Funky track rejected... Any feedback is appreciated, thanks! :)

Hi guys,
my last track has been rejected, it’s a short funky track… In your opinion, what is wrong? Any advice? Thank you so much! :smiley:

Just listening through my phone:
The trumpets are obviously MIDI, both sound and phrasing.

Thank you so much for the comment @EightBallAudio! :slight_smile:

I don’t know, I used for the trumpets the ‘Session Horns’ by NI, it seems to me a good library… If you have to make a trumpets line, what is in your opinion the library more realistic?

Thanks again! :slight_smile:

I just listening by my headphone. It’s really enjoyable.

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The problem isn’t the library; it’s mainly the phrasing of the opening riff. It sounds as if the rest of the track is quantized to 16T or swing while the horns are straight 16. Also, try making the first note of the phrase longer and the second one shorter, which is how a real horn player would phrase it. I’ll check out the rest of the track with headphones in a bit.

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I have to agree with EightBall, very fake sounding horns. It seems that the AJ reviewers don’t like the instruments from NI. Recently a guy’s track was rejected specifically because of the fake, dated piano sounds he was using. It was Alicia’s Keys for Kontakt.

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It’s not the instruments, it’s how you use them! The Alicia Keys piano is fine. It’s a Yamaha as I recall, so it’s naturally very bright. Many of my early AJ tracks (including my best seller) used the free Piano One VST (also a Yamaha). Careful use of velocities, attention to phrasing and a bit of processing is the key.

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I don’t know, because I applied the same swing quantitation to the track horns, 16 swing at 55%… but if you say that the problem is the riff, I’ll try to follow your advice, with the first note longer and the second one shorter! :smiley:

The rest of the track IYP could be acceptable?

Thanks again!

Thank you @Soundset for the comment!

Have you ever used trumpets in your tracks? What is a good library in your opinion for that?

Many thanks! :slight_smile:

Thank you so much, I’m glad you appreciated! :slight_smile:

No, I was never able to make those plug-in horns sound authentic. If I ever decide to make a track with a horn section, guess I’ll have to invite a couple of friends to the studio and record a real sax, trumpet and trombone.

My advice to you would be to create your arrangements around the intruments you have that sound good, and avoid the ROMpler/Workstation/fake sounding ones.

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Yes, I think it’s the best way to have a realistic sounds of horns! :smiley:
Thank you so much!

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