KVR Audio

jcub · Post by **jcub** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 5:16 pm

I have continued down the path of writing music influenced by the late, great Lyle Mays. His playing and writing is the perfect balance (in my view) of technique and emotion in a jazz setting. His synthesizer programming/playing in particular avoids all the cliches of the genre. His last album was a live recording of his quartet and the opening piano improvisation is nothing short of amazing.

The inspiration for the piece came out of a programming session on the Hydrasynth and LinnStrument that can be heard in opening section after the short intro. I layered in pads from Hydrasynth and Omnisphere followed by the violin, sax, and lead "Oberheim" from Omnisphere, added the drums, and recorded the fretless bass last. The sax may be replaced by guitar because a fantastic player offered to add a part.

This piece features piano (Pianoteq), Linnstrument (sax, violin), fretless bass, keyboards (Hydrasynth, Omnisphere), Zendrum (IK Multimedia MODO Drums).

https://soundcloud.com/jeremycubert/frame_of_reference

Thanks for listening!

ChameleonMusic · Post by **ChameleonMusic** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 5:58 pm

Overall I enjoyed it...some great melodic moments!

However, I did find the mix quite overwhelming during the very busy sections - everything seemed a little bit too squashed together so that it was hard to separate out the individual musical lines. Possibly it's the use of reverb? Is it mushing everything together too much? Not sure.

jcub · Post by **jcub** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:02 pm

Thanks for the listen and comments. It could be the reverb. I will go back into the mix and improve the clarity.

jcub · Post by **jcub** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:08 pm

New mix uploaded. Thanks again for the helpful comments.

ChameleonMusic · Post by **ChameleonMusic** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:23 pm

jcub wrote: Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:08 pm New mix uploaded. Thanks again for the helpful comments.

Definitely sounds significantly clearer to me now.

jcub · Post by **jcub** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:48 pm

Thanks - I rolled off the lows on the pads and bass, cut the reverb, and used a dynamic EQ to better separate the lead synth and violin.

Paladin on a Horse · Post by **Paladin on a Horse** » Mon Nov 09, 2020 7:02 pm

jazz is my thing - this was very good.

htcnext2 · Post by **htcnext2** » Mon Nov 09, 2020 7:08 pm

One more. Exciting cover art, though.

Bansaw · Post by **Bansaw** » Tue Nov 10, 2020 1:17 am

A bit chaotic for me and not my type of music, but I can appreciate how much work and thought you've put into it. Its somewhat unique too which makes it interesting.

Allomerus · Post by **Allomerus** » Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:40 am

Sounds great Jeremy. I like a bit of Jazz fusion and this is very cool. The bit at 2:30 is great. Like Mark says, some great melodic moments (and harmonic shifts too). There are some sections where the pads seem to dominate the mix, however that is a minor issue.
Enjoyed it. Well done!

jcub · Post by **jcub** » Tue Nov 10, 2020 5:44 pm

I appreciate the comments - especially constructive criticism on the mix. I have a guitar part coming soon for this piece to replace the sax. I will be revisiting the mix or handing it off to my brother to mix and the comments are very helpful. Thank you.

Frame of Reference (Jazz Fusion)