Old Composer Reacts to Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambience
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- čas přidán 6. 01. 2023
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#donkeykong #videogameost #ostreaction - Hudba
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This song is even better when you consider the limitations of 16bit MIDI this composer was limited to.
These samples are 8 bit, not 16 bit. The SNES really marked the transition from using basic oscillator based additive synthesis to FM synthesis using samples, at least in consoles. The chip in the SNES is the most capable of its contemporaries. It seems limited now, but for it's time that thing would have been a dream to work with as a game composer.
Even then David wise admitted composing this song pretty much pushed the limits of what he knew the SNES's sound chip was capable of.
what's funny to me is how the snes carts had extremely limited memory in general, and depending on the game the OST alone could be a huge % of the total memory used. Earthbound is particularly fun because in that game the OST is MASSIVE, like 80-90% of the total memory of the game. To save space they made the ENTIRE game take place on a single giant map lol so if you can get out of bounds you can literally walk anywhere in the game from anywhere.
Gonna drop some pedantic corrections here, they don't really matter that much, but I figured I'd let everybody know. The SNES didn't use MIDI at all, it had its own dedicated sound chip called the SPC-700. A more accurate and generic term would be synth.
Also, I've worked on one of the projects hacking/modding EarthBound, and it's not true that the soundtrack takes up 70 to 80% of the space of the game. The samples used quite a lot of space, more than many other SNES games, but at the end of the day it was still synthesizer music which is very space efficient. As I recall, the following all took up significant chunks of the ROM space: the map itself (which was compressed), the samples, the compressed battle sprites for the enemies, the rest of the graphics (stored in the regular SNES gfx format), and the text of the game, which was compressed itself in a proprietary format and had game logic peppered through it.
Also... this is not the version of the track that I know. Sounds like a few of the samples are different or maybe some different effects were added on top? The synth bass in particular sounds off. Flute too. Is this the "restored" version?
@@phoenixlich Maybe you are getting SNES games confused with another system, although I wouldn't know which... Soundtracks rarely took up much space because synthesizer music is very space efficient. I used to work on ROM hacking tools. Anyways, SNES games didn't use that much space for music. Graphics took up a lot more in general. Also, EarthBound was able to fit on a 3MB cart (24 megabit). There were games that had to be put on four megabytes, and even one or two on six I believe. Anyways, see my other comment for context
Stickerbush Symphony is an amazing sequel/evolution to this song. Wholly recommended.
Seconded
Stickerbrush Symphony seems to be in the same category as Dire Dire Docks from Mario 64. You will find it popping up on any videogame related video as background music, because it's just so deeply beloved. Thirded.
Did you know that Stickerbush Symphony was created to be music for a water level. But the water levels in 2 were always either in ships or in ice caverns so it didn’t fit. So he made it for the bramble levels.
Absolutely
There are so many David Wise gems. Stickerbush Symphony was the one I remembered most clearly when I first looked back, but hot head bop, gangplank galleon, jib jig, fear factory, Bayou Boogie, flight of the zinger, forest interlude, and so many more are unforgettable. Even some of the tracks on dkctf like windmill hills are as good as his most famous classics.
Song still gives me chills, 30 years later, from boy to man
nostalgia deluxe for sure
Here in Brazil, I feel the same. I remember like it was yesterday, the first time I heard this song.
Jojo reference
Same I listen to it everyday
Imagine getting to hear this for the first time again.
All of the tracks in that game were something else. Weis was a master composer in an era where some games still had "bleep bloop" songs.
@@matthewlawton9241 the song as Composer mentions has "bubbles". I also seems to hear almost siren voices and music instrument echoing in the distant. The tune is also so natural but unfamiliar like notes from a forgotten world in the sea where time stopped and you can feel mystery and harmony. As it portray the water worlds in DCC I think many children from the past still connect 'water' with these melodies to this day.
i would be getting in trouble for playing too much my summer after 2nd grade, but this level (and others) would teleport me to another world, it was more interesting than the farm outside loll memoriessss wow
It always surprises me that the SNES's sound chip was capable of producing music like this
They were doing the best job of it: Megadrive and the PC engine had sound chips, the SNES had an entire audio subsystem - the Nintendo S-SMP.
Thanks SONY lol
@@HKT-4300: more like "thanks Ken Kutaragi", Sony didn't really want to get into video games at the time
@@HKT-4300 i always laugh when ppl say SONY did this and that. its workers and creative ppl who SONY didnt believe in back in the day
SMW Central has a "Music" section of people using SNES chips to make their own ports...there's an entire hacking community making insane stuff on the SNES...
One of the things I've always liked about Aquatic Ambiance is how D. Wise used a submarine sonar ping as part of the percussion, further adding to the underwater feeling.
I'm sure he was inspired by Klaus Doldinger's score to the submarine movie/mini series Das Boot from 1985. It is a cool effect.
All the OSTs for all of the Donkey Kong Country games are simply masterpieces. It's hard pressed to not find absolutely phenomenal music in any of the games. Bramble Blast is one a ton of people will suggest and you cannot go wrong!
Or rather, they will suggest Stickerbush Symphony which is the actual name of the song. ^^
@@travisteatime Bramble Blast refers to the Brawl remix which some consider to be superior for the new phrases and elements it adds!
@@nintendude794 this
This^
A comparison of the original to the Brawl remix would be warranted and wonderful!
Aquatic Ambience, Forest Interlude and Stickerbrush Symphony are my favorites.
I love all of those, they sound so beautiful. Bayou Boogie is also on my top list, great vibes.
Those names get thrown out a lot from DKC2, and for good reason, but I've always found lockjaw's saga to be severely underrated. I never hear anyone mention that one.
@@tehemail.7062honestly the entire DKC2 OST is top tier
@@osets2117 Oh definitely. You could plop any one of at least a dozen tracks into almost any other game and they would become the track the game is known for.
The only reason some of them don't get mentioned is because they're all in the same game. Though the lesser known ones are definitely on par with the notorious ones so they definitely need to get more shout outs.
Edit: Actually looking at the track list, there may be another factor. People seem to gravitate towards the calming tracks over the more anxiety inducing ones (lockjaw, flight of the zinger, crocodile cacaphony, etc).
Mining Melancholy is also a great one
Love when a composer's face twists into a grimace or they start shaking their head. That means they really like what they're hearing (usually lol).
Still one of the greatest pieces of music from any video game ever
The Super Nintendo was special at the time, from what I gather, because its sound processor was sample based. But it couldn't play high bitrate samples very well, so a lot of instrumentation came from real instruments, but the quality was cut and it gave the games on the system a distinct sound.
This, he needs to read this.
It was similar tech to the Amiga which was used for entry level music production at the time. To make it clearer, PCs at the time used sound cards with MIDI sound samples built in, so how music sounded depended on the instrument bank in the card. The Amiga loaded samples from disc. Normally lower quality 8-bit samples, but they could be anything and played back just as the creator intended.
that's why it's so fun listening to these new re-done versions where they've gotten the original high quality samples and all that, and put it back together so you can hear what it might have sounded like for the composer.
If I'm correct some are even sampled from something like a dx7. Which he mentioned it reminded him of. But due to the compression it sounds different.
@@mattd8725 The Gravis Ultrasound for DOS machines did exactly that too. Generally used for its General MIDI capabilities, games could also load any number of specific custom patches to obtain a sound that the card wouldn't be able to reproduce only with its default patches nor the PPL161. One Must Fall 2097 is a good example of that. The best sound for music you can get in the game is on the GUS. Not Soundblaster 16, not Mt-32, not SC-55 and not SC-88.
David Wise pulled *magic* out of that sound chip.
Jungle Hijinx/DK Island Swing, Jib Jig, Simian Segue, Funky's Fugue, Hot-Head Bop... There's too many to list. Might need a long-form one for this series.
A bit late I know, but out of respect to the composers, Funky's Fugue was actually Robin Beanland's sole contribution for DKC1 and Simian Segue was one of several by Eveline Fischer. Otherwise, I agree, the guy was a wizard.
Oh nicely done dude. Aquatic Ambience is the Eleanor Rigby of videogame music.
David Wise was largely inspired by the Korg Wavestation and designed the sample-switching patterns in DKC based on the way the Wavestation patterns worked. You can hear this in other tracks like "Life in the Mines."
You mean the "Kong" wavestation
You're absolutely correct in knowing that many of these talented composers would bypass the limits of the sound card by weaving melodies in-between these intervals in order to make music that sounded more full. If you want to see the limits of the Super Nintendo soundcard put to the test, highly recommend "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI by Nobuo Uematsu. It's absolutely wild how he was able to compose that within the boundaries of the Super Nintendo soundcard, you'd love it.
"Alright, 5000 yen says I can write a Bach through the lens of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on the SNES soundcard."
- Uematsu, probably
Dancing mad is one of the best FF pieces
Tim Follin was a great example of pushing limits. Any soundtrack he composed for was frankly too good for the mediocre games he was paired with, which is probably why you don't see him around anymore. Still, what we can find of his is seriously impressive.
Very cool hearing appreciation for the synth sounds. I feel like the heavily digital sounds turn a lot of people off of classic video game music.
The process behind getting the sounds for the Donkey Kong Country soundtracks was ridiculously involved. The trilogy sounds almost nothing like the rest of the SNES library, and I suggest anyone interested go read about how the composer managed it. Short version - stupid amounts of work, and the layering of many many samples into one so it could fit into the soundfont for the cartridge.
I seem to recall there being over 60 tracks on some songs of this OST, and the SNES only had the capability for 8 sound channels. David Wise knew his shit, and he had a vision. That he managed to pull it off was a monumental feat for the time.
Love the fact that someone who has never played the DKC game can so perfectly imagine the level from which this song is played. David Wise is a true genius and nailed this track, among many others.
A lot of water levels in games have very similar soundscapes sonically. Somehow, really matches that underwater vibe. Just like certain chords feel happy or sad, certain ones feel like the sea, outer space, open fields etc.
Stickerbrush Symphony is another really good track from the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, I recommend listening to that one as well!
*Stickerbush
(Nerd mode : ON)
LIttle bit on technical background in regards to the sounds :
The sound chip of the console (SNES) on which the game was released is basically a lo-fi rompler, it only uses sample-based sounds. From what I heard and read, for this particular game / series, they programmed it kind of like a basic wave table synth, with single cycle samples, to compensate the limitations of the chip and get those unusual sounds for the support.
On the other hand, speaking of DX7 and FM sounds, the primary competing console at the time (Genesis/Megadrive) used an actual FM chip (4 operators, similar to cheaper Yamaha DX synths) along with a PSG chip using more basic waveforms, with one track that could be used for *very* lo-fi samples (used for percussions or sound effects, most of the time).
This results in both machines having radically different sonic palettes, with very different personalities, each with their strong and weak points, and it's really interesting to hear how they manages similar sountracks, or even similar ambiances.
To contrast this 'Donkey Kong Country' moody aquatic track from the SNES, you can check the very ambient 'Ice Zone' from 'Ecco the Dolphin' (czcams.com/video/wlslP0Y3X6s/video.html) or the more agressive yet melancholic 'Whirlwind' from 'Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master' (czcams.com/video/rO-rRfiYs88/video.html) from the Megadrive.
(Nerd mode : OFF)
And on that note, enjoy the surf session :)
And if you want something more direct, listen to both versions of Aladdin's soundtrack.
yes, but SNES SPC-700 was a little bit sophisticated than that - it basically was a rompler who could also real-time decompress ADPCM audio & also with an added effect DSP to perform real-time ADSR curves, FFT-filtering & simple panning & delay effects - or an 8-channels 16-bit stereo hardware module tracker on-a-chip.
David Wise is LEGENDARY! Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbush Symphony, and Forest Interlude are songs I come back to over and over and over again. It's so amazing what some composers were able to push out of the SNES' capabilities. I didn't even play the majority of the DKC games, but those tracks will stick with me forever
I love, love, love Aquatic Ambiance. I have to say it's up there with Forest Interlude as far as the Donkey Kong Country franchise is concerned. I recommend giving that one a listen as well.
Forest Interlude is also phenomenal. It’s so soothing and calming
Discovering this track in real time in high school was a very memorable experience. Still gives me goosebumps 30 yrs later..
Donkey Kong Country was my very first videogame ever, and this particular track always opens the floodgates of my memories, it just has something special to it. The vibe, the cadence, the echoes... and when the main melody hits, it hits hard.
Love David Wise.
Mine too!
Holy SHIT, every note of that song hits like a freight train of nostalgia - damn.
There is an absolute madman here on CZcams who has painstakingly gone and recreated all of these songs with the original synths so we can finally hear them without compression. It is heavenly.
Is that Jammin' Sam Miller?
Thanks for posting the channel. 🤡
@@allwillberevealed777 No Problem, on his Bandcamp he's released the Donkey Kong Country trilogy both Digital and some Vinyl.
I think the version we hear in this video is one such recreation. It doesn't sound as compressed as the original, which somehow makes it sound kinda weird and nearly off-tune at times, especially during the "harmonica"-style melody (e.g. at 3:58)
@@allwillberevealed777 instead of whingeing you could have just asked 🤡
I was wondering when a Donkey Kong soundtrack would come up. Thank you always for these breakdowns I definitely find them very fun.
The critical mass of sheer talent allowed to shine at Rareware in the mid 90s is unmatched & I doubt will ever be, Both musically cohesive output per game and the games themselves.
The sounds imitate the calls of whales, the sounds of submarines and, with the sounds bouncing between right and left, the disorientation regular people feel when submerging as the waves push you around. This piece is beautifully inspired by the aquatic ambiance that was requested to the composer.
I don't know you guys, but this theme put me in an emotional state... I wanna comeback to those good old days where life was easy and happy ..cheers
One of my absolute favorite soundtracks ever! David Wise is such a genius and it's hard to believe that these sounds came out of an snes :D Thanks for reacting to this!
These games and their music are the pinnacle of my childhood. So awesome to see you doing this.
Oh man, didn’t expect to see this! I absolutely love this song. Listen to it pretty regularly tbh. I shining moment from my childhood.
SO GLAD YOU DID THIS. It always stuck with me from childhood. Over 25 years ago
I cannot describe how happy I am this video happened. I've been listening to this track a lot recently and suddenly this pops up! Thanks Geebz!
What i love about this video is how you can perfectly mimic the sounds from the song. You're impression of the harp gave me the same sense of nostalgia the OG song does.
What a wonderful weekend surprise. I'm loving all these video game OST reacts!
I've been waiting for this!!! Watching on my lunch break.
Great choice, the song is very soothing but yearning and melancholy at the same time.
Just wanted to say that this channel is a really great addition to the reaction scene. Love it!
Just found this channel the other day.. suggested it to like 5 of my friends. You're awesome thank you!
Incredible composition, great breakdown. Will definitely have to check out more from you.
i love how you break these things down, also would be cool to hear you colab with someone who knows about the tech and limitations that the ppl were working with at the time. or yes talking with some of the composers if you ever get the chance
I and many others grew up on these video game soundtracks and a 'lot of the love revolves around nostalgia, I'm loving your take on listening as a newcomer and a composer.
Came across this channel randomly while searching vgm, seeing so many people recognize this as a work of art from their childhood and watching someone exp it for the first time gave me great joy. Thank you for this vid
Just found out this channel
I'm loving these reactions and the added thoughts.
I looooooooove this concept. Started creating muziek a few years ago and it's wonderful to see a pro review sounds and songs. Awesome. Subbed!
so happy you did this, this track is definitely a classic in the VGM world
I love seeing all these professional composers and teachers taking music from video games seriously. The music has genuine artistic value and should treated as such. These composers have so much passion and care for their music.
I've now binged all of your gaming music videos, I'm a sound producer from Sweden so when I found you and started to listen to how you describe different compositions and from the game music you choose in the suggestions... i was hooked.
Something truly perculiar is that no one has told you about how they designed the music for "Final fantasy 7 remake".
You spoke of interactivity and being able to immerse yourself even deeper in a game through it's music sooo...
They made it so that depending on what you are doing and how you react during the game... It changes how the music plays, by the swing of your sword, by the tumble you make, how much destruction the environment takes, what you choose to do and when an entity is rendered lifeless.
Personally I found out during playing and then looked it up and spent far to many hours listening to each individual person in an orcestra grace me with their tunes upon action.
My recommendation both to play and listen to
"Final fantasy 7 remake - Midgar mako city"
czcams.com/video/M4El6rckfS0/video.html
David Wise is a genius, you should listen to SO MUCH MORE DK Country Music. They are all bangers. Literally all of them.
As good as always, Geebz! :) That song invokes quite some childhood memories. I suggest C-64 legend and fellow German Chris Hülsbeck either The Great Giana Sisters Theme (there is also a beautiful orchesteral arrangement of it on CZcams of the NDR orchestra) or Turrican 2 Theme. Great stuff from the 80s/90s video game music.
Since you enjoyed this sort of classic sound chip arrangement, as well as your first Final Fantasy/Nobuo Uematsu track with To Zanarkand, there's nothing I could recommend more highly than what I'd argue to be the most impressive song ever composed for a 16 bit sound chip, Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6. It was composed as a 4 movement symphony for the final boss of the game, with each movement corresponding to a phase of the battle. The composer, Nobuo Uematsu, was entirely self-taught in music and never received any formal training, and is now one of the most famous and respected composers in the gaming industry, primarily due to his work on Final Fantasy.
I second this, a Dancing Mad reaction would be fun to see.
@@pupilonthesea2347 I third this. Dancing Mad is outstanding.
I recommended this in the To Zanarkand video :)
Would also be cool to see him react to different versions. Original vs Black Mages version for example.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Dancing Mad. It is an absolute journey of a song.
The entire FF6 soundtrack is amazing. Ending Theme is my personal favorite, Dancing Mad more than deserves all the hype it gets, and of course you can't forget the first (only?) opera ever composed for a video game.
David Wise is a legend every Donkey Kong Country 2 Ost is a banger
Something to look into maybe, coming off of your Final Fantasy review, another composer who had his start in the same company (SquareSoft/SquareEnix) as Nobou Uematsu is my personal favorite gaming composer Yasunori Mitsuda. My choice of game would also be my personal favorite and the first game that he ever composed 90% percent of is a game called Chrono Trigger. He worked himself sick on the soundtrack and the aforementioned Nobou Uematsu helped on completing it. It's a true testament to classic 90's game music. For tracks, I highly recommend my favorite song "Undersea Palace" as well as the end credit theme "Too Far Away Times". Also, some other highly loved tunes are the "Opening Theme" or "Theme of Chrono Trigger" and "Corridors of Time".
LOVE Undersea Palace. My personal favorite is Secret of the Forest. It's one of the few songs that aren't given enough time to develop in your ears as the player can run through Guardia Forest in seconds. Always stop and chill there for a few minutes every time I play
I second this idea!
Love your input! Went and follow your Twitch for when that kicks off!
Thank you!
I was just thinking about how cool it would be if you reviewed this track! Very pleasantly surprised to see this!!
Since I found this channel I started listening to some game music in a different way. Really picking up stuff I never noticed before. Like the little background beat at 7:26 that sounds like a submarine sonar.
The games and the songs during my SNES childhood helped me escape and dream. Thank you!
just watched your zelda vid and loved it, but this song in this game is one of my favorites, and i really love your enthusiasm toward this type of music. people scoff at games and game music a lot and dont realize that composers of game music are world renowned. maybe not bach or the like but game music helps not only tie the game world together but bring people to an entirely different world, and this song really does that with its synthwave tunes. keep on rockin', and keep on smiling! ~ Mike.
AHHH love this track, it's almost as old as I am, and it never gets old or fails to give goosebumps
The 8 bit big band did an arrangement of this track that's absolutely MIND-BLOWINGLY gorgeous. Even if you don't stream it for this channel PLEASE check it out sometime! You won't be disappointed with what they did with it!
stickerbrush symphony is also wonderful
Love how you put the track inside to the game to get an even deeper context.
Subscribed. Thank you for your interesting takes and knowledge.
I got brought here by Chris Christodoulou for the Risk of Rain 2 you did, and I am adoring your content!! It’s super wholesome and I always love to see someone from a different background/generation appreciate video game music! New perspective gives new appreciation
I got goosebumps, very melancholic, right on my childhood. What a masterpiece. Nice review.
The sounds they used were part of the systems limitations. Donkey Kong Country was released on Super Nintendo which had cartridges that held at the very most 6 MB but usually 4 or under. The Super Nintendo has an onboard S-SMP audio chip that the composer worked with Nintendo to create the music.
this is, to me, one of the greatest video game tracks of all time
A while ago I had a hunch that if a composer who had no connection to video games or Donkey Kong Country was shown this track, they would still be able to appreciate how well written and arranged it is. Without wanting to sound too presumptuous, thanks for confirming that hunch
Music like this really puts my head into the spaces that its meant for. This one especially. If any underwater level is done right, it really does it for me. The music really puts it in that mindset that you're swimming along a vibrant coral reef. A perfect mixture of beauty and danger, because of the random enemies lurking about.
This is very indicative of David's Wise general style on Donkey Kong Country, the way he wove melodies into the atmosphere of the type of the level it belongs to, and built on it. He truly pushed the limits of what the SNES sound chip could do. Also, "Stickerbush Symphony" is another of his most popular DKC works if you've never heard it.
Check out Shadow Of The Colossus OST! The beauty is superb I know you will enjoy all of it! Lots of small scores but some are much longer! I’m still here! 🤘
David Wise is a genuinely brilliant composer. There are more incredible tracks he's created than I could name, but Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony, and Lockjaws Locker are mindblowing considering they're played from a cartridge.
Seashore War is a newer track of his without these limitations and it gives me chills. Just an astonishing piece of music.
Very good breakdown of this track. You mentioned things I never even thought about when listening to it.
Ahh dude thanks for reviewing this track it's one of the best ever written for a game. This whole games ost was unreal.
I like the sense of buildup in most of Wise’s tunes. The bongos of Jungle Hijinx that act as the backbone of the whole song as each piece of the melody slowly joins in to match its rhythm, the eerie synth of Lockjaw Saga and the little bursts of percussion that creates this action driven, suspenseful air before the main melody even begins.
I've always been big on music. When this game came out I was a kid and loved it. When I first did the water level and this song played I got chills just something about it. So relaxing so freaking awesome the melody carries so nice. It got to the point that I would play the water levels just for the music lol.
Really fun factoid about this song. You mention that David Wise used reverbs/delays to help with the tail-off type sounds, but in actuality, he had to repeat sounds at various volumes in stereo to simulate reverb. Really cool history in most 90's home console game tech!
it’s crazy how half the work is making this amazing composition then half was working with the old sound chip to make everything work and sound authentic
I often put on Stickerbrush Symphony, Forest Interlude, and In A Snowbound Land to fall asleep chill music + nostalgia does it for me!
This song was my lullaby for years. One of the prettiest pieces of video game music to ever grace my ears. You should react to Simon Belmont's theme from Castlevania IV!
This was great. One of my all time favorite games as a kid, and top favorite track in the game. Thank you. You should do the Max Payne theme next! It's an absolute classic!
Fun fact: David Wise originally planned his programming to be inspired by the instrumentation of the Korg Wavestation. I still would like one of those synths to learn and play with, thanks to this game's soundtrack! Thanks for reacting to this. It's a gem!
Wavestations are currently pretty cheap on the used market - will go up I think.. you can also get the official Korg plugin version. (I was inspired by the Wavestation for some features in my own plugin Hyperion)
Hey! Cool video, I really like your take on this, I grew up playing this game and also am doing a new rerun on my Nintendo Switch. Aquatic Ambience is incredible, and will always be a masterpiece!
Awesome! Gotta do "Stickerbush Symphony" if you ever get back to DK! Great reaction!
Love your input of this musical piece.
I think Wise sampled the Korg M1 and Wavestation for DKC1 and 2, some of the patches resampled are pretty iconic for those synths specifically
this was the first song i learned on piano by ear, one of my favorites, thanks for doing a review of it!
Stickerbrush symphony from donkey kong 2 is another fantastic and mesmerizing song. Enjoy! :D
I've played the Donkey Kong Country games ever since I was a kid. David Wise is a master of his craft and his compositions for the games are fantastic. You picked a good one to start with from this series. The second game is one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. I'm seeing others recommend Stickerbush Symphony and Forest interlude from the second game, I can't recommend them enough myself. Also to answer your question about the graphics, they converted 3D rendered images onto a console designed for 2D sprites. They're easily among the best looking Super Nintendo games and were ahead of their time in my opinion. It was super cool to see someone listen to a track from this series for the first time! CZcams recommended me this video and I'll be sure to check out more of your content. Keep up the good work man!
I love the fact that even though you never played the game, just by listening to the music you were using terms like "swimming", which in fact is what you do in the level that this song comes from. Since you started a Twitch channel to play games I highly recommend that you play the first Donkey Kong Country game to be able to experience the gameplay along with this track. It's such a great marriage of music and gameplay.
Almost 30 years later and I still wake up with it in my head.
This track actually makes me cry. It summons a sense of nostalgia and Zeitweh that's overwhelming
after watching this, i would absolutely LOVE to see what you think of tim follin's work. my personal favorite is the Solstice title theme, but honestly your take on any of his NES tracks would be fascinating!! love the insight and experience you bring to these videos, thanks for all you do!!!
5:00 or the KORG Wavestation to be precise ;)
Just recently found the channel and as a music and video game nerd I absolutely love it! If you’re looking for any more video game recommendations, I’d highly recommend looking into Hideki Naganumas work. He’s a very unique composer and Id love to see what you think. His songs Aint Nothin Like a Funky Beat and Let Mom Sleep are some of my personal favorites.
aint nothin like a funky beat
Hey Geebs! Aqua Vistas from Ecco the Dolphin is another awesome song from a similar time period of video games, probably one of my fave of that era...It's definitely worth a listen!
Awesome video!
The synth talk was super neat, having a bit more context on around the time this was made, but as well, the sound chips in the SNES games back then were revolutionary for games, back before that, there were like, 4 audio channels or something for the original NES, meanwhile the SNES could use (very compressed) samples even, on top of everything else.
Mega Man 1 through 6 on NES has oodles of great songs that are worth checking out to get an idea of what the NES can do, I'd especially recommend Wily Castle theme from Mega Man 2, which is an all time gaming classic song.
And out of ceazy stuff done on these, Tim Follin is a crazy composer who used these sound chips and such to effect greater than anyone else.
I absolutely loved the reaction and talk about stuff and look forward to more! Definitely gonna keep my eye out for more by ya. :D
Glad to hear you enjoyed this! If you ever want to react to a Donkey Kong song that David Wise composed in more recent times, I couldn't recommend the Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze soundtrack highly enough, containing both original pieces such as Busted Bayou or Scorch n' Torch, as well as remixes of songs from previous Donkey Kong games such as Aquatic Ambience and Stickerbush Symphony.
Hi, I just started watching some of your videos and I've liked the insight you give into these compositions!
One thing I'd recommend for the future is making sure you are listening to the OG composition to judge. Aquatic Ambience is one of my favorite songs and I can tell what you had listened to in the video was a fan-made restoration attempt. Said restoration attempts are always cool to see but they aren't always accurate. This one in particular had some very off mixing and possibly even some incorrect notes that sounded alot more ear piercing then it should.
Just something I'd recommend you keep in mind for the future. Especially if you are doing more Donkey Kong Country stuff!
Have a good day!