DKC2 - Forest Interlude (Electro-Accordion Saw Mix)

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Autumn: a season of change. A season of ends... and beginnings.

Title: Forest Interlude
Composer: David Wise
Game: Donkey Kong Country 2 (1995)

Happy Halloween! DKC2 has always been one of my favorite VGM soundtracks, but I must admit I slept on Forest Interlude for a while. It was only recently that this track finally grew on me - I love the modulation to Dm in the middle and wanted to stretch it out a bit in my arrangement to enjoy it more. In doing so, I threw in a bunch of other DKC2 motifs - see how many you can pick out!

For the video, I decided to take advantage of the peak fall season and capture some outdoor footage, though I wasn't finished with the arrangement yet, so I had to retroactively add some green screen shots. I also had fun doing some low-effort cosplay of the Ghost Rope from Ghostly Grove, as well as Kloak on the MIDI accordion.

I also spent some time honing my skills on the musical saw, which I feel is very fitting for this tune (you can see some Behind the Scenes work on how it sounds unedited in the end slate).

It's a very interesting beast of an instrument: bending the saw to get the right pitch is the easy part, compared to making sure you bow at the right position along the saw according to which pitch you're playing, and at the right angle and speed to both prevent horrendous screeching AND allow the note to sustain sufficiently. But I love the challenge and uniqueness of it - it's like an acoustic theremin!