Music

Greetings. I've prepared my Hill Top Zone rendition. Sorry it took so long.

HTZ Remaster
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cz9407

 

Wow, the Death Egg rendition in the opening post blew me away. It's like the horror some people felt when playing Death Egg for the first time, all over again. Captured the feel perfectly for me.

 

That's pretty good. It's an interesting take on it.

 

This is the start of something epic. Mind you, it's not up to snuff yet, but I can see this ultimately becoming final product material.

The harmonica is fantastic. The blowing winds and rock organ are a nice touch. The percussion and half of the brass instruments are good enough. But the brass used in the final part drags it down.

 

I compared it to the original, and it's perfect besides the trumpets in the background(following the lead), they're quite out of the place. If they can't be replaced, at least tune down their volume a bit.

 

Thanx a lot!

Thanx for the critique and I totally agree with you. Right now, its trombone, tenor sax and organ playing that last part but its sounds kinda bland. I'm open to any ideas actually.

Out of place? Hmm ok I'll look into that Thanx for listening

 

It sounds great, but the stereo sound is overdone and kind of distracting. No part should be ALL THE WAY to one side, as a general rule.

 

Not to sound like a prick, but the Mega Drive did stereo all the way to the side, iirc. There was no inbetween.

Then again, we don't have to abide by limitations, so go nuts with stereo.

 

I can only say.. Feel free to remaster more tracks Mesmonium.

This one goes actually #1 to my personal S2HD HTZ tracks!


P.s. Any chance for ARZ?

 

In all honesty they seem to fatten up the lead quite a bit, and give it a bit of a Sam and Dave sound IMO. Plus, isn't this in the room for interpretation and enhancement?

Edit: Oh, final part, you say, not first part. If you mean the last 2 seconds or so, you have a point. That bit is just not in line with the rest of the song.

 

Like it. Not sure what the instument is called, but at around 0:37, you can hear it quiety going "Da nu nu na-Da nu nu na", I think that should be much LOUDER! For me that noise was always a bit of relief and made it more dynamic, sorta like the music was responding to itself... if that makes any sense

Also, I think you could make that noise sound a little echo-y, so maybe it sounds like its coming from the background, it'll make the zone seem more atmospheric. I know these ideas sound a bit stupid, I apologize, but just give it a serious thought, I feel fairly certain about this.

 

Either a banjo or sitar that is, me thinks.

 

I believe he's referring to the organ sounding instrument. You can barely hear it in this remaster at all so if you still don't know what I'm referring to you may do better listening for the organ in the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKUcIaGvSmw

 

That's a fantastic Hill Top Zone! Very full of personality and totally enthusiastic and peppy. I'd think a different organ might help, though—preferably one with a bit more vibrato and one that has a more consistent, fuller tone. I might try and search around to find an example of what I mean, but raising the levels and using a bit less reverb would probably help.

Also, it might help if you widened up the chords on the organ. Adding some more notes to the chord in there would definitely keep things from sounding too simple.

 

Thanx for all the great feedback! For the most part, I do agree with many of you (such as the organ needs a fuller tone, or the brass is a bit bland near the end). I'm not too sure about my instruments being panned all the way. I never pan ridiculously....probably about halfway but I cant remember. I felt the banjo (doing the da-du-du-dum at 0:37) clashed with the organ and harmonic when I turned it up originally.

To be honest, I dunno wot to change to make it better. We all agree that the brass is not so good, so I have to think of ways to change it. Getting a good list of what should be changed would be great. Im terrible at mixing, levels and all that...definetely a weak point. Couldnt I just give the parts to an audio engineer on the team?

 

Try using a Harpsichord.

 

Good idea in terms of texture, but it takes away from the hillbilly-ish style

 

I had the same issue when I used a banjo on that section. The Harpsichord did give the best overall sound. But it's up to you if you want to try it out on that section. I didn't find anything else that sounded any better. So I couldn't advise on any other instruments.

 

I think the reason the brass parts sound unspectacular is because you're using lower brass instruments (trombone and tenor sax) coupled with somewhat soft playing. I would try just increasing the note velocities for the brass parts first, though that would likely make them too loud and obtrusive here. So maybe try replacing the tenor sax with an alto or soprano and maybe even add a trumpet to try to brighten the sound a little. You can always try raising certain parts an octave as well.

Also, regarding the brass part in the last section (where the brass is playing chords with the bass) - if you listen to the original, this part has only one lead instrument playing along with the bass, whereas your arrangement has the whole brass section playing. Making it a solo like the original might serve to add some needed variety to the brass.

Finally, I'm certain your mixing isn't half as bad as you think it is . However, there is definitely some room for improvement, and I would actually be more than happy to do the final mix if you'd like.