ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Set Sail'
Download MP3
Play Preview
- Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo, 1995, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Blake Perdue
- Composer(s): Dave Wise
- Song(s): 'Jib Jig'
- Posted: 2004-11-27, evaluated by the judges
From the easily-mispronounced/misread newcomer Blizihizake, more fool-proofly known as Blake Perdue, comes this ReMix, also orchestral, from the DKC2 OST. It's great that this mix follows Shnabubula's, because I think it clearly illustrates that there's a place for more sedate, introspective orchestral mixes as well as Hollywood-style Williamsesque compositions. 'Orchestral' may be loosely thought of as a genre, but never a tone, as there's room for a wide palette of colors under its umbrella. Blake has actually submitted a few pieces in the past which weren't quite up to spec, and admits to starting numerous WIP mixes he never finishes, but expained that this particular mix was one he poured a little more time and energy into. He writes of his earlier experiences:
"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."
Now.... heh... well, I COULD consider that a sort of implicit insult to my own pseudonym, as I'm not an ACTUAL DJ either. Perhaps I should similarly be apologizing to the legions of true "disc jockeys" whom my usurpation of honorific acronym has potentially offended. But hey, it's different with me, because... like, I make it all one word, and lowercase... and stuff. Yes. Moving on, the point is that this mix comes from an individual who's paid his dues, taken a lot of constructive criticism, applied it, and via that application and effort, has produced a pretty damn respectable orchestral mix. Larry gives the motivational, tear-jerking speech of the century in his decision:
"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."
To paraphrase James Cromwell in Babe: "That'll do, Blizihizake". Introing with a cymbal roll and a tense progression underneath oboe arpeggio, right from the start there's some interesting fluctuations in tone, from tense to warmer. Things get more sailor-themed at 0'43" - having just seen Master and Commander again, this was well-timed for me, and does manage to capture some of that same seafaring, adventurous spirit. The core melody is then given some more lyrical, flowing iterations, with a solo oboe rendition atop enveloping, lush strings. Timpani and cymbal rolls introduce a string countermelody and additional accompaniment effectively, and more brass and percussion is added in for the finale, with the piece ending on a simple, sustained ensemble string chord. The variation in tempo and tone is impressive to have achieved in a single mix of just over four minutes, regardless of being a first submission. While the panel was uniformly positive on the mix overall, Binnie did feel there was still room for improvement, with perhaps a touch of 'medleyitis' in the way original material was melded with source material. Of course, to many if not all mixers, there's always room for improvement; what's important is that Blake's come up with a piece that's strong overall, has a good deal of variety, is interpretive, and takes his emerging skills to the next level. Good, very approachable stuff.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the This is one of those arrangements.
It takes everything I liked about the original track and turns it into a beautiful symphonic piece that could easily be used for a movie about adventure on the high seas, pirate-induced or otherwise. With minor tweaking, I would love to hear this performed by a live orchestra.
- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
Anyway this song well deserves getting the FIRST review I've written on this site in more then 4 years.
- setzertrancer on July 11, 2008
Anyway, I found this piece to be very enjoyable. I particularly like orchestral mixes. The beginning section was done very beautifully and the transition was good into the faster part. To be honest I felt that it was a little strange to start it of so quiet and then go into a louder more active section.
The bass lines (namely the cellos) were wonderfully written and went well with the overall piece. I mostly enjoyed the use of dynamics and tempo changes. As always as I percussion major I feel that a strong background with lots of toys and gadgets going on gives a piece the extra excitment it needs.
Overall I felt the song went very smoothly with few errors.
- ResEvil07 on January 1, 2007
- Dr.d on December 10, 2006
- Yamato2299 on November 9, 2006
Final Grade: 7 out of 10
- Magnum_Thunder on October 2, 2005
opening theme to a movie!
Great orchestral Blizdude! 8)
- Bummerdude on September 16, 2005
- heineken on May 5, 2005
This is definately one of my DKC2 favorites - it rivals the work of the great Protricity. This mix flows together seamlessly...kinda reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean.
[i]Stellar job, Bliz![/i] [b]10/10[/b]!
- Krythan on May 5, 2005
Anyway, this has to be the BEST ReMix I've ever heard on this site. It sounds very strikingly lot like something you would hear from Disney. It'd make the perfect song to hear while you watched one of the nightly fireworks shows at Disneyland.
Oh, great, now this song has me yearning for some classic Disney nostalgia, for some odd reason. :? Maybe Blizi should get a job at that company and work on the music for some of their animated films... Agh, I've gotta get out of the house!
- Daikun on April 17, 2005
- Falcovsleon20 on January 15, 2005
Txai wrote:Gigantanthropus wrote: It's gotta pirates of the caribbean tone to it...aaaarrrrgggghhhhh nice job matey
RimFrost wrote: Loved this remix Now all we need is a few bottles of rum !
[i]The Captain is satisfied...[/i]
Yeah! Pirates! RUM! Hey, Captain...Good Job!
"Blizihizihizizake"
- Demko on January 11, 2005
Gigantanthropus wrote: It's gotta pirates of the caribbean tone to it...aaaarrrrgggghhhhh nice job matey
RimFrost wrote: Loved this remix Now all we need is a few bottles of rum !
[i]The Captain is satisfied...[/i]
- Txai on December 5, 2004
Beautiful, splendid. It puts Prot's old orchestral DKC2 mix to shame.
The swell at 1:24 is especially wonderful. Good stuff, man. Not only did you pick a great track to go orchestral, but you really kept it interesting and at a good length. :nicework:
- Aninymouse on December 3, 2004
Content Policy
(Submission
Agreement and Terms of Use)
Page generated Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:41:05 -0500 in 0.0714 seconds
All compositions, arrangements, images, and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Original content is
copyright OverClocked ReMix, LLC. For information on RSS and JavaScript news feeds, linking to us, etc. please refer to resources for webmasters. Please refer to the Info section of
the site and the FAQ available there for information about the site's
history, features, and policies. Contact David W. Lloyd (djpretzel), webmaster, with
feedback or questions not answered there.
