OCR01276 - *YES* Donkey Kong Country 2 'Set Sail'

[djpretzel]

Contact Info:
Blizihizake
Blake Perdue
blizihizake@netscape.com
UserID:8644
Uh, I don't really have a website, but if anybody wants to quickly build me one, that'd be cool. For free of course.

ReMix Info:
-Donkey Country 2 Diddy's Kongquest
-According to VGmusic.com, it's a remix of the Rigging stage's "Jib Jig".

Teh Linkage:
I hope you guys have soundclick ID's, cuz I was told you do.

Just choose "mp3" next to the song titled Donkey Kong Country 2 Set Sail OC ReMix.

Credits go to Sirrus for giving me this cool Harp soundfont that I used in this mix.
Also to Darkesword and his website for providing squidfont, and recommending florestan which he now ALSO hosts, because the only two soundfonts I use in this song are Florestan and Squidfont. I also used a Roland drumkit off of hammersound.net. It's not like I have money for gigasamples, or commercial ones at that.
It's said by everybody that good music makes free samples sound fitting and optimum. Well, hopefully this song does that. Maybe it doesn't. I hope it does though. Uh.

Inspirational crap: Well, I remember submitting 3 or 4 years ago a totally crappy Kingdom Hearts mix which wasn't actually a Kingdom Hearts song, but was actually sung by Utada Hikaru, so I guess that didn't even get on the board. However, that song was pure crap so it had no chance. I submitted under xXoDiax.

Then I later finished a crappy Bubbleman mix, which got a few YES's. I then realized, I HAD to get on OC ReMix. I was young and stupid, and even sent an email to change my mixerid to that of "DjBlizihizake", thinking I would get accepted. Oh, those were the days when I thought the tag "DJ" was cool. I realize how dumb I was, and I apologize to any ACTUAL dj's I offended. :| How embarassing. I think I just got excited because Teh Wingless actually posted in my WIP thread and gave some positive feedback. It was just my first review by anybody that I considered professional.

Well, now a lot of people hate me for not finishing the 20892042108slfjs WIP's I've posted on your boards, but I squeaked out a finisher to this horrible orchestral rendition of a DKC2 song. I apologize to those people to whom I promised finished WIP's, but I never succeeded in.

I know Prot, Vig, Dan, and a whole bunch of others probably didn't even read that. Thank god, I don't wanna be made fun of on #ocremix anyway. :D

Well anyway, I hope you guys like this. or, at least YES it. I hope that, in the oddest situation that it does get posted, that others like it too.

[zircon]

Whoa, awesome! Really amazing that this was done with all free samples - you could have fooled me. Great sequencing, great humanization, great processing; excellent implementation all around. Arrangement is fantastic also - it is long enough to express multiple ideas and possess a structure, but not so long as to become boring or repetitive. You have tempo and rhythmic changes, variation, the works. I couldn't ask for more.

An obvious YES.

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/dkq.rsn - "Jib Jig" (dkq-05.spc)

Nicely done original work to open things up before being followed by the arranged source tune at :47. Well, no need to really go the play-by-play route. The orchestral judges can give you tips on any of the finer points, but both the arrangement and performance are excellent to me, and really do make the most out of your sample weapons of choice. I did feel that you got optimal results with what you had at your disposal. The layering of instruments comes together to create a full sound, and the adventurous, seafaring motif that I felt "Jib Jig" merely alluded to is admirably expanded upon.

On the nitpick side, this is mastered pretty low; the overall volume level could be higher. I also thought the strings could have had a bit more presence relative to the other instruments. Like from 2:31 to 2:48, the violin lead could have been more prominent, but again it's a nitpick, relatively speaking, and just a subjective comment. There was excellent dynamic contrast via the shifts at 2:48 & 3:02 to escalate things. I think the intensity level from 3:12 to 3:45 could have been even greater in order to really go out strong for the finish, but overall I have no complaints. I certainly hope you'll keep trying out other genres, Blake, to keep exploring new ideas.

You've got the orchestrated stuff down pretty well, though, and you've come such a long way since I first met you through my show. You kept up the work on this one for quite a few months, really applied the feedback and criticism you got via the WIP forums, and produced these solid results. Every up-and-coming mixer should have that level of commitment and follow-through on at least one project. Yours is a great example of using all of OCR's resources to get the job done. The production is intelligent, the project illustrates what an aspiring mixer is capable of via free samples, and the arrangement intelligently realizes the potential of the source material. All things considered, this is a first mix you can be proud of. Respect.

YES

[The wingless]

Stupifyingly easy to YES

I could expound upon the particulars, but that would be like explaining why you need to look at The Mona Lisa.

[GrayLightning]

I heard the wip of this, and am pleased to hear the final result.

Arrangement and orchestration is great and beyond the bar. There is no reason to no this. Quality work from an upstart mixer.

Congrats on your first OC mix, blake. YES.

[Digital Coma]

I think the feedback given was unnecessarily positive and not constructive enough in areas such as attention to mixing, instrument placement, production, and note sequencing where this arrangement suffered. The ratio of source to originality is pretty skewed towards the latter, probably in an attempt to compensate for the basic rendition of notes from random themes of the game (medleyitis). Good showing and laudable effort, but there is certainly MORE than enough room for improvement.

Hopefully Blizihizzihzizhzizhihziake will receive more helpful criticism from reviewers.

[DarkeSword]

note sequencing

Gotta disagree on this point. I'm intimately familiar with the samples used in this mix, and I have to say that they're used quite well here. Note choices, textural choices, as well as sequencing in terms of velocities, durations, and articulations are clearly indicative of having lots of attention paid to them.

As for other comments, the mix is clear sounding; levels work and there's a tight balance kept between instruments.