PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase In Your Own Backyard (Instrumental - Updated Mix)

I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the horns. That is a quality MIDI horn sound, and I liked the riffs you were playing. But the whole thing sounded great to me. Well done!!

Hey David,

This is AWESOME! I love horn songs.. I used to play in a Chicago/BST cover band in the 70s, and I still have a special place in my heart for music like this. I'd like to hear more about how you created the horn tracks. They sound very realistic to me. I'd like to make some horn songs but Coyote MIDI player ain't the way to roll for that task.

If "listenability" is a desirable trait for a song to have, for me this is one of those songs where I want to listen again as soon as it ends. VERY "listenable"

You mention the drums as being "busy", but to me I hear stylistic choice, and its a choice that works in that songs. Stylistic choices are what keep songs from sounding like every other song, so.. winning!

Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me, my friend!

EXCELLENT!! David this sounds really good! A beautiful super clean mix and lovely arrangement! You can be proud of this! T

David

Not something we hear a lot of and nicely done. Impressive arrangement and overall sound.

Good stuff.

Peter

Nice. This sounds like a Latin flavored jazz piece.

I see you are using Jamstix for the drums. I used JS a lot before I became a PG music fan. I have JS1,2,&3. I never really figured out js3. The GUI changed drastically from js2 it was like relearning from square 1.
When you get into it, you can edit it at the micro level. You can change the size, pitch, and timbre of each part of the kit, along with varying the levels of the parts. In addition, you can edit what it elects to play. And there's hundreds of other things to edit.... Plus.... It imports kits from many other drum synths. Even though it's extremely versatile, I had problems with getting a good drum track that was a solid, decent, groove that fit well in the music.

Anyway... You did a good job with it in your song.

Thanks, Stefan!

This was nothing in comparison to your productions!

It's not hard to do, if you've got some cash.

The saxophones are SWAM Saxophones, from a company called AudioModeling. The library contains a soprano, alto, tenor and bari sax.

The flugelhorn is from a library called The Trumpet 3, which contains three B♭ Trumpets, a cornet, flugelhorn, German trumpet and piccolo trumpet.

The two companies use different approaches in emulating the instruments. AudioModeling uses waveguide synthesis, which can be thought of as a fairly "pure" synthesis technique. SampleModeling deconstructs recording of a trumpet into overtones/partials, and then recombines them. So their technique is more reconstructive.

In addition to responding to pitch information (the note number), they require to MIDI continuous controllers to emulate breath control. That is, pressing a key on a MIDI controller isn't enough to make a sound. You also must supply the breath information using one of the following:

• Keyboard Mod wheel
• Keyboard MIDI pedal
• MIDI breath controller

Or you can choose to use a Wind Controller to provide pitch and breath information.

For example, in this video, the breath control is being supplied by a MIDI pedal: https://youtu.be/Zvih_c58Mss

In contrast, here's someone playing the same instrument with a breath controller: https://youtu.be/hOvHTuijqTE

And here's someone playing The Trumpet using an EWI wind controller: https://youtu.be/Gp6wV0nuphk

Personally, I use an USB EWI wind controller, because it was the most affordable option available at the time. But getting a breath controller is on my "To Do" list.

These instruments sound great "out of the box", and I find the wind controller a very natural and intuitive way to get a good performance from the instruments. There are additional things that can be done to add growl and falloffs and other effects. But I haven't really gotten into that yet.

For many reasons, I prefer to work in my DAW. So I create my backing tracks in BiaB, and then import them in Reaper. That's where I record the MIDI tracks as well.

For this song, I didn't have a really strong idea of what I wanted the melody to be. So I built it up in fragments. When I played in the notes, I didn't really worry about playing the right notes - just the rhythm that I wanted. I then used the MIDI editor to shifted the notes up and down until it sounded right.

I did quite a bit of fiddling around in the MIDI editor with small details. But it would have been faster (and better) to have simply played them in again. I was just too lazy to pick up my EWI.

I hope this answers some questions. If not, feel free to send a PM, and I'll be more than happy to answer questions.


Thanks!

Thanks, Torrey!

Thanks, Peter. I appreciate it!

Yeah, there seems to be a little too much to edit. Finding a knob that says "less kick drum" or "more cymbal hits" (like in EZDrummer) would be nice.

There is a "Simple" mode for most of the styles, but it's not quite the same thing.

But each product is "what it is", so to speak, and has to be approached on its own terms.

I suspect that BiaB would be an excellent match for 99% of what I do. But I have a fondness for overly-busy drums... at least when building the tracks in the beginning.


I'm glad you liked it!

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

I think you got what you were attempting to do.
I can't be too critical, on this laptop headphone setup, it sounds smooth.

Nice !

moto

Busy or not, I enjoyed my listen. must've taken an age to mix this beauty down. Great work

Hi David great work on this busy no I say organized and mixed perfect super medley line phrase well done thanks Eric

I almost missed this masterpiece. Excellent work here David. Super job with that EWI, you have raised the bar on that instrument. I also liked your arrangement, very well done!

Everything else I would have said already has been said.

Excellent work on this one.

David, this one almost slipped past me. Boy am l glad it didn’t. There is a lot going on here but I stayed engaged throughout. I think horns are the hardest thing to get right in most of the songs posted here. You have set a standard because they sound great. Nicely mixed and the composition is a wonderful listen,Tom

I agree that good horns are like the gold standard in home recordings, and what David has produced here is downright inspiring.

Love it!!! Has a wonderful free flowing sound!! Reminds me of Chuck Mangione....the kind of music that "feels so good"!! Take care. Greg

Sounds nice. Nice arrangement and mix. This could work as a television or motion picture soundtrack.

Wow... just wow! This track is so extremely well done... you set a bar so high in terms of musicality and production standards that I don't know if it is possible for me to ever reach that level.
I am glad that you do it though because it is very inspiring and something that can lift ones mood those days where you feel that nothing more can be done with BiaB... well just listen to this track... and you know that much more can be done...

Stunning piece of music, David!
Will

Thanks, Captain!