Go here and check - he has it listed and I know he's done it before for other companies.

 

http://bway2.com/tracks/index.htm - http://bway2.com/tracks/index.htm

 

You can listen to REAL PLAYER CLIPS of the selections from the show. They're .ram files - which is REAL PLAYER files...or any compatible player that can play ram files.

 

 

 

TonyDi

 

 

The ONLY trouble with these CD's is that they aren't complete.  If you're looking for a song or two from the show that's fine.  But if you're looking to do the whole show, with all the songs, transitions, just as it is written (not accounting for key changes you might want to make and can with MIDI files) or cuts, added vamps, etc., then the better way to go is with the sequenced show.  And the instrumentation on those samples sounded garish and harsh to me, not very well done - just enough to satisfy the Karaoke singer.  But full ORCHESTRATION would fill it out and the programmed ambience would add to it ever so much more than these Karaoke CD's do.  And again when hiring a sequencer to sequence a show, you come away with the ability to ask for changes in tempos, key changes, cuts, additions, nuances, etc, etc, on and on.  But if it's just for a few songs then CD's for Karaoke use are easy enough to find all over the place.   As well there is still some question as to the legality of using sequences, but as I was told by a colleague of mine who does this for a living, when the company rents the musical, pays for the scores and the rights to do the show, how they do it - unless it's stringently defined in the contract - is not usually an issue.  And he has paid for the rights of duplication (up to 500 copies I think) to be able to rent the CD's done to the company's specs or needs that are fully orchestrated.  So I know it's possible even though it might be a really gray area of copyrights.  No-one that I've ever heard of (or him for that matter) has challenged that being done in that fashion.  So hard to say - but I still think if you can't afford a whole orchestra, this is the next best thing.

 

 

 

Good luck.

 

TonyDi

 

 

Yeah I just found that out myself.  Don't know why - they should be available.  I WILL say this - I KNOW this guy personally - he's a friend and I know his work.  He's been doing this for a living for well over 25 years now as a pit musician, music director, and sequencer - he's been doing that a long time.  And the sounds are really quite good.  He does a lot to get a "real pit sound" and with the ambiance of sound he uses and instrumentation from the original scores he does really nice stuff.  I say contact him with your needs and I'm sure he'd be glad to send you some sample files that do work - if you tell him his online files aren't working.  Don't know why that is.  I don't think he has them blocked at all....but who knows.  Actually I just talked to him last week or so and he's just busy still doing what he does - never stops.

 

Anyway shoot him an E-Mail and tell him you're interested and need to hear some samples but that the ones online aren't working.  I'll E-Mail him too.  Don't know what's going on there.  But I can vouch for the quality of his work.  I've sat there in his studio while he was working on things and he does ONE instrument at a time, one page or song at a time.  He actually plays in each instrument so it sounds much more LIVE than step entered - which sounds too perfect and too mechanical.  Playing it in for each instrument, makes it sound much more real.  Plus he has great equipment that produces superb sounds accurately.

 

Good luck.

 

 

TonyDi

 

Ah, but grasshopper, he may already HAVE the sequences.  He doesn't delete them when he's done.  He has MANY MANY shows already done and perhaps you can negotiate the cost to "rent" the sequences perhaps or maybe even get them at a lower cost if you don't have to do a lot of tweaking and changing and altering of the sequences where his time is involved.  I don't guess he's cheap - but then good quality doesn't come cheap.  I mean half dozen musicians if you have to pay for them at no less than $35 bucks an hour for three hours a night can get really expensive really quickly.  For instance, that's about $630 bucks a night even if you only have them for performances times however many performances..not including rehearsals, overtime if you run over their scheduled allotted time.  But a couple of musicians, though thin overall, can create a nice sound too.  All in what you can afford.  Never know till you contact him and ask about his pricing.  I know he's worked it out for small theaters before....whatever the market will bear you know!! And it's his income so he has to make a buck too.  GOOD LUCK.

 

TonyDi

 

 

http://www.bway2.com/tracks - http://www.bway2.com/tracks

 

 

 

It's not necessarily the link that is the problem.  I talked to Rick just after this thread was posted and he told me that the server that holds the sequence clips for listening online was down and thus NO-ONE could play them regardless.  I don't know if he has since fixed that issue but it was through his service provider - whomever it is that owns the server where these clips are housed that is the problem.  AT any rate, I suppose he'll get them up and running at some point but he stays so busy and actually I believe he recently said he'd just had back surgery so he may not be sitting at the console as much as of late....aside from which this thread is nearly a year old....I suspect it doesn't matter much at this point!!

 

Anyway I hope you found what you needed.

 

TonyDi

 

 

Are you pimping for me again? (grin)

 

We DO have the entire Birdie from Overture to Exit Music, INCLUDING the two "new numbers" from the TV version, "Let's Settle Down" (replaces the "Luggage Dance" in "One Boy") and A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore (replaces dialogue in Act II btw Albert and Mama in front of Maude's Bar..  I would HIGHLY recommend ANY group doing Birdie to give Mama a chance to shine with this number, it's killer!).

 

My arm/shoulder is back (thank gawd), I just played a live pit for Seussical up in Northern Ohio.  We're back to making new tracks, we have clients doing Beauty and the Beast as well as one of MY favorites, 1776, so those will be appearing soon!

 

Email me sometime Tony, it has been TOO long! :)

 

Rick Ashworth

http://www.bway2.com/tracks - www.bway2.com/tracks

 

 

Why OF COURSE, Mr. Ashworh.  You know I'd pimp for you any time.  You know what I think of your work - impeccible as it is.  GLAD your shoulder is functional again.  Can't be lettin' those things keep a good man down!! HAHA!!  Seriously, I will give you a call sometime soon or E-Mail a lengthy, wordy, verbose message.

 

Talk to you real soon - even though I did a week or two ago.  I'll write soon.

 

Best

 

TonyDi

aka you know who

 

 

 

The next best is (blush) use my tracks ALONG WITH live players, so you can have the accuracy and fullness of the full orchestra PLUS the excitement of the live players..  Again, I HIGHLY recommend that Numark CDN95 or CDN90 or CDN88 players, that allow you to immediately vary the tempo with the live singers and players.  It's a great setup!

 

Lastly, the tracks make a good SECOND choice if you just don't have the space or the local talent to allow you to represent the music adequately.  We pride ourselves in that our music "breathes" with the singers.  As a musical director/piano-conductor for over 30 years, I have almost a "fetish" about the music "feeling" correct. 

 

Anybody with a mouse can put in the right notes, but if you've ever run across some tracks made that way, you will notice that-they-sound-very-robotic.  We have a "bible" here that describes the physics of the instruments.

 

EXAMPLE:

 

A violin plays 8 eighth notes in a measure.  Easy, right?

 

Well, no.  A live violinist playing 8 bowed eighth notes (vs. 8 fingered notes) will have a spiccato attack, and usually, the first note is bowed down, and depending upon the notes required, will alternate up and down throughout the eight notes.

 

THE PHYSICS OF THE VIOLINIST:

 

In the case of a violinist doing the above mentioned alternating bow up/down, the UP bow is roughly 1/32 beat shorter than the DOWN bow note.  Additionally, unless the passage is legato (and this is true of most all instruments) the notes AREN'T eighth notes that are played, but rather 3/64th to 1/16th of a beat, eight notes, that are PLACED on the eighth note timing.

 

Try it yourself sometime.  Take a violin/flute/oboe, and place 8 eighth notes in a measure and play it back..  You might not be able to "place" it, but there's "something" that sounds wrong.  The notes are right, they are in the right place, but you're missing the human physics of how you are accustomed to HEARING 8 eighth notes..

 

This is the type of detail that our tracks are programmed for.. additionally, we use a sextet of live players (piano/bs/drums/2 winds), and sometimes the guitar guy.  Next we have several units of custom recorded instruments, stuff you can't possibly get on sample players, like claves, cymbal roll, whip crack (think JC Superstar or Sleigh Ride), train whistle (Music Man, Sweeney Todd), ratchet, trumpet trill, trumpet 16th note slide (jazz), trombone glisses, and so on..

 

Sorry about going on, I get a little passionate when talking about doing sequencing the RIGHT way vs. just a mouse or just a piano..  Makes a LOT of difference!

 

Rick

http://www.bway2.com/tracks - www.bway2.com/tracks

 

Give me a call anytime.  When I'm stuck in the studio for weeks at a time, it's nice to have a human being to talk to!! :)

 

Rick

http://www.bway2.com/tracks - www.bway2.com/tracks