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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 259
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Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 259 |
I would add that I'm a jazz guy. I only thru in the new age and classical because I'm not entirely sure what I am trying to do musically with this. Probably jazz/instrumental pop of some sort. But NOT the R & B groove of smooth jazz. Likely mostly latin stuff.
Going back to saxgentleman67's initial querying, I would encourage you to use the StylePicker in BiaB to get a sampling of the latin-based styles and tracks available. I spent an hour yesterday doing just this, and found a lot of useful things. I initially bought the Pro version about a month ago, and within a few days upgraded to the Ultrapak. So, for example, when I put a filter string of "bossa" into the Stylepicker and ask for Realtracks only, I get 158 styles back. Not all are totally unique, but they do show the variety available. That should give you an idea of the results you can accomplish with Realtracks (or you can choose MIDI - just realize the sound source will make a big difference).
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 299
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 299 |
As cwiggins says, there are some exciting Latin Styles, Real or Midi.
Though I am critical of the lack of modernity, Pgmusic’s recordings are top notch: Kenny Barron, Danny Gottlieb, Ron Carter. But, that’s just name dropping. The “unknown” heroes of Band in a Box, like Miles Black and all the other musicians, though not contemporary enough to my liking, these cats can play. And I’m sure they could do more contemporary, too.
Realstyles, as they are now, play like sitting in with the Stan Getz quartet in the eighties. Or, at least, the closest amateurs like me will ever get to sitting in with the Getz-band. My, my, what a band that was: Kenny Barron...
Just, for me, I enjoy more contemporary playing: Dave Holland, Jarrett, Joshua Redman, Garbarek, Hancock, Charles Lloyd. And Realstyles often lack certain chords, or more “today” rhythm.
And, of course, they lack hose wonderful MIDI VST libraries.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 259
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Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 259 |
For my particular needs, the less flashy players like Miles Black and Oliver Gannon work better - I think their tracks are more plug-and-play than some others who take more liberties. I'm shooting to make recordings that sound as if I had some unsung hero studio musicians providing the foundations of tracks without drawing too much attention to themselves. I haven't investigated the details of how RealTracks are recorded, edited, and reassembled (and as a software engineer I'd love to know more), but I think some players have a better understanding (or coaching) as to how to play for these general purpose tracks.
Not to muddy the water for saxman, but I do know that my 15 year old Yamaha Motif ES workstation has some amazing sounds and a very versatile "arpeggiator on steroids" that does a great job at creating believable instrument tracks - especially in the guitar and keyboard world. That's at least 3 revisions back in the Motif product line, so can only imagine they have improved drastically. So it's fairly easy to assemble usable, professional quality tracks with these kinds of keyboards and without a computer/DAW involved. You do have to play or step enter the chords. So it's another way to approach things. I do like being able to type out a chord chart in Biab and see my whole arrangement like a spreadsheet. If I get time (it will be a while), I'll hook up my Motif and see how some of the MIDI styles sound. I haven't invested in Kontact or other expensive sample players, so won't make a rash judgment, but the onboard demos/sample projects I heard on the MOTIF years ago still have a better pro quality to my ears compared to online demos I hear from various software instrument vendors. I have to pull that keyboard out of the basement for a gig in a couple of months, so I'll revisit it a bit.
Last edited by cwiggins999; 05/16/20 12:40 AM.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 299
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Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 299 |
@cwiggins, you like more studio musician style, I like more spicy stuff, but, hey, that’s just how the world works.
Talking Motif... There are, I am sure, some better Kontakt libraries, but the Motif is just a different beast altogether.
It’s proof that you not always need big Gbyte size sample pools. The programmers with Korg, Roland and especially Yamaha have worked wonders with limited sample memory. Their use of dynamic filters, oscillators and all things synthesizer is so intelligent and sophisticated that they reach levels of realism and playability that are rarely matched. On the other hand, the MOTIF already had a decent memory.
But Motif is still a very good choice and compares quite nicely to today’s keyboards and sample libraries. I played a MOTIF XS recently and it blew my mind.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Apr 2020
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OP
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Posts: 114 |
Not to muddy the water for saxman, but I do know that my 15 year old Yamaha Motif ES workstation has some amazing sounds
I checked a demo of that out. The sounds still don't sound real to me. Maybe it's just over-processed to me. They also sound a bit dated. It's funny because when you say studio musicians, that's how I would describe what I am looking for. I guess it depends which studio musicians and when:) Just a plain electric bass, good drum sounds, and a nice piano/keyboard sound. Sounds like the real tracks might be the best starting point.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,478
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,478 |
If you have yet to check out RealTracks .. you may soon find why so many of us have left keyboard composing behind.
It's a whole new world.
I have a keyboard on my desk that can create samples/patches, do step entry, record (and bounce) 4 audio tracks at 16/44 along with a MIDI sequence file .. and I don't use any of it anymore.
It's simply a sound source and physical keyboard to play on these days.
RTs and recorded performances beat it every time for what we do here.
And to be honest (and this is the important part) it is easier on the PC.
Last edited by rharv; 05/18/20 11:21 AM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753 |
If you have yet to check out RealTracks .. you may soon find why so many of us have left keyboard composing behind.
It's a whole new world.
I have a keyboard on my desk that can create samples/patches, do step entry, record (and bounce) 4 audio tracks at 16/44 along with a MIDI sequence file .. and I don't use any of it anymore.
It's simply a sound source and physical keyboard to play on these days.
RTs and recorded performances beat it every time for what we do here.
And to be honest (and this is the important part) it is easier on the PC. Yeah, that's why I did not replace my controller only keyboard when it went bad. It wasn't getting much use anyway. For what midi I do input a simple Yamaha YPT-400 or even the little iRig Keys 37 works fine. I'm going to edit it on the computer afterwords anyway.
Does the noise in your head bother me ?
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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