OCR04928 - *YES* Donkey Kong Country 2 "Dawn Chorus"

[prophetik music ⚖️]

So this remix has a bit of an interesting starting off point. David Wise came to our college to guest lecture for a few of my sessions! Rather surreal. 

After meeting David Wise I got inspired enough to make a remix of Forest Interlude, which has always been one of my favourites of his.

So I worked on the track and got it to a reasonable level but rather unusually, I had the original composer to send it to - so send it I did, and David gave me feedback! So I got to work on putting in his feedback, which amounted to some compositional editing, and adding flute, cello and duduk as the leads, and it really elevated this track to the next level. I also added some vocal samples to give it a Now we are free/Enya vibe. Finally, I was talking to Sixto Sounds (Juan Medrano) who said "you should add some birds!" Add birds I did.

So for the name, I was talking to Wes McDonald (Emunator) - about what to actually call the track - if you want someone to name a track, he's your guy, he also named Transient Shadows! - and he suggested "Dawn Chorus". So yup. A lot went into this one to make it good but I think I finally did this great source tune justice. 

A lot of work went into making this one - I do need to thank Emery here, he knew many of the people who directly worked on this collaboratively, even if he didn't actively work on the track himself. The track involves the instrumental talents of Christine Giguère - (DaMonz's mum!) - who played cello, and Denis Bluteau who played flute. Sèbastien Dufour (Trainbeat) also deserves special mention for transcribing and recording both the cello and the flute performances. I do feel like they are what truly elevate this track, so they deserve a lot of credit. 

Finally, David Wise himself needs a very special mention here. Of course, he wrote the original, but his feedback really pushed this one and inspired me to up my game to make it something that hopefully, you'll all enjoy! 

 

Credits: 

Christine Giguère (Cello)

Denis Bluteau (Flute)

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Games & Sources

Donkey Kong Country 2 - Forest Interlude

[prophetik music ⚖️]

file name is "DKC2 with Birds", which is hilariously understated.

really lush pads to start. there's some nice sfx in here too that add to the texture a lot. the iconic scoopy synth is transplanted directly in at the 0:43 mark and i love that. the melodic content comes in at 1:02 with some beautiful cello work. it sits a little farther back in the texture than i think i'd like, and a bit of notch eq might have helped it come out of the background a bit more. the percussive elements at 1:26 are really nice  initially as well, as are the bird sfx. we get some more cello for the B theme before a recap of the A theme again. the percussion loop here (particularly the metals) start to be a bit repetitive though here as it's been going for a while without changeup or break.

there's a bit of a break at 2:27 and the texture changes at 2:47 to a more forward-focused feel. some of the rising synths here again feel like they're transplanted out of the original and grew up, which is a fun feel. there's some live flute through here interwoven with the rising arps, which is a neat feel. i'd have put the flute up front, and it'd have been the wrong choice initially - allowing the flute's fluttering bits to move around in the texture before it finally came out and did a bit of melody was a great idea.

a nice settling chord at 3:46 that i thought would be the end, and instead it's moving into some new chord structures. i really like the bass movement on this new section. it definitely feels like enya when vox comes in like you mentioned in your writeup. some melodic snippets in the flute as it noodles along a bit to a Gladiator-esque wash of color and chord movement, and it's done.

this is a really neat arrangement! i was kind of feeling it was played out by maybe 2:15, and then you kept it so fresh by introducing new textures and ideas throughout the entire >5m piece. excellent work there. from a mixing perspective, i find the mix clear and clean and it's easy to hear all of the tons of different little things you're doing throughout, so that's great.

what a complete package. excellent work will!

 

YES

[Liontamer ⚖️]

I knew it would be good. Crushing this theme's a rite of passage for judges, I feel like. A nicely fleshed out cover, and the detour after 3:45 was a nice changeup in the textures to keep things varied and engaging. Getting the D. Wise stamp of approval beforehand is definitely a first for this community, congratulations! :-)

YES

[Emunator ⚖️]

Holy shit. In the same way that Fly Like an Eagle felt like a culmination of a sound that Will had been working toward for decades, he comes back again with stunning track in a completely different style that also feels like a massive realization of ideas that have been percolating for a long time, but elevated with a new set of ideas and insight. The addition of acoustic instruments is a wildly successful choice, adding something salient to grasp onto amid a wash of ambiance and birds. The new chord structures at 3:43 were also a great choice, especially since the arrangement stayed so close to the original progression, it feels all the more climactic. The last two minutes of this arrangement are just perfection, I could float away to this forever.

If I had to nitpick, the transition at 2:48 felt tacked on, and sometimes the volume automation when the flute enters feels too steep, and it feels like it changes its role in the mix midway through phrases in a way that feels awkward. But that's grasping at straws, this is a slam dunk of a vote if I've ever seen one.

YES

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

Gotta get in on this before it closes it because this is incredible.

Heavenly opening with spectacular synth pads and foley to add intrigue. This one is a supremely developed, slow burn; with all of the subtle details that you have to listen multiple times to pick up on.

I found myself wanting to immediately turn this up because of how well balanced everything is and it's very enjoyable loud. I feel like this pays homage to the feeling of the original so well that this could have fit along-side it in game.

The performances on the flute and cello are impeccable, and I don't have a single thing to critique. Absolute masterpiece, instant classic.

YES