Posted 2015-09-22, evaluated by the judges panel


NOOBFLOOD!!

Continuing our month of mixfloods, we've got FIVE new ReMixes from FIVE artists who are new to OCR! Some really great stuff; an overall mellow/chill vein runs through the lot, but there's a broad variety of styles & good range of source material, too! We start things off with Neurophonic (Ryan Lau), who offers up a lush, super-chill, extended arrangement of the classic "Stickerbrush Symphony" that you can disappear into:

"Here's the track! It's quite chilled. A chilled out remix of one of the most iconic BGM of a video game for all you lovely people. Sit back and meditate or something. :)"

I think I just might! I've actually been sick the last couple days, so it's downright therapeutic to just marinate in a comfortable ambient arrangement of a classic bit o' VGM. Chimpazilla writes:

"This is luscious. I adore the bird ambiance, and the bucketloads of reverb. The heavy sidechaining with the soft kick is good. Drums are a bit simplistically written but it fits the mood. Really nice relaxing track with plenty of source use."

While completely enveloping from a production perspective, the arrangement here is melodically conservative and also a little repetitive/dynamically static, which gave the judges some pause, but ultimately the consensus was that, for the genre, it all made sense. Larry writes:

"In any case, I thought the variations and interpretation here were subtle but substantive. I don't agree with saying this is too similar throughout or not interpretive enough just because it's not melodically transformative. There's more than one way to create a meaningful interpretation with legit development, and IMO this is done here."

For my money, had this gone on for another couple minutes with the same level of development, I might have had stronger reservations, but as a 6'07" package it feels right & hits the spot. This source lends itself quite readily to an ambient/chillout adaptation, so the devil is really in the production details; Ryan creates a wide, deep soundscape with plenty of atmospheric artifacts, and changes things deliberately & with subtlety over time. Transporting, evocative debut from Neurophonic - definitely hope to hear more!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 7 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
DarkSim
on 2020-04-17 20:44:37

Coming back to OCR during coronavirus is like finding a really cosy corner of the internet to curl up in and listen to beautiful pieces of music like this. Great job with this remix, it's always hard to stray from such recognisable sources, so to keep it fairly conservative whilst still putting your own spin on it is really nice work. Didn't even notice it was 6 minutes, it felt shorter.

avatar
Crulex
on 2018-01-03 02:14:49

Ah, yes, breathtaking. This is a beautiful arrangement of Stickerbush Symphony, very relaxing and soothing, really would be nice for meditating or just resting in general. Loved the bird sounds and the general ambiance of this mix, and I think having that break in the middle helped keep this track interesting with it's subtle changes for the whole six minutes, which was about as far as I think this ReMix could go in this state, so I agree with DJP on that. I thought the reverb was a little much at times, but that's just a personal taste thing on my end, nothing against the mix's writing. Regardless, it was not enough to turn me from the song, and I'm glad to have heard another mix of this tune that keeps things chill.

avatar
Chernabogue
on 2015-12-04 12:35:29

A nice take on this classic tune. Love the atmosphere you created with the pads and the bird FX (a fine addition!). The percussion fits perfectly the track and its source -- it gets a little ethnic vibe in consequence, which fits Donkey Kong Country 2. It's maybe a little long, but I found those 6 minutes were very relaxing. Nice job. :)

avatar
Melody of Light
on 2015-10-14 00:29:12

I don't know enough about production to offer any critiques; as a listener and fan of this mellow chillstep-like genre, all I can say is that I really enjoyed this track and downloaded it for future repeated listening (including on my driving mix). Very nice work! I hope to hear more from you.

avatar
timaeus222
on 2015-09-24 15:09:32

I thought the drums were just fine and not too thin, actually. I tend to find rimshots a good choice for an ambient percussive snare-like hit. Alternatively, the splash of a regular electronic snare could have replaced the rimshot later on for percussive variation, but that wasn't necessary for this IMO. Or, a soft tambourine could have worked as well, as an alternate "snare" in addition to the rimshot.

As for the arrangement, I agree; melodically things didn't vary too much on the repeat, but texturally they did, along with some subtle differences in background notes. I found it just bordering on a good length, and it looks like you had a lot of fun with the reverb. Could have used a touch less, but it's not a huge deal IMO. Great job!

avatar
MrKyle
on 2015-09-23 10:11:15

Some parts of this I really dig (the kick ducking is tasty, the bird FX, the bass line as a whole, ) but others I didn't (the delayed reverb on the centered hand percussion, ambient intro, the scratchy shuffling starting at 3:13 (meant to be rustling leaves?), and the breathy woodwind-like (flute?) sustain that is layered onto the tail of the solo piano notes). It kinda leaves me in limbo on the track as a whole. Yeah. I feel like I get the vibe as a whole, but it just doesn't firmly place me there.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2015-09-22 11:47:38

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

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 (9)


Genre:
Ambient,Downtempo
Mood:
Chill,Mellow
Instrumentation:
Chromatic Percussion,Electric Piano,Electronic,Hand Drums,Sound FX
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_2_Forest_Glade_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,717,766 bytes
MD5:
1213b88e5534722ea5bb37d02a7bfafb
Bitrate:
187Kbps
Duration:
6:08

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes