Piano: Learn To Play Music In Time

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:21:45 +0000

It is a good thing to be on the right place at the right time, is it not? Sometimes we call this ability timing. When you play piano this is a very important skill. The result will be music!

To play the notes at your piano on the right keys and with timing does not mean that your notes will be played with mathematic precision. That would probably not be music.

This is why a metronome will only help you halfway to this goal.

You have to learn timing together with other people and by listening to good musicians.

You learn timing when you learn to react musically upon other musicians playing.

In music there is usually a pulse. To be able to discern this pulse and become a part of this groove is something we can develop. When you have acquired this skill your own playing will contribute to a good end result musically.

Well, how then can you feel this pulse in music?

You can dance or just move to music. When your whole body feels the pulse you are certainly on the right track. How the actual dancing is performed is no big deal, at least not as far as developing your pulse is concerned.

I guess the most important matter is to cultivate the feeling of floating or surfing on the waves of music without any effort.

Another important and effective way to develop timing in your piano playing is to play drums.

I think this would be of great benefit to all musicians. To be able to create rhythmic patterns when drumming will help you a lot as a pianist.

Actually, drums are not necessary! They can be quite expensive as we all know. You can improvise rhytmic patterns on you laps using you own hands. Quite cheap solution, really.

Just one example, try to play eights by alternating between your hands and place the accent in different hands as you play. I feel that this is a very stimulating exercise for my mind. Maybe a form of meditation.

Another way to develop your sense of pulse in your piano playing is to buy a metronome. This is nowadays a very little musical device that will give a 100% even pulse and it will help you learn to play in different tempos.

As it is 100% accurate it is best not you use it all the time you play. Another more sophisticated rhythmic aid is a rhythm machine. Can also be bought as software to your computer and it has nearly unlimited possibilities.

As before mentioned the art of timing is not the same as mathematically perfect piano playing. Well, in some music styles it might be appropriate to play piano in this way.

When I use my recording software and for example take a look at the bass parts I produce I can see on the graphic representation on my computer screen that I often play before or after the beats on my bass guitar.

As you probably know the notes can be quantisized with the help of the software to play exactly “accurate”. Well, what mostly happens is that the whole production loses something very important. The music disappears.

I usually play the bass guitar parts either ahead of the beat or a bit laid back to create energy in the music.

My definition of pulse is something that is musical and a form of painting feelings with rhythm and notes. To be on time in music is to share your musical feelings with others.

By: Peter Edvinsson

Tips For Balancing Your CD Recording

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:22:54 +0000

If you want to successfully record a CD, you have to get the balance right. No matter whether you are recording, mixing, mastering or polishing up your production, you need to keep in mind the overall balance in order to create the best possible sound. This doesn’t have to be a difficult process. You just need to keep some basic ideas in mind as you complete each stage of production. The following tips can help you balance your CD recording successfully:

1. Volume. The volume levels of the various instruments in your recording can impact the overall sound quality and effect. This means that if your end result doesn’t sound quite right, you may be able to fix the problem relatively easily by checking the volume levels of each instrument component. These should be checked individually as well as in combination together and balanced accordingly. Certain waves can also have volume envelopes and these should also be checked.

2. Frequencies. Every sound wave has a different frequency and if they are distorted or too high they can affect the sound of the rest of the instrumentation. When you find unwanted sounds from the process itself in your CD recording, sound frequency levels may well be the problem.

3. Software Settings. A lot of music making software is designed with automatic settings for instruments to make it easy to make sound recordings without a great deal of experience. Unfortunately, this programming can also make it difficult to balance the recording. Many sound engineers struggle to create the right balance in a recording, not realizing that they are being sabotaged by a standard computer program. This problem is easily fixed by turning off the automatic settings. You will then more easily be able to find the right balance.

4. Waves. Balancing your recording is intimately involved with monitoring and adjusting the wave files in the recording. To balance the overall sound in a recording it is important to consider where the sound waves peak, where they trough, and how they can best be manipulated to achieve the desired sound. By ensuring that waves are balanced at each step of your recording process, you will maintain an evenness of sound from beginning to end.

5. Keep it Simple. Computerized recording software can encourage first recordings to experiment with new sounds and effects. Unfortunately, this temptation can often cause novices to create imbalances in the recording or to even to destroy the original sound of the song. The simpler you keep your recording, the more likely you are to get the balance and sound that you want.

6. Stick to the Middle. When considering the overall effect of your music, try to keep as close to the middle of the sound range as possible for each element of the recording.

7. Sound Check your Instruments. Sometimes the problems are with the instruments themselves. You can save yourself a lot of trouble later by checking that sound is even amongst the different instruments you are using. Sometimes, one instrument will throw all the others off causing a song to sound either too high or too low. Taking the time to get the balance right with the instruments before you start recording can make it a lot easier to get the right balance when the track is laid down.

At the end of the day, getting the right sound from your recording comes down to monitoring the balance of instruments before you even begin, checking the balance during the different recording stages and finally balancing wave files and the overall sound at the end of the process. If you take these steps, you will be able to create a recording with the sound you want.

By: Kevin Sinclair

Music Recording Software » End Result

Piano: Learn To Play Music In Time

Tips For Balancing Your CD Recording