Nu-Smooth Jazz/Guitar

[any1particular]

HELP!

This is a 'smooth jazz' track I've been working on lately.

Does it suck or is there hope?

Is the guitar solo too long-narcissistic?

Mix? I don't know what the f#$%^k I'm doing.

Live 8 is my DAW. Trilian-bass. Stylus-drums. Kontact-Electric Keys. Roland guitar synth and a Stratocaster/Line 6

Circle Of Friends:

http://www.opendrive.com/files/5765446_ ... %20mp3.mp3

[DaveL60]

For not knowing what you're doing, I think you've churned out a durned good track (I'd love to be able to do as well ). The lead guitar playing is crisp during the verses, but a little more laid-back during the solo, it's got a solid groove, and it doesn't get boring because you keep throwing nice little curve balls into the arrangement. I'd make the guitar louder in the mix because even though it's the focus, the sound of it tends to get lost in the busy backing track, especially during the solo. A little more stereo spread in the backing track might help, also. I'd also with a little more space (e.g., reverb) around the drums, because they seem very tight-sounding to me. Also, consider throwing in a bit of variation on the guitar melody the second time around -- doesn't need to be much, but better to not exactly repeat the first verse, IMO.

DaveL

[tomg]

Nice playing .. Good mix. Too long and a little too repetitious for an instrumental that long without a breakout (middle) part IMO. I started getting bored around 3:30 and still had 1/2 the song left.

[taotekid]

it doesn't suck

(I'm just not too fond of the doo-voice,
instead, I'd rather hear a flute or a trumpet maybe ...
but that's a question of taste, that can't be argued upon )

& I'm not qualified to comment on the mix as I don't know what
the f#$%^k I'm doing either most of the time

is the Stratocaster/Line 6 a Variax ?

anyway, keep the music coming !
(I'm sure you will anyway, you just can't help it, can you ?)

[denekawa]

You are on the way. A pet peeve of mine though is those art o' fishial drums. If you are a fan of the smooth jazz genre, you will notice that that drum sound still is not inherent to it. Check up on some more realistic drum sounds a la Vinnie Coliauta or Steve Gadd. It will also bring a sense of realism to your track as well as personify the groove and vibe which is what smooth jazz is about. Playing is all good and the arrangement can be cut in half. Avoid placing everything you know into one track. If you are that inspired, make 2 songs out of it. Focus more on the central instrument and theme. Take the variations from that. Anyone can tell you how great you are, but that won't help you to develop better songs or as a musician. Incidentally, you are doing fine in those areas anyway, albeit the sampled guitar solos. Good luck, keep writing and I am anxious to hear the revamped and edited version, should you choose and decide to produce one. Well done effort!

[vinpizza]

I simply love this.
the melody's beauty.
the sound like mix-to-mix from digital-analog.
i love it.
something's missing but i dont know what.
[the truth is, i listen repeatedly to your track for almost 3 hours]


reverbs guitar just not for me.
why dont you make it clearly..but deep?
but maybe just me.


good work

[forw]

hej,

nice melody. didn't listen to all of it (cause I should already be sleeping since 2 hours..)
..the drum kicks don't work for me. I mean the crash kicks in the B part. sounds artificial and "too hard". The second thing that came to my mind: the melody would sound even better if it's played more legato.

[jcrisman]

HELP!

This is a 'smooth jazz' track I've been working on lately.

Does it suck or is there hope?

Is the guitar solo too long-narcissistic?

Mix? I don't know what the f#$%^k I'm doing.

Live 8 is my DAW. Trilogy-bass. Stylus-drums. Kontact-Electric Keys. Roland guitar synth and a Stratocaster/Line 6

Circle Of Friends:

http://www.opendrive.com/files/5765446_ ... %20mp3.mp3

I like the melody and the composition, but the hi-hats are too busy, too bright, and too present in the mix; thus the hi-hats are distracting me from hearing some really beautiful, expressive guitar phrasing. If you must have the hi-hats, consider lowering their volume in the mix and cutting back a bit of their brightness. I'd even recommend losing the hi-hats and replacing them with some soft brushed ride cymbals.

BTW, what backward instruments are you using or how are you getting the backward instruments in the beginning?

[Lotuzia]

Just chiming in to say that I really liked the guitar tone as well as the playing.

Keys are cool too.

Bass is a bit obstrusive for me sometimes but cool playing too.

Imho this kind of very reactive and organic tracks are always very difficult to render if you play say the keys first then the bass then the guitar because interaction and reactivity of live musicians will lack at one moment or another, so it cant be compared with a live group.

Otoh people dont have to know HOW the music is made to appreciate it or not. But we at kvr can understand the difficulty in that process.

Thats partly why very often the drums are made at the end in my tracks. Because at this moment they can interact with all the other instruments in maybe a more meaningfull way.

Obviously the other choices are more strict arrangements, or replaying certain parts after the main instrument (ie the one that has the focus, here probably the guitar) has been made. At the risk of loosing the magic of certain parts and never recover them, or the drive and evolution of the track.

But well some very nice moments in this track. And Yeah some beautiful GuitarZzz

LtZ

[any1particular]

For not knowing what you're doing, I think you've churned out a durned good track (I'd love to be able to do as well ). The lead guitar playing is crisp during the verses, but a little more laid-back during the solo, it's got a solid groove, and it doesn't get boring because you keep throwing nice little curve balls into the arrangement. I'd make the guitar louder in the mix because even though it's the focus, the sound of it tends to get lost in the busy backing track, especially during the solo. A little more stereo spread in the backing track might help, also. I'd also with a little more space (e.g., reverb) around the drums, because they seem very tight-sounding to me. Also, consider throwing in a bit of variation on the guitar melody the second time around -- doesn't need to be much, but better to not exactly repeat the first verse, IMO.

DaveL

Hey Dave.

Thanks for your very thoughtful critique -yeah-good ears! I have a tendency to copy and paste-lazy? I did exactly repeated the 1st verse-it was good to hear the criticism-I need to hear that-it helps!

Man, I'm so sick of the track-I'm going to have to give a rest-it's allot of work. I did repost it-I cut out some of the too longish solo and other parts...

Nice playing .. Good mix. Too long and a little too repetitious for an instrumental that long without a breakout (middle) part IMO. I started getting bored around 3:30 and still had 1/2 the song left.

tomg,

I like the idea of a break out...I'll have to try that after I give it a rest.

I reposted it....as stated above-shorter solo...cut out a chorus and half a verse...etc

Your thoughtful suggestions really help-THANKS!

it doesn't suck

(I'm just not too fond of the doo-voice,
instead, I'd rather hear a flute or a trumpet maybe ...
but that's a question of taste, that can't be argued upon )

& I'm not qualified to comment on the mix as I don't know what
the f#$%^k I'm doing either most of the time

is the Stratocaster/Line 6 a Variax ?

anyway, keep the music coming !
(I'm sure you will anyway, you just can't help it, can you ?)

taotekid,

it's funny...I don't like the doo voice either!!! In fact I don't like most of the patches in the Roland guitar synth-GR 20! Most of them are cheesy-too freaken bad!

I use a real STRAT-it's not a Variax. I use the Line 6 POD with their software-works ok for me.

Thanks for the helpful comments!

You are on the way. A pet peeve of mine though is those art o' fishial drums. If you are a fan of the smooth jazz genre, you will notice that that drum sound still is not inherent to it. Check up on some more realistic drum sounds a la Vinnie Coliauta or Steve Gadd. It will also bring a sense of realism to your track as well as personify the groove and vibe which is what smooth jazz is about. Playing is all good and the arrangement can be cut in half. Avoid placing everything you know into one track. If you are that inspired, make 2 songs out of it. Focus more on the central instrument and theme. Take the variations from that. Anyone can tell you how great you are, but that won't help you to develop better songs or as a musician. Incidentally, you are doing fine in those areas anyway, albeit the sampled guitar solos. Good luck, keep writing and I am anxious to hear the revamped and edited version, should you choose and decide to produce one. Well done effort!

denedawa,

WOW! Great critiques-you sound like an instructor-thank you!

With all due respect, I'm actually NOT a fan of smooth jazz. Quite a few years back I toured the US with a Canadian smooth jazz artist from Windsor Ontario (sister city to Detroit) with a dude named Alexander Zonjic and Bob James/Kirk Whalem.

I was trying to give the track a modern twist-down tempoish vibe. I usually don't like my drum programming-I'm not a drummer and so I tend to rely on loops. But your comments encourage me to give it a try!

I simply love this.
the melody's beauty.
the sound like mix-to-mix from digital-analog.
i love it.
something's missing but i dont know what.
[the truth is, i listen repeatedly to your track for almost 3 hours]


reverbs guitar just not for me.
why dont you make it clearly..but deep?
but maybe just me.


good work

vinpizza,

where's Jakarta?When/if you find out what's missing let me know!

Man-your comments make it worth my while-thank you!

hej,

nice melody. didn't listen to all of it (cause I should already be sleeping since 2 hours..)
..the drum kicks don't work for me. I mean the crash kicks in the B part. sounds artificial and "too hard". The second thing that came to my mind: the melody would sound even better if it's played more legato.

forw,

again-helpfull crituqes-thank you I'll keep those in mind.

HELP!



I like the melody and the composition, but the hi-hats are too busy, too bright, and too present in the mix; thus the hi-hats are distracting me from hearing some really beautiful, expressive guitar phrasing. If you must have the hi-hats, consider lowering their volume in the mix and cutting back a bit of their brightness. I'd even recommend losing the hi-hats and replacing them with some soft brushed ride cymbals.

BTW, what backward instruments are you using or how are you getting the backward instruments in the beginning?

jcrisman,

ok, seems as though I'm going to have to change the drums after giving the track a rest-thank you for the thoughtful critiques!

The backwards sound at the intro is actually the Rhodes comp part in reverse run through an effect from FXpansion called CamelPhat.

Just chiming in to say that I really liked the guitar tone as well as the playing.

Keys are cool too.

Bass is a bit obstrusive for me sometimes but cool playing too.

Imho this kind of very reactive and organic tracks are always very difficult to render if you play say the keys first then the bass then the guitar because interaction and reactivity of live musicians will lack at one moment or another, so it cant be compared with a live group.

Otoh people dont have to know HOW the music is made to appreciate it or not. But we at kvr can understand the difficulty in that process.

Thats partly why very often the drums are made at the end in my tracks. Because at this moment they can interact with all the other instruments in maybe a more meaningfull way.

Obviously the other choices are more strict arrangements, or replaying certain parts after the main instrument (ie the one that has the focus, here probably the guitar) has been made. At the risk of loosing the magic of certain parts and never recover them, or the drive and evolution of the track.

But well some very nice moments in this track. And Yeah some beautiful GuitarZzz

LtZ

Hey Lotuzia!

WOW! you just hit the nail on the head! I really like what you have to say here. And I am absolutley going to try and put fresh drums in there-I like the idea of re doing drums after the fact-great, great suggestion and a huge help!

Thank you!!!!!

By the way-did I mention that I re posted the track? It's quite a bit shorter at least.

Thanks again for the comments an peace on Earth!

[core]

Totally reminds me of some of Ronny Jordan's work. Absolutely lovely!

[Sollo]

Mate, loved the track (even the doo doo!!) - no critique just wanted to say thank you - did you play the bass all the way thru? - great guitar work - not a fan of smooth!! (its not so smooth but a touch fusion) - but its such good work - I didn't listen to the original version (this is 5.48 long - actually would like to,I have played its several times and did not get bored - Great more please.

J

[wavephonic]

great how you opened the track, cool little hh breakdown. nice bass and guitar sound. I can hear some influences, not a bad thing.
I didn't get bored, I loved the melodic side to it so I just bopped along.
maybe a better finish as its so smooth and then gets cut.
enjoyed the track

[bobbybland]

It's dope! I like the arrangement, congrats on a nice track..

[K-Bee]

Totally reminds me of some of Ronny Jordan's work. Absolutely lovely!

Very much so and I like that a lot!! The guitar work and sound reminded me more of the mid 80s output of Pat Metheny though (think: "Still Life Talking" era). Very nice stuff (just like that other track you did was)
Keep up the good work