*NO* Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES) "Systematic KAOS" *PROJECT*

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: jnWake

Collabers: Gregorio Franco

So, another track from the upcoming DK album organized by Mega Mixtape's Naop. DKC3's OST has a pretty different sound than 1 & 2 thanks to Eveline Novakovic's bigger role on the composing role, and I've always been a big fan of "Nuts and Bolts" in particular. I always thought the track had potential for a heavy version, maybe even somewhat electronic, so I took this album as an opportunity to attempt that. As part of that vision I asked Gregorio Franco if he wanted to work on it with me, since he does a phenomenal job in that style, which can be heard in several of his DoD submissions. While I was in charge of writing most of the arrangement, Franco helped me with feedback, some additional ideas and also rendered the final drum and guitar stems, giving the track the synthetic, a little electronic, sound that I wanted. I'm pretty happy with how it sounds!

So, regarding the arrangement, "Nuts and Bolts" isn't a very melodic source, focusing on a couple of riffs and one melody line on guitar. The main "melodic" aspect I took from the source is the chord progression suggested by the string stabs on the intro, which feature B, C, E and then F# as the highest notes. I use the Phrygian sound a ton during the arrangement.

As usual, a breakdown:

0:00-0:29: Intro, based on the source's intro! Pads do the same chord progression from the original. I initially wrote this as 7/4 but per Franco's suggestion ended up doing a fun mix of 7/4 and 4/4.

0:29-0:57: Based on the second riff from the source, but on 7/4. The "melody" on top is based on the squealing guitar sounds from the source. After that there's a repeat of the first riff.

0:57-1:16: Based on the B, C, E, F# progression, which is suggested by the arpeggios and then played by guitar/bass.

1:16-1:36: The first somewhat melodic part of the remix, loosly based on the lead guitar line from 0:32.

1:36-2:05: Riff based on the section that ends the loop.

2:05-2:30: Synth line (and the following riff) both based on the lead guitar melody from 0:32. I believe zircon's cover of "Nuts and Bolts" on Emunator's DKC3 album also used this melody as a riff of sorts.

2:30-2:49: Return of the 0:29 and 0:57 riffs.

2:49-3:22: Chord progression here is also playing around with the B, C, E, F# idea but using those notes as the highest notes of each chord rather than the roots. Rhytm is now on 6/4, following the rhytm of the original's intro but cutting off a couple notes at the end. "Nuts and Bolts" plays in factory levels so I added some factory SFX here! There's also a synth solo!

3:22-3:55: Variation of the previous section, chord progression goes a bit wilder but keeps the B, C, E, F# idea on the highest notes.

3:55-end: Not gonna lie, this riff is mostly original, but the melody above is doing E, F, A, B to keep the motif going. The riff also features some nods to previous riffs in the remix.

Hope you enjoy!

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Games & Sources

Edited 5 hours ago by prophetik music

[Gario ⚖️]

Not as familiar with DKC3 as the others (like most, I imagine), but surprisingly I pretty easily recognized the source in this even before listening to the source myself - it's pretty distinct, and this arrangement does a good job representing it. There's a lot of cool harmonic switch-ups done throughout the arrangement, and I think they all work great. Overall, the arrangement is great, especially with all of the pad work and textures behind the guitar. Sample is soupy sounding for the guitar (doesn't really have any sense of strikes or strums), but it also chugs nicely so it works well enough.

Speaking of the guitar, though, I think this is my main hang-up with the arrangement - the mix is just drowning in that guitar. There are so many cool things going on behind it, but I had to really strain to hear it all. I know it's an important instrument for this genre, but the mix needs to be better balanced between all of the other instruments, particularly the leads. Listen to 3:07 for the potential this arrangement has when the guitar isn't dominating over everything else - it's fantastic and you hear every detail of that lead.

I like this, I think it would be significantly better with a better mix so I'm sending it back hoping you'll be able to clean this up.

NO

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

This is a wicked-cool arrangement!  As Gario said there are so many excellent elements here and great performances.  But I have to agree with Gario about the guitar and volume of leads.  The guitar is oppressive in the 200-300Hz range.  I don't think it needs to be brought down by a lot (a couple of db should do it), but the lead volumes are also way too quiet throughout the track, giving the guitar an even heavier feel.  Gario is completely right to point out the completely different volume balance that happens at 3:07, that is the lead-volume that should be the target in the rest of the track.  Leads should be heard!

When you lower that guitar volume, I suspect the low-lows are going to sound a tad weak, you may want to bump the low-lows by a db or two to compensate and give the low end some beef.

This is a great track and an easy YES but a volume rebalance must happen first.

NO (please rebalance guitar and leads and resubmit asap)

[prophetik music ⚖️]

quick co-sign with the gario and chimpa. when i turn this all the way down, the last thing i hear (for a while) is guitar. which is a shame, because this is a great arrangement and has loads of fun stuff happening alongside it. my particular favorite spot is coming out of the slithering 7/4 line around 1:30 into the power-metal section that's right after it - really fun section. the solo at 3:07 is also great.

crank down the guitar on the opening and this is a definite pass, because the arrangement's nuts. this is IMO a very straightforward fix and won't require a ton of balancing to make it work.

 

 

NO