Music Sheets TEMPO INFORMATION

Music Sheets TEMPO INFORMATION 

DATE of posting:       14 May 2018      SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

OTHER MUSIC NOTATION TYPES

After you have created your music project, whether in GarageBand or another program, 
you might choose a music format that was NOT built from that project's software.
For example, the

Osborne TExt Notation (OTEN) system

described at www.DianaDeeOsborneSongs.com Resources tab for Music Method

tells you how to easily put your music into a written form for yourself
and other musicians without the "foreign language" of symbols like ♬ or ♮ or ♭ or ♪ .

How do you test to find right Tempo for song?

GREAT TRICK:
Use an odd-number tempo while you are still in draft stage,
and are not yet quite settled on how fast you want your music to go.
On your music sheet, include information such as TEMPO: 113 bpm (odd number).

After you decide what tempo you want -- 
because a difference even of only 8 beats per minute can turn a dragging piece 
into a more popping song--

1. Ensure that the GarageBand /program tempo is changed to an EVEN number, and

2. Mark the music sheet to match, such as TEMPO: 114 bpm

3. Make the font for the music sheet's number BOLD.

Afterwards, you will always know when looking at your music sheet
that you have verified the tempo and do not need to return to the program to ensure your sheet is correct.

Much joy in Music Writing to you! Creating something that has never before existed in the universe.... something uniquely out of YOUR mind only, that no one else would have thought of in the exact creative form you did..... music is such a joy! And remember --

YOUR music is NEVER wrong!

If you have clashing notes
(as I OFTEN do in my 500+ songs, see DianaDeeOsborneSongs.com),
they are still right if  YOU   say  so! That's your creative mind at work!

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

©2018, 2012 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 18 February 2012)

DisguIsing the Off-Key Vocal Notes

DISGUISING OFF-KEY VOCAL NOTES

DATE of posting:    8 May 2018       SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

So the vocal line is great except for one tiny little EAR-catching off-key note! 
What do you do without a fancy ($$) program that does pitch correct?
Especially if the vocalist cannot return to sing that section again?

FUN HINT on how to DISGUISE the note.
You probably have several instruments playing simulataneously with the vocal track.

1. Pick the single-note instrument, such as flute or sax.
Piano with all its notes is ok but not as effective in catching the listener's attention.

2. Go to that instrument's notes that surround the slightly-off vocal note.

3. Ensure that the instrument's track at that point does NOT
repeat / include the correct vocal note! After all.... the singer MIGHT have followed it....


4.  Create harmony notes at this area with the instrument track. 
Notes can go  above and/or below  the vocal note.
 "Busy" (like 1/8th notes) can be a friend, but not required .

5.  Adjust the volume of the instrument's notes so that they 
stand "above" the vocal in the surrounding area somewhat -- 
not enough to be really noticeable, but enough to detract attention from the vocal.

6. If still needed, open the volume track, open the audio region to be 'wide', and reduce the volume of the offensive note:)

And of course, if all else fails....
call the vocalist in to re-sing the piece,
or learn to just enjoy the fact that music is to be fun, not always perfect!

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

©2018, 2012 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 8 January 2012)

Get Out the MIDI Buzz - by DianaDee Osborne

GET OUT THE MIDI BUZZ   

DATE of posting:       1 May 2018     SUBSCRIBE  
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RECORDING HINTS -- written about using  GarageBand -- BUT
these Hints help increase your skills in ProTools, Logic, etc. 

QUALITY CHECKs:

This is one of my final Quality Check steps to get a better sound from MIDI instruments.
1. Go into the SCORE section of the music.

2. Select a short section. Working about 4 measures at a time,
click ABOVE the first music note, then hold the mouse button as you
drag the cursor down to the lowest note and then to
the right-most bottom of the 4th or so measure.

3. Look at then length of the notes -- 
especially the last note in a measure.
THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR SAX, HORN, and other "harsh" loud instruments.

4. If you see a note that has extended past the measure line,
click on it and shorten its length.

5. A previous blog Hint provided more details about "quantizing" (the timing)
and ensuring all notes are short enough to not "bleed" or extend into the next note --
 the next note will not be heard if the earlier note lasts too long.

These SIMPLE STEPS get rid of 
a LOT of buzz -- especially for loud songs like rock and funk.
Finally:
6. If a review shows a specific measure where buzzing still happens,
 check each individual track that is playing at that point. 
TWO STEPS:
__a.   Most likely, you hit the controller keyboard a little harder for a note
and need to lower its Velocity (also in the music notation section;
 if in the MIDI view, loud notes will be in a brighter green in GarageBand).
__b.  If STILL Louder,  see my blog about GHOST NOTES:  You probably
got a HIDDEN note behind another when you quantized.  LINK to steps
to FIND IT if you cannot right away:
FINDING GHOST NOTES  >>    LINK
https://dianadeegarageband.blogspot.com/2018/01/fixing-ghost-notes.html

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

©2018, 2012 DianaDee Osborne;  all publication rights reserved

(An earlier version published 2 January 2012)

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)