SCORE Sheet Length Control - by DianaDee Osborne

SCORE SHEET LENGTH CONTROL  

DATE of posting:       27 April 2018   SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

Have you ever highlighted a GarageBand music track in 
its "Score" mode,   clicked on File > Print > Preview

and watched a DOZEN pages 
of music sheets pop up on your screen?

Before you waste all that paper (and confuse anyone who might try to read your score), 
here are TWO SIMPLE METHODS for shortening the length of your score:

(1 - The QUICK easy one).  
While the Score for the music track you want to print is in the window, 
adjust the width of the music measures you see 
with the slider at the   bottom left right below "Auto Align to".

HINT: The SCORE will include the Track's Name under the Project Title; you can change it to be longer, more descriptive, if desired.

__ a. Slide it MORE to the left (not all the way) to make your measures more narrow.
__ b. Return to  File > Print > Preview.
__ c. If there are only a few lines of music notes on one page,  
              repeat steps 1a and 1b   to tighten them.
If you cannot make the score any tighter, make it wider to be easier to read & fill a page more. 

__ d. Return to File > Print > Preview   AND set the print range to
pages 1 through the last page that has music notes on it.

Then when you print, whether to a printer or to a PDF file, 
you'll get a shorter SCORE!

(2 - Still easy but more time consuming). 
If your song has multiple verses, the method above will 
print EVERY verse. Here's how to get just 1 verse,  
for a  much SHORTER SCORE!

Let's assume you want to print the PIANO score.
Ensure SNAP TO GRID is on.
a. Highlight your piano track (not the notes in the Score view) -- 
both the MIDI track and the NAME of the track (for example "Grand Piano on Stage" - my fav).

b. Go to Track > Duplicate Track. A new UN-populated (in GB, not other programs) track 
appears. 
RE-NAME this track, such as SCORE PIANO. 
 [All files in your computer's file list are grouped under "Score" if you put the instrument name last.] **THIS IS THE NAME THAT APPEARS on GarageBand SCORE printouts. You ARE allowed odd characters like & or +).

c. Hit the HOME key to move the red line (playhead) to Measure 1.1.001.

d. Return to the piano track and copy its MIDI notes onto the new track (Ensure still at 1.1.001).

e. Play your music, and then STOP and 
SPLIT the track at the end of the first Verse+Chorus (etc.) -- in front of music that repeats.
(See other blogs for hints on how to SPLIT TRACKS).
 
f. If you have a special ending such as a Tag, do a SPLIT in front of that also.

g. Delete the MIDI region (if any) in between the main region and the Tag region.

h.  (SNAP TO GRID is still on - via Control Menu). 
Then slide the Tag region to begin after the main region, with at least 3 empty measures 
so musicians can see the break.

i. IMPORTANT --- now MUTE the new SCORE track!  
Otherwise you'll get an 'interesting' result when you play your project!

THAT'S IT! An easy way to shorten your score!

Much joy to you creating new music!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 23 December 2011)

MUSIC BOX CREATION - by DianaDee Osborne

MUSIC BOX CREATION 

DATE of posting:       24 April 2018    SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

THIS IS  FUN  TO KNOW!!! --

Easy way to create a music box sound without recording someone's
probably-copyrighted music off a purchased music box:

1. Create a music track that uses the
CLEAN GUITAR  or  STEEL STRING ACOUSTIC,
or some similar guitar.... By the way, if played as a regular piano, it sounds like harpsichord.

2. Play the melody you want for the music box.

How to get that cool unique HARMONY of a music box:

You might notice that music boxes often have a low note that continues
frequently through the song. This is called a "pedal tone."

3. Select a lower note that often fits with the melody note.
EASY music creation that combines steps 2 and 3:
Select chord progressions that have a common note,
and   keep that note on the bottom.

Example:
Dm > G/D > Bm7/D (has a slight clash-y sound like music boxes) > Am7/G > resolve to Dm.
The D note stays on the bottom for 3 of the 4 chords.

"English" definition of that example which is easy for guitarists but not all other musicians:
1.  D minor chord
2.  G (major) chord with a D on the bottom  (D G B)
3.  B minor chords with a D on bottom-- a slight clash (D F# B)
4.  A minor chord with a 7th - the G - on the bottom  (G A C E)
5.  D minor chord.

For a music box example fitting into a classical OR rock OR hip hop sound,
check out my song PSALM 134 ASCENDING at my main website, DiDoReflections.com

Much joy to you creating new music!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 2 December 2011)

Why Doesn't MIDI Hit on Beat? - by DianaDee Osborne

WHY DOESN'T MIDI  NOTE HIT  ON BEAT?

DATE of posting:       20 April 2018     SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

Let's say you've quantized your MIDI instrument such as violin synth or bass synth.
That is, you've selected notes, gone into the GarageBand SCORE region, and selected
Auto Align to
for all the quarter and eight notes.... but 
the instrument sometimes still is not "hitting" on Count 1
of the measure. Why not? How do you fix this?

Here's an Easy fix --

There's a huge chance that your MIDI notes are too long.
1. Go into the Piano Roll view of the notation section.
2. Look at MIDI notes near the end of each measure.
    Are some of them so long that they cross into the next measure?

3. If so, it's an easy fix: Just shorten the long notes so they don't cross the measure bar.

MAYBE STEP 4:  Just trying to shorten them a BIT may take TOO MUCH.
Another easy fix:
__ 4a.  Go up into the menu and TURN OFF   SNAP TO GRID.
__ 4b.  Spread out the notes section view.... That gives you more control.
__ 4c.  NOW shorten the notes a bit...
__ 4d.  TURN ON    SNAP TO GRID.


NOTE: This is most important for COUNT 1. The ear doesn't notice other counts so much.
REASON for the problem:
The last MIDI note of a measure will usually continue to be heard if it
extends into the next measure...
and THEREFORE note which you had quantized for count 1 of the next measure
often can't be heard in time.  Until you did this easy fix!

Much joy to you fixing regular beats in music!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 6 November 2011)

Easy Flute and Sax Synth Hints

EASY FLUTE & SAX SYNTH HINTS 

DATE of posting:       17 April 2018     SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

It's hard & expensive to find instrument players.

Synth flute and sax played on a keyboard (controller) obviously
will not sound "real" to ACTUAL  flute and sax players...
but my easy hints help you get closer.

1. Remember that wind instrument players have to breathe!
Deliberately add breaks, even if they're short.
Think of where *you* would have to breathe if you were actually playing the instrument.
Logical places for songs with words are at the ends of sentences or phrases.

2. Don't accidentally create di-tones or chords.
That is, go into the "Piano Roll" (notation) section and
ensure that the MIDI notes barely touch into each other. 
You don't want 2 or 3 MIDI notes in the same space 
for wind synth instruments. 
In fact, staccato (very short MIDI notes) such as for flute 
especially gives a playful or joyful sound.

(Actual violins are played with one note blending more into the other, so the MIDI notes can overlap a little... not too much.)

Easy but important fix: 
If you look at the MIDI notes and see overlap,
you can often do a better edit shortening those notes if your first
turn OFF "Snap to Grid". That enables you to have
quarter notes that smoothly extend a bit into the next quarter notes
but without the di-tone -- defined as 2 full notes being played simultaneously.

3. If there's a "muddy" sound or the meter is running 'hot,'
even after you shortened the note lengths, check (in GB) the
"brighteness" of the green MIDI note which indicates VOLUME level generally:
See if you accidentally played some notes louder than others.
If so, select those notes, go to Velocity, and lower the volume number.

4. "Quantize" notes easily (so they hit on the metronome count):
a. In the SCORE section, highlight one note, go to Edit > Select All.
b. Go to Align To (under the Piano Roll button) and select 1/8 Note.
That gives a quick quantizing.
c. Then in the SCORE section, highlight all actual 1/4 notes PLUS the first note of a pair
of 1/8th notes. Go to Align To and select 1/4 note.

d. Check the MIDI section... for faster music, some of the notes will be one above the other after quantizing.  IMPT: TURN ON  SNAP TO GRID

d. Finally:  Slide the 2nd note over to be in its place.  Hit SAVE after all that work!

Much joy to you "playing" wind instruments
realistically!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 30 October 2011)

Out-of-Phase Drum Loops - by DianaDee Osborne

OUT-OF-PHASE DRUM LOOPS   

DATE of posting:       13 April 2018     SUBSCRIBE 
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

FUN GRUNGE!! --

Here's a fun experiment to create a "thick" grungy sound for different drum mood:

1. Create a standard MIDI drum loop, anything you like. Not TOO busy is best while experimenting. The "out of phase" will add a lot of double-hits.

You can copy as many loops as you like (steps 2 & 3):

2. Go to Track >Duplicate Track and create another drum track.

3. The "Duplicate Track" command in GarageBand doesn't do what the command does
in some other programs... you get an empty track!
Fix: copy your populated (original) drum regions onto new track.
___ 4a.   Hit "home" to place the marker on the very first count.
___ 4b   Paste the copy of the drum track on the new 2nd track.
___ 4c   If the track NOTES REGION does not being on Count 1, just
extend the front to add empty space back to Count 1.

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as many times as you'd like. More = More grunge
(so you'll have to watch Volume levels to be sure you don't kill your speakers!).

Here's where the FUN comes!!

7. IMPORTANT: Turn OFF   Snap To Grid   (under Control).
8. Open the region editor of the 2nd, duplicated,  drum track.
9. Widen the view to SPREAD OUT NOTES: That gives more control in Step 10.

10. Grab the 2nd track and very slightly drag it about  1/16th   or at most 1/8th 
of a count into the first measure.  REPEAT STEPS 8-10 FOR EACH TRACK.

The result? 
You get an "off kilter" or "out of phase" sound
when you play the drum tracks together.
Add a grungy guitar and heavy bass to begin a power packed new song!

Much joy to you creating new music!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 29 October 2011)

SPLITTING PROBLEMS Fix - by DianaDee Osborne

SPLITTING PROBLEMS Fix     SUBSCRIBE  

DATE of posting:       6 April 2018  morning  

https://dianadeegarageband.blogspot.com - 

RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

"Why won't that stupid track split right?" was my 26 January 2018 blog hint... 

https://dianadeegarageband.blogspot.com/2018/01/making-stupid-track-split-right.html
LINK  HERE

This is "part 2." Let's say you've auto-aligned ("quantized") every note around
where you want to split the track. (See February 6, 2018 for hints there, too)  >> LINK 
Yet every time you try to split the track, 
you get a 1/32nd note or worse 
on one side of the split.
It feels like the thing is bragging   "eewww, you were SO close, tough luck!"

Here's how to "win" when GarageBand is stubborn.
1. Be sure you've selected Control > Snap to Grid. Then try again.
If that doesn't work?
2. Put the red place marker right on top of the note flag of the "after" measure. Somehow GB thinks the tiny bit of space in front means you want that space in the earlier region when you do the split.
If that doesn't work? Hey, I've tried a lot... usually something does!

3. If this is a PIANO track where you used the sustain pedal,
then this is probably "The" hint for you:
When you quantize, you **must include the Ped. marks below the bottom staff.**
Except perhaps to some music-purist, that really doesn't change the sound.
But it (1) makes your printed score look more professional, and
(2) cures a lot of track-splitting problems.

Finally -- and this is where you really "win" the battle:

If nothing else works,
go to the first chord in the measure that you want to be Measure 1 of the 2nd region after your split is done.
1. Again quantize all of that chord "just to be sure" -- including the Ped. mark if there.
2. Go to Control > Snap to Grid and be sure it is OFF.

3. Select all the notes in the chord. Be sure to catch all -- look high & low literally!
Some piano notes are widespread in chords.

4. Go to Piano Roll in the Notation View. The selected notes are a different color.

5. Move the entire set of notes slightly to the right.

6. Do the split again, and check the Score view of the notation.
There shouldn't be any 1/32nd notes ending Region 1 this time.

7. Re-select that chord. Auto-align to 1/4 notes (no matter what kind of notes they are or what your signature type is).

You should now have two neatly split tracks, 

despite  the recording program's challenges!

Much joy to you creating new music despite probs!
Lots of Examples to hear free at http://www.DianaDeeOsbornesongs.com/

©2018, 2011 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 13 September 2011)