Piano Jazz

[orest]

I'm thinking of sending a song to a piano jazz listing. You can listen to it here: www.alexanderorest.com/world.htm(I have tried to mix it with influences from Swedish folk music)Following listing: NEW LISTING -- INSTRUMENTAL PIANO TRACKS a la David Benoit, Brian Culbertson, Michele Camilo, etc. sought by President of Independent World/Jazz label for a compilation project comprised of a melodic menu of solo and band arrangements led by acoustic piano. Melodic Jazz and Latin tracks are welcome but compositions mixing Jazz with interesting World sounds will be a priority

[jwebbinspired]

Alex, I like this tune. But to me it sounds too much like midi and it seems to be heavily balanced in my right can. I think it gets really interesting around 1:30 when it "picks up" a little bit...very nice. Very well played and seems to fit the listing...I would just think about adding a little reverb or something to capture that "acoustic piano" sound I think you're missing. Andy

[orest]

Thanks Andy, well, I am using Akoustik Piano software (Bösendorfer and Steinway), and the setting was jazz club, but maybe it is a bit dry, I can add more reverb in Logic. It's always nice to get some feedback, you can easily get stuck inside your own mind!

[ideascapes]

Hey Alexander--great to see a solo piano piece here...I listened 3 times and really liked it! I recognized the Akoustik Piano samples and know what Andy means about the sound--it's very closed mic'd and doesn't match the usual piano listening experience (unless your head is inside the lid!).I've done a lot of experimenting with piano samples and have these recommendations, if you haven't already tried them: - Don't quantize/edit the chords such that the chord notes are always hitting at the same instant (I usually play something like this in free time, not to a click) - In Akoustic, mess with these settings: width of stereo field; reverb setting (close, near, far, something like that); EQ; lid (closed, partly open, fully open) - In your DAW, try layering a convolution reverb with a normal one, and cut the bass response - Use an exciter to add some harmonicsI've found that this combination can really make for a more realistic recording. I apologize ahead of time if I'm insulting your production intelligence!Vince

[jwebbinspired]

Wow I just learned a lot. My brother is building my DAW right now and I'm going to be asking you guys tons of questions in the near future...I'm going to be trying to go after some TV stuff with my vocals (we'll see how that goes).And Alex, obviously being stuck inside your mind isn't a bad place to be...you composed a beautiful peice!!Andy

[bmete]

Hi orest,I agree with Andy & Vince, nice playing.. ( Great advice also on piano sampling).my only suggestion is before submitting I'd listen to the referenced artists. I just did, and the styles mentioned are really smooth, and laid back...I think you song is very good and well played, and will find a home, but i'm not sure it fits the references...Good Luck!Bob

[orest]

Actually I played the piece that way..Thanks according to the studio technique help! bmete, I had this piece (amongst others) as a reference, and this one is not laidback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXT07AnkYRE(listen 10-20 sec into the piece..)