Swing

Something entirely new for me.

What would you guys use or recommend as a particular sample library for something  "swing" (kinda like Brian Setzer-ish) you know, brass punches and such? 

Any advice or recommendation (for libraries AND tutorial and such) are most welcome. I may very well end up leaving the arrangement to someone else, but, you know, if I can try on my side and come up w/ something for the demos... 

Thanks in advance for your input.

Mmmm...Dregs.

One time in Nashville, I walked right into the front row of a "secret" Dregs tour kickoff show at a medium sized club.  They had only announced the show like 30 minutes before I happened to walk in the front door of the club, so we got front row-center on accident.  All the record company execs were there, so the band was all wound up....and they just KILLED it.

Rod Morgenstien was a monster....a lot of fun to sit that closely and watch him jam all night.  Morse wasn't too shabby his-damm-self.

Rain,
 Are you looking for a big band sound?

 Do you have Kontakt? Kontakt comes with enough horn samples to get you started on fake-book horn sections. N.I. also has a dedicated brass library.

 As the other guys are alluding the idea of "swing" is probably bigger than any particular era and each of the examples mentioned above illustrate creative arranging of instruments and their roles. The harmonic character of each era makes each seem what distinctive too.

 If you were asking about 1940s Big Band era sound then you may find that Kontakt can get you started.

 Also as you suggested you can bring in a few horn players later.


 best regards,
mike

Good advice ^^^^^^^ listen to swing and study it in your chosen genre. 

Swing covers  a lot of ground and crosses ALL the genre lines. 

I think Brian Setzer would be the first to say his orchestra plays a late 1940's brand of Big Band swing.

That style started in the mid 1920's but I think of Brian Setzer as focusing on proto rock and the Kansas City meets West Coast Count Basie rocking swing jazz style.

I'm a big fan. :-)


Anyways I wanted to throw out one other word of encouragement... a lot of the lead guitar repertoire started as hot jazz horn lines... I say this to point out that you may know more about writing out some horn parts than you might think at first. I'm not so good at it and the guys that are practice the craft for years if not lifetimes, but I have gotten some pretty good results with Kontakt, some basic chord voices, and the rhythmic sensibility I inherited as a guitar plinker.

all the best,
mike

The key to swing is that slightly ahead of the beat thing.
That's what makes it sizzle.
Nail that, and you can use just about any sound you want.

Case in point: Deep Purple's "Lazy".

To answer the original question, yes there are sample libraries geared toward this genre.

At the bottom of the price range is Garritan's Jazz and Big Band (JABB). I've not used it myself. I've read comments that it's hard to use, but I've also heard demos by Randy Bowser that were impressive. I'm guessing there's a little work involved, but good results are certainly possible.

There are a number of other libraries, although they tend to be pricey. There's Vir2's Mojo. The demos sound great, but at $500 it's out of my price range. Chris Hein Horns is widely-used but that'll set you back about $800. And then there's Broadway Big Band, which goes for $2500.

If you're looking for more swing references, I would definitely check out the following:

Ray Anthony, specifically the album "Swingin' At The Tower"
Glenn Miller
Louis Jordan

I discovered the Ray Anthony album (on vinyl) as a teenager, among my dad's record collection.  The horns, and the arrangements, just blew my mind.  Listening to this recording (from 1956) you wonder if the boys from Chicago or Blood Sweat & Tears had this in their collections too.

Glenn Miller, to me, is swing.  His arrangements and players (including a young Ray Anthony) were always top notch.

Louis Jordan is much more bluesy than Ray Anthony or Glenn Miller, but his horn arrangements are great.  You could almost draw a musical-evolutionary line from Duke Ellington to Louis Jordan to Little Richard to Sly Stone to . . . I don't know who.  (I'm still waiting for the next Jimi Hendrix to emerge.)

+1 for Jabb 3. The Aria player is a kind of finicky on my setup but with that, one of these Sonuus G2m and your guitar, you should be able to pull off any monophonic jazz instrument. Jabb 3 picks up bends and tremolo nicely. I've become a big fan of swing over the last few years. Brian Setzer is one of the finest. Whoever that is playing on the Ren and Stimpy cartoons is really brilliant at that IMO as well. One of my favorite swing tunes is I know a little for sure

ohgrant


+1 for Jabb 3. The Aria player is a kind of finicky on my setup but with that, one of these Sonuus G2m and your guitar, you should be able to pull off any monophonic jazz instrument. Jabb 3 picks up bends and tremolo nicely. I've become a big fan of swing over the last few years. Brian Setzer is one of the finest. Whoever that is playing on the Ren and Stimpy cartoons is really brilliant at that IMO as well. One of my favorite swing tunes is I know a little for sure

Woah, I didn't know such a thing existed. That's what I get for not buying a guitar related mag in over 20 years I suppose. :s Might be an option. 


As Mike pointed out, the guitar lines have their origin in the horn lines - something I didn't really know, but I had an intuition I guess, on a subconscious level. So writing/performing on the guitar seems like a natural option.

I'm not much of a concert goer, but I still regret missing Setzer while we were in Atlantic City in the late 90s. 

Great suggestions so far.

Glad I was able to turn you on to that MIDI controller Rain, payback for that great tip on convolution cab impulses :)