<Remix><Pony> "Becoming Jazz-ular"

[ForeverOdin]

It's been a long time since I've completed a new Jazzy Pony Song, so I decided to finally sit down and complete one that I've been working on (off and on) since last month. I skipped ahead quite a ways; I still have a lot of catching up to do on the first Season's "soundtrack", but I really do love Becoming Popular, so I felt obligated to tackle that one next. Hopefully I'll be able to finish At the Gala and maybe Cupcakes in the near future. For now, here's the next of my continuing attempts to Jazzify the MLP soundtrack!



I've never posted anything like this on these forums, so I'm nervous as to what to expect, but here's hoping it's at least somewhat enjoyable. I know my jazzy mixes are somewhat of an acquired taste. (Some tell me "smooooth man", then a few say "crappy elevator music". =P It's not perfect Jazz, I know. But I do the best I can to shoot for it).

[Freewave]

You might need to get a better instrument vst then what you are using as it sounds just a little too midi for my tastes. Same thing with the drums as those cymbal taps aren't great. A bit too much reverb overall. Maybe some more jazz piano.

I do like the thought of smooth jazz versions and this isn't far off from being better. Obviously there's a gap for Jazz mixes of tracks so it's a good place to look into provided you have the right setup. What are you using for this? I can't say that I know the best sax & trumpet synths but I'm sure Dr. Dissonance would know.

Nice to see another CO brony!

[MixolydianPony]

"Smooooth, man." Get better vsts like DJ-Pon-3 said, and this would be amazing.

[ForeverOdin]

You might need to get a better instrument vst then what you are using as it sounds just a little too midi for my tastes. Same thing with the drums as those cymbal taps aren't great. A bit too much reverb overall. Maybe some more jazz piano.

I do like the thought of smooth jazz versions and this isn't far off from being better. Obviously there's a gap for Jazz mixes of tracks so it's a good place to look into provided you have the right setup. What are you using for this? I can't say that I know the best sax & trumpet synths but I'm sure Dr. Dissonance would know.

Nice to see another CO brony!

Yea, I realize I definitely need some real-instrument-like VSTs to better the sound, because what I'm using isn't the greatest ha. I've been able to get by on it for the moment, but only for the sake of time and keeping the couple people who keep saying "When's the next Jazz Mix? Where's the Jazz Mix man" at bay. =P .

Sadly, I've yet to find a Sax VST that doesn't sound cheesier than the soundbank I'm stuck with for now. I'm looking though. But at the moment, I've been using one of the more complex composition softwares (at least as far as I've seen) called "Guitar Pro 6" cause of its "Realistic Sound Engine" (I know, it's silly, but after the turnout I got from Winter Jazz Up, I decided to keep using it until I can find a better way of going about it). Then I took it to FL and mastered it a bit, to the limited best of my ability. Although, I might give these Jazz Remixes a rest, at least until I can get better sounds and learn to make more realistic sounding Jazz stuff.

Whew, sorry, that was a kinda long response. I'm in a very write-happy mood after a very rough past couple days. =P Thanks for the input, nice to see you too CO Brony!

"Smooooth, man." Get better vsts like DJ-Pon-3 said, and this would be amazing.

Heheh thanks. =)

[Freewave]

sounds good. i'll pm Dr.D or Makkon and see if they know any good software. Makkon i know has gotten good trumpets in the past on a few tracks.

[CGEyeGuy]

DSK has some good synths
also it looks like they have a sax synth as well

http://www.dskmusic.com/dsk-saxophonez/

found another synth

http://www.dskmusic.com/dsk-brass/

however I don't really know the quality of these two synths

[Rifftrack]

DSK has some good synths
also it looks like they have a sax synth as well

http://www.dskmusic.com/dsk-saxophonez/

found another synth

http://www.dskmusic.com/dsk-brass/

however I don't really know the quality of these two synths

The sax is...not that great, I tried it. But their Orchestral Vst is good.

[CGEyeGuy]

ah, well damn. Then again I expected as much the ones ending in Z typically aren't that good.

[DasDeer]

This one is smooth. Too much reverb tough, it gets pretty muffled at some points.

[Dr_Dissonance]

sounds good. i'll pm Dr.D or Makkon and see if they know any good software. Makkon i know has gotten good trumpets in the past on a few tracks.

I'm trying to enjoy my holiday!

Okay, quickly while I have time not doing some touristy thing, what good brass vsts you use/want entirely depends on how much money you're willing to spend/launder...

I use "Hollywood Brass" for my brass, it's absolutely fantastic! But it's expensive...and geared towards blowing people off their chairs...(although, the set does have a solo trumpet and trombone with a dedicated section to jazz techniques)
"Cinebrass" I've heard is good! "Chris Hein's Horns" are more geared towards jazz and have saxophones in them! I use "Goliath" for saxophones (or I would, haven't used them yet!)
And of course, there's the factory vsts for Kontakt...they're actually pretty good! If you fork out money for Kontakt 5, or one of the "Komplete" sets, you should get them!

As for the piece itself, it actually sounded nice! I'd recommend blurring the harmonies more with 9th and 11th chords to give it that more jazzy dissonance feel...this is more 'easy listening' than jazz to me!
Anyway, off to annoy tram drivers with my tourist shenanigans...

[ForeverOdin]

Opps! I kinda forgot to check back with this while I was sick. >_<
I'd hate to bump it from the 3rd page, but I'd feel bad not responding to commenters.

@DJ Pon-3: Much appreciated!

@CGEyeGuy (and Rifftrack): It's okay, I appreciate the help/finding anyway! =)

@DasDeer: Thank ya! I'll definitely have to note my reverb levels better, seems to be a trend/habit with me that needs tending to.

@Dr_Dissonance: I appreciate you taking time from said holiday to come post then! I will definitely look into all of those and see if I can't work up the money sometime ha.
And I'm glad you liked the piece itself. =) I honestly don't know why I haven't been using more 9ths and 11ths (inexperience I s'pose)...noted for whenever I get to the next (hopefully Jazzier) Jazz Mix. Thank you muchly for your time. Hope your holiday is going swell, (or went swell, whichever one)!