Hi all! I've been checking out KVR a lot, but this will be my first post in the forum.
Maybe it's a bit too ambitious, but I would like to recreate, at least as far as possible, the sound of the classic LP "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. This will be done by utilizing samples/soft synths. I'm especially intrigued by the bass sound on that recording. Listen to "So what" and "Blue in Green". I think it sounds absolutely marvellous. It's warm, soft and yet punchy. I've been searching for jazz bass samples/patches but they never sound quite right.
How should I go about to recreate the sound? A sample cd? Or maybe some synthesizer processed with effects? There is quite a lot of reverb on the bass (and the other instruments as well), isn't there?
Any help is appreciated.
Cheers, Zred
Bass sound - Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
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- KVRAF
- 44196 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
First thing to do would be to provide a link to an On-Line Audio-Clip so people can hear for themselves, exactly what you are talking about. You-Tube is usually good. Good luck . . . 
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- angelboy
- 4586 posts since 21 Aug, 2001 from Larnaca, Cyprus
You start with a VA, set oscillator 1 to sine and... just kidding! 
You need some kind of sampler/ROMpler with an upright bass patch. It's not going to be easy to emulate a real upright bass with a sampler though - you would need some keyswitched articulations, slides etc. Much easier to get right than a lot of other instruments (eg. brass, guitar etc) but still a bit difficult, especially if it's going to be as prominent as it is on Kind of Blue. You can hide some of the fakeness in a full mix, but in a quintet (I think it was a quintet that recorded Kind Of Blue right? Davis, Contrane, Cannonball, Evans and.. who else?) context it might be a bit too obvious. Especially if you decide to include a solo section.
Good luck!
You need some kind of sampler/ROMpler with an upright bass patch. It's not going to be easy to emulate a real upright bass with a sampler though - you would need some keyswitched articulations, slides etc. Much easier to get right than a lot of other instruments (eg. brass, guitar etc) but still a bit difficult, especially if it's going to be as prominent as it is on Kind of Blue. You can hide some of the fakeness in a full mix, but in a quintet (I think it was a quintet that recorded Kind Of Blue right? Davis, Contrane, Cannonball, Evans and.. who else?) context it might be a bit too obvious. Especially if you decide to include a solo section.
Good luck!
Last edited by TristezaOrange on Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRist
- 67 posts since 23 Dec, 2008
A sampled acoustic bass is probably less work than to use a synth for this kind of sound
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- KVRAF
- 2070 posts since 5 Oct, 2005
Try Spectrasonics Trilogy or Trillian.
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- KVRAF
- 21348 posts since 26 Jul, 2005 from Gone
I think if you could succeed using soft synths there would be no need for samplers anymore.zred wrote:This will be done by utilizing samples/soft synths.
To be honest I think you should look at a sampler instead as you'll be unhappy with the results if you try to synthesize that particular bass sound.
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gambaytheunspoken gambaytheunspoken https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=23603
- KVRist
- 309 posts since 1 May, 2004
{I think it was a quintet that recorded Kind Of Blue right? Davis, Contrane, Cannonball, Evans and.. who else?) Jimmy Cobb, the drummer, you whanker. That cymbal crash after the intro on "So What" didn't play itself, and the bassist Paul Chambers. All kidding aside. To try and answer the question. I've attempted to capture that bass sound many times myself with varying degrees of success. Try some of the free soundfonts out there, some are quite good, and eq. But the best contrabass I've found is the one by John Patatucci put out by Spectrasonics/Akai on its "Bass Legends" cd. It costs about 99 dollars, but it's worth every penny. You also get Marcus Miller's electric bass on it as well.
Ciao!
That cymbal crash after the intro on "So What" didn't play itself, and the bassist Paul Chambers. All kidding aside. To try and answer the question. I've attempted to capture that bass sound many times myself with varying degrees of success. Try some of the free soundfonts out there, some are quite good, and eq. But the best contrabass I've found is the one by John Patatucci put out by Spectrasonics/Akai on its "Bass Legends" cd. It costs about 99 dollars, but it's worth every penny. You also get Marcus Miller's electric bass on it as well.Ciao!
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- angelboy
- 4586 posts since 21 Aug, 2001 from Larnaca, Cyprus
gambaytheunspoken wrote: Jimmy Cobb, the drummer, you whanker.
I gave my CD to a friend as a present because he liked it when he heard it playing in my car so I don't have it for reference here.
I was so surprised that he liked it (not a lot of my friends appreciate this kind of music) I had to give it to him. -
- KVRAF
- 44196 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
Excellent! Trilogy is your man! Perfect for this sound. Including and all the slides etc.Bobbotov wrote:Kind of Blue
I wanted a link like this because I have so many good sample Libraries I would recognize pretty quickly which would be suitable for the task at hand.
Trilogy has a slightly 'duller' sound than some other Libraries which again is spot on.
Nice track.
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Winstontaneous Winstontaneous https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=98336
- KVRAF
- 2598 posts since 15 Feb, 2006 from Another Green World
Just FYI--one big element of Paul Chambers' (or "Mr P.C." as John Coltrane called him) tone was the gut strings on his bass. Gut strings are made of sheep intestines and were the standard for stringed orchestral instruments until steel strings became popular in the late '50s / early '60s. The growly, sustainy bass tone of players like Dave Holland, later Ron Carter, and Neils Henning Orsted Pedersen comes from steel strings. Ray Brown still managed to get a huge sound with tons of sustain after he switched to steel, but as they say the sound is in the hands.
Guts have a deeper fundamental, more "thump", less attack/sustain and are higher-maintenance (susceptible to temp/humidity changes, go out of tune, need to be oiled to keep from fraying). That said, they have a certain something to their feel and sound and they project better unamplified than steel. The old big band bassists had big gut strings, high action, and put their whole body into it to be heard over bands in the days before PAs. Bandleaders also balanced the volume so all instruments could be heard. Hope this helps.
Guts have a deeper fundamental, more "thump", less attack/sustain and are higher-maintenance (susceptible to temp/humidity changes, go out of tune, need to be oiled to keep from fraying). That said, they have a certain something to their feel and sound and they project better unamplified than steel. The old big band bassists had big gut strings, high action, and put their whole body into it to be heard over bands in the days before PAs. Bandleaders also balanced the volume so all instruments could be heard. Hope this helps.