Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted July 6 Posted July 6 This was my first entry into Dwelling of Duels (May 2025) as a main. To my surprised we bronzed! I have to thank my collaborators so much as they really brought life into the arrangement I could not have. Steven Hewitt: piano prophetik music: Tenor Sax I wrote the arrangement, and did production including mix and master. (This version is slightly different than the DoD version, with a tiny bit of cleanup) Yes, it's another Stickerbush Symphony arrangement. I like to think I put my own spin on this that will make it stand out amongst the many other amazing versions out there. The biggest thing here is that the arrangement is in 9/8. It's a 3-feel but in 9/8. I didn't do anything crazy to really adapt a unique 9/8 like Blue Rondo à la Turk by Dave Brubek. I just started out the arrangement and I was liking the way it felt in 9. The next thing that popped into my head was the feel and a phrase: Smokey film noir style slow jazz. "I knew that dame was trouble the moment she walked in. She said her name was Dixie." "I grabbed my baseball cap and went out to find the missing Donkey Kong." My collaborators came about in completely opposite means. I reached out anonymously on the DoD discord server asking for a pianist who could play jazz and Steven responded to the message. He was excited by the idea and was on board. Funny enough that I (and others) had actually just enjoyed his live performance with his group Ankylo Tail at VGMCon in April. I had initially been trying to incorporate more synth into this piece and it wasn't working out how I wanted so instead I said screw it and immediately went to sax. I knew this time I wanted to ask prophetik to jump in, and he made it really easy. The grit he added to the performance was just what I was looking for in a sultry tenor sax. This one all came together rather quickly (for me) and it was a pleasure to work with Steven and Brad. I hope people enjoy! Games & Sources Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - Stickerbush Symphony
Chimpazilla ⚖️ Posted July 17 Posted July 17 This sounds fantastic! Really nice arrangement, and the performances are stellar, and it's mixed and mastered really nicely. No surprise that it took third! Awesome vibe, super laid back and jazzy/groovy. I'm loving what you guys did with Stickerbrush and there's plenty of it here. I totally do NOT hear 9/8 here, haha! It feels too slow to be counted in 8th notes, although if I count fast I can grok the grouping of 9s. I hear this in straight 3/4, but that's my little gripe and doesn't matter in the slightest. Great stuff guys! YES
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted July 31 Posted July 31 won't be voting here, but wanted to note that hemo made this a pretty easy track to pick up and play on. 10/10 would collab again. also, it's def 9/8, but also definitely very slow. the main beats in the first measure are the opening kick and then the two subsequent piano chords. dotted quarter note is about 60-62bpm. Hemophiliac 1
Liontamer ⚖️ Posted August 8 Posted August 8 Nice and smoove, bros, a strong, swanky interpretation! :-) YES
paradiddlesjosh ⚖️ Posted August 9 Posted August 9 A jazz waltz take on "Stickerbush?" Very fresh. Arrangement's fairly straightforward but there's plenty of personalization in Steven and proph's performances. I agree with Chimpazilla; the mix is squeaky clean. Good stuff, y'all! YES
Recommended Posts