Shovel Knight: Swing Thy Shovel! - "Strike the Earth" Jazz / Brass Band Remix

[axlanian]

My first remix! I posted a demo of it on here back in October, but it's finally done! Hope you like it!

 

[Gario]

Damn, that brass work and swing are sexy as shit in this.

I dig.

[Bowlerhat]

Ah, yeah. I remember the demo. It was already nice, but this is really great. Nice brass writing.  I also really like the piano and guitar countermelodies. It's a shame it sounds so fake. Like, all the samples are quite terrible, which really distracts from the great arrangement. I'd say, get a real band to play it, but that won't work balance wise. It's also a bit difficult to get a band in the first place. But, if you're able to get things to sound a bit more real, it'd make this a very good remix.

Also a few small things:

- At the intro, till 0:16, I'd suggest letting the piano only play the answer, and keep the question only to that sax. It makes more sense in my opinion. 

- Not sure what's happening at 0:18, but it's a bit odd. Like, it slows down a second and then goes back to original tempo. If it's intentional, I'm personally not really sure if it works. And if it's not intentional I'd suggest changing it. 

- At 0:28, why not have a guitar comb chord as well. I works great at 0:24, and it's a bit to only let him play one chord before changing to the distortion thingy.

The piano nicely introduces that sus chord at 1:58, but at 1:59 it kinda gets lost into the rest of the mix before it has the chance to properly resolve. I'd either change the piano line into something that fully indicates the resolving of the sus chord, or keep the piano as it is, and let some other instruments indicate the tension release. Actually, it would be best to do both. It's a nice way to get things to sound more exciting, and you're not really using it to fullest as it is right now. 

- From 2.00 on, the piano answers are kinda dissonant. I would reconsider the lines it's playing right now, and use something which is just as exciting, but a bit more logical considering harmony and stuff. 

 

Okay, that's about it. There's some more minor stuff in the brass writing, but I'd need to see the actual notes to see what's exactly wrong with it, as I can't quite point it out yet with my ears alone. Great job!!