Posted 2012-07-24, evaluated by the judges panel


What if the infamous Sonic 3 'IceCap Zone' theme... had been written for Gladiator???

Yes, that's the type of soundbitten, oversimplifying, super-catchy-headline rhetorical "What if???" question we can accuse of diminishing the state of global discourse, BUT... in this case, it actually gives you a pretty good idea of the arrangement. Think cinematic, think dark, think epic, think choral, and most of all think ethnic vocalizing of the variety Lisa Gerard helped popularize in the Ridley Scott film. It's Zimmerificâ„¢!!! But that's farrrrr from a bad thing - I love that soundtrack, I think it was one of the composer's very best, and I was actually disappointed when it lost the Oscar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Even though Tan Dun is awesome, and has a cool name.

But I digress; fans of Rich Douglas' work knows that he rocks a powerful, Hollywood Film Composer style, which he's applied to various games in the past, each time creating a rich, narrative atmosphere where you can almost hear the low hum of a film projector running, it's so soundtrack. While he's covered more esoteric titles like Splatterhouse 3 and popular favorites like Super Metroid, this is the first time he's taken on a single theme with the notoriety of being one of the most-mixed sources on the site. For me at least, it was really neat just to hear a piece we've heard so many times truly transmogrified into Tinseltown textures. It's different, it's fresh, I haven't heard it before, and I like it. The ReMixer writes:

"Well, I'm back to my old epic tricks with this one. I know I know.. Ice Cap Zone has been remixed more times than I can count over the last 10 years or so... but to my knowledge has never been done in my signature epic style. So while I'm one of the 5 peeps on the planet who hasn't tried to remix this amazing source material, figured I'd give it a shot. When I re-listened to the source recently I immediately thought of slowing it down by half, adding a full orchestra, and a full on choir... making it, in my opinion, one of my most epic and well orchestrated remixes to date. Something fitting for a rescue sequence, hence the name. Thematically, this is amazing stuff, and after hearing it orchestrated will definitely remind many of you of such pieces like "Arrival to Earth" from Transformers by Steve Jablonsky and "Time" from Inception by Hans Zimmer.... which was definitely the vibe I was going for here."

Judges took a little (legit) issue with the meandering key of the canned vocal, and its repetition, but were otherwise pretty sold on both the concept & execution. Nutritious writes:

"I like the slowed, dramatic pace you've set here. Rich always aims for the blockbuster movie soundtrack feel and with his ability and samples [/envy] he really pulls it off well. I hear what the other j's are saying on the canned vocals, but as Andrew mentioned, they resolve well so it's a minor point to me. Production for the most part is pulled off very nicely with clear separation of parts, even in the loud section.... Arrangement is a very creative take on an oft-remixed track, so double props there. There's no question what's being remixed, but that doesn't mean the track is predictable by any stretch."

Excellent work from Rich that takes a VERY familiar piece of VGM and turns it into a cinematic vision, without compromising the heart & soul of the trademark progression or melody!

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Mykah
on 2012-09-03 15:05:40

This remix is inspiring! It's sounds like it could be used in an epic film adaptation of Sonic 3.

Great job Beckett007!!!

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timaeus222
on 2012-08-10 15:04:53

The vocals didn't really seem to fit in my perspective, but everything else was really well done. Omnisphere is fun. It's one of the reasons I go to Guitar Center. xD Great job on this piece!

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LunaYoshi
on 2012-08-09 20:20:25

Holy god, my ears. They're crying. Tears of joy.

PLEASE DO MORE IN THIS STYLE. OCR PEOPLE, PLEASE DO MORE REMIXES LIKE THIS. OH GOD.

It makes me want to do a movie promo for Sonic Generations or something. Someone with video editing skills should totally do that. Then I could watch it and love it and have their babies.

Very nice piece! I'm not familiar with the original.

Wha...? For serious? Oh man, browse the Sonic 3 (Sega Genesis) mixes! That'll keep you busy for a day.

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beckett007
on 2012-07-26 14:09:23

Thanks all!

For those curious about what libraries were used...

ALL String work - LA Scoring Strings(LASS)

Brass - custom

Percussion - custom

Vocal Solo - Francesca (8dio)

Choir - Requiem (soundiron), Symphony of Voices / Omnisphere (spectrasonics)

Synths - Omnisphere (spectrasonics)

This was done in 12 tracks... I've never been one to utilize huge templates.

Thanks again.. and to you other remixers out there.. keep up the great work!

Rich

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Bahamut
on 2012-07-26 12:38:55

This song is certainly filmesque, as I should come to expect from Beckett007. Thankfully this approach provides something different when compared to all of the traditional Ice Cap mixes into something with a grand feel.

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Damashii!!
on 2012-07-25 11:05:04

enter: AMV onslaught. :

seriously though, this is incredibly well done. it's almost like this type of arrangement was just waiting to be done.

i'm loving the strings around 2:00, and the vocal thing throughout.

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Crulex
on 2012-07-25 09:11:08

Oh, damn, that was cool! Taking such a whimsical tune that we've all heard ReMixed before and turning it into a cinematic, grand, epic ReMix that could come straight from a movie set is awesome. This is definitely going into my list of my top three Ice Cap ReMixes. Very cool.

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RECKENEFIN
on 2012-07-25 00:26:36

Zimmer-esque indeed. I'm also getting a trailer music vibe here. Something in the vein of Immediate Music or Thomas Bergersen. Right up my alley. Keep the epic coming! 8)

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Swifthom
on 2012-07-24 20:01:21

One major complaint; it's too short!

A wonderful, epic, sweeping piece. Sonic the action movie couldn't do better. And just when you think a songs been done so many times it has nowhere else to go

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Chernabogue
on 2012-07-24 18:57:15

Beckett007 strikes back and hard. Epic piece with master production, as always. Great job! :nicework:

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Mordi
on 2012-07-24 18:53:22

Very nice piece! I'm not familiar with the original.

It would be nice to know what sound libraries was used for this, as I am on the lookout for good orchestral sounds at the moment!

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djpretzel
on 2012-07-24 18:24:34

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Sega , 1994, GEN)
Music by Bobby Brooks,Brad Buxer,C. Cirocco Jones,Darryl Ross,Doug Grigsby III,Geoff Grace,Jun Senoue,Michael Jackson,Tatsuyuki Maeda,Tomonori Sawada
Songs:
"Ice Cap Zone: Act 1"

Tags (10)


Genre:
Cinematic
Mood:
Angry,Dark,Epic
Instrumentation:
Brass,Choir,Orchestral,Singing,Strings,Vocals: Female
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_Ice_Cap_Zone_Rescue_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,906,194 bytes
MD5:
b0ecba2ac0d6cdebcbe5174e512b7755
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:21

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