Music

Just throwing this in here; Tweaker and I collaborated on a little tune called Hyper Palmtree Siesta last June, originally a high-quality rendering of a tune made for the hack I was working on.

What do you think?

Also @muteKi: This tune was also inspired by Out Run, but in a less obvious way than yours -- I personally would suggest any homage to be sort of 'tucked away' in the layers like this rather than being so blatant like yours.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but I get the feeling an outright remix would devalue the project as a whole and bring it closer to "lol, fangame" territory.

 

Thanks to some members of the IRC, I have information on getting the instrument (voices) and percussion from the Sonic games into VOPM. If anyone would like that information, I'd be happy to find out who gave me it and then post how to get it out and in.

And now that I do have this information, I can get started making Genesis-sounding songs. Now if I can get VOPM to be a bit louder...

 

I've updated the song, trying to take less stuff from OutRun and more from the motifs that I've been using for the stuff I've done so far. Structure remains mostly unchanged, but I cleaned up a few bits here and there.
Also I've changed around a few of the voices. Not sure if that improves it or not, though.

LINK: http://www.box.net/shared/c8qb9bli76

 

For Hyper Palmtree Siesta, it's a pretty good song, but it's just a little bit too calm. And the whistle gets annoying very quickly.

@muteKi, I like the new chord changes (not what I was thinking but it sounds way better. Doesn't it always turn out that way?), and you really got the Sonic feel (except in the bass. You need to get a better bass voice, or at least make the current one louder), but I still like most of the voices used in the original. Some of the new ones are great for the song, but I'm kind of partial to the Spyro voices, seeing as the original trilogy is my favorite game series next to Sonic.

 

Calm isn't the word I'd use to describe it - it's quite Latin in flair, but seems to largely be in minor, which completely removes it from the "upbeat" music that a first Sonic stage so desperately needs. It might work as a later stage, but as a first-stage tune, it'd be awful.

It's not that it's a bad tune, it's just a bad first-stage tune.

 

Well, if you're talking about the one I recently posted, that's supposed to be more of a Special Stage theme than a first stage theme, since a lot of people seem to favor making an OutRun clone; as a result I made a song that itself was based on OutRun's music.

I did something that I thought would fit the first stage a lot better a while back, if that's what you thought that was, as it's not a distinctly tropical zone as much as the name would suggest (nor were Green Hill or Emerald Hill, I think). I'll repost it just so everyone is clear: http://www.box.net/shared/cdtfrpnztl If you've already heard this then you don't need to DL again as nothing has changed.

Now at the same time this song really isn't tropical at all. However I don't think that's a horrible thing. I mean, the most tropical Sonic zone in the Genesis games was probably Sonic CD's Palmtree Panic, and in the Japanese release the level had BGM quite similar in style to this, certainly in the present time zone.

 

I also think that this song you just posted really is great, but I don't really like the trumpet you used for the main instrument. You should give space for a second main instrument, making some trumpet parts the second instrument's (IMO, piano would feel really nice) and instead of a trumpet, a trombone would be better.
Also, putting in some SFXs like those Palmtree Panic's song's "yaaaaay" or "woo" would be nice, I guess.

 

This song reminds me of Green Grove Zone from Sonic 3D Blast [Genesis]. I think the trumpet is what makes it sound like that. Not bad for first stage music; it's peppy, and that's what makes it a good fit. However, I believe that if the song were sped up in tempo, it would seem more fitting to a tropical zone. For instance, Green Hill and Emerald Hill had the same tempo as "Stage 1," making this song more suited for a meadow-esque stage like those two. Angel Island, however, which was more of a tropical island zone than GHZ or EHZ, had a faster tempo to it. ([EDIT] Well, maybe it had the same tempo; I guess the "steel drum" sound just gives it a speedier sound)

Then again, our tropical zone already looks sort of meadow-esque, so if any more meadow-like elements are added to it, this song would definitely fit in.

 

I wasn't. I was referring to Jayextee's post. Sorry for the confusion.

(Although personally, if we're aping OutRun anyway, just put in "Magical Sound Shower" or "Passing Breeze"; why not? :P)

I like the "new" music. Reminds me a lot of this one golf game I had for the Saturn (DL for reference)... Seems a bit slow, though.

 

Wow, that golf game music is uncanny. Never heard it before in my life.

 

I just have joined this forum in the aim to purpose my music skills. Some of my previous compositions might be in the tone but I will make some news especially for this project. The ones I'm giving you in this link will show us some of my work but keep in mind there was originally no made for Sonic Retro. However, perhaps "Hightech City" should match with "City Zone".

http://www.everyoneweb.fr/WA/Presentation_...sterlijnen=True

[Edit: Sorry, wrong link... This one will work better! http://www.everyoneweb.fr/SailuMusic/ . Go to the page "Projet Sonic" of course ]

 

I'm sorry, I can't see this page. It asks me for login information.

 

Sailu: Checked your songs, here's my review:

Hightech City: Sounds kind of dark compared to other city zones, which are otherwise jazzy or upbeat (like Star Light, Balloon Park, and Casino Night). This could work for a later level, however.

Secrets of Nights: This sounds like its well-suited to the Special Stage. The abundance of percussion and that quick tempo give it the feel of a special stage.

The Dreaming Droid: I find this song fitting for the rainforest stage. It has a lot of echoing synths, some of which sound perfect for our ancient rainforest ruins level.

Overall, however, a lot of these songs feel too much like techno beats rather than Sonic music. Sonic music has always had a catchy tune that sticks in the player's head; these, however, have no long-lasting tunes to them. For some inspiration, and to understand what I mean, listen to the Sonic CD music. All the tracks (other than the U.S.'s Game Over music) have nice catchy tunes to them, making them almost too easy to hum along. Personally, I prefer Naofumi Hataya's renditions, as more of his songs sounded closer to the Genesis' Sonic music than Spencer Nilsen's did, although he too had some very respectable tracks, many of which had a neat musical ambience to them.

Otherwise, keep the elements I pointed out in future revisions, as these can work under the right conditions.

 

These compositions feel too much like techno beats, I'm entirely agree.

"Hightech City" is darker than usual city musics of Sonic but I thinked the City Zone of the project contained a cold industrial aspect, a mixed ambient between Star Light Zone and Scrap Brain Zone. Then, for this level, a technoid music should be nice.

I think I can try to make something on Maple Hill Zone, Underground Zone, Blue Mountain Zone and/or the City Zone if you want a dark ambient on this last.

For Maple Zone I see something near the music of Hill Top Zone. What do you think about that?
For Underground Zone I need to know more about the atmosphere: medieval, grecian, maya? For medieval or mythical ambients I could do something, but Maya ... I think I can't.

(I will listen again to the Sonic CD music and I'll try to find more compositions of Naofumi Hataya )

 

I heard Hightech City, and it was awesome, but it seems like it would really only fit in the Sewer part of the level, or if not that, it would definitely fit in the rainforest zone. It's almost slow, but not quite, and it has the right effects for a Rainforest song. It has the feel of Sonic CD and Need for Speed III, with most of it being a completely unique listening experience. A great song, and I hope you put up a download link soon.

For Secrets of Nights, it's a really good dance-type track, and it really has a good feel for Blue Mountain. To make it even better, I would suggest using a distorted electric guitar in place of (or harmonizing with) either the main saw/strings line or the bass.

Sleeping Droid would be a very good song for Blue Mountain Zone, but only for an ice cave of sorts.

 

I really think "Hightech City" could be a good music for the sewer part of the level! I'll give you a link to download it.

The two others are too techno-like and I have lost the saves of these old compositions. If I had to begin again them, I'd prefer to create some totally news, entirely designed for this project.

But I'm replying to show you three others compositions.
- The first has been just composed. It's not finished but I want you to tell me if you like the theme. Drums are just a test. They're not sonic-groovy and I'll re-arrange them. The melodies could match with a water-filled passage.
- The theme of the second one is extracted from Thunder Force IV but remixed in a groovy tone! What do you think about taking a theme from an other Genesis game? I've read Outrun inspires you for the (or "a"?) special stage. So I guess we could do the same for one song.
- On the 'Echantillons" page of my site, you can listen to "Into the Pyramid". This one could be a great music for a zone. Of course, I would remplace my voice with a synth similar melody.

http://www.everyoneweb.fr/SailuMusic/

 

I have made several posts explaining exactly why he shouldn't, with the main point being that his compositional style is not even mildly similar to that of any known style of Sonic music. Am I talking to a goddamn wall or something?

 

To be honest, I wouldn't really mind a couple of the tracks from Virtual Sonic being used. Not just because they're by Howard Drossin, is that some of the songs fit the Sonic style well but that is kind of self explanatory.

 

This project is using original compositions only, so that won't exactly fly. I'm sure they'd fit other Sonic-related projects pretty well, though!