Rather than talk about how to do something, I will mostly talk about concepts and maybe ideas what to do rather than specifically how to do it. The reason is, most of the tools have extensive resources on their site on HOW. They just don't deal with What or Why.
So today, I want to talk about matching in parts from different kits or from outside sources. In addition to the Mixcraft loops and loops I built, I acquired a set of loops online, from a website called Prime Loops. There a lot of sites out there that supply them, some of them for free. Though I have yet to find a free site that isn't in some way funky (and I am not talking Parliament). Prime Loops has good loops, and they are reasonably priced. They are not the only site that fits that description, but they are the ones I chose.
The most daunting part of the project is importing them and doing the data quality. You don't HAVE to do that step, but I am doing it because it will allow me to search for them more easily later rather than just clicking on the imported list and fishing through them that way. So I am changing the names, adding the key where it is missing, and placing them into song kits. You can just leave them in imported and listen to them to see if they fit the project you are working on.
Loops can be altered, gently using Mixcraft and radically using something like Audacity, which I will cover later. Mixcraft allows you to alter things like the key and tempo to match a project. Not all loops will sound good when altered in either of those two ways, but some will sound fine, or maybe even better than the original.
So on Project Alpha I used some imported and altered loops. I am pretty sure you wont be able to tell from listening to this which parts are which. In fact, I will guess that most people will guess parts that came from this kit actually are the foreign parts. Part of that is the magic of arrangement, and part is the choice of sounds they included in the original kit. The new bits were altered for both pitch and tempo, but I think it sounds pretty good. Of course, that is the reason to make your own music in the first place isn't it. If this sort of thing isn't your style, then there are plenty of things out there to make your own favorites.
By using the ability to alter pieces, you can get a melody you like matched with a beat you like, and other supporting instruments that may not come in a given kit. It also allows you to use a number of different voices and melodies in sequence to change up what may seem to be a bit too homogeneous, or fill out a kit you like, that simply came with too few parts to make anything full length.
Anyway, thats all I have for today. Thanks for playing along.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tools: Mixcraft
There are a lot of tools I have found, some cost money, some cost more money. Though I have done this fairly inexpensively, as it is a hobby not a vocation. There are a few free tools out there, I will talk about those also as I get more experience with them. Mixcraft is relatively inexpensive, and you can buy 1 license and use it on your laptop and your desktop if you want to take it with you.
I have talked about arranging. Let me be clear what I am talking about. I am not taking "a Canon in D" and arranging it for a middle school band, which is something my father-in-law Jack could do probably during his lunch break, but that is what he does for a living, and he is very good at it. What I am talking about is quite literally arranging music samples or loops as they are sometimes called, into something that sounds like music.
So here is the library of loops that come with Mixcraft 6 arranged by "song kit." That is pretty much exactly what it sounds like a complimentary set of loops that work well together like a kit. As you can see the loops range widely in length. This kit has loops that range from 1 bar (4 beats) to 32 bars (128 beats or just over 1 minute at 120 BPM).
Here is an example of the mixcraft interface with 1 loop inserted in it.
You can see the loop, this one happens to be 8 bars or 32 beats long which at the 120 BPM tempo is roughly 15 seconds.
Now I am not going to get into all the advanced features in this blog. If this is something tha interests you, you can download a demo version and try it out. You can aslo find many instructional videos on their web site and on youtube.
It is pretty common for a song to be between 3 and 4 minutes in length with some going a bit longer and some going a LOT longer. So when you are arranging your loops, some math must be done to figure out how long everything is. At 4:4 time and 120BPM, 120 bars would be 4 minutes. So you have to put quite a few of these piecces together to make a full song. With each loop generally being one "instrument."
What a full project looks like:
This one is a version of TechJazz1 so you can see a lot of little parts go into making one big thing. But all I did is take a number of small puzzle pieces and arrange them in the order you hear them in. Pretty cool huh? All it takes is some time and an ear for what you like. That's it. No special skills required.
So for the time being, if you read about me doing arranging, this is what I am talking about. If you hear me refer to sampling, it is crating the loops to be used here, whether by playing them and recording directly, or by figuring out what I want it to sound like, and using a MIDI editor. Something that is also pretty easy, we will get to that later.
Thanks for playing along.
I have talked about arranging. Let me be clear what I am talking about. I am not taking "a Canon in D" and arranging it for a middle school band, which is something my father-in-law Jack could do probably during his lunch break, but that is what he does for a living, and he is very good at it. What I am talking about is quite literally arranging music samples or loops as they are sometimes called, into something that sounds like music.
Here is an example of the mixcraft interface with 1 loop inserted in it.
You can see the loop, this one happens to be 8 bars or 32 beats long which at the 120 BPM tempo is roughly 15 seconds.
Now I am not going to get into all the advanced features in this blog. If this is something tha interests you, you can download a demo version and try it out. You can aslo find many instructional videos on their web site and on youtube.
It is pretty common for a song to be between 3 and 4 minutes in length with some going a bit longer and some going a LOT longer. So when you are arranging your loops, some math must be done to figure out how long everything is. At 4:4 time and 120BPM, 120 bars would be 4 minutes. So you have to put quite a few of these piecces together to make a full song. With each loop generally being one "instrument."
What a full project looks like:
This one is a version of TechJazz1 so you can see a lot of little parts go into making one big thing. But all I did is take a number of small puzzle pieces and arrange them in the order you hear them in. Pretty cool huh? All it takes is some time and an ear for what you like. That's it. No special skills required.
So for the time being, if you read about me doing arranging, this is what I am talking about. If you hear me refer to sampling, it is crating the loops to be used here, whether by playing them and recording directly, or by figuring out what I want it to sound like, and using a MIDI editor. Something that is also pretty easy, we will get to that later.
Thanks for playing along.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Music is really hard. Or is it?
One of the things a lot of people I know think about music is that it is really hard to learn, and that you need to have talent to do it. Well, like any other profession, on the high end of things, those things are both true. Systems Engineering isn't exactly a walk in the park, and if you are going to be one of the best at it, it requires some talent. However, getting into the IT field is relatively easy.
The same rules apply to music. Some things seem daunting, like scales and chords. If you want to learn all of them, yes. However, a little knowledge can go a long way.
Lets take the C (referred to as C Major) scale as an example. The notes in the scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The observant will notice this is all of the major notes, and the order is just slightly out of alphabetical order. Anyone who has played piano also knows that is what comprises the white keys in each octave. If we look at another scale D (D Major) it is D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. So you can see the pattern is close here, except we have a couple sharps, the F and the C. Since we know there are a bunch of combinations in major and minor, it can seem to get confusing quickly. We also have modes which complicate things further. The thing is, chances are you have something in mind you want to play. Each piece of music is played in a particular key, some will oscillate or change keys, but a that isn't something you need to get into on day one.
Most modern music styles, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Dance, etc. are played with a finite group of keys, and using a limited number of modes, or no modes at all. This means that you can get into it without memorizing the whole thing, you just need to know what Key, Scale, and Mode you are working with on a particular piece of music. With this along tempo and time, you have all the basics covered. I will cover some of this stuff in more detail in other posts around particular pieces of music, but lets just say that your goal, as a novice who doesn't really want to go out and learn all of this stuff at once from a professional teacher, the idea is to limit the number of variables.
So for instance on my music page, there are (or will be soon) a couple versions of a song called Jen's Jazz (the filenames are smoothjam, smoothjamv2, and smoothjamnokb). This arrangement is done in the Key of D. So the chords and notes are largely pulled from the D Maj scale. Some of the instruments may be using different modes, but the central voice in the piece is a soprano sax, which as far as I can tell, is just using the standard D scale. While I arranged the full length piece, I noticed there was something missing. There it was lacking depth and none of the samples available to me solved the problem. So I decided to sample my own. You can here what it sounds like without my samples by listening to "smoothjamnokb".
In order to do that, I needed a midi keyboard, which I have, and some basic musical tricks. I laid down a series of chords and used them to accompany the track. The same piece of music with the keyboard bit I created is here "smoothjamv2". I think it makes a pretty big difference. But it is just a series of basic chords.
So what is a chord? It is just a few notes played together. While this can get even more complicated than scales, a basic cord is made up of 3 notes from the scale. The root note, the 3rd note and the 5th note. So a D maj chord is D, F#, and A. So as I knew what key the piece was in, and I just jotted down all the base chords in D. Then with the music playing I played chords on my keyboard using a basic trial and error method until I found some that sounded good. I also used another musical trick. Its called the 1,4,5 chord progression. A lot of music can be played by using the 1st, 4th, and 5th chord in the key and flourished using notes from those chords. We are a bit too early into this to be adept at flourishing, so we will stick to just accompanying with chords for now. So, the chords I put down are the 1st, the 4th and the 5th, or D maj (DF#A), G maj (GBD), and A maj (AC#E). I only got a little tricky in that in the different sections I play them in a different order and at at a different pace, and I invert one of the chords (play the 3rd and 5th from an octave and the root of the next higher octave) for a section.
Now keep in mind I have only been at this whole music thing a short time. So, this is a trick I picked up on the interwebs, was able to execute, and I think, makes a big difference in that arrangement. It isn't rocket science, it is simply reducing the variables, working with a finite set of notes and chords, and figuring out what sounds good to my ear. Anyone can do it. Really.
Anyway, until next time..
The same rules apply to music. Some things seem daunting, like scales and chords. If you want to learn all of them, yes. However, a little knowledge can go a long way.
Lets take the C (referred to as C Major) scale as an example. The notes in the scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The observant will notice this is all of the major notes, and the order is just slightly out of alphabetical order. Anyone who has played piano also knows that is what comprises the white keys in each octave. If we look at another scale D (D Major) it is D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. So you can see the pattern is close here, except we have a couple sharps, the F and the C. Since we know there are a bunch of combinations in major and minor, it can seem to get confusing quickly. We also have modes which complicate things further. The thing is, chances are you have something in mind you want to play. Each piece of music is played in a particular key, some will oscillate or change keys, but a that isn't something you need to get into on day one.
Most modern music styles, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Dance, etc. are played with a finite group of keys, and using a limited number of modes, or no modes at all. This means that you can get into it without memorizing the whole thing, you just need to know what Key, Scale, and Mode you are working with on a particular piece of music. With this along tempo and time, you have all the basics covered. I will cover some of this stuff in more detail in other posts around particular pieces of music, but lets just say that your goal, as a novice who doesn't really want to go out and learn all of this stuff at once from a professional teacher, the idea is to limit the number of variables.
So for instance on my music page, there are (or will be soon) a couple versions of a song called Jen's Jazz (the filenames are smoothjam, smoothjamv2, and smoothjamnokb). This arrangement is done in the Key of D. So the chords and notes are largely pulled from the D Maj scale. Some of the instruments may be using different modes, but the central voice in the piece is a soprano sax, which as far as I can tell, is just using the standard D scale. While I arranged the full length piece, I noticed there was something missing. There it was lacking depth and none of the samples available to me solved the problem. So I decided to sample my own. You can here what it sounds like without my samples by listening to "smoothjamnokb".
In order to do that, I needed a midi keyboard, which I have, and some basic musical tricks. I laid down a series of chords and used them to accompany the track. The same piece of music with the keyboard bit I created is here "smoothjamv2". I think it makes a pretty big difference. But it is just a series of basic chords.
So what is a chord? It is just a few notes played together. While this can get even more complicated than scales, a basic cord is made up of 3 notes from the scale. The root note, the 3rd note and the 5th note. So a D maj chord is D, F#, and A. So as I knew what key the piece was in, and I just jotted down all the base chords in D. Then with the music playing I played chords on my keyboard using a basic trial and error method until I found some that sounded good. I also used another musical trick. Its called the 1,4,5 chord progression. A lot of music can be played by using the 1st, 4th, and 5th chord in the key and flourished using notes from those chords. We are a bit too early into this to be adept at flourishing, so we will stick to just accompanying with chords for now. So, the chords I put down are the 1st, the 4th and the 5th, or D maj (DF#A), G maj (GBD), and A maj (AC#E). I only got a little tricky in that in the different sections I play them in a different order and at at a different pace, and I invert one of the chords (play the 3rd and 5th from an octave and the root of the next higher octave) for a section.
Now keep in mind I have only been at this whole music thing a short time. So, this is a trick I picked up on the interwebs, was able to execute, and I think, makes a big difference in that arrangement. It isn't rocket science, it is simply reducing the variables, working with a finite set of notes and chords, and figuring out what sounds good to my ear. Anyone can do it. Really.
Anyway, until next time..
Friday, March 22, 2013
Play Along
Nearly everyone has some affinity for music. I personally don't know anyone who doesn't have at least some even among those friends of mine who are legally deaf. I have several friends and family who are musicians, and some of them actually make a living at it. This blog, honestly, is not for them. Unless they wish to look at this journey from the other side.
I am not even qualified to be an amateur musician, I have a day job and simply do not have the talent or the ambition to put in the 10,000 hours required to be one. More on that figure later. What I do have is a love of music and the earnest desire to create some of my own. I do not wish to play for anyone but myself. As a point of fact, I absolutely have NO ambition to play in front of anyone, even were I accomplished, but that, in the immortal, though slightly paraphrased words of Alton Brown is another blog.
In my personal quest to play music I have traveled down many roads, got lost, and wandered back to my normal life. I have again started down the path, only this time, I seem to have struck on a set of tools and techniques that changed how I look at it. It is all really beginning to click for me, and I am the most excited I have ever been for my musical future. I have even created my first pieces of music, and am learning to play three instruments. While I will forewarn you I don't recommend that last bit, you should probably pick one to start with and then once you have that where you like it, expand from there. There is a story as to why I am trying to play those particular three, and I will tell it in an upcoming post.
Nearly everyone can tell you a story that has for it the moral "stick to it" or "try, try again" and this is definitely one of those stories. If you love music, listening to a piece of it that you constructed is amazing. It can only be described as a religious experience. There is nothing like it. It is also obtainable.
Anyone can do it. Believe me, I have only been doing this a short time, and I have no intrinsic musical talent, at all. I was literally arranging (producing) music in a matter of minutes. I had an idea, I found a tool, and in under an hour, I had produced a tune that sounded like real music. I will explain that tool later, and how to use it a bit later than that.
In the sidebar you will find a link to my music page where my creations are available to listen to. There will also be posts about how I made them, some of them quite detailed as to the tools and methods. I will put recordings of my playing as well (eventually), and link them.
Anyway, thanks for playing along, and stay tuned.
Scott.
I am not even qualified to be an amateur musician, I have a day job and simply do not have the talent or the ambition to put in the 10,000 hours required to be one. More on that figure later. What I do have is a love of music and the earnest desire to create some of my own. I do not wish to play for anyone but myself. As a point of fact, I absolutely have NO ambition to play in front of anyone, even were I accomplished, but that, in the immortal, though slightly paraphrased words of Alton Brown is another blog.
In my personal quest to play music I have traveled down many roads, got lost, and wandered back to my normal life. I have again started down the path, only this time, I seem to have struck on a set of tools and techniques that changed how I look at it. It is all really beginning to click for me, and I am the most excited I have ever been for my musical future. I have even created my first pieces of music, and am learning to play three instruments. While I will forewarn you I don't recommend that last bit, you should probably pick one to start with and then once you have that where you like it, expand from there. There is a story as to why I am trying to play those particular three, and I will tell it in an upcoming post.
Nearly everyone can tell you a story that has for it the moral "stick to it" or "try, try again" and this is definitely one of those stories. If you love music, listening to a piece of it that you constructed is amazing. It can only be described as a religious experience. There is nothing like it. It is also obtainable.
Anyone can do it. Believe me, I have only been doing this a short time, and I have no intrinsic musical talent, at all. I was literally arranging (producing) music in a matter of minutes. I had an idea, I found a tool, and in under an hour, I had produced a tune that sounded like real music. I will explain that tool later, and how to use it a bit later than that.
In the sidebar you will find a link to my music page where my creations are available to listen to. There will also be posts about how I made them, some of them quite detailed as to the tools and methods. I will put recordings of my playing as well (eventually), and link them.
Anyway, thanks for playing along, and stay tuned.
Scott.
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