Help!!! Jazz

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BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

I've been tasked to create some cheery jazzy stuff for the youtubez!!

I'm not used to programming jazz, but I have a jazz background.

I have the instrumentation down...

Acoustic drums, double bass, piano...I doubt I could program a convincing trumpet! :lol:

I'm thinking of grabbing some jazz progressions and maybe some loops.

Any advice will be considered! :thumbs_up:
r11s

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diminished
Competition Winner
Posts: 1880
Joined: 15 Dec 2018

30 Aug 2019

What exactly are you asking for?
:reason: Most recent track: resentment (synthwave) || Others: on my YouTube channel •ᴗ•

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Djstarski
Posts: 364
Joined: 20 Jan 2015

30 Aug 2019

BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
I've been tasked to create some cheery jazzy stuff for the youtubez!!

I'm not used to programming jazz, but I have a jazz background.

I have the instrumentation down...

Acoustic drums, double bass, piano...I doubt I could program a convincing trumpet! :lol:

I'm thinking of grabbing some jazz progressions and maybe some loops.

Any advice will be considered! :thumbs_up:


if you PM me your Email address , i can send you a demo track made in reason some time ago by an amazing musician .

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

diminished wrote:
30 Aug 2019
What exactly are you asking for?
I'm not sure, I'm just so used to making electronic music...jazz seems like a huge challenge.

I guess, I'm just trying to figure out what I'm getting myself into! :lol:
Last edited by BRIGGS on 30 Aug 2019, edited 1 time in total.
r11s

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

Djstarski wrote:
30 Aug 2019
BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
I've been tasked to create some cheery jazzy stuff for the youtubez!!

I'm not used to programming jazz, but I have a jazz background.

I have the instrumentation down...

Acoustic drums, double bass, piano...I doubt I could program a convincing trumpet! :lol:

I'm thinking of grabbing some jazz progressions and maybe some loops.

Any advice will be considered! :thumbs_up:


if you PM me your Email address , i can send you a demo track made in reason some time ago by an amazing musician .
Done :puf_smile:
r11s

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NekujaK
Posts: 631
Joined: 09 Oct 2016
Location: USA

30 Aug 2019

This is potentially a big can of worms, but there are some simple ways of creating a quick & simple jazz-sounding track:
- Definitely borrow a chord progression from an existing track. Chord progressions aren't copyrighted, so you're not stealing.
- Drums: get some style-appropriate drum loops. EZdrummer has jazz MIDI packs, Loop Loft has quite a few jazz loops, and there are others.
- Bass: Try to compliment the drum groove, keep it simple, but if you want to occasionally get adventurous, stick to the pentatonic scale.
- Piano: This will be the most challenging part. EZkeys is your best friend here, with the jazz MIDI expansion. But if you don't have EZkeys, listen to some jazz piano to hear how the chords are being comped. Chord voicins are important - one simple approach is to avoid including the same notes between the left and right hand. For solos or melodies, just use your ear and improvise some lines, using pentatonic and ionian scales. That's just the basics - it can definitely get more complex very quickly.

Good luck!
wreaking havoc with :reason: since 2.5
:arrow: https://soundcloud.com/nekujak-donnay/sets

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Timmy Crowne
Competition Winner
Posts: 357
Joined: 06 Apr 2017
Location: California, United States

30 Aug 2019

Since your background is jazz, you probably know how many sub-genres there are. I'd suggest really narrowing it down to a specific era to draw some inspiration.

30s: early standards like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller
40s: big-band swing stuff like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman
50s: bebop and modal stuff like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane
60s: latin jazz like Tito Puente, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz
70s: jazz fusion like late Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders, Dexter Wansel, Steely Dan
80s: progressive and smooth jazz like Grover Washington Jr, Joe Sample, George Benson, Pat Metheny

(Of course there's a lot of greats I'm leaving out and there's also a lot of overlap between eras, but that categorization helps me make some sense of it. )

Now as far as programming something convincing in a DAW, it's probably going more challenging the farther back you go for inspiration. There's also a fair amount of orchestration, especially in the 40s stuff. If you can, you're probably gonna want to play in as much as possible because the dynamics are CRUCIAL in this kind of stuff. Get used to playing swung 8th notes. Experiment with drop and rootless voicings for your chords. Secondary dominants and 2-5-1-s are pretty much standard in everything except the modal stuff. There are a ton of YouTube tutorials that delve into all these concepts. There are also MIDI files of jazz standards floating around the web you can probably get your hands on. NekujaK's suggestions are very practical too.

Congratulations on the work, wish you the best!
Last edited by Timmy Crowne on 30 Aug 2019, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
esselfortium
Posts: 1456
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Contact:

30 Aug 2019

If you happen to own the full version of Kontakt, Carpenter Trombone is a great freebie and Sensual Sax is only $20. Those are both very capable of playing melodic lead parts.
Sarah Mancuso
My music: Future Human

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

NekujaK wrote:
30 Aug 2019
This is potentially a big can of worms, but there are some simple ways of creating a quick & simple jazz-sounding track:
- Definitely borrow a chord progression from an existing track. Chord progressions aren't copyrighted, so you're not stealing.
- Drums: get some style-appropriate drum loops. EZdrummer has jazz MIDI packs, Loop Loft has quite a few jazz loops, and there are others.
- Bass: Try to compliment the drum groove, keep it simple, but if you want to occasionally get adventurous, stick to the pentatonic scale.
- Piano: This will be the most challenging part. EZkeys is your best friend here, with the jazz MIDI expansion. But if you don't have EZkeys, listen to some jazz piano to hear how the chords are being comped. Chord voicins are important - one simple approach is to avoid including the same notes between the left and right hand. For solos or melodies, just use your ear and improvise some lines, using pentatonic and ionian scales. That's just the basics - it can definitely get more complex very quickly.

Good luck!
Thank you! :thumbs_up:
r11s

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

Timmy Crowne wrote:
30 Aug 2019
Since your background is jazz, you probably know how many sub-genres there are. I'd suggest really narrowing it down to a specific era to draw some inspiration.

30s: early standards like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller
40s: big-band swing stuff like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman
50s: bebop and modal stuff like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane
60s: latin jazz like Tito Puente, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz
70s: jazz fusion like late Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders, Dexter Wansel, Steely Dan
80s: progressive and smooth jazz like Grover Washington Jr, Joe Sample, George Benson, Pat Metheny

(Of course there's a lot of greats I'm leaving out and there's also a lot of overlap between eras, but that categorization helps me make some sense of it. )

Now as far as programming something convincing in a DAW, it's probably going more challenging the farther back you go for inspiration. There's also a fair amount of orchestration, especially in the 40s stuff. If you can, you're probably gonna want to play in as much as possible because the dynamics are CRUCIAL in this kind of stuff. Get used to playing swung 8th notes. Experiment with drop and rootless voicings for your chords. Secondary dominants and 2-5-1-s are pretty much standard in everything except the modal stuff. There are a ton of YouTube tutorials that delve into all these concepts. There are also MIDI files of jazz standards floating around the web you can probably get your hands on. NekujaK's suggestions are very practical too.

Congratulations on the work, wish you the best!
Oh, you had me at "40s: big-band swing stuff"!!! :puf_smile:

Rootless voicings on piano should work! Or, maybe some inversions!

Thanks! :puf_smile:
r11s

User avatar
NekujaK
Posts: 631
Joined: 09 Oct 2016
Location: USA

30 Aug 2019

If money is no object, and you're looking for that 30s-40s big band jazz sound, check out the Swing and Swing More Kontakt libraries from ProjectSAM:

https://projectsam.com/libraries/swing/

https://projectsam.com/libraries/swing-more/

They're loaded with all the instruments you'll ever need, and horn ensembles playing chords, appropriately voiced. They're expensive libraries, but are perfect for this style of music.
wreaking havoc with :reason: since 2.5
:arrow: https://soundcloud.com/nekujak-donnay/sets

User avatar
Djstarski
Posts: 364
Joined: 20 Jan 2015

30 Aug 2019

BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
I've been tasked to create some cheery jazzy stuff for the youtubez!!

I'm not used to programming jazz, but I have a jazz background.

I have the instrumentation down...

Acoustic drums, double bass, piano...I doubt I could program a convincing trumpet! :lol:

I'm thinking of grabbing some jazz progressions and maybe some loops.

Any advice will be considered! :thumbs_up:
This is the demo i sent you . All made in Reason 2.5 . Believe it or not .

User avatar
motuscott
Posts: 3420
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Contest Weiner

30 Aug 2019

Help!!! Jazz is a great song title.
Who’s using the royal plural now baby? 🧂

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

Djstarski wrote:
30 Aug 2019
BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
I've been tasked to create some cheery jazzy stuff for the youtubez!!

I'm not used to programming jazz, but I have a jazz background.

I have the instrumentation down...

Acoustic drums, double bass, piano...I doubt I could program a convincing trumpet! :lol:

I'm thinking of grabbing some jazz progressions and maybe some loops.

Any advice will be considered! :thumbs_up:
This is the demo i sent you . All made in Reason 2.5 . Believe it or not .
Amazing! :o
r11s

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

motuscott wrote:
30 Aug 2019
Help!!! Jazz is a great song title.
lolz!!! :lol:
r11s

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

NekujaK wrote:
30 Aug 2019
If money is no object, and you're looking for that 30s-40s big band jazz sound, check out the Swing and Swing More Kontakt libraries from ProjectSAM:

https://projectsam.com/libraries/swing/

https://projectsam.com/libraries/swing-more/

They're loaded with all the instruments you'll ever need, and horn ensembles playing chords, appropriately voiced. They're expensive libraries, but are perfect for this style of music.
The youtube demos sound great!
r11s

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

30 Aug 2019

Guys, It looks like I have everything I need! Thanks for the help!
r11s

User avatar
Djstarski
Posts: 364
Joined: 20 Jan 2015

31 Aug 2019

BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
Guys, It looks like I have everything I need! Thanks for the help!

Did you get the email i sent you ?

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

31 Aug 2019

Djstarski wrote:
31 Aug 2019
BRIGGS wrote:
30 Aug 2019
Guys, It looks like I have everything I need! Thanks for the help!

Did you get the email i sent you ?
Yes, Thanks! :puf_smile:
r11s

User avatar
diminished
Competition Winner
Posts: 1880
Joined: 15 Dec 2018

31 Aug 2019

I just wanted to mention ChordLine. It helps me a great deal in assembling my "chord colours" for a track.
Because it gives you access to basically every chord there is, I'd just browse inside the RE and look for unconventional or jazzy sounding ones. Then I'd save them to keys and play around: which chord could follow which one? And soon enough nice and new chord progressions/musical patterns/themes will emerge.
:reason: Most recent track: resentment (synthwave) || Others: on my YouTube channel •ᴗ•

User avatar
Djstarski
Posts: 364
Joined: 20 Jan 2015

31 Aug 2019

BRIGGS wrote:
31 Aug 2019
Djstarski wrote:
31 Aug 2019


Did you get the email i sent you ?
Yes, Thanks! :puf_smile:
ok good . i`d love to hear the finished track .

User avatar
BRIGGS
Posts: 2133
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

31 Aug 2019

Djstarski wrote:
31 Aug 2019
BRIGGS wrote:
31 Aug 2019


Yes, Thanks! :puf_smile:
ok good . i`d love to hear the finished track .
:puf_smile: We'll see what happens!!
r11s

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