Arrangement of the Week: Forest Glade

Of all of the tracks from the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack, there are two that get a lot of remixes and arrangements. The first is “Aquatic Ambience,” which has seen at least one remix of featured on this series. The other, though maybe not quite as frequently covered, is “Stickerbrush Symphony.” Today’s remix is of the latter piece.

For this entry of Arrangement of the Week, we have a remix of “Stickerbrush Symphony” from artist Neurophonic, who has created an ambient electronic mix titled “Forest Glade.”

The track starts off with some mellow ambient pads to set the mood for the remix and the addition of bird sounds further evokes a serene forest environment that you might encounter in the game. The melodic material from the source track eventually comes in and blends with the other textures, rather than sounding like a separate element. This results in a wash of echoing and resonant tones, that create an incredibly gentle soundscape for the arrangement.

Part of what makes the remix work is there’s plenty of variance in the sound from the percussion instruments. The drums change up enough, and even drop out at certain points, over the course of the arrangement. Because of this, there’s always a sense of movement and change, even while the various pad and synth instruments remain relatively unaltered. The end result is a great ambient remix that creates a perfectly chill mood.

Have any favorite ambient remixes of game music? Let us know about them in the comments below. You can check out Neurophonic’s “Forest Glade” track on OC ReMix.