Forward...with a question from the panel please

[dabresk]

Got a forward on S070626JZ which was a Smooth Jazz Instrumental listing. Comments are as follows:Nice A head. Very catchy and the B section has a nice melodic/harmonic contrast. Has the pop song structure indicative of smooth jazz. Great solos. I like how you go into the bridge after sax solo."Hard to classify" was checked with this:However, this is quality work and playing and feels good. The rhythm might be a bit to on the midi side but I'm going to forward because I think this cut could be a good pitch overall.A little heavy on the midi instrumentation but good sound overall in my opinionI guess what I want to know is what defines "on the midi side". All tracks on this were recorded live (including the drum track which was looped). Does the screener suggest that the drum track should have not been looped, or are they referring to the fact that the sax was not real......Just wondering....I am grateful for the forward.Please listen here:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueThanks!

[aubreyz]

Quote:Got a forward on S070626JZ which was a Smooth Jazz Instrumental listing. Comments are as follows:Nice A head. Very catchy and the B section has a nice melodic/harmonic contrast. Has the pop song structure indicative of smooth jazz. Great solos. I like how you go into the bridge after sax solo."Hard to classify" was checked with this:However, this is quality work and playing and feels good. The rhythm might be a bit to on the midi side but I'm going to forward because I think this cut could be a good pitch overall.A little heavy on the midi instrumentation but good sound overall in my opinionI guess what I want to know is what defines "on the midi side". All tracks on this were recorded live (including the drum track which was looped). Does the screener suggest that the drum track should have not been looped, or are they referring to the fact that the sax was not real......Just wondering....I am grateful for the forward.Please listen here:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... Thanks!Wow. Very convincing sax. Nice work.The rhythm section does feel a little tight to me too. I think the looping repetition may be what does that. But I agree with the screener - strong track. Nice arrangement and great chops.I just stopped by the forum before leaving work, and this was a pleasure to hear--- even if it's out of my genre of personal taste preference. Congrats on the forward.Aub

[matto]

Hi dabresk,it's very nice, but the rhythm section sounds midi/looped. There's not enough variations/fills in the drums/bass/percussion to sound like real players, who would get bored to death playing this repetitively . It sounds "copied/pasted" which is one of the dead givaways you hear with a lot of "one man band" type productions.Other than that, it's very nice, feels pretty good, writing and playing are strong. The fake sax is quite impressive actually as fake saxes go . Mind sharing what you're using?I think if you could inject some more "band feel" into this production (via variations/fills/having the drummer switch to the ride in some sections/adding and removing shaker and/or tambourine in some sections etc etc) you could really take this over the top. As it is it's quite good and probably good enough for some applications, but there's some room for improvement... One last thing, if you're interested in pitching this type of tune to film/tv/music library applications, make sure you have a "real" ending (aka "button" ending)...fades are a no no...Great potential here and congrats on the forward!matto

[dabresk]

Thanks for the kind words and advice. ALWAYS room for improvement....that's one of the reasons that I am here. I really do need to work on the drum chops...I am looking around for a set of pads. Playing on a keyboard just does not cut it.As for the sax sound (and what I am using overall)....the entire tune was done with Reason. I am realizing the limitations of reason now. The sax sound was stock with reason, but heavily processed....and played like a sax. I have studied (and played with) sax players to the nth degree to understand the nuances of the instrument and how it is played. A lot of work went into that sax sound (but NOTHING beats the real thing), so I appreciate the comments.I will be posting a few questions in the equipment forum, as I need to upgrade my entire system....so as usual....I will be asking for advice and help.Thanks again... Bresky

[eightyeightkeys]

Really nice work Bresky.Very, very convincing sax - and being a keyboard player, I appreciate the effort that you went to to get it as good as it is.Maybe, the biggest "give away" (at least for me) might be that the sax is a bit too continuous, at times. Not enough "breaths" - both in terms of where the sax player would actually take a breath and in terms of phrasing - the "off beat" 8th notes get a bit predictable as well - not enough variation perhaps.I believe that you said that the drums were recorded live and then probably you took the best groove and looped it. What I've done with many players is have them also record numerous fills in different sections of the song(in a loop fashion-taking the best of each fill) labellling each fill (and giving it it's own colour in the arrange window-for easy searching) and then copying and pasting them in for variation.Get a great sax player ! and your track would immediately go from that "MIDI" vibe to the real deal.Good luck.

[dabresk]

Thanks for the comments, and I agree with what everone says. My biggest problem is where I live. I have checked around for some decent players, but no luck. The population of my town is about 300. Nearest "city" has a population of maybe 3000. Other than that, it's a twelve hour drive to good music.Thanks for the words......Bresky