Dear friends,
two events that happened in the last few days prompted me to do what I have just done: record four new songs.
The first event were the great PA1-Xpro demoes recorded by Dirk Baert (Notlos); I was particularly touched by his rendition of Corcovado and, since I like this song a lot, I thought to record another version, done live on the Tyros, so you can all compare how these two keyboards sound.
The second event was the topic posted by Jose Matias (Route 66) about the arranger playing techniques; I already replied to his topic and thought to post three more songs to illustrate what I wrote there
http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/008513.html

The songs are:
- A felicidade (another Jobim classic, from the Black Orpheus movie); this song begins with just multipads playing percussion lines; then, when the style begins (the Big Band Samba) you will notice that a lot of the rhytm tracks have been muted, keeping just two brass tracks; on the other hand, I have tried to add some chord embellishments with my left hand playing a Rhodes sound.
The same techniques (use of multipads, muting of "useless" rhytm tracks and addition of a "strong" left hand sound - in this case a phased Rhodes) were used in Corcovado.
The third song is "The shadow of your smile", played with the Guitar Ballad style; this is a "late night song", where I just tried to create an atmosphere, keeping the style very simple (with just drums, bass, acoustic guitar and strings), and playing some embellishments with the left hand.
Finally, I have added a new rendition of "Triste", done with the Tyros; here again you can hear an extensive use of multipads (percussions) and the interplay between right hand (melody) and left hand (chords), often in a sort of "call and reply" play.
Okay, enough said: hope that you all will enjoy!
http://andrearotolo.tripod.com/dreamer/id1.html

Andrea, I really love the backing 'style patterns' you used, particularly on Corcovado. Cool intro. Both yours and Dirks renditions are beautifully presented, though uniquely different. The instrument voices sound impressively REAL, like I'm listening live in concert to 'real' acoustic instruments, your delivery (expression) is also excellent. I found your explainations on 'how' you recorded these songs using multipads etc very informatative as well. Beautiful songs, and beautifully performed renditions, as usual. . . time to book a tour with Gal Costa. Bravo! - Scott

andrea , i must sAy ,NICE!, pics are also exelent, best regards, BENNO, listening to your music right now

Brilliant!

Hi Andrea,

Nice to hear you make also a version of the beautiful song "corcovado". I love also your version of "triste" and "the shadow.."
A little story, When i was 18 years i was playing in a Hotel in Antwerp (Belgium) for
a diner-dansant and on the other side of the street was a concerthall where the composer "Johny Mandel" was giving a concert and after the concert he came to the lobby of the hotel were i was playing. When he came in i played "the shadow of..."
not knowing he was the composer, He came to me and thanks me for playing this song. the joke is that a week later i heard from the staff from the hotel he was the composer!!!
Now i never forget the face and name of this composer !!!!
Andrea, Congratulations with your music and
keep the spirit alive !!!!!!!!!
Notlos
www.notlos.com

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Nice renditions and playing but I think the mixes need some attention.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Scott, many thanks for your words; I would love to join Gal Costa on tour, but she still hasn't called me...

Benno and The Accordionist: many thanks for your words and for taking the time to listen.

Dirk, I am sure that Scott (who is a living music encyclopedia) has something to add about Johnny Mandel. Long live Bossa Nova!

Terry, many thanks for your words: speaking of the mix, I think that you are referring to the Rhodes sound, which I used for the left hand: I agree that it's a bit muddled, especially in "A felicidade". Fact is that what sounds musically inappropriate (i.e. a more aggressive sound) can sometimes cut better through a mix... or are you referring to something else?

[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 02-27-2004).]

Andrea
What I thought might use a bit of attention would be the balance of instruments and placement.

The lead instruments in all the cuts I thought really overpowerd the rest of the mix, for all dynamics, placement and presence. Otherwise I thought the execution itself was great as always.
Terry


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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Good job Andrea !!

I'm very glad to hear again some music from you I missed it !

By the way , is that the same version of "Shadow of your smile" I've heard from you a few months ago ?

Molto congratulazione Andrea
JJ

Terry,
I will treasure your observation about the mix; I have to say that I don't like styles that sound too busy, especially because some rhytm tracks tend to sound too artificial, so it's true that I often lower or mute instruments I don't like. What I could probably do is lower also the volume of the solo instruments and this would make the other tracks more audible.
Thank you for your feedback

JJ,
I appreciate a lot your words and I hope to post more songs in the future, now that the reflexive phase seems over and... yes, it's the same song, only normalized (I raised the volume because it was a bit low).
Saluts!
Andrea