidden Palace Zone.

I've been screwing around in FL Studio for the past 5 years or so and have used my dickery that I've learned from to try to make this as close to the original as possible. I welcome any and all criticism on it.

There's another lead I'd love to add to the main melody, but I don't have the proper VSTi for it. >: >: >: >: >:

 

I've been working on ARZ.

Behold! (I worked hard on this, C&C please )


http://sonicsanctuary.digibase.ca/MiscProjects/ARZ.mp3

 

Meh, for fun (and my 2nd FL Studio song) I recreated the sonic 2 boss theme, and because my opinion isn't really enough to tell how good it is/isn't, I asked in IRC if it was "good or fail". Technically, no one really answered the question, but someone suggested I put this here. Surely by now you have like .. 10 remasterings of the song already, most of them (if not all) probably better and truer to the original, but it was suggested I put this here, so ... yah

I think I remember reading something about a .ogg requirement, so I made sure to export as that.


http://www.eggmangame.com/temp/S2BFR%20classical.ogg


If it's good enough to be considered the start of an actual usable version, I'd be more than willing to improve it. It's not exactly completely true to the original, because I wasn't really going for that; I hadn't even planned on sharing it here to start with :P. There was, technically, a version before it, that was a bit more techno-ish, but a friend of mine requested a "classical" version. If anyone's curious, here's the old version.

 

It's not bad, but it sounds a bit too slow. It would work for something like cutscenes or a final boss, but since that doesn't fit either of these for this project, that's not going to help. Great start though.

 

I would also like to add that the instrumental selection comes off as being rather sparse, with the brass section not being present at all. The notes also differentiate from the original score, and there are sharps/flats which don't exist in the original, particularly in the second measure of every four measures. Also, I think I detect a difference in key between the piano and string section overall, becoming especially prominent in the second half of the song.

And the tempo is a bit slow.

 

Hi guys,

Could I please get some feedback on a WIP for Chemical Plant Zone?

Forgive the poor quality it is yet to be mixed, but after reading a lot about peoples expectations (remastering > remixing) I wanted to make sure I was going down the right path before putting my all in. I have tried to make it as true to the original as possible, if people would like to hear more of a divergence let me know!

As it stands, it is VERY similar to the original.

Hopefully though it is to your taste so I can get on with a proper mix-down.

Thanks!!


ps. it can be found here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/iphebn

 

Wow, I love that sound! Very cool, very twangy, and very faithful to the original. You're right in that it does indeed need some proper mixing, and the bass sounds kind of weird, but I think it has potential to be a very good candidate for the Zone's track.

One thing I'd like to suggest is trying some minor enhancements of the original arrangement; chords, some enhanced percussion—anything you can do to make it feel more fresh without drastically changing the feel of the tune. Think Teck's MIDI arrangement or scubaSteve's music so far—that's a good style to use as a reference.

Glad to have you here, legareal! I saw your validation post and I'm beyond impressed with your credentials. It's a pleasure!