Here goes - first attempt - jazzy bobbing song

So this is my first project completed in Cubase, I’m a novice and I’ll appreciate any comments. Especially my mixing and volumes, I’ve put so many hours into this piece and really need some advice. Please tell me what you think. I recorded this in my home studio using me new Yamaha S90XS.

Thanks

Michael

I’m assuming this is you playing all of the instruments? As a first Cubase project is an admirable endeavor to try an uptempo jazz trio. To make this work you have to speak the language of a seasoned bassist and drummer. It might be good to state the theme less and make the overall song shorter. That way you wouldnt stretch yourself thin on reproducing swing bass like here around the 2:10 mark. also think about getting the NI free Kontakt player that comes with 500 mb of sounds. May be a more convincing acoustic bass there. Keep it up

impressive first effort, I reckon Mr M’s comments are on the money also piano sounds weak…thin…bit of body there would be an improvement from my point of view…Kevin

Hi

Congratulation!

If this is all you, who plays the instruments as well the drums, very good.

I just got the impression, that there should be some more “surprises” in between.
Actionally, I don’t know the orignal song, but after two minutes with the same setup, I expect some slight changes :wink:

Overall - very good!


Cheers

Mr. M - Thank you for you comments. Yes, I don’t know anything about playing bass or drums, I only use the samples on my Yamaha. I respect the opinion of a seasoned jazz artist.

Kevin - Thank you, I thought the piano is a little weak, will turn it up. Thank you for listening and helping me.

AlStudios - thank you for your contribution. I only played the piano part, the rest are all samples on my Yamaha S90XS. This is my own composition and thank you for bringing it to my attention that I need more changes - I only used one theme tune and tried making it interesting by transposing. It does need a bridge part somewhere for variation.

Thank you guys.

Yeah, the mix definitely needs work and unfortunately recording isn’t really my area, although neither is jazz as a composer but as a listener my liking for it has grown a lot over the last year. :stuck_out_tongue: I’m sure Kenny will have some good comments too, his jazz stuff is great. I thought the piano melody in the first part was too quiet in comparison with the hi-hats. In fact, throughout I thought that the hi-hats are just way too loud compared to everything else, they’re like the loudest thing, at least on my Sennheiser headphone (which is all I have.) Some of the piano notes are struck too hard, particularly on the first beats of the bar and overall the piano sound thin and weak in the character of the sound. I quite liked the Super Mario kind of sound in the B section if you know what I mean, if not well idk. :stuck_out_tongue:

As a composition I did like the melodies and style, but yeah around 2 minutes is where ones attention begins to wander away from the repetitions. Great for a first piece using Cubase though. It will be interesting to hear your pieces as you progress. Great first attempt anyway.

Hi Jonathan, thank you for your comments. Always helps when someone with a great ear can listen and tell you what needs to be adjusted. I’m working on a few compositions at the moment and will start posting some more music once it’s finished. Jazz isn’t really my style and this was just kind of a pet project that grew.I appreciate your help and encouragement.

I’ll second Mr. M’s comments. What fun, though… isn’t it great to be able to start putting down your ideas? It just gets better over time. Sounds good, keep going. Thanks for sharing it.

Thank you Early21, very true, gets better over time, when I listen to my first few recordings now I feel ashamed. Still have a long way to go, and I appreciate your guys help.

Michael