Pumpkin King - Supersonic - April 2011

[Pumpkin King]

I'm a bit eager to share this one. I started the song...maybe over a year ago. But I finished it mostly last week. It's called Supersonic, inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sega Genesis. Most of the inspiration came from the special stage of the first game. There are similar chord patterns and ideas coming from there. So if you guys want, you can check out the music on youtube for a comparison. It's a great composition.

A tough one to mix though, and I put a bit of work into getting the solos right. But I think I finally got it all to work out.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10470876

[CharlesFerraro]

lol, its super sonic-esque, completely nailed the character of the game. Just needs some of that simple 80's bass.

Where's the kick??

Lead sounds great, nice natural implementation of vibrato.
Throw in some more "dual guitar" stuff throughout the song cause the ending sounds awesome.

I'm listening on a laptop so it could be fudging things a bit, but the lead sounds a lot louder than everything else. Keep it in the front for sure but maybe lower it slightly on the final mixdown.

[Pumpkin King]

Thanks Charles.

And yeah, definitely missing that funky 80's bass. But oh well, I'm not too familiar with that style and how to compose it. And I just edited it now, made the leads a bit lower. Just a bit. It's just that with the tone I was using, the leads tend to get much louder as the pitch gets higher.

Thanks again man, I love Sonic. But not the newer stuff.

[georgeinar]

I just love how jazzy this feels. The leads do sound loud, but maybe not as much as they were. I don't think you really need to totally re-create the 80s here, as you can simply treat this as a new piece as far as mixing and do your thing. This synth lead you're doing around 2 minutes is really great to listen to and is virtual-tastic!! The only reason I think the synths may be too loud is that I can barely hear the drums at all. Yet they cut thru so nicely, I do think you could really make this zing with louder drums, or a bit of eq magic there and then soften the leads, at least for the majority of spots. As it is though, already this is a total blast to listen too and I really enjoyed the wild ride. Nice job.

[Pumpkin King]

Wow you're right. I didn't realize that the drums were so quiet (-2.2 db in garageband). I made some changes, and I think it helped a lot.

Oh, and btw, I used the Triton Extreme here, and imported everything into garageband.

And no, I won't try to re-create the 80s with some funky bass. I think the song is good as is. No need to do anything else.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, George. This one was a fun one to play to.

[georgeinar]

That does sound better. I like this mix alot.

[sewa]

Very cool, it reminds me a Polish electro-pop band from 70/80s which had major influence on my musical tastes.

The solos are great. The melody is fun and interesting. It must have taken you a lot of work to do it like that. The sounds are sweet too, just like my favorite synth sounds from the past.

Im listening to this through my AKG headphones. The mix sounds good to my ears. The drums are there and I would't touch the leads as they're so good. A slap bass would work here nicely but that's a matter of personal preference.

cheers
sewa

[Pumpkin King]

Thanks sewa.

Yeah, it took a bit of work to get the solos down. But I've rehearsed it so much now, that I can do it in my sleep, haha. The tough part initially was actually trying to play and record most of the leads in harmony. But I found it easier to take the original lead I recorded, just do whatever effect I wanted on it, whether it'd be a different sound/effect or an octave higher, and then have that play simultaneously with the original lead. In other words, I just made combinations for the majority of the leads. It sounded better too.

[joet63]

Hi Joe, love the funky song man hehehe. I think the jazzy/funk sound is so cool, although I would've liked to hear some funky basslines but oh well, still a good song mate well done!

joe

[Pumpkin King]

Thanks, Joe. I appreciate it.

[Pumpkin King]

Hey all, I recorded a piano version of this song...for whoever wants to check it out.

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

[ellll]

Hi Again Pumpkin King... and

I find this to be very good and rather catchy; Its not my normal interest I know but I like it and listened a few times to be sure I caught what was going on

If I complained about anything at all , as I do NOT realize your intention here... other than an interesting, arresting song, I would complain that its not "thick" enough ...; that It could do with a bit of expanded instrumentation in widened harmonic coverage of the melodies...

Also a bass line of a contrasting rhythmic element at times would add intwerest... perhaps But thats all and its likely my penchant for heavy harmony that makes me look for those additions

Thanks for putting it up Its VERY good

My Regards John..Johnny.. ellll

[Pumpkin King]

Yeah I completely agree with your points on adding some more instrumentation, more harmonic melodies with future compositions... It's just with this song, I think I was just showing off my keyboard chops I'd say. The chord progressions (well, most of them) were inspired by the special stage music in Sonic The Hedgehog, I just manipulated a few things around and soloed to it. So it wasn't completely original I guess.

And yes, the bass line could use some change ups here and there I agree. Along with the drums. I always tend to get lazy with drums and bass. But again, this was more of a showcase of my keyboard skills...with some retro video game inspiration.

But thank you for the listen and the suggestions, it helps so much. I'll definitely try to think differently when composing in the future.