ReMix:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest "Set Sail" 4:11

By Blake Perdue

classical orchestral

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Bayou Boogie (Barrel Bayou)", "Jib Jig (Mainbrace Mayhem)"

Primary Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES), music by David Wise

Posted 2004-11-27, evaluated by the judges panel

From the easily-mispronounced/misread newcomer Blizihizake, more fool-proofly known as Blake Perdue, comes this ReMix, also orchestral, from the DKC2 OST. It's great that this mix follows Shnabubula's, because I think it clearly illustrates that there's a place for more sedate, introspective orchestral mixes as well as Hollywood-style Williamsesque compositions. 'Orchestral' may be loosely thought of as a genre, but never a tone, as there's room for a wide palette of colors under its umbrella. Blake has actually submitted a few pieces in the past which weren't quite up to spec, and admits to starting numerous WIP mixes he never finishes, but expained that this particular mix was one he poured a little more time and energy into. He writes of his earlier experiences:

"Then I later finished a crappy Bubbleman mix, which got a few YES's. I then realized, I HAD to get on OC ReMix. I was young and stupid, and even sent an email to change my mixerid to that of "DjBlizihizake", thinking I would get accepted. Oh, those were the days when I thought the tag "DJ" was cool. I realize how dumb I was, and I apologize to any ACTUAL dj's I offended."

Now.... heh... well, I COULD consider that a sort of implicit insult to my own pseudonym, as I'm not an ACTUAL DJ either. Perhaps I should similarly be apologizing to the legions of true "disc jockeys" whom my usurpation of honorific acronym has potentially offended. But hey, it's different with me, because... like, I make it all one word, and lowercase... and stuff. Yes. Moving on, the point is that this mix comes from an individual who's paid his dues, taken a lot of constructive criticism, applied it, and via that application and effort, has produced a pretty damn respectable orchestral mix. Larry gives the motivational, tear-jerking speech of the century in his decision:

"You kept up the work on this one for quite a few months, really applied the feedback and criticism you got via the WIP forums, and produced these solid results. Every up-and-coming mixer should have that level of commitment and follow-through on at least one project. Yours is a great example of using all of OCR's resources to get the job done. The production is intelligent, the project illustrates what an aspiring mixer is capable of via free samples, and the arrangement intelligently realizes the potential of the source material. All things considered, this is a first mix you can be proud of. Respect."

To paraphrase James Cromwell in Babe: "That'll do, Blizihizake". Introing with a cymbal roll and a tense progression underneath oboe arpeggio, right from the start there's some interesting fluctuations in tone, from tense to warmer. Things get more sailor-themed at 0'43" - having just seen Master and Commander again, this was well-timed for me, and does manage to capture some of that same seafaring, adventurous spirit. The core melody is then given some more lyrical, flowing iterations, with a solo oboe rendition atop enveloping, lush strings. Timpani and cymbal rolls introduce a string countermelody and additional accompaniment effectively, and more brass and percussion is added in for the finale, with the piece ending on a simple, sustained ensemble string chord. The variation in tempo and tone is impressive to have achieved in a single mix of just over four minutes, regardless of being a first submission. While the panel was uniformly positive on the mix overall, Binnie did feel there was still room for improvement, with perhaps a touch of 'medleyitis' in the way original material was melded with source material. Of course, to many if not all mixers, there's always room for improvement; what's important is that Blake's come up with a piece that's strong overall, has a good deal of variety, is interpretive, and takes his emerging skills to the next level. Good, very approachable stuff.

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2010-02-18 18:56:08

I don't know about Pirates of the Caribbean, cause that was darker and a bit more....pirate-ty. But I can easily imagine a ship leaving the docks with a light-hearted sea crew. A great little tune that's perfect for doing a (jib) jig on the deck and drinking good rum to other sea shantys. Well done, you've earned your "DJ" title as far as I'm concerned.

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OA
on 2010-02-03 14:39:17

Pretty pleasant work here, I enjoyed the adventurous melody and the transitions between sections. The use of free samples was very well done, and the level of work put into them was very nice. Strong articulations and nice humanization.

I like this one. :-)

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42
on 2009-12-23 23:20:36

Heh...

This is a cute sea shanty. Reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean to a degree.

It also reminds me of Wind Waker/One Piece/Monkey Island to a degree also (in general thematics that is, not musical themes). It has that innocent/hopeful streak running through it as well in addition to that grandiose "We're off on a Grand Adventure" type feel to this.

I like this; it's very light hearted and inspiring.

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Lucentas
on 2008-12-06 15:05:26

Sometimes, in my journeys on this site, I find arrangements that are perhaps the epitome, the pinnacle, the apex of the piece's original essence; what the track was trying to be, what it yearned for in the years it was trapped by the limitations of primitive sound programming.

This is one of those arrangements.

It takes everything I liked about the original track and turns it into a beautiful symphonic piece that could easily be used for a movie about adventure on the high seas, pirate-induced or otherwise. With minor tweaking, I would love to hear this performed by a live orchestra.

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setzertrancer
on 2008-07-11 02:51:02

This is one of my favorite songs ever on OCR seriously. this song is beautiful and very faithful to the original. I mostly enjoyed the upbeat bit in the middle and then I tend to restart the song when it gets to the slow brooding bit towards the end. Not that it's bad at that point it just starts turning away from my preferred genre.

Anyway this song well deserves getting the FIRST review I've written on this site in more then 4 years.

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ResEvil07
on 2007-01-01 16:45:34

Hooboy this is my first review in a while and I have alot of songs to catch up on.

Anyway, I found this piece to be very enjoyable. I particularly like orchestral mixes. The beginning section was done very beautifully and the transition was good into the faster part. To be honest I felt that it was a little strange to start it of so quiet and then go into a louder more active section.

The bass lines (namely the cellos) were wonderfully written and went well with the overall piece. I mostly enjoyed the use of dynamics and tempo changes. As always as I percussion major I feel that a strong background with lots of toys and gadgets going on gives a piece the extra excitment it needs.

Overall I felt the song went very smoothly with few errors.

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Dr.d
on 2006-12-10 19:43:30

Ahh yes Dkc this is one of my favorite songs from the many DK songs there are. I've downloaded this song a long time ago I just never got around to reviewing it. 2 thumbs way way up.

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Yamato2299
on 2006-11-09 23:39:44

As a fan of Donkey Kong Country 2 and its soundtrack I have to say I like how this song turned out. I was surprised to find the forest theme used with a sailing themed song but the execution was done really well. I remember seeing a Set Sail 2 on vgmix.com back when the site was still up and hope it makes it to OCR.

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Magnum_Thunder
on 2005-10-02 23:37:54

This a mix that sounds like you actually held an orchestral concert to record this piece. The flow of the moods this mix brings sounds almost exactly like a piece by a video game-loving, 15th century musician. What surprises me, though, is that this sounds so close to something for a Wind Waker remix than one for DKC2. You did a good job, but the only problem was that it was a little shorter than I thought it would be.

Final Grade: 7 out of 10

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Bummer
on 2005-09-16 03:11:04

This is so great that it can be an

opening theme to a movie!

Great orchestral Blizdude! 8)

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Super Metal Mario
on 2005-05-06 13:09:03

Great remix.

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heineken
on 2005-05-05 09:54:13

DKC remixes are my fav dunno why they're great! especialy this one this one's beautiful! keep it up Bliz! :D

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Krythan
on 2005-05-05 00:43:00

Wow, I'm so glad that this mix got accepted! I kept a close watch on it through the WIP phase, and its great to see that it has found its rightful place on OCR. Yeah, I know its been on the site for some time now, I just haven't had the chance to check OCR in a good while.

This is definately one of my DKC2 favorites - it rivals the work of the great Protricity. This mix flows together seamlessly...kinda reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Stellar job, Bliz! 10/10!

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Daikun
on 2005-04-17 01:42:56

I just listened to this ReMix for the first time today, which is bizarre; I normally NEVER miss DKC2 ReMixes, because I check the site every day and DKC2 is one of my favorite video game soundtracks. :?

Anyway, this has to be the BEST ReMix I've ever heard on this site. It sounds very strikingly lot like something you would hear from Disney. It'd make the perfect song to hear while you watched one of the nightly fireworks shows at Disneyland.

Oh, great, now this song has me yearning for some classic Disney nostalgia, for some odd reason. :? Maybe Blizi should get a job at that company and work on the music for some of their animated films... Agh, I've gotta get out of the house!

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Falcovsleon20
on 2005-01-15 14:45:25

Yay! A Jib Jig mix at last! While it doesn't exactly portray the word piratical like I pictured it to, it certaintly captured the theme of DKC2 which was basically pirates. Oh and it gets points for that nice piece of Bayou Boogie at the beginning. You should do another Jib Jig mix if Kong In Koncert 2 is decided to become reality. 10/10.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES)
Music by David Wise
Songs:
"Bayou Boogie (Barrel Bayou)"
"Jib Jig (Mainbrace Mayhem)"

Tags (2)


Genre:
Classical
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Orchestral
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_2_Set_Sail_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,104,763 bytes
MD5:
9a02611e49d45ec7968a8c72104b2c21
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
4:11

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