Donkey Kong Country 3 - Bonus theme (Western Style)

[Pavos]

Here's a song I had in my head quite a while so I decided to make a mix out of it. It's from DKC3 and it's the bonus theme. Starts of with a staccato type of play then moving on to more regular (the main melody line goes somewhat faster) and then I move on to the solo. It's all live piano play (yes even the sax).

The song's here: Bonus Saloon

Try this one instead:

version 2

I've shown this to some people already and these were their main comments:

- Sax sounds fake

- 1st transition isn't flowing the way it should be

- Tempo seems off in the part with the bass

My questions are:

- Do both sax sounds sound fake (there are 2)

- Do more people hear this tempo issue?

- Adivce/comment/hatepost/whatever

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VERSION 2:

- 1st transition fixed

- Tempo issue fixed

- Sax still waiting to be replaced by live sax

Questions:

- Does anyone miss the bass?

[Prasa_U.]

I can't speak for what this would get as a submission, nor can I say anything about the level of arrangement.

But, I enjoyed it a lot.

[Dafydd]

Agree with Prasa_K.

Do more people hear this tempo issue? I do.

Do both sax sounds sound fake (there are 2)? Yes. But the first one is really bad. The sax "section" sounds better.

[Dunther]

Uhhhh very cute interpretation of this tune!!!

[Skrypnyk]

I really, really like the style. Completely awesome. Reminds me a lot of 'who the heck turned out the lights' from Earthworm Jim.

As for comments, the timing for some of the notes on the various instruments sound off.

The sax(s) that plays at 2:20 sound really. They actually sound like the winning fanfare from a windows 95 game or something.

The transition from piano at 0:51 - 0:55 also sounded weird. It was kinda play, stop, play something different. Didn't flow well.

I think if you at least quantized everything so that everything was on a beat, on tempo, it would sound a lot more smoooooooth. Also a bit of overall master wouldn't hurt either.

Good stuff.

[Villainelle]

I really like this too.

Yeah, there are some timing issues...but you know, aside from fixing the more jarring ones, and doing a little more rigid quantization in parts where rhythm sections stick out (like the exposed bass), there's a nice feel of swing and humanization in this which give it a very lively and fun lurch.

It could be substantially brighter. If these are sequenced samples, maybe switch a few things to play an octave higher. Also, the piano is panned toward the right at the end - was that intentional? It's a little disconcerting.

Arrangement is awesome. Love this, sounds like I just walked into a saloon in the middle of a bar fight. Keep it up.

[Pavos]

Ah the piano panning... yea I noticed that now. I used the wrong layer for the solo :S I'll fix that asap.

I'll try to fix some replacement for the sax, but I'm afraid my piano doesn't have that many sax sounds. The transition will be changed aswell, to keep the flow (at 0:55). I'll probably redo 2:25 - 3:13 entirely although the picture stays the same (bass, sax and piano).

So, update coming up!

[Dr. Rod]

I like it......its interesting, harmonically pleasant, and has a very humanized sound to it. Also the theme is one I havent heard on here, so thats a big plus for creativity : ) I think some better instrumental samples (mainly the sax), and it sounds a bit muddy to me in the beginning, but the arrangement is on point. Good job.

[Trash]

Oh this is cool If only someone did the "bonus" bonus theme

[HoboKa]

Oh this is cool If only someone did the "bonus" bonus theme

Good job it's a real unique, fun mix to listen to

[Zephyr]

I like it, it's fun to listen to, could probably do without the first little sax diddly splitting up the piano at 00:50-00:57 also right before it, when the left hand piano stops it seems like you just crammed some notes in there to get the left hand over with. There are quite a few timing errors throughout the whole thing. I'm really glad you're fixing the panning when the bass comes in, it almost makes me sick, I get queasy easy... This could probably even be a standalone piano mix, but I think the other sounds add if they get cleaned up a bit.

Great Job.

[Tenucha]

Its cute and fun.

You dont hear many saloon style remixes nowadays haha.

It seems to match real well with all those bears you see throughout the game to me.

now someones gotta get on top of some boss arrengments and KRool remixs!

[Zephyr]

This series has an amazing soundtrack.

[Tensei]

IMO you should keep the loose quantization, since having it off-beat like this adds quite a lot to the live-performance-feel, as if it were played by a half-drunk pianist, if you know what I mean.

but yes, either contact some live sax player on these forums, or find a half-decent saxophone patch. For the rest, the arrangement is slick, and the ending is awesome.

[The Derrit]

i may be the only one, and correct me if i'm wrong, but the fake sax sounds just like the ones from the dkc games. Which is sweet! I like it like that personally. within 2:20-3 ish, the sax doesn't seem like its on time with the piano, and it sounds just a little off in general. also, right at the beginning, the intro sounds i guess a bit stiff. Could just be me, but a little looser play right at the begninning could be nice. otherwise keep it up, i like it a lot!

[Chickenwarlord]

I suggest you ask Nutritious about recording the sax part for this. It would make it so much better to have a competent live saxophonist. I like the whole vibe you have going here. I kind of like the 'timing issues' because it seems more like it would be in a type of saloon with a not quite perfect performance. Well I suppose that's more of preferrence towards character of environment over perfection in technical aspects.

[Jaybell]

That sax does indeed sound very fake, but other than that I really like this a lot! It feels very authentic. If I did not know the source, I would swear I just walked into an old timey saloon.

[Pavos]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys! I already contacted Nutricious (he contacted me, in fact) so the sax will be no problem if things go well.

[RenoDJ]

Better late than never (finally managed to register now)

Buuuut, did you improved it yet? I like the idea behind all this and I think perhaps with some happy song on the background it may be good for olremix aswell..

[Pavos]

Alright, not too big of an update, but I did some improvements.

The transition between the first and second part is... well there is a transition now. Also fixed panning, some volume things, some reverb at the end (where the other layer piano for 2 seconds comes in).

I also trashed the bass, because the timing was completely off. Why I didn't redo it is because i believe the song doesn't need it and it just made stuff too muddy. Yours thoughts on this?

Also, as I previously said, Nutritious will do live sax, so I'm waiting for a final version when he did his awesomeness.

Anyway, here's version 2.

P.S. Anyone got an idea for a better name than Bonus Saloon?

[Chickenwarlord]

Swanky's Saloon

Spittoon Swing

Jojo's Family Reunion (kind of a Monkey Island reference)

[Dr. Rod]

I second Swanky's Saloon : )

[tyrog]

Bonus saloon sounds good

[Pavos]

Although it's been a while, this is still being worked on. Probably going to change this a bit and incorporate more original sutff. Nutricious is currently working on the sax.

And since it's not a bonus game or anything, I don't really like Swanky's Saloon... sorry chickenwarlord. Any more suggestions?