I have been fighting with this one since December last year
until I finally got it the way I liked.
Bass: Trilian TR-Jaco Fretless
Organ: Sample Tank Jazz Rock Organ
Horns: Native Instruments Session Horns
Vox: Vocaloid Avanna (doubling the soloists)
RealTracks:
Drums-SmoothJazzCoolSw16^1-XStHHt,SnRd
RT906_ Piano, Electric, Rhythm SmoothCool Sw
RT1771_Guitar, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkMovinMuted Ev
RT1777_Sax, Tenor, Soloist JazzFunkMovin Ev16 130 (Bluesy)
RT1306_Guitar, Electric, Soloist SmoothJazzCool Sw16 100 (Bluesy) with Amplitube Jazz Dream
RT1069_Trumpet, Soloist SmoothJazzCool Sw16 100 (Bluesy)

http://soundcloud.com/boehmusic/smooth-android

Guenter

Guenter,

I can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into creating this. And there are aspects that caught my attention. The overall "feel", for me (and remember, I am a redneck) is right on that fence of "too jazzy", not enough "lyricism". I would expect Aleck's enthusiasm to far outweigh my reticence. There are a lot of sharp edges.

I had to listen hard to find Avanna. When I did, I thought she could have smoothed things out some for me if she were a bit more prominent.

An opinion (and you know what they say about those).

floyd

Hi Floyd,

thanks for your comments.
Your opinion about Avannas loudness accommodates my taste and so I have mixed "her" 3 dB louder. (In my headphones it was ok but with my laptop speakers you were right).
But that does not make it less jazzy. But jazzy is what it should be.
I'm not at all offended that it's not your genre. Music is so wide-ranging. This time it had to be jazz.

Guenter

Guenter,

That completely changed the landscape for me. I was unaware what a starring role Avanna had - probably because she so closely mirrors the melody (and was too low for me to "understand". That is truly impressive. It sounds like Joni Mitchell when she went deeply into jazz (I believe she worked with Jaco). And to give some perspective, I was a HUGE Joni Mitchell fan through Hissing Of Summer Lawns. After that... she went to deep (for me). But I always respected the exploration. As I do yours. You are an artist. And your journey fascinates me. I always look forward to the next chapter (Though I do reserve the right to continue to be the redneck that I am....)

floyd

I like jazz... and BB does jazz well.

I also liked the way you used the vocaloid. One of the most unique applications of that VST... and it totally fits.

The tune has a first and second ending. The introduction repeats the first two measures of the first ending. Roughly, they are

First Ending

| Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 |Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 | F7 | Abmaj7 B7 | Emaj7 G13 | Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 |

Second ending

|Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 | F7 | Abmaj7 B7 | Emaj7 G13 | Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 | Bm7 E7 | Em7 A7 | Dm7 G7 ||

You know BIAB is going to have trouble with two critical measures, which have a "Giant Steps" feel: | Abmaj7 B7 | Emaj7 G13 |. Sure enough, things sound incoherent right at these measures. There are nice changes at the end of the second ending, but these are squandered by BIAB's general confusion and the effectiveness of these changes doesn't come through.

Conclusion: This is a solid progression and melody suitable for human players. BIAB has its limits and this demanding tune just exceeds them. Ooooh, would I like to have a crack at this one. How about it Guenter? - I got a real cool fretless; I can make that baby growl...

Aleck

Hey Floyd - I bet you'll be surprised by my response to Guenter.

Aleck

Avanna goes jazz. Edgy. For some reason it reminded me of a spy movie soundtrack.

Nice sound Guenter.

Hey it's absolutely none of my biz but imo Aleck and Guenter collab could be a match made in heaven.

I'm getting redundant -- but I'm fascinated by both the technology and musicality of the vocaloid. It would be fun to see a production from beginning to end. Avanna is certainly skilled in many genres. Thanks for the chance to listen.

Hi Herb, Josie, Janice and Bud,

thanks for the nice comments.

Hi Aleck,



So am I. First of all your examination of the chords is not only roughly wrong. The song consists of three blocks of chords and none of them has 12 bars.
There really are the measures Abmaj7 B7|Emaj7 G7, but for my ear there is no incoherence.
It's funny that you talk about BIAB's general confusion. Wonder what Peter Gannon says about this.
It's nice that you offer to play the fretless bass in this one, but I'm rather satisfied with the one I played myself.
Do you think that your bass would improve the "effectiveness" of the chord changes?

Guenter

Uh boy,

Guenter's reaction reminds me of a story told about the famous German physicist Wolfgang Pauli. One of his students gave an answer so bad, that Pauli shot back, "That's not right. In fact, it isn't even wrong!

All I was trying to do is show how hard I worked on understanding your tune, because I thought it was a great tune! Otherwise, I agree with what you say, and ask that you take no offense. Certainly, my crude approximation of your tune was not intended as such.

With kind regards,

Aleck

Guenter,

I downloaded Smooth Android so that I could listen more closely (with headphones). It was a revelation (perhaps an indictment against listening to music on computer speakers). I have listened a bunch of times. And I have enjoyed it quite a bit. I was "wrong" on several points, especially the "lack of lyricism" comment. The music has a very strong lyricism to it. Avanna has a vocalist's intonation - and vibrato - that is impressive. Cannot imagine what it took to get her to follow those solos! And she still sounds like Joni to me - this would have fit nicely on Hejira...

The mix is superb. As is the bass playing - very musical.

I must be less hasty.

red-faced rube

Hi Aleck,

apologies accepted.

Hi Floyd,

you are so nice.

Guenter

Hi Guenter

I must say that since I was involved in the Jazz improvisation course I am starting to appreciate Jazz more and more. This is, like Josie says, very edgy and GREAT to listen to. The energy of this is amazing.

Hi Guenter,

I don't know what to say! Once more you take music invention to whole new heights. I'm sitting here listening as I type and the more I listen, the more I'm pulled back to a concert of Cleo Lane's and John Dankworth's I went to a few decades ago.

If you haven't seen Cleo and John in concert, the clip below shows exactly what I mean (it begins around the 1:30 mark).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jShQAdTryKg

It was amazing for me to watch the above clip. Even though years have intervened, Cleo and John are still incredible! (As are your musical inventions, Guenter )

All the best,
Noel

Hi Guenter, your music always sound interesting to my ears.

Hi Guenter,

I listened earlier today from the parking lot of a McDonalds (I'm travelling), Even with the reduced sound quality from the speakers of a notebook computer its evident to me that you've done it again!

I'm impressed by how easily you move from one genre to the next without losing anything in the translation

Hola Guenter, I like very much your songs, you are a very creative musician, you make something special everytime. Your work with vocaloid is great and inspirational.

Thanks for share your music with us.

hi beohm this has a lot going on however you have it under control enjoy your work well done thanks eric

Hi Joanne, Noel, Cerio, Pat, Rafa and Eric,

thanks for your nice words.

@Noel: Thanks for the Youtube link. That's great. Exactly my taste.

Guenter

This needs to be heard internationally (besides online). Your craftsmanship lends itself to so much movement. It creates 'modern retro' movement. I always see bright lively scenes in a movie when I listen to your work. Happy productive scenes. This needs to be fitted with matching visuals. Great work Guenter, really impressive. Cheers!

Hi Rodney,

thank you for your kind comments.

Guenter