Dear friends,
a new song has been just uploaded to my website: Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" - classic version (no kidding here). To record this song I have used the beautiful "Miller Ballad" from the 9000 pro (Tyros users know this style as "Moonlight Ballad"; I have compared the two and they are exactly the same). All the instruments are from the pro: Moonlight, Sweet Tenor, Sweet Trombone and Cool Jazz guitar solo. Speaking of guitar, I am not totally happy with the sound; Roel, if you are reading this, could you please tell me if the jazz guitar could use a bit of compression? Thank you.
This song is dedicated to our friend Tony W. (Jupitar 5) and to his mother, a woman who can really appreciate good music
Tony, I haven't forgotten about Nat King Cole, but something tells me that your mother will like this song too; otherwise, off to NKC!

http://andrearotolo.tripod.com/dreamer/id1.html

Andrea,

Nice playing to one of my favorite songs. As far as my personal choices would have used the Sweet Trumpet on the first solo... and the Sweet Clarinet (without harmony) on the second. To my ears the Jazz Guitar doesn't fit in to the style of this song.Otherwise I thougt it was 1939 all over again......even though I wasn't born yet :>)

Good Job



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www.donnypesce.com

I have a tiny suggestion for you that has helped me a lot. During your trombone solo section, you use a short trill a few times, and while it's musically pleasing ... it's almost impossible to do on a slide trombone. If you set the pitch bend to 1/2 step and use that as your bend "up", you'll get a more realistic sound that is more in character with the intrument. If you're going for the VALVE trombone, then I guess it doesn't matter, but it was very convincing till the trills, then "SYNTH" came blaring through.
It's possible to let your left hand off the keys just for a split second - wack the whammy bar, and get back before the chord changes sometimes.
Nice recording, but I just wanted to share a tip that helps me get a more relistic horn sound. Keep up the good work, and thanx for posting the songs for us.

Hi Dreamer,
Am just about to go get your latest creation!
Just a quickie though.....I think you got Jupiter5 's name mixed up with mine? I know we are both Tony but I think I am the only Tony W? (Believe me you would not want 2 )

No matter really......whats a 'double-ya' between friends
Best to you
Tony W

Donny
yes, I guess that you're right about the clarinet, but fact is...the 9000 pro has a clarinet which is really too tiny to be believable...and I don't know of other clarinets which are close to the real thing (maybe I could try with the XV3080...after all I have the Orchestral card too...)

Dave, thank you for your suggestion; I think that you are right here. Maybe I will redo the whole darn song...

Tony, actually "the other Tony" is Tony W too, because also his family name begins with a "W", like yours.....maybe you are twins and don't know.

Hello Dreamer,
Well would you believe it? I started adding the 'W' when quite a few other Tony's started to post to the board! Seems I will have to think of something else now!!

.....Cynthia? Agnes? BUTCH???

Right I really am off to get your song now before I am distracted (again).
Best to all
Anthony (Worth a try )

Hey Dreamer,
Well I got it and listened and, as usual, excellent.
As far as the guitar was concerned I really liked it! I thought it gave the song a bit more of a contemporary feel. I could almost see the soloist stepping forward for his bit!! Did you use some extra reverb on the guitar voice? It may have sounded slightly different to me because my pc is hooked up to the yam MS50's as is my 9000pro. so I more or less heard what I would have done if you had played my pro through the same speakers.

Very nice rendition as usual
All the best
Anthony (see if it sticks )

Andrea

Just a little work to you.
Please translate to English:
Eu gostei muito de sua música e devo concordar com Dnj e UD.

Chico

Hey C'mon ! No secrets !!!!!
What'd he say.....what'd he say ???????

Ehm...well...he said that I liked much my music and he agrees with Donny and you...so does that mean that he too thinks that I should change everything? (more or less...)

Hi Tony,
thank you buddy (or whatever you say in Lancashire...)
No, I didn't add any reverb on the guitar: it's just the pro that maybe has too much of it... I was wondering if I should have applied a bit of compression to the guitar because when I recorded the first take I overloaded the input (and it has 105 dB of dynamic range!) So I had to lower the volume quite a bit.
However, since Donny and Chico seem to think the same....I guess that it doesn't matter anymore...the guitar must go (like don Alvaro would have said in "The Prizzi's honor"...)

Andrea: I really liked the jazz guitar part, slightly "arppegiated"! Very tasteful.

-- José.

[This message has been edited by matias (edited 01-11-2003).]

Hi Andrea. This is probably the most requested & recongnizable classic big band ballads of all time, and as I recall,this is my grandparent's FAVORITE song.

The only thing that 'sticks out oddly' (to my ears) are the melody notes you play in the 10th bar of the A section of the song . You go from Bb to D (descending minor 6th internal) and then up a 'whole step' to E, whereas, the way I recognize it should be played, is going from Bb to C# (descending major 6th interval), and then up a 1/2 step to D. The reason appears so noticeable to me is because the descending major 6th melodic interval here is one of the signature melodic elements of this highly recongizable song. Perhaps in Italy, that bar of 'Moonlight Serenanade' is played (and recognized) the way you played it, and that's fine too, but since I assume you were seeking both constructive critique and praise, I thought it important to point out the way Glenn Miller played it. Other than that little andecdote, I throughly enjoyed your rendition of 'Moonlight Serenade'. As always, I love hearing your music filled with 'feeling' and 'emotion'.

Scott

José,
thanks a lot: guitar-clarinet is 2-2, it seems...

Scott,
you had me check the music sheet...let me see, hmmm...oh no!! The notes are exactly like you say: you are absolutely right!!! What shall I do now???

(I know, I know: I will redo the melody track tomorrow morning first thing... )
*#@*!!!
As usual, thank you a lot for your advice!

Glad to hear that your sheet music confirms what I heard.

Still, it's IMPORTANT to note here, that even the sheet music and lead sheets often don't reflect all the correct notes, leave out critical note articulation & phrasing, and even omit/substitute chords actually played by the hit artist/band. Sometimes the only way to actually figure out the correct notes/chords to play, is to closely listen to the original recording (record/CD) and then memorize it by ear.

Andrea, I look forward to hearing your new revised melody track. I would think, if you had recorded the melody via a 'midi' track, that you could easily transpose just the specificed note(s) to the correct pitches, rather than re-recording the entire track.

Scott

Scott,
unfortunately I never do midi multitrack recordings with the 9000 pro, because they use only the GM or XG banks sounds and not the panel voices, which are much better. I know that the Tyros has addressed this problem and -now that I think of it- the SD1 too uses the internal voices to play midi tracks.
So, the next thing I will do after my breakfast (in a few moments ) is to redo the melody track, like you suggested, then I will maybe redo the trombone track, like Uncle Dave suggested, and the guitar track, like Donny and Chico suggested.....then I'll go to bed.....zzzzzzz.....
What would I do without my musical advisors?
(...I'd have a much easier life!!!)

Andrea,
Just listened to Moonlight, which is one of my fav's and you did it justice. Excellent rendition of it.
jam on,
Terry

Liked the first version so much, I went back and had a listen to the "funky" version. An interesting and very cool latin twist to the tune, though I liked the "classic" version better.


[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 01-12-2003).]

Andrea,

Very nice rendition of Moonlight Serenade.
Although this isn't my kind of music, I liked it a lot.
Very well done.

Greetz ,
Marcel

Thank you friends, but hold on: I am about to upload to my site a sparkling new version of Moonlight Serenade, where I have put to work all the suggestions received yesterday: a real example of team work!
Just give me about one hour, OK? (You know, I am still on a dial-up connection...)

OK: the new version is on my site; a few data:
1- I have re-recorded the trombone track, following Uncle Dave's suggestion; now it's maybe simpler, but more realistic (I hope)
2- I have redone the second chorus using the Sweet Clarinet (thanks, Donny); however, since the clarinet was really too thin (especially above B3), I have recorded another track with the Sweet Soprano, keeping the volume lower compared with the Clarinet, just to beef it up but without overwhelming it; you can easily tell the Soprano sound from the vibrato which takes over after the Clarinet attack.
3- I have corrected the two wrong notes in Bar 10 of each verse, following Scott's suggestion; however, I have to say that I preferred "my" version: Glenn Miller didn't have a clue... (sorry, Scott, just kidding...)
Technical note: this was the first time I have recorded a song with a resolution of 24 bit (at 44 KHz). Hope you can hear the difference.
Enjoy!

Hi Andrea. Thanks for applying our suggestions. Wow, you certainly do 'turn around' a song on a dime. Though I liked the original version, your newly revised one (and at 24 bit) sounds even better now. - Scott

Andrea...

Nice improvements. Much more realistic to the "CLASSIC" version for sure.
Now how about a nice ITALIAN DISCO version of (Volare`) with some VOCALS???
Hmmmmmm? Theres some homework for ya


ciao

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www.donnypesce.com

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-12-2003).]

Hello Andrea.

Congratulations !!!
I loved the new rendition with new voices.
I am sure that you know how to make !

Um abraço
Chico

You must be kidding!!

WHAT!!!

Common Andrea.... I do "Volare" in a disco for years its one of my "Signature" songs and a major crowd pleaser!!

I know you can do it also!!

Go ahead take a shot at it!! If you can do it I'll even put my version of up also and we can compare.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-12-2003).]

Andrea,
Much better....excellent now!.
Terry

Terry,
thank you! So this is one of your favorite songs, hmm? You are a romantic, after all...

Donny, what do you mean, "A disco version with some vocals"? What vocals are you talkin about? My own wocals???
FOGGETTABBOUTTITTT!
(capish, paisà?)


(Now, if you can lure me better into buying that...)

Well,

Andrea...

You are an excellent musician. You have shared so many songs with us BUT....I would LOVE to hear you SING a SONG instead of only PLAYING instrumentals.

capishe`?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-12-2003).]

Two words:
NO WAY.

(but if you REALLY insist, I could MAYBE do an instrumental version of "Volare"...)

Andrea,
Actually I'm quite a fan of Glenn Miller and yeah I am a romantic at heart. This is one of his best I think.
Terry

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http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Andrea

Beautiful!! I enjoyed both takes, but I think take 2 is my fav. I used to play lead and solo trumpet in big bands and I am really impressed with how you really got the Glenn Miller sound. I'm looking forward to listening to your other songs when I get time.

Scott Langholff

Ok Andrea....


you win... I know when I'm beat!

Donny, does this mean that I have to go with the instrumental version or the whole idea of "Volare" is over?

Scott, thank you for your words, especially because you are so competent. I think that in the next weeks I will record more Big Band and Jazz-latin tunes (Donny permitting, that is... ). You know, I have to rehearse a bit for the next May brazilian event...