Posted 2010-12-10, evaluated by the judges panel


Hey, following up on an (excellent) FF4 mix that wasn't part of Echoes, we've got an (excellent) DKC2 mix that wasn't part of Serious Monkey Business. What are the odds, right? The Vagrance writes:

"My whole point was to create an atmosphere similar to the original in a typical DnB song structure, as opposed to trying to follow along the melodies; I wanted the whole arrangement to glide. I got one of my friends Marcus to play sax over the track and I took his takes, basted them in reverb and did a bit of stretching and tuning to create the sax part in the song. The breakdown in the end has very little to do with the rest of the track but I enjoy it too much to take it out. So yeah, no TED talk samples, no rapping, just another boring submission."

Ah, you're too humble. Track's hardly boring, and it's actually rather refreshing to see a DnB-style arrangement; once upon a time these were all the rage, and it seemed like every other mix was employing the staple elements, but nowadays it's a much rarer aesthetic. Judges were somewhat split, with the dissenting votes largely focusing on source usage, or lack thereof. This is definitely on the liberal side, with some portions being pretty faint silhouettes of the original's forms, but Vinnie and Larry both got all scientific and concluded it was substantive enough. Your mileage may vary, as it's probably not an arrangement that will trigger instant, knee-jerk source recognition in too many folks, but a side-by-side comparison does bring out the connections. Jill voiced one of the more positive opinions, while also making what I thought were some particularly insightful observations:

"The source track is very ambient to begin with; there's not really that much going on in terms of a main melody, so I don't feel like the arrangement is missing that per se. What you've come up with stays true to the original mood - and although that is not a requirement by any means, it does help maintain a connection in this case with a fairly liberal arrangement.

Honestly, I love this mix. It never feels forced, and it's ever evolving. The live sax was a great touch. I just wish you had come back to the source after your totally original section, and turned that into a real ending. The fadeout was a little disappointing because you could have pretty easily concluded the song by slowly peeling away the layers until you're left with just the bells or something. Ah well. Solid work, nevertheless!"

What she said!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Necrox
on 2015-12-18 22:36:46

The intro is nice, but the wait for the impact is a bit too long (for the song; I like CotMM after all). When the beat really does drop, I found myslef wanting more until the pulsing pads came in. The sax was a nice touch, blending with the mix while giving it plenty of room. As opposed to screaming "THE SAX IS HERE, EVERYONE!". Can't say this is my type of DnB though.

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Coaltergeist
on 2015-12-05 08:19:29

Ah, Stickerbrush Symphony. A favorite of many people worldwide, including myself. As a DnB track, I feel the song fits the gene very nicely. Once it gets going, it's an incredible mix of energy and relaxation, mostly due to the saxophone/fast tempo combo. Fantastic mix!

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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-05 02:13:04

Very nice :) I've always thought that D'n'B-styled tracks must me agressive, in-your-face, but The Vagrance made me change my opinion. This is an exeptionally light, airy, soaring track. It may seem static a bit, but there're actually a lot of subtle changes a touches. And the gorgeous sax is an excellent touch for sure. Love it!

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evktalo
on 2011-07-25 03:34:47

Glide it does! A very sweet track.

--Eino

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Martin Penwald
on 2011-01-02 16:44:04

Exactly what I expected when I saw The Vagrance's name on the front page. Smooth, relaxing atmospheric DnB. Nice use of piano and sax, too.

If I had to criticise something, I'd say that the intro is a little too long; 1:30 in a 4:20 is quite a chunk.

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Crulex
on 2010-12-30 10:47:28

Incredible build up for this DnB ReMix. It was pretty liberal, but the melody was still there and was enjoyable. The evolution over the course of the song was great, going from piano to live sax and more. The fade out was kinda unexpected, cause I expected it to go in reverse and deconstruct back to the piano before ending, but it still did the job of ending it before it went too far. Good job on this.

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42
on 2010-12-29 00:14:15

To me the most fascinating thing about this mix is how it progresses from each section.

In the beginning, it's a tinkly, toy piano-esque samples with tight, fast percussion then it slowly and very subtly grows until it has Amen Break beats and live sax, and its really hard to definitively state where one ends and another begins.

Liberal or not, I really like this piece a lot for it's complexity. Awesome work here.

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Giga Bowser
on 2010-12-15 02:25:01

I remember this when it was in the wip congrats on getting it through the judges, I'd really love almost any remix from brambles :D

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Rhellik
on 2010-12-11 14:05:57

Hm, while listening to it I was always waiting for the song to "start". Something was missing for me...

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meboeck
on 2010-12-11 05:34:57

This isn't really my style, but I don't think it's too liberal. It actually did produce knee-jerk source recognition for me. My only main gripe is that the main melody only had one iteration. As far as the liberal interpretation, I surprisingly didn't mind. Nice mix.

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Emunator
on 2010-12-11 02:48:41

So sexy. It's liberal, yeah, but it's one of those things I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out because it took the part of Stickerbush that's most memorable to me and made it a key point in the track.

The beauty's in the details here; the song is pretty basic and, as some may say, underwhelming when taken as a whole. However, the little things like the pitchbended bass or those killer arp transitions are really amazing and contribute a lot to the mood here. The groove makes it an enjoyable listen but the ambiance and mood make it memorable. This one sits really well with me :-)

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urdailywater
on 2010-12-11 01:34:38

Too liberal in my opinion.. I do like the track but there's just not enough Stickerbrush for me. :(

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-RK-
on 2010-12-10 23:43:25

Read the judges comments while listening, and I think I gotta go with Vig on this one. You took the hook of Stickerbrush, left out the slightly monotonous parts, and made a god damn sick DnB track.

DID YOU THINK WE WOULDN'T NOTICE!!!:P

Great track.

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DragonAvenger
on 2010-12-10 23:34:38

Agreed with OA on this. It's liberal for sure, and while I voted no, I still found this very enjoyable to listen to. Certainly worth checking out!

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Radiowar
on 2010-12-10 22:37:56

helll yyeah tthis is awesome. stickerbrush symphony definitely translates to dnb well (i imagine most of dkc2 would). great job man

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES)
Music by David Wise
Songs:
"Stickerbush Symphony (Bramble Blast)"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Drum and bass
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Saxophone,Synth
Additional:
Origin > Collaboration
Time > Tempo: Fast

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_2_Breathe_Deep_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,285,722 bytes
MD5:
a87cf770221666e6206541f50445127d
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
4:18

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