Donkey Kong Country 'King K Rool'

[Darthfett]

I've been working on a remix of one of my favorite vg songs, Donkey Kong Country's King K Rool theme. I'm still a newbie at making music, so anything to help would be great!

It's incomplete, so I looped the last 4 measures 4x, so you could hear how it loops.

Thanks for listening:

http://darthfett.hopto.org/music/DKCKrool_2.mp3

Here's the source song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O_53rg1o9A

[z130]

Well, I'm pretty new at this too, but so far, I like it, especially the intro. Other than that, you probably need to have more variation in there. Everybody's heard King K. Rool before, so come up with something unique that make this piece stand out.

Oh, and the violin/fiddle/whatever that comes in at 1:20 sounds very bland. Give it some shaping (dynamics, vibratto, something).

Hope that helps. It sounds good so far!

[hewhoisiam]

This is my 3rd post, so beware. I did find a checklist... Sound card comes tomorrow for me and I can start messing around.

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

[ ] Too conservative - sticks too close to the source

[ ] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing)

[ ] Too much direct sampling from original game audio

[ ] Borrows heavily from non-source material (eg. a theme from a movie)

PRODUCTION

[ ] Too loud

[ ] Too quiet

[ ] Low-quality samples

[ ] Unrealistic sequencing

[ ] Generic/cliche sound choices

[X] Drums have no energy

[X] Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics)

[ ] Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range)

PERFORMANCE (live recorded audio/MIDI parts)

[ ] Timing not tight enough

[ ] Wrong notes, general sloppiness

[ ] Poorly recorded

[ ] Bad intonation

STRUCTURE

[X] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow")

[X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough)

[ ] Pace too plodding

[ ] Too repetitive

[X] Too short

[X] Abrupt ending

PERSONAL COMMENTS (positive feedback, specifics on checklist criticisms, any other thoughts)

Specific areas:

intro - 0:28 Consider some dynamics as you bring new instraments in. Even if it's just a little bit.

0:29-0:51 I like the build here to your first idea. Done very well.

0:52-1:07 Great sound and feel in this section, but it's only 15 seconds long. Just as I'm starting to get into the melody, it's gone. Don't be afraid to play with this, to me this is the highlight of the song. If you're looking to add length to the track, I'd definatley consider expanding here.

1:08-1:32 I like the add ins and the sounds. Right now though, the song seems to have long transitions with little content to get into. Consider shortening the breaks between ideas to help the song flow, while expanding some of the melody sections.

1:32-1:36 It may just be my prefrences, but I'd rather hear dynamics then 32nd notes. And a buzz here at the end is sort of obnoxious. Adding some bass drum with that snare may help the dynamic without the fast notes.

1:37-end This is the bit with the 4 measures repeating. It ends up being kinda same-ie here, which is to be expected. The drums are simple and really stand out as being blah to me.

In general: Dynamics are my buzzword of the day. I would like to see some dynamics added to generally smooth out the intros and transitions. You go from (bass drum)

1 &a2 3 &a4 in the begenning to 1 3 & 4 at your first idea. Which works well and has a nice driving rock feel. Towards the end where you have the 4 measures looped over and over again It feels more empty with only 1 a3 (if that's the sound you want okay, but something needs to happen somewhere here to keep that driving feel of the rest of the song) It's hard to suggest things at the end because it's just the 4 measures. 0:52-1:07 has this very nice low sound that does some melody. It seems to have vanished towards the end, and I liked it. I'd like to see this guy added to the end to help out that lopsided drum beat. If it makes it back in, you may want to back off with the repeating pattern or you'll get too many sounds.

Overall it sounds good. Gotta finish the end before you can really get into disecting it and changing bits.

Hope this helps.

-Hewhoisiam

[Rozovian]

New guy, you've got some good crits. Welcome to ocr.

Now, the wip... Source is there, and the last section is either overly interpreted or original, but it works well.

Drums have energy, but they need to be better separated and more clear. They're heavy on the lows... but too much of the lows are boosted. EQ each drum (or drum type) separately. The first drum rhythm could have a bit more flow or groove to it, it's a bit stuttery how it stops on the fourth beat. The different drum patterns could be a bit more similar, the track feels a little schizofrenic.

You've varied the instrumentation well, but I'm not fan of the synth that comes in at 1:20. Might work if it and the one that follows wouldn't be so loud. Also, they get repetitive, keep evolving the track, just make sure to set aim for the source again.

I have no problem with the dynamics (once things would be processed properly), but this seems to be one of those idea#1->idea#2->idea#3 remixes. While the ideas are pretty good, they don't necessarily work well together. A single drum style would unify them more, and a more clear progression would sort of the issues with cohesion.

I'm of course not saying the dynamics are perfect, I can hear places where a rise in intensity would really improve the track... it's just not the main issue I've got with the track.

I suggest you work on the drum writing and mixing, balance the volume of the tracks, and keep writing, before getting into the details of mixing and processing.