Background: I wrote this after I went through a DVD guitar instruction course by the master jazz guitarist Robert Conti. He liked it enough that it is a featured video on his web site, https://www.robertconti.com/players-gallery/
It's a short fun video that features some of the concepts from the course.
****** Song Summary ************* Title: Weighed Down File:Weighed Down.SGU Key=C , Tempo 120, Length (m:s)=1:44 No intro. 48 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 48. Repeat x1 chorus No Melody No Soloist track. Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0, Style is _LAZYJZM.STY (Piano Trio Medium Slow)
RealTracks in style: ~768:Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Sw 110 RealDrums [in style:JazzBrushes: a: Brushes Swirling b: Brushes Busier
*******************
I used the DAW Reaper, No effects on the BIAB tracks Guitars were through a Quilter Micropro amp mic'd with an sm57, EQ and compression plugins in Reaper Vocal, MCA SP1, In reaper EQ Compression Tape Saturation, In a bus ReaVerb plugin with a smallplate IR
Stuck in the pentatonics, eh? Nice break out! I love this type of simple jazz blues. I can't comment on the recording aspects of guitar work, but I really enjoyed the performance and the overall sound. Very pleasing!
Windows 11, Intel Core i5-8600T 2.3Ghz, 16 gig ram, BIAB 2025 MegaPak, SampleTank 4, Keystation49 Kybd, Neewer NW-800 mic
You certainly delivered a smooth vibe to the song and production, something like a cross between Michael Franks and Vince Jones.
Really liked it.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Professional & Windows 11, Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors
Totally loved it! I, too, finger pick on almost all my songs. Nice tone on both guitars and really smooth playing. You have a nice touch on the strings.
Sounding good, Frank! No surprise to me that Conti would enjoy that. You get great guitar sounds and your mixes are crisp.
Speaking of Conti, I found a .50mm Tortex Jazz III pick the other day and have been using it since. (Conti uses a .38mm Nylon pick which makes a feather seem stiff.)
"If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often." Leonard Cohen
Wow all, thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.
Originally Posted By: Tano Music
Stuck in the pentatonics, eh? Nice break out! I love this type of simple jazz blues. I can't comment on the recording aspects of guitar work, but I really enjoyed the performance and the overall sound. Very pleasing!
Yeah, "pentatonic box" made for a good phrase for a bit of a tongue in cheek lyric. Thanks
Originally Posted By: VideoTrack
Pretty cool jazz number there Frank
You certainly delivered a smooth vibe to the song and production, something like a cross between Michael Franks and Vince Jones.
Really liked it.
Michael Franks and Vince Jones, those are some smooth voices! 62 years old and still trying to figure out my voice. We've got to work with what we have. Cheers.
Originally Posted By: Dero13
Hello Well done composition with a well worked guitar solo. The video really plunges us into the atmosphere you wanted to create.
Best regard
Dero13 alias JaniJackFlash
Thanks... I really think I sold it to Conti with the line "Until Set Free by Robert Conti"
Originally Posted By: MarioD
You have excellent chops Frank. I liked the tonal differences between your jazz box and your tele!
Thanks... Listening back, that Tele is kind of squeaky clean, definitely a contrast. I often like a little bit of overdrive to thicken it up a bit.
Originally Posted By: Chris Dent
Cool!
Thanks for listening.
Originally Posted By: Chris Dent
Cool!
Originally Posted By: Al-David
Hi Frank ...
Totally loved it! I, too, finger pick on almost all my songs. Nice tone on both guitars and really smooth playing. You have a nice touch on the strings.
Best to you. Be safe ...
Alan
Yes, be safe... It's been an evolution and recently I realized I'm using fingers much more than a pick. I've had some health issues and my nails have become prone to chipping and cracking. So now I cut my nails short so there's pretty much just flesh hitting the strings. Turns out, I really like the tone of flesh on the strings. Cheers
Originally Posted By: Milkweed
Sounding good, Frank! No surprise to me that Conti would enjoy that. You get great guitar sounds and your mixes are crisp.
Speaking of Conti, I found a .50mm Tortex Jazz III pick the other day and have been using it since. (Conti uses a .38mm Nylon pick which makes a feather seem stiff.)
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing ... excellent!
Great tone with those fingers. We do think there's something special to that tone as we tend to like it with many of our fav blues players.
The vid was cool and well illustrated.
Nice all the way around...guitar, vocal and backing tracks.
Enjoyed it!
J&B
PS You asked about snare doubling in your response to our current song. If you look in the respective BiaB drum folder for your RD you will find an audio file that has the drum playing for a few minutes and at the end of the file are the sounds of each component of the drum kit. I cut out, for example, the snare sound and import it to my DAW (Logic Pro X) where I use the "groove track" function to get the doubled track immediately aligned with the RD snare hits. Dunno if your DAW has a similar function but you can manually align them...takes 20-30 minutes to do it that way. Since the RD is a, well real drummer, all of the hits will not be perfectly timed so you can't just align the doubled snare to the bar counts. Been doing it for years. And, of course, you can put whatever processing you prefer just on the snare or whatever you doubled. Hope this makes sense
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos are here on our website.
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We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
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Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
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