Using the new BIAB Horn Section

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The new R&B Horns aren't quite what I'd been hoping for. I guess I'd been hoping for something that was magically both more generic (to fit more styles), yet have lots of really cool riffs.

When I use them, BIAB seems to spit out the same riff over and over...

However, I've found that by freezing all the other tracks and then manually putting in holds, hits and passing chords, I can tailor the backing horns to something closer to what I wanted. Here's an example:

BIAB Backing Horns Test

If I created the horn tracks to go at half the tempo of the original tracks, I could get a lot more control of placing the hits. And there's always the option of going into my DAW and cutting and pasting tracks together.

Has anyone else got any ideas for using the R&B horn tracks?

Well, they are what they are.

I don't expect one Realtrack set to work in every situation, every genre, etc.

Matter of fact, during the beta testing, I half jokingly started calling 'em mariachis due to their insistence on the thirds (that's a Joke, son!).

However, where they work, they will work quite well. Without the need for long edits.

I'm of a mind that these first offerings will be expanded in future releases, the interest is there.

--Mac

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I have tried some shots, holds and pushes, as David describes. Got something closer to the rhythm and repition that says 'Motown' to me. Haven't used these on a fill blown project yet, but I beleive they will work when the time comes.

Remember the very first couple of sets of realtracks? Those first efforts got fine-tuned and the popular ones were joined by lots of variants. I can imagine that these horns will be tightened up and offered in a variety of flavors in subsequent offerings.

Hey, that's an excellent use of the horns. I just received my 2013 upgrade and I haven't installed it yet. I was underwhelmed by the horns demos, but it is what it is and i am sure more stuff is coming down the road.

By the way, the O Come, Emmanuel demo 2 sounds super excellent, too!

I am happy to report that while I just started working with the new horns realtracks and adhering to the old adage that "sometimes less is more" I have had some success with the horns in tunes like The Thrill is Gone, My Girl and My 1st My Last My Everything.

I am sure as the adventure continues more success with come to the forefront.

Now if some of you guys would stop warping my musical mind with all this talk about 13th and for God's sake 13th sus4 chords I might be able to concentrate on the new horns a little more.

Later,

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Now if some of you guys would stop warping my musical mind with all this talk about 13th and for God's sake 13th sus4 chords I might be able to concentrate on the new horns a little more.

Later,

Danny, do what I do.

Take the 5th

What I'm really hoping is that someone posts an example that blows me away.

Hrm... It looks like most of the melodic instruments don't have shots or holds. So much for my hope that I could perform a similar trick with the trumpets to add them.

I'd (mistakenly, it turns out) thought that Garritan JABB instruments didn't allow polyphonic playback, but after more carefully reading the manual, I see the "Lite" versions of the instruments are polyphonic. I'd been hoping to get Session Horns for Christmas this year, but it's out of my budget. Now that I've got polyphonic playback in JABB, I can concentrate on using that instead.

Anyway, I noodled around and added some MIDI "mariachi" trumpets (to borrow Mac's term) to the track. It was an interesting exercise in learning the staff roll notation mode. I kept trying to grab the duration and velocity indicators, but apparently the only way to edit those parameters is via the dialog box. So it's relatively easy to enter pitches, but much more tedious to try to humanize the values.

BiaB insists on setting the mod wheel to zero at the start of the tracks, which effectively mutes the Garritan instruments. If anyone knows how to get around that (in BiaB, not RB), I'd love to know how. Otherwise, I'll have to do all the MIDI work in my DAW.

Anyway, if anyone's curious, here's the result straight from BiaB, captured by Audacity:

Backing Horns Test Plus JABB Trumpets

Not a masterpiece of great brass writing, by any stretch of the imagination.

Hi David,

>>>Has anyone else got any ideas for using the R&B horn tracks?

Yes. The R&B Horns are intended for Even feel , tempo 110.
The example you posted is a swing feel, tempo 60.
That's a long ways away... (tempo and feel).

More horns are on the way, but in the meantime, you should try soul or funk grooves, closer to tempo 110, and at least an even feel.

Or use the shots/holds as you've cleverly done in the posted demo.

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BiaB insists on setting the mod wheel to zero at the start of the tracks, which effectively mutes the Garritan instruments. If anyone knows how to get around that (in BiaB, not RB), I'd love to know how. Otherwise, I'll have to do all the MIDI work in my DAW.

Hi, David -

Assuming you are using the melody or soloist track, bring up the Notation Window and then click on the "#" (hash sign to the right of the soloist button in Notation View). This brings up the BIAB event list screen.

Once there, click on the "Insert" button and select "Control Change". This will bring up the Control Change screen. Select "Contoller 1 - Modulation Wheel (Vibrato)" and then enter the "Value" you want to use (0 to 127). Insert this at the beginning of the MIDI time line and your Garritan instruments should play fine.

I have noticed that folks sometimes, I guess in the zeal to get what they want, will not pay attention to the EVen and SWing feel styles and such, trying to impose one on the other. While this may work in some very few cases, most of the time it just doesn't. The one "pulse" does not superimpose well over the other. The "pulse" is often not played nor heard, it must be felt. With a bit of practice in counting, however, the pulse of a song can be found.

That said, there are still a lot of places where the new Horn Section fits very well. Some are surprising. Here is an example where PGMusic's own Tobin dropped the horns into a Bolero style during the beta test. Nice.

https://soundcloud.com/tobinthegull

2nd song on the page.

Peter also showed us how, using the JazzFunk Horns, one can impose a solo horn realtrack at the same time and get some rather nice fills and other linear playing such as a Solo Trumpet or Flugel might play while the rest of the section is about harmonies and lines.

--Mac

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The example you posted is a swing feel, tempo 60.
That's a long ways away... (tempo and feel).

Yes, it is.

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More horns are on the way...

Good news!

Actually, I'm pretty impressed with what can be done with the pushes and holds. I just wondered if anyone had any clever ideas on what might be done until the new horns show up.

Thanks!

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Assuming you are using the melody or soloist track, bring up the Notation Window and then click on the "#" (hash sign to the right of the soloist button in Notation View). This brings up the BIAB event list screen.

Thanks! I remember seeing the MIDI event list, but for the life of me couldn't remember how to get to it!