Sambafied God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

I thought I'd share this. I'm currently taking Arranging 1 through Berkleemusic.com, and I just completed my first project. I had to write a new arrangement for an existing song in any style. Unfortunately, I've been traveling, so in lieu of my studio, I had to do this entirely on my laptop, which doesn't have all of the plugins and samples that my workstation at home does. I had to make due with the Roland Sound Canvas, the bundled plugs, and a couple of other VSTs I happened to have on there. Despite this, I think it sounds pretty darned decent.

Both the mp3 and the score in PDF are posted on my Berklee promo page. They're on the left side - music on top, score at the bottom. Thanks for looking.

Wayne - this is a nice colorful arrangement, I think you've done a great job. are you wanting critique on the arrangement, the mixing, the recording, or all of the above?

for the arrangement I have no critique - it's done very well and adds a great modern touch to this old song.
everything's MIDI here, tho and that's very obvious. you definately don't want your MIDI to sound like it's MIDI and unfortunately yours does. you need to humanize it, make it sound like the instruments are really being played.

of course, that may be well beyond what you need to do for this assignment, and if so, that's great...just a note for future reference.
keep up the good work...and I thank you for serving in the AF for our country and I love your goals for your future! good luck!

Thanks, guys, for the good words. Yeah, the assignment is just the arrangement - the audio requirement is minimal for the sole purpose of knowing what our arrangements are supposed to sound like. Most folks just exported MIDI form Finale, but I couldn't help but try to make it sound somewhat decent. Dealing with Finale sucked up so much of my time, I really could only give it a rudimentary treatment in Sonar. Also, I had to monitor with earbuds. The horror! I don't normally do all MIDI recordings, though. I'll be home for the next project, so the only thing that will be MIDI is the drums - everything else will be tracked. The other couple tunes on my promo page are much more representative of my work.

I spent this summer in Iraq, which was a blast, but right now I'm actually in Greece. I'm happy to serve; I've got the best job in the military. I should be posting another unique tune in a few weeks. Thanks.

I agree with opaque, the intro was just a little shaky, but the groove came thru quick and it sounds excellent. Very good spicy kick to a classic. I too add my sincere thanks for what you are doing for us back here at home. Our prayers are with you and may God protect you a bring you home safely to your family. Beautiful music.......thanks. Press ON!!!!!

Wayne,

Good stuff - fresh take on some familiar material. Nice creative approach. Good arrangement, well done.

Bill