If you don’t know, I wrote a song called “The Trumpet Song.” It’s in the dub plate section if you want to hear it. It’s one of my favorite songs that I have written. It took a long time to write. Originally it was something else but after a few months of working on it in my spare time something happened and I ended up deleting almost everything and completely changing it.
Recently I submitted it to be a part of a compilation. Unfortunately it was denied. Reason being that they didn’t like the trumpet sound. I agree that the trumpet sound is not the best in the world. After thinking about it I recalled why I chose that particular muted trumpet sample. I hope people don’t mistake this post about being bitter about what happened. I’m not bitter about being rejected nor am I trying to rationalize the reason I used that sample. I’ve been rejected countless times from labels and if I really wanted to release it I could release through SIQ Records.
First off the reason I used that is because I could never find the right sounding sample. I was looking for which is that old muted trumpet sound of Miles Davis. This particular sample gave me the sound I was searching for, dirty and gritty and muted. Second, this actually contradicts one of the reasons it was denied. They said that it “doesn’t 100% communicate its own intention.” I really disagree with this. It’s evident of the feeling that everything is synthetic, no real instruments being recorded, etc. Because of that the lead instrument is the key indicator of it. I think it is obvious that was my intention due to those long trumpet note holds that are pretty much impossible and the synth bass and guitar sample (which I did not sample from Roni Size. It’s a Logic 7 preset.) The third reason I chose that sample is because there is the trend in music software to emulate analog gear and a strive for realistic sounds. Nothing wrong with that, but I also don’t see anything wrong with the opposite. I feel this song is a statement that implies that things can be synthetic and organic at the same time.
I feel like I am the only person who really appreciates the sound of that muted trumpet sample. Because of the thoughts mentioned above I have decided to not to bother to try improve the sound because that would be changing the original artistic vision of the song. In the end it really comes down to the question of do I want to sacrifice the artistic vision to have it released by someone else or not. I choose not. I was in the same situation with “Depths of Alpha,” and I decided that I prefer my artistic vision.
