smooth jazz sax piece

wfaraoni

wfaraoni

ear art's not a science
I have not posted in a while because I have not had any time to play so....Hello, for those who are interested I just posted a new song on www.nowhereradio.com (search for faraoni) for you to listen to and or download. Its called Tropical Nights and its a smooth jazz type of genre. Its the first song I have composed using my korg sequencer so its kind of simple. It features a Sax lead over drums, bass, synth and keyboard, there is no guitar and no singing by me So it wont be too painful :) .
here is the direct link

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1644&alid=-1

its the second song from the bottom. you can download it to play by using the down arrow next to the name, its not too big 3.3 MB in size so if you have dial up it will take a little while. For those with broadband the large right arrow is for listening via streaming audio but the sound quality usually suffers using that method. Id like some feedback on the overall sound if you have time, especially the Sax sound, Is it believable? I know there are a few timing issues which I still have to work on.
 
eh....i'd have to say overall the sax doesn't sound good at all. it's really not your fault, i've just never heard any really good synth (or a sampler) that can emulate a sax. Many have done pretty well at strings, percussion, piano, and even some flute sounds, but it's hard to get the nuances of all the instruments. Actually, there's only one sampler that i've heard that has amazed me at it's ability to handle a saxophone sample.
like you said, the timing issues need some work. the background rhythm sounds good. The rhodes piano sound isn't the greatest one either, but doable for this I guess. Also, be careful when playing the sax on the keyboard, 'cause saxes can't play chords and generally don't hit two notes at the same time no mater how brief.

nice job
:)
 
bennychico11, thanks for the feedback. I dont think that it will be easy to sequence a song with the sax featured but I think you could probably get away with using it for a few riffs in a song and no one should notice.
I was pretty impressed that it even sounded like a sax. all my previous attemts at emulating a sax were not even close. I am using a moss board sax sound on a triton studio and even though I dont know how to tweak it yet Its far better than any previous attempts. I also agree about the keyboard sound but that is not where I put any effort at all yet, its right out of the board.
What was the program or unit that amazed you with the sax sample anyway?
 
Actually, the sax doesn't sound bad, just a little strange, sorta like listening to someone practice a couple of rooms down the hall. Nice tune.
 
lbanks said:
Actually, the sax doesn't sound bad, just a little strange, sorta like listening to someone practice a couple of rooms down the hall. Nice tune.
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hmm.. that kinda reminds me of one of my (possibly misguided) recording philosophies: if it doesn't sound real/natural then distance-mic it. i do it a lot for digital pianos and it always sounds better (for the type of music i'm recording, i guess) to my ears.
 
wfaraoni said:
What was the program or unit that amazed you with the sax sample anyway?
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i'm not sure. it was at a Herbie Hancock/Michael Brecker concert where Brecker played an instrument called an EWI. He used it to trigger a sampler in Logic. Actually now that I think about it, after the concert I overheard some guy ask him what he was using...and I think he said Reason (although, don't hold me to that) using Logic's architecture.
It was just crazy listening to him play one minute on this extremely complex synth sound and then the next he switched over to a tenor sax which I immediately realized was his own horn that he had sampled. Didn't at all sound like a sample either. I'd love to pick his brain on that one.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm deaf! Cant hear anything over 6k at all :confused: but usually with the help of some folks with ears I can dial some stuff in. thats where you all help a whole lot. My wife is not deaf but she does not have musical ears and she cant explain what she does not like even though she usually says she loves whatever mess I record. which is not a bad thing but it does not help :)
 
bennychico11, That figures, so you really dont know what sampler tools he used. I guess I need to learn how to use reason. Ive spent most of my time learning cakewalk Sonar and have dabbled with stienberg waves. Reason looks like a whole different animal. Ive got a lot to learn here I guess. But , one thing at a time.

Peace
Bill
 
I like the lines you're playing and the overall feel and direction of the tune. I especially like the low range of the sax - the way the breath articulations stand out in that range at 1:20. I also like the drum sound - the brushes on the snare with a bit of a slap to it (or something like that).

My only suggestion is based on my perception that it's got a somewhat flat dyamic quality to each instrumental sonority (except the drums)... if there's a way to increase the high freq attack transients on the sax and elec piano it'd sound more expressively lifelike.

Nice tune.

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
I like the lines you're playing and the overall feel and direction of the tune. I especially like the low range of the sax - the way the breath articulations stand out in that range at 1:20. I also like the drum sound - the brushes on the snare with a bit of a slap to it (or something like that).

My only suggestion is based on my perception that it's got a somewhat flat dyamic quality to each instrumental sonority (except the drums)... if there's a way to increase the high freq attack transients on the sax and elec piano it'd sound more expressively lifelike.

Nice tune.

Tim
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Thank you for the input. As a result it is done , let me know if its better now. I also corrected a bunch of flubs and timing issues
 
Thanks Timothy, I just listened to some of your music. WOW!! :cool:
very Nice web page as well
Im going to use some of your tips on my next guitar recording

Peace
Bill
 
Pretty good song, but no the sax doesn't sound believeable.... too much "chuffing" between the notes with almost an accordian sound to the held notes but that's common on all synths that try to emulate a sax.

But then I >am< a sax player so I can clearly hear the problems in the tone. (Tenor, alto and WX-5/VL70-m windsynth which is the ONLY synth unit that comes close to a real sax sound since it physically models a real horn in software.)

Keep going tho...
 
Tim Lawler, Much more steel string, Ive got a nice old martin nylon but I only pick it up a couple of time a year anymore. I never really developed a good right hand technique for the nylon.
I have an older song posted, (same link) which demonstrates my right hand fingerstyle, its called "angels dancing on the head of a pin". It uses dropped e/a tuning. its not a very good recording but I wanted to capture it so it does not drop out of the bit bucket at a later date, if you know what I mean. There are so many things I made up and did for years and when I go back after not playing them for a while I draw a blank at some point.
Feel free to take it and make it yours if you like it. Im quite sure you can do wonders with the song idea. Id actually like to see someone with skills dress it up.

Peace
Bill
 
TimOBrien said:
But then I >am< a sax player so I can clearly hear the problems in the tone. (Tenor, alto and WX-5/VL70-m windsynth which is the ONLY synth unit that comes close to a real sax sound since it physically models a real horn in software.)

Keep going tho...
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i heard these sax samples off the VL70: http://www.kbspace.com/vl70m/audio/
not bad sounding when they hold out the actual not, but the transition between notes is killer to the ears. the ones off the yamaha site aren't much better (the trumpet one). i guess it's just the movement from note to note or even pitch bends that samplers/synths can't get right. although, i'm dying to buy a EWI too.

Tim, do you know if the fingerings of the WX5/7 resemble the saxophone's?
 
Thanks for the feedback bennychico. Most of the folks who listened to the mp3 thought the sax sounded pretty good. I have some hearing loss so I can not tell the difference myself. It always amazes me what some of you here in the clinic can hear.
Peace
Bill
 
eh, it's just i'm a sax player also and i'm real critical about the tone of synthesized horns. it's fine if i'm composing something through Finale and all I got are the GM sounds, but I'd definitely not put it on a CD to give to other people to here.

instruments that are struck like the piano or guitar or drums can be faked a little easier than wind instruments, in my opinion. There's a lot of subtle nuances in a musicians embrochure, the way they control their breath, intonation, tonguing techniques, slurring, etc. Perhaps one day we'll get some good samples of a sax out there...until then, we'll keep paying real musicians to do it for us ;)
 
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