Game:

Donkey Kong Country 3 (1995)

Duration: 4:09

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This remix enhances and expands upon Cranky's Dojo from Donkey Kong Country 3 on the Game Boy Adavnce. It is one of the 77 remixes featured in the DKC3 OverClocked ReMix album, "Double the Trouble!" Cranky's Mojo is found on Disc 4: Track 4. Please listen to this in 720p for best sound quality!

If you like this remix, please share with those who may enjoy listening. Also, check out other remixes from the "Double the Trouble!" album!

Background:

Late in Summer 2010, a well-respected OCR community member informed me of the DKC3 album project and suggested that I contact Emunator, despite the fact that all of the tracks were reserved at the time. I was told that a track likely would be dropped, and in this case, it was Cranky's Dojo. It was an excellent opportunity that I was honoured to seize, especially since I had no posted ReMixes on the site.

I selected the Roland Fantom X6 workstation keyboard to remix the track, and began compiling various samples from Roland's World Collection and Complete Orchestra expansion boards. Being a past MIDI transcriber, I wanted to sequence Cranky's Dojo accurately and build from there. My initial WIP was nothing more than a transcription of the source with an improvised synth lead, but the director accepted it. This simple recording was the beginning of a long line of ideas for the remix I dubbed "Cranky's Mojo."

My original plan was to have a bit of a dance section and mix in a Chinese-Japanese refrain, but the dance part became sort of a synth rock hybrid. While performing a trumpet solo improv overlay on Yoshi's "Tropical Island" from Mario Party, I got the idea of using the sample for a jazzy section of the piece, and it was then that I realised I would separate my remix into movements. A new chord progression for the source melody came to mind and I went on to use it for the aforementioned East-Asian part of the arrangement.

After many hours of labour, I was quite pleased with the results. A moody first movement, an upbeat rock section with a lot of source, an Oriental part, and a 1940s sassy swing made this remix very dynamic. However, it had much room for improvement.

An opportunity arose to enhance Cranky's Mojo, which the director for the album approved. With some advice, I implemented a richer piano arrangement for the opening movement, a more realistic rock drumline using Yamaha Motif ES8 keyboard samples, and a myriad of smaller refinements. The outcome of the extra effort feels much more polished than the previous recordings.

Many thanks go to Bahamut, Nutritious, Emunator, Cody Wedel, DragonAvenger, Flexstyle, and all those who helped make this possible.

Song Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJCWt6oWDjQ
"Double the Trouble" Remix Album: http://dkc3.ocremix.org/

Disclaimer:

Customised Screenshot by Cody Wedel
Transitions and visual stylisation by Peach

Donkey Kong Country 3 is copyright of Nintendo and RARE, Ltd.

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