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Groovin'
After taking a vacation/holiday, having my Amazon account hacked, having to get another new charge card, and finally replacing a failing HD I finally got a chance to listen to some of your fine music. This is what happens with a soprano saxophonist and their keyboard player join in on after hours jam with the house band's drumer, bass, and keyboard players. Consider this a jam where I am trying to learn some new recording techniques. It didn't come out to bad so I polished it a bit and thought that I would post it to get your thoughts, constructive criticism welcomed. BiaB style = Smooth Jazz w/ soprano sax - a RT style converted to MIDI Tempo - 65 BPM I deleted the string track and all tracks were slightly modified to better fit the song. Drums = Steven Slate's SSD 5 drums Bass = Ample Bass - preset Jazz Bass Piano - Kontakt - preset Classic Duo Guitar - EZ Keys - Dream Machine - preset MK Dreams I am playing the soprano sax via my MIDI keyboard controller
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64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Fine sounding, smooth groove Mario. I sure liked the way the bass and the drums were mixed in.
Brad
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Sorry to hear about your Amazon and HD woes. Hopefully all is well again. Another great composition. You have great talent in composing melodies. What immediately caught my attention was the drum kit, especially the ride cymbal. Is this what you used? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrfYmWdj8JgAny thoughts about EZDrummer2 to produce entire drum grooves, intro, V1, V2, Ch, etc? (As opposed to playing them on a keyboard)
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Really liked those triplets at 1:00 or so. Would have liked to hear more of that, just to break things up a bit here and there. Good work overall, I enjoyed my listen.
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
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Hi Mario
Great Jam
Many good passages e.g. 1:44
It's usually good to just jam away
Sometimes good ideas develop
Well done Mario
Many greetings
Andi :-)
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Not exactly my favorite genre, but still a nice listening experience.
Since the saxophone is the main instrument, I would make it louder, at the moment it plays somewhere in the back of the green room...
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Mario,
Like B.D. Thomas said:
Not exactly my favourite genre, but still a nice listening experience.
Anne-Marie
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Fine sounding, smooth groove Mario. I sure liked the way the bass and the drums were mixed in.
Brad Thanx so much Brad. Really liked those triplets at 1:00 or so. Would have liked to hear more of that, just to break things up a bit here and there. Good work overall, I enjoyed my listen. Thanx for the suggestion, it is a good one and thanx for listening. Hi Mario
Great Jam
Many good passages e.g. 1:44
It's usually good to just jam away
Sometimes good ideas develop
Well done Mario
Many greetings
Andi :-) Thanx so much Andi.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Sorry to hear about your Amazon and HD woes. Hopefully all is well again. Another great composition. You have great talent in composing melodies. What immediately caught my attention was the drum kit, especially the ride cymbal. Is this what you used? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrfYmWdj8JgAny thoughts about EZDrummer2 to produce entire drum grooves, intro, V1, V2, Ch, etc? (As opposed to playing them on a keyboard) Not yet as I'm still waiting for my credit card to arrive. I used the purchased version of SSD5.5. It contains a ton of usable kits. All of basic drum tracks come from BiaB, GrooveMonkee, or a few other MIDI drum loops that I have collected over the years. Many times I will modify said tracks and sometimes either play or write a measure or two.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Not exactly my favorite genre, but still a nice listening experience.
Since the saxophone is the main instrument, I would make it louder, at the moment it plays somewhere in the back of the green room... Thanx for that suggestion. I argued with myself about the lead volume and may have picked the wrong one volume. Mario,
Like B.D. Thomas said:
Not exactly my favourite genre, but still a nice listening experience.
Anne-Marie Thanx so much for listening and commenting, especially since it is not your favorite genre.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Mario,
Good bed, Nice work on drums and mix. I applaud your wind controller skills. Good listen and thank you for sharing.
Misha.
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Mario,
You always create unique sounding songs, coming up different textures and sounds! Thia smooth jazzy vibe sure works for me! I enjoyed it all the way! Hopefully you've got your frustrations behind you for a while and can focus on creating more music without computer and Amazon distractions!
Thanks, Torrey
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Mario,
Good bed, Nice work on drums and mix. I applaud your wind controller skills. Good listen and thank you for sharing.
Misha.
Thanx Misha. My wind controller died so I am using my MIDI keyboard and a MIDI controller pedal board now. I think I will keep using this and not purchase another wind controller as I can control more things live. With my pedal board and keyboard I can have one hand playing the notes (that is for a monophonic instrument), the other hand controlling either the mod wheel or the pitch bend wheel, and both feet controlling two assignable expression pedals. Of course being as uncoordinated as I am this can and usually does lead to some MIDI editing.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Mario,
You always create unique sounding songs, coming up different textures and sounds! Thia smooth jazzy vibe sure works for me! I enjoyed it all the way! Hopefully you've got your frustrations behind you for a while and can focus on creating more music without computer and Amazon distractions!
Thanks, Torrey Thanx so much Torrey. I also like smooth jazz and hope to do more soon.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hi, Mario. I liked the song, but all together? It sounded like players rehearsing a song they never saw before, so each was focusing on their parts, but not really paying attention to each other. They never hit a groove, and the dynamics didn't feel like they were in sync. For example, the drum would put in a nice fill, but so did the keys. They were both good ideas, but they didn't match up together. You've got each instrument in its own space, and each seems to have its own reverb as well. But there's nothing gluing them together. There's a huge amount of reverb on the keys, and the reverb tail is so loud, it's distracting. The soprano sax sounds like it's struggling to play in tune. It's also placed further back in the mix, so the keys and drums are in front of it. Each instrument is so separated that each and every sound - be it from the drum, keys, or bass - demands attention. Putting the sax in front and the other instruments in supporting roles might fix it. I'm too much a pea-brained dinosaur to listen to more than one idea at a time!  Wow, do I sound negative! I did like the song! Anyway, just some thoughts that I could be completely wrong about, feel free to ignore!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Hi Mario,
It's a miracle you can music again after what happened with all your stuff.
I also read you are waiting for your credit card to come. What more can we expect after that?
But about your song: It contains a lot of nice aspects, but in a way i got lost in what melody you want us/me to listen to.
A lot is going on, but also confuses me a bit. Like that awsome sax. At first I think it is a bit too soft, but secondly I missed a theme. It looks as if it was playing randomly, if I say that correctly.
What David wrote is in a way what was happening to me too while listening.
On the other hand, the sound of it all was very good. only a twist on the meldody...
Hans
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Ah, great after hours jam, Mario. Some of the players actually sound sleepy. Man, you are good with that controller.
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Mario,
Always good to hear what you do with the MIDI stuff.
Always impressed.
A lot of good stuff here. Mellow.
A couple of nits. The sax sound seems "a bit dull". no "air". In my speakers, the ride is somewhat loud - "making itself known" (and "not to my taste" - so take that with a grain of salt)
fj
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David and Hans, thanx so much for those constructive criticisms. After listening again you are right. I'll have to beware of those things if/when I do another jam; I must pay more attention when I polish them.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Ah, great after hours jam, Mario. Some of the players actually sound sleepy. Man, you are good with that controller. Someone was sleepy when he did this one  . Thanx for listening and the fantastic controller comment! Mario,
Always good to hear what you do with the MIDI stuff.
Always impressed.
A lot of good stuff here. Mellow.
A couple of nits. The sax sound seems "a bit dull". no "air". In my speakers, the ride is somewhat loud - "making itself known" (and "not to my taste" - so take that with a grain of salt)
fj You are correct in that dull sax. I'm making a note about that for the next one. The ride didn't sound loud here but I know that you are "sensitive" to cymbals. Again I'll be aware of the cymbal volumes.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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