Easy Harpsichord Without a Big Library

The basic MIDI instruments provided in a program are sometimes adequate "until".  These are often both affordable and enough for doing initial tracks in a home studio.  Still.... maybe you're ready for some new sounds...

If you don't want to invest in more MIDI instruments to import into your library,  you can always edit the simple instruments already there... which you most likely know.  Here's a hint for an instrument often overlooked in our repertoire as we develop new songs:  The old-fashioned harpsichord.  You know, Bach and all.

To get a twangy harpsichord sound,

Logic would indicate that you should play around with the sounds of one of the piano midi instruments  that GarageBand and other smaller programs may have.  After all,  it's a keyboard instrument.  

But this is easier:  Use "Clean Electric" or some similar one-string-plucking guitar MIDI instrument.   Play simple, somewhat slow arpeggios of chords.  The final sound does sound much like an old harpsichord.  

Much joy to you creating new sounds for new songs for The World!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

How to Add the Piano's Sustain Pedal Later

You do NOT have to re-do all your piano work if you recorded a "draft" track by reaching across your computer to the controller keyboard--  not using the "piano" pedal--  and decided you really like what you played.

  1.  Quantize your piano track.  (See earlier blogs for hints; 

                                              I suggest a fast quantize to 1/8th notes if you're in a rush.)

  2.  Go  to another keyboard track ("piano track")-- even one in
       another project -- where the pedal was used.
  3. At Count 1 in any measure, COPY  what looks like a fancy L
      with some dots after it under the SCORE on that track.

            (If the dots extend past the next measure line, find a different Pedal Mark to copy.)

  4. Ensuring that "Snap to Grid" is on,  go to the track you want to
      change, place the playhead (red line) on measure's Count 1,
      and paste.
  5. REPEAT  at the beginning of each measure where you want
      to add the sustain sound.

That's all there is to it! 

A hint I surely wished someone had shared with *me* before I re-played all those draft tracks over the years.... !

Much joy to you finding SHORTCUT  HINTS  for creating new music!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

Beating the Audio Track Joining Quirk, by DianaDee Osborne

Sometimes I find myself talking to my GarageBand program: 

        "You may as well do what I want  because I      

              AM going to win in the end!"                        

The program doesn't talk back... I'm only nicely crazy. I pray.

But I just shared this trick with a professional studio that uses ProLogic -- so one of my "WIN"s of old will help there.

So perhaps you don't know this trick.

Often we edit audio tracks, such as to cut out vocal breaths or copy in a special guitar riff.  We can join the separate regions if the first region bumps up to Count 1.

However, if the audio track starts later, the tracks won't join.

In both GarageBand and ProLogic, you have to bounce out the audio track and then pull it back in as a new track, then delete the old track.  Annoying.   EASY TRICK:

1.  Put the playhead (red bar) at Count 1 of the audio track.

2.  Hit the Record button, and then just wait a few moments, recording silence.  Then stop.

3.   You can now select each region (one at a time) and do the JOIN command.  They are sent out and then brought back onto the same track -- in a different color in GarageBand.

4.  If #2+3 did not work, you can also split out a tiny region of the audio track where there is no sound, and copy it to the front of the track.  Then do Step 3.

Much joy to you creating new music!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

Improve Studio Tracks While Traveling

Do you travel a lot?  Play an instruction CD  for improving an instrument, such as guitar or bass or sax.  EVEN IF YOU DON'T play the "real" instrument but use a controller.   You truly will find that your travel time helps you learn how to improve studio tracks.  Examples:

1.   You'll learn where to add  REALISTIC BREATH  rests for all woodwind and brass instruments.  A common FLUTE TRACK mistake is to forget that the player will pass out if there are no breath spots!

2.  Hearing the actual instrument will help you USE VOLUME controls to sound more realistic. For example, STRINGS TRACKS should waver and fade off at the end of a note....

3.  And you'll learn how to better use STACCATO (short choppy notes) to break that Strings rule (#2) and do the same with other controller instruments to create a light or jazzy mood.

4.  Especially important for instruments you don't actually play -- You'll learn a "FEEL" for the instrument's natural note range.  When I began supplementing live bass tracks with controller bass tracks, at first I sometimes included a note below the lowest B of a 5-string bass!  

5.  Finally for this list of benefits (but by far not all the reasons you'll improve studio tracks listening to CDs while traveling):

        You'll gain a feel for the natural capabilities of the instrument that cannot be duplicated easily on a controller.... Such as gorgeous deep slides for a bass, or fast trills of a flute,  or the resonating vibrato of cello.

So you'll learn when to seek out friends who will record the actual instrument for your music track!

May you have MUCH joy learning more and more for your music recordings!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

TRACK PAN Mistakes To Avoid

Here's something we may not have learned just by listening to music on a stereo system over the years: 

      No matter how it sounds, the recording does not put all music of one instrument to the right side and all of a 2nd instrument on the left for "balance."  

Of course, we can play with the balance to learn this.
And if you're going "duh",  please remember that this is a blog not for professionals... Just easy hints.  
       A history bit of trivia:  I've been told by a studio producer that "back in the days" when stereo recording was first used for rock bands, a famous band panned all guitars to one side and all drums to the other side.  Only later did they remember (from complaints) --- not all people had updated their record players to have stereo capabilities! Imagine the sound difference of no drums or bass on a driving rock song!

Track pan mistakes are common for beginners.
    For example, church volunteers recording a choir practice
often mistakenly put all the choir to one speaker and all the instruments to the other side.    This is *literally* painful, tiring out your ears,   straining to hear the desired side,  unless you're directly in front of both speakers.  Which you are not in a vehicle.  
    And of course, occasionally one speaker does go out...

EASY HINT--

1.  Keep the drums and lead instrument (probably keyboard) centered.
2.  If just a single vocal track, centered it.  If there are 2,  set one to "10:00" and the other to "2:00".  Or whatever pan you prefer.
3.  Pair up similar sounding tracks (in tone), and set one to 10:00 and the other to 2:00.
I like to pair  (flute & oboe)  and (violins & cello).

Much joy to you playing with music! Including, if you move to larger studio programs, having fun "writing" pans back and forth for weird effects!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

FAST Note Selection for Synth Timing Fixes, by DianaDee Osborne

In earlier blogs, I've taught an easy way to quickly fix the lagging feel for synth instruments like violin.   For example,  click on this link to see "Quick Fix for Lagging Horns and Violins".

Sometimes if you click on a single note,
then do a Select All command --
You find all the notes are selected but you cannot move the notes forward that bit  (explained in the other blog).
Here is why:

If the First NOTE in the region is on COUNT 1, 

then there is NOWHERE  FOR IT TO GO.

Because all notes are selected,  NONE of them will shift forward.

      Easy  fix:  

1.  Move your playhead (red line, etc) to the first measure of the region.  Of course, you need the Piano Roll window open to shift MIDI notes.
2.  Select all notes the usual way.
3.  While holding down the keyboard SHIFT key,  move the cursor to and touch the MIDI note for the first note of the first measure.  This DE-selects it.
4.  While all the other notes are still selected (highlighted green),  shift them slightly to the left of the measure lines so that the notes begin playing a moment before the click would hit....

In this way, the full sound of the SYNTH note is playing with the click track on Count 1.
MUCH JOY TO YOU as you keep your MIDI instruments from lagging!
©2013 DianaDee Osborne;  all rights reserved

Carry PEDAL TONES Through Arpeggios

  Do you want a music line that MOVES but has a sort of       COHESION... a  LOGIC  to it?    Pedal Tones provide one enjoyable method to accomplish this -- and they are easy with ANY  MIDI track for an instrument that can play chords, in any studio program.  Obviously this blog is about GarageBand. But the hint works for ProTools, LOGIC, Audacity, and other programs.

Here's an easy DEFINITION of Pedal Tone:    A music note that stays playing the same while other notes continue to move with changes.   The word "Pedal" obviously indicates that this is the LOW note... the word comes from "foot" in Latin.    But if you don't care about pleasing the THEORY  TEACHERs,  it's easy to CREATE YOUR OWN RULES for your own music....
            If you like,  let the highest or the middle note in your chord be the one that stays the same. EXAMPLEs:   Listen to BACH's music sometime.  Or, if you suffered through it as I did, HANON provides great examples of the same -- that one note that is repeatedly played while other notes move on.

METHOD in your studio program -- very easy.

For this example, we'll assume you are using    FLUTE   as the MIDI track, with the HIGHEST  note being your "pedal tone."  In fact,  I like to use   SYNTH PAD - FUTURE FLUTE  in GarageBand.
        Music theorists will cringe.... "pedal tone" is defined as lowest.  But hey, it's our music to create and enjoy our own way. 
1.    Create your FLUTE track as usual with broken chords ("ARPEGGIOs").  But have the SAME NOTE start at COUNT 1  for each measure,  OR  on Count 1 of every other measure.
2.    Quantize the notes (unless jazz or swing, of course) in the SCORE bar;  see previous blogs for hints.  In the following example,   the A note is the Pedal Tone repeated through the music.  These are not typical Root-3-5 chords, but sus and 6 and etc chords (which is NOT important unless you think only R-3-5 chords can be played in arpeggio style, one note at a time!)

3.    Change from the SCORE bar to the Piano Roll (MIDI) bar.  Highlight each note and SHORTEN NOTES that overlap each other EXCEPT  for the high PEDAL TONE  note  you selected.

4.  NOW  highlight each PEDAL TONE note and ensure that it continues through 3 of the 4 counts in a measure  (for 4/4 time;  or 2 counts of 3/4 time).

5.  CHECK THE LOUDNESS ("Velocity" in GarageBand) of each Pedal Tone note and ADJUST as needed so that they are all about the same.  In the example, the 3rd note is lighter green (when all notes are selected), meaning that it needs to be a bit louder to match the other HIGH Pedal Tones.

HERE IS THE PEDAL TONES  FLUTE  for this example:    Click For AUDIO 

THAT'S  ALL  THERE IS  to having fun creating a 
COHESIVE  SOUND    with a pedal tone in your song!

Much joy to you in creating your own music --- and ignoring standard music theory when desired!
©2013 DianaDee Osborne; all rights reserved