Calling All Big Band Music Experts

[wagtunes]

I'm going to guess that this is probably a very small group of people here but I'm out of ideas and need help.

Here is the situation.

I'm finally getting my first sort of big break. I've been hired to do the music for a 1940s style musical. Now there are two ways we can go with this.

1. The traditional Broadway sound of the 40s.

2. The Big Band sound of the era.

Number 1 I'm covered. I have all the sample libraries I need to do stuff in the style of South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun, Carousel and other shows that came out in the 40s.

Number 2 is where I am, IMO, woefully lacking in quality samples.

The closest thing I have in Native Instrument's Session Horns Pro. It's okay for some pop stuff but, to my ears, it doesn't cut it for the big band sound of the 40s.

Okay, those of you really familiar with this stuff know where this is going.

https://fablesounds.com/broadway-big-band/

That's it. That's the elite. The reviews are off the charts amazing and my own ears tell me that this is probably as good as it gets.

But I haven't got $2,295. Well, I do, but if I can get away with something that costs less that is virtually indistinguishable from BBB, I'll get it. Or, if there is some processing trick that can get Session Horns Pro to sound as good. So far everything I've tried, it doesn't even come close. For one thing, all the articulations simply aren't there.

Okay, so you guys who do big band music, what do you use?

If I'm going to do this I need to do it right. The music is going to be piped in Karaoke style so yes, whatever I record is going to be used for the show itself.

Thanks in advance for your help.

** EDIT ** Please only recommend products that you actually use.

[vurt]

i cant help but "im getting a sort of big break"
congrats dude, i wish you well

[wagtunes]

i cant help but "im getting a sort of big break"
congrats dude, i wish you well

Thanks Vurt.

[nordickvr]

edited.
deleted.
noted.

[wagtunes]

Great to hear that you had such a break!

Here’s two librairies that would worth a look at, I think.
Don’t own it myself.
https://www.projectsam.com/products/swi ... Swing/1460

I'm getting a bad URL error.

[nordickvr]

Edited.

[wagtunes]

Edited.

Still getting it. But don't worry. I found the product, listened to the demo briefly and could almost immediately turn it off. The brass ensemble sounds like an accordion. BBB blows this away. It's no contest.

Folks, would appreciate if you recommended things that you've actually used. I'm capable of going to the Internet and doing a search "Big Band VSTs" which is how I found BBB. I just want to know what you guys are actually using and how good it is quality wise.

Thanks.

[jancivil]

WarpIV Music Hollywood Brass and Wind bundle. It's not cheap. There are smaller bundles on offer there but...

I'm more or less an expert and I have used all of it. Big Band is his abiding interest musically.
He's a nice guy and very approachable and responsive. But the things are designed for big band arranging.

Now he's designed some innovative twists to using the swells and so forth but I'd have to consult my inbox to get enough detail to try and explain it. But this is the one. It never gets mentioned here, we hear about everything else and most of it is not that suitable really.

[jancivil]

http://www.warpivmusic.com/Bundles.html

The diff between saxes + brass separately and the woodwinds/brass bundle is fifty bucks. Which gets you flute and clarinet; this is jazz flute and jazz clarinet so do_not confuse it with any Chris Hein anything. Chris Hein is classical embouchure like VSL, which is not jazz at all. Also whenever someone chimes in with Wivi, don't waste your time with investigating that: "sounds like an accordian" .

I'm opinionated. I grew up in this and I know what it is and I know from the style as an arranger.

[wagtunes]

WarpIV Music Hollywood Brass and Wind bundle. It's not cheap. There are smaller bundles on offer.

I'm more or less an expert and I have used all of it. Big Band is his abiding interest musically.
He's a nice guy and very approachable and responsive. But the things are designed for big band arranging.

Now he's designed some innovative twists to using the swells and so forth but I'd have to consult my inbox to get enough detail to try and explain it. But this is the one. It never gets mentioned here, we hear about everything else and most of it is not that suitable really.

Thanks. Here are my questions. I'm assuming you're actually using this stuff and will have the answers to these.

BBB has the ability to "stack" instruments. In other words, you can have 4 sax playing in one patch and it actually sounds like a sax ensemble so you can get that big sound.

Can this product do the same thing or do you have to pull each instrument, one per track and do your own arranging to get that ensemble sound, if even possible?

I'm assuming it has all the articulations of BBB, which are too numerous to even list.

Getting everything but the bass and guitar (don't need those) at $1,299, this is doable.

I'm going to now go and listen to some demos and let you know what I think of the sound as far as how it stacks up against BBB.

[jancivil]

He makes ensemble patches which figure the ensemble playing together and the space.

[wagtunes]

He makes ensemble patches which figure the ensemble playing together and the space.

Well, oddly enough there are no demos on the site at all. How does he even sell these things without people getting to hear what they sound like before purchasing?

[jancivil]

It's extremely deeply articulated; the articulations include a lot of gestures, which one cannot fake or do in the piano roll. Doits, falls and rises, upbeats really the works.

[jancivil]

He used to have demos on the site. Donno.

not a great demonstration, n/m.

You can contact Dr. Steinman via the site.

[wagtunes]

He used to have demos on the site. Donno.

not a great demonstration, n/m.

You can contact Dr. Steinman via the site.

I just wrote to him and then I figured out what the problem was. My script block was blocking his players on the site. I just noticed this and have undone it. I'm going to listen now.