Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
Wise initially worked as a ] and assumed his music would be replaced by a Japanese composer because of the importance of ''Donkey Kong'' to ]. Rare asked Wise to record three jungle ] tunes that were merged to become the "DK Island Swing", the first level's track. Wise was subsequently offered the job to produce the final score.<ref name="SEMO: Wise">{{cite web |last=Greening |first=Chris |date=December 2010 |title=Interview with David Wise |url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115042157/http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml |archive-date=15 January 2012 |publisher=Square Enix Music Online}}</ref> According to Wise, he "just eight waveforms and played them in sequence and that first experiment became the baseline for 'Aquatic Ambiance{{'"}}.<ref name="IGN: AquaticAmbience" /> The song took five weeks to compose and Wise used a ].<ref name="IGN: AquaticAmbience" /> He considers the track his favourite and the game's biggest technological accomplishment in regards to the audio.<ref name="GI: Wise">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RNM2QlujU |title=Composer David Wise Dissects Donkey Kong Country's Best Music |date=5 July 2019 |last=Wise |first=David |medium=] |access-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/v_RNM2QlujU |archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live |website=]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
Wise initially worked as a ] and assumed his music would be replaced by a Japanese composer because of the importance of ''Donkey Kong'' to ]. Rare asked Wise to record three jungle ] tunes that were merged to become the "DK Island Swing", the first level's track. Wise was subsequently offered the job to produce the final score.<ref name="SEMO: Wise">{{cite web |last=Greening |first=Chris |date=December 2010 |title=Interview with David Wise |url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115042157/http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml |archive-date=15 January 2012 |publisher=Square Enix Music Online}}</ref> According to Wise, he "just eight waveforms and played them in sequence and that first experiment became the baseline for 'Aquatic Ambiance{{'"}}.<ref name="IGN: AquaticAmbience" /> The song took five weeks to compose and Wise used a ].<ref name="IGN: AquaticAmbience" /> He considers the track his favourite and the game's biggest technological accomplishment in regards to the audio.<ref name="GI: Wise">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RNM2QlujU |title=Composer David Wise Dissects Donkey Kong Country's Best Music |date=5 July 2019 |last=Wise |first=David |medium=] |access-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/v_RNM2QlujU |archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live |website=]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
Rearrangements of "Aquatic Ambience" appear in '']'' (2010) and '']'' (2014).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Craig |title=Going Ape Over Donkey Kong Country Returns |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/10/28/going-ape-over-donkey-kong-country-returns |website=] |access-date=March 24, 2024 |date=October 28, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Riendeau |first1=Danielle |title=Nobody Played 'Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze,' but I Loved It Anyway |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/mvb9ey/nobody-played-donkey-kong-country-tropical-freeze-but-i-loved-it-anyway |website=] |access-date=March 24, 2024 |date=October 27, 2016}}</ref>
==Reception and legacy==
==Reception and legacy==
Revision as of 18:54, 24 March 2024
1994 instrumental by David Wise
"Aquatic Ambience"
A depiction of Donkey Kong in a water level, which is where Aquatic Ambiance can usually play in Donkey Kong Country
"Aquatic Ambience" (also written as "Aquatic Ambiance") is a musical theme composed by David Wise for the video game Donkey Kong Country (1994). It plays in the underwater levels.
Composition
Wise initially worked as a freelancer and assumed his music would be replaced by a Japanese composer because of the importance of Donkey Kong to Nintendo. Rare asked Wise to record three jungle demo tunes that were merged to become the "DK Island Swing", the first level's track. Wise was subsequently offered the job to produce the final score. According to Wise, he "just eight waveforms and played them in sequence and that first experiment became the baseline for 'Aquatic Ambiance'". The song took five weeks to compose and Wise used a Korg Wavestation. He considers the track his favourite and the game's biggest technological accomplishment in regards to the audio.
In 2016, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club described the song as "a placid piece of music that uses a sophisticated palette of synthesized instruments and futuristic sound effects to create a mood of calm that's very different from the sped-up themes usually associated with platform games", being "more nocturnal and urban than submarine". He said that the song could be better appreciated "without a controller in hand", something that he considered rare, and that Wise seemed to be the only one that "managed to get as much texture and ambiance out of Super Nintendo's S-SMP sound chip" as he did.
"Aquatic Ambience" has been particularly influential. It has been described as "the 'Eleanor Rigby' of video game music", praised by artists such as Trent Reznor and Donald Glover, and Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club wrote that it spawned a "minor cult" dedicated to remixes. Glover sampled it in his 2012 song "Eat Your Vegetables", to which Wise expressed approval. In 2016, it was remixed for a video game music award.
A depiction of Donkey Kong in a water level, which is where Aquatic Ambiance can usually play in Donkey Kong Country