*NO* Donkey Kong Country 'Who Is Dankey Kang?'

[DragonAvenger]

Remixer Name: Keitomine
Name: Deronde Williams
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TechnikaCore
User ID: 32283

Name of Game: Donkey Kong Country
Name of Arrangement: Who is Dankey Kang?
Song Arranged: Aquatic Ambiance
Genre: Progressive House

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Edited March 22, 2016 by Liontamer
closed decision

[DragonAvenger]

The opening here is pretty sweet, definitely enjoyed the textures you used here. Feels very magical, in a sense. After that the groove starts, and it sits on it for a quite a while with some added parts coming in. When the source melody comes in, it's in a super blocky synth which to me feels really out of place. The contrast is really stark to the other rhythms you have going on, and it doesn't feel like it fits in. Later the bell synth/piano sounds a lot better. 4:30 has a weird bass wobble going on that also sounds really strange, then fades out somewhat abruptly. Overall it feels like there are some odd sound choices going on.

A lot of the backing parts in the first half don't really have a connection to the source, and to me the track feels more like cameos than an arrangement. The times that the backing works off the original backing really fits nice, and the second half of the mix works fine in that regard. I'd like that to start coming in earlier to make those connections, or maybe space out the original backings later into the mix.

I know house music is supposed to be very repetitive, but I'd like to hear some more changeups in regards to the percussion and backing parts. The opening is nice where different instruments and synths are layered in and out, but once things get started that doesn't seem to happen as much. Changing up the percussion patterns would help in that regard as well.

I think the track has promise, but right now some of the design choices aren't working. Having more source connection in the beginning, and changing up the first lead would go a long way. Good luck!

NO (resubmit)

[Liontamer]

I liked that opening for changing the rhythm of the source. At :29 with the beats coming in, the bass is too loud yet the claps were flimsy, which was an odd texture, but nothing horrible. If anything the bass thumping so loudly was causing what appeared to sound like a slight volume ducking effect, at least for me; hopefully a musician/producer J can clarify what may be happening there.

Nice lil' bubbly original countermelody filled in at :45; it's not too noticeable unless you're outright looking for it, but it's present and showed nice attention to detail work in the writing.

Whoa, the melody at 1:30 sounds super jacked up. First, why is it, as the lead melody, placed behind the beats in the soundfield? Second, why is the timing staggered in a way that sounds so sloppy? At 2:00, the briefly added line in the left channel that doubled the melody was panned too widely.

The dropoff at 3:00 wasn't bad at all; the original writing there continued to have a good rhythm, and the melody coming back at 3:30 had much better timing that clicked much more strongly with the altered rhythm. Good, subtle escalation of the energy level at 4:00 with the source tune's countermelody gradually rising in volume.

The bass frequencies at 4:30-4:51 and again at 5:00 were creating mud again. At 5:00 also, there should have been something else going on with the arrangement, as the ideas, energy level, and textures were all feeling too repetitive. 6:00 did add one more plucked string line which had a good sound to it and focused on that for the winddown finish.

For what substance is there, this piece overstayed its welcome by at least a minute or two; this is a great start in terms of the arrangement, and is definitely transformative and creative, but some of the repetition of the fullest sections dragged on.

Other than that, cleaning up the mixing (particularly the bass/low end) on this would be the most important aspect to address, followed by (less importantly) adjusting that melody at 1:30 so its a more comfortable (yet not repetitive) fit. Really cool stuff so far, Deronde, this was a solid start, and I hope you consider revising it. Even if you don't, you clearly have potential as an arranger based on the creativity here, and hope this isn't your last OCR submission.

NO (resubmit)

[Sir_NutS]

I'm posting here just so my name stays forever tied to a thread about judging the merits of a song called "Who is Dankey Kang?".
edit: apparently I have to vote too.  well then,

This is a very cool house adaptation.  It's difficult to adapt such a popular song with probably hundreds of remixes out there into something different.  Some cool house chord progressions, juicy drums and driving bass.  Ambience is good as well, however some synths need some eq'ing, they sound very unpleasant specially the high-pitched arpeggiated synth and some of the leads around 1:30.

Speaking of leads, they really ruin this song.  They sound out of time and very exposed and out of place.  Melodies sound a lot like just a bunch of noodling to be honest, I didn't get any expression from the new variations on the original.  I thought the arrangement was stretched too thin over too long a period of time, as after the breakdown there isn't much new to keep my interest.  Also later towards the end there are more odd sound design decisions, particulary the lead and the applied sidechain which is hitting at some odd times, exposing too much the production techniques.  Also, the ending trail cuts off abruptly.

Overall I think there was a good idea here and the base is solid but you need to work on integrating the original's main melodies in a more natural manner.  Also the sound design choices and the interpretation needs some looking at as well.

 

NO (resubmit)