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As a consequence of Dr Gannon's allowing public domain material to be used in the Xtra Styles Competition (link), here is my submission.




Quote:
Xtra Style
_MEADOWS.STY (Meadows Piano Pop with Brushes)
(This style is described as Lite-Pop and listed in the Country group. I leave it to PG Music to decide into which category, if any, the submission fits.)

Realtracks/Drums
1759: Bass, Electric, Pop16ths Ev 085
1767: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16 Ev16 085
664: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm SouthernRock Ev 085 (A:fpick)
665: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm SouthernRock Ev 085 (B:Strum)
RealDrums: BrushesFolk16ths: a: Brushes b: Brushes Tap
** The _MEADOWS.STY style was used exactly as is without any modification other than tweaking volume balances.
** The Audiophile version of the BIAB software was used.


Duet Instruments
MIDI Oboe: Garritan Personal Orchestra 4
MIDI Flute: Garritan Personal Orchestra 4


Background
I really enjoy arranging melodies using the contrapuntal techniques of the Baroque and pre-Baroque periods of music. For this reason, when PG Music announced this competition, I thought it would be an interesting personal challenge to write an instrumental duet and to use BIAB as the 'continuo' that supports the underlying harmony. (In Baroque music, the harpischord, clavichord or organ often fulfilled the role of continuo.)

With the above in mind, I grabbed a duet that I started a few years ago but had not completed and began working from there.

I have never done anything like this with BIAB before. At the end of the process, I am incredibly impressed with the software and just how very versatile it is.

I hope you enjoy my version of "Oh! Susanna". It's probably best described as 'counterpoint meets Stephen Foster meets Band In A Box'.
This is stunning Noel. What a great idea for submission to this competition.!i can hear a huge amount of work went into this production.
Thanks Joanne. I'm not sure that what I've done fits into any of the categories. I'm not fussed though, it was a fun exercise and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

I appreciate your comments.

Regards,
Noel
Wow...Wow...Wow!!! I haven't thought of this song in years. What memories this has for me.

Thank you for sharing your marvelous rendition of this great classic oldie.

Those special voices you used were great fun and really made the song.

You really performed this song very well.
Noel -

Very cool. I really liked the yodel effect about 2/3 through the song.
Noel
Clever! Great musicianship.
Hello, Noel

I think you tried very hard to finish this song.
Harmony arrangements are much easier than counterpoint arrangements for Foster's songs.
But I am sure that your challenge of using the contrapuntal techniques this time will be very useful for your future compositions.
I also love Baroque music.
So I enjoyed the listen very much.
Take care.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi
Originally Posted By: w
Wow...Wow...Wow!!! I haven't thought of this song in years. What memories this has for me.

Thank you for sharing your marvelous rendition of this great classic oldie.

Those special voices you used were great fun and really made the song.

You really performed this song very well.


Hi w,

Thank you! I really appreciate the comments.

All the best,
Noel
Originally Posted By: jford
Noel -

Very cool. I really liked the yodel effect about 2/3 through the song.


Thanks John. I'd love to say that that was a planning strategy but it was just how it turned out! Sometimes good fortune smiles when one arranges smile Appreciate your having a listen.

Regards,
Noel
Originally Posted By: PeterF
Noel
Clever! Great musicianship.


Hey Peter,

Thanks very much for listening. Appreciate it.

Regards,
Noel
Originally Posted By: animarorecords
Hello, Noel

I think you tried very hard to finish this song.
Harmony arrangements are much easier than counterpoint arrangements for Foster's songs.
But I am sure that your challenge of using the contrapuntal techniques this time will be very useful for your future compositions.
I also love Baroque music.
So I enjoyed the listen very much.
Take care.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi


Hello Shigeki Adachi,

Thanks for taking the time to have a listen and to comment. You're definitely right about harmony based arrangements being easier to work with! I find counterpoint lots of fun, though. It's like a jigsaw puzzle to me (and I love jigsaw puzzles).

Thanks again,
Noel
Great song! I enjoyed the Flute
Thanks, Joseph. MIDI can sound pretty good these days!

Regards,
Noel
Hello Noel,
as you know, i like covers and this is a very beautiful and particular interpretation.
An handshake from Italy.
Noel,
Very enjoyable! The Garritan instruments sound good- wish I knew how to use them.
I wonder where PG Music will fit this...I think you just created a new instrumental category for this competition!

Robert
Great Baroque style, Noel.

Very interesting and thoroughly well done!

Outside the square, so to speak, for sure.
Hi Noel96,

I agree! MIDI signals when routed correctly can definately have some impressive results. I'm a fan of the SuperMIDI tracks found inside of Band-in-a-Box. For those who don't know what those are you can find a short tutorial on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOY0cHZTZ2Q

Cheers,
Joe
Wow Noel. What a great arrangement and mix. This is just superb.


Enjoyed my listen.

Charlie
Originally Posted By: GT_OR
Hello Noel,
as you know, i like covers and this is a very beautiful and particular interpretation.
An handshake from Italy.


Hi Gianfranco,

Thanks for the handshake and generous comments! Appreciated smile

Regards,
Noel
Originally Posted By: Robertkc
Noel,
Very enjoyable! The Garritan instruments sound good- wish I knew how to use them.
I wonder where PG Music will fit this...I think you just created a new instrumental category for this competition!

Robert


Hi Robert,

Thanks for commenting. I agree, Garritan is excellent. They're not all that hard to use. Like most things, that's easy to say when looking back; looking forward while learning, though, there's a bit of a learning curve. If you need any help, start a thread in BIAB (Windows). You'll find a number of folk will jump on board with thoughts.

In relation to genre... if I correctly understand Callie's reply post to David's questions (found here), PG Music music are intrepreting 'genre' a little differently. They are referring to the genre of the foundation Xtra style that's used to create the presentation rather than the genre of the presentation itself.

All the best,
Noel
Originally Posted By: VideoTrack
Great Baroque style, Noel.

Very interesting and thoroughly well done!

Outside the square, so to speak, for sure.


Hi Trevor,

Thanks. Appreciate the comments.

Noel
Originally Posted By: Joseph -PG Music
Hi Noel96,

I agree! MIDI signals when routed correctly can definately have some impressive results. I'm a fan of the SuperMIDI tracks found inside of Band-in-a-Box. For those who don't know what those are you can find a short tutorial on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOY0cHZTZ2Q

Cheers,
Joe


Thanks for the video link, Joe. I haven't watched that before. SuperMIDI tracks are brilliant. I'm a huge fan of the piano ones... a really great invention by Team PG Music smile

Regards,
Noel
I don't see this number fit in the contest categories, so I suggest there comes a fifth one for this song wink
Well done.
Originally Posted By: Charlie Fogle
Wow Noel. What a great arrangement and mix. This is just superb.

Enjoyed my listen.

Charlie


Hey Charlie! Thanks for taking the time to have a listen. Appreciate the positive feedback.

Regard,
Noel
Originally Posted By: rodipoet
I don't see this number fit in the contest categories, so I suggest there comes a fifth one for this song wink
Well done.


Thanks Rob. Appreciate your having a listen.

All the best,
Noel
Brilliant idea Noel and great playing on the virtual instruments.

Really enjoyed it from start to finish.

Cheers
Rec
Very nice and very enjoyable!

Kenny
Originally Posted By: receder
Brilliant idea Noel and great playing on the virtual instruments.

Really enjoyed it from start to finish.

Cheers
Rec


Hi Rec,

Thanks for taking time to visit Soundcloud and having a listen. Appreciate it.

All the best,
Noel
Originally Posted By: 44kfl
Very nice and very enjoyable!

Kenny


Thanks dropping in Kenny. Glad you enjoyed it.

Regards,
Noel
Wow, what a nice surprise!!
I'll admit, when I saw "Oh Susanna" in the title I thought "Oh no!".
But ... I have to say .. I really, really enjoyed this.
Well conceived, well executed, well ... everything!
Originally Posted By: Jon Thomas
Wow, what a nice surprise!!
I'll admit, when I saw "Oh Susanna" in the title I thought "Oh no!".
But ... I have to say .. I really, really enjoyed this.
Well conceived, well executed, well ... everything!


Hi Jon,

Thanks for having a listen. Appreciate your time and the positive comments.

Regards,
Noel
Noel, This is wicked cool. Quite a compositional feat!!!

Love it!!
Hey David,

Thank you for the positive review. It was fun to write! BIAB is indeed a very versatile program. It has never occurred to me to use it in this way before.

All the best,
Noel
Noel:
Excellent work! The oboe and flute sound very good, and the mix with the background is just right!

Thank you for posting!
Thanks for listening Marc. BIAB makes it all so very easy! These new styles are great.

Regards,
Noel
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