Maiden Voyage (September 2008)
This is Herbie Hancock's classic with a few twists. First of all, the
backing track was done in Band-in-a-Box. The style is called Sirius
which is listed in the smooth jazz category but I changed around the
instruments a good bit to make it punchier, e.g. "chiff lead" guitar
and "finger electric bass" instead of the defaults.
The lead instruments are tenor and alto recorders. They play different
roles in each of the 5 choruses and the exit:
- 1st chorus- tenor melody, alto harmony based on quartal harmonies
(fourths)
- 2nd chorus - tenor solo based mostly on quartal arpeggios
- 3rd chorus - alto solo based mostly on dorian mode runs focusing
on the high register
- 4th chorus - tenor solo focusing on the low register
- 5th chorus - tenor melody with alto solo, again based on dorian
runs
- exit - my own invention - each part goes completely around the
cycle of fourths in parallel with the alto starting on B and the tenor
starting on F# (meaning they use the exact same fingerings!), finally
ending on a C# major chord after the entire song is "minor seventh over
fourth" chords
This mix is perhaps a little heavy on the leads but at least the
recorders
can shine. Effects are minimal with just a slight reverb throughout and
panning applied when there are two simultaneous parts.