When the melody is in the right or left hand and nothing else is present in that hand, like a counter melody, than all you need to do is make the melody hand louder. To do this simply put more weight on that hand.

If the melody is present with counter melody than you will have to put more weight in one part of your hand. This is tricky. You’ll need to balance the weight by feeling if the inside, thumb, is heavier than the outside, pinky, or vise versa depending on where the melody is.

One tip to practice both methods is to ghost the notes that are not melody. To do this, play the song but for no melody notes simply hoover your fingers but don’t play the note. Once you have ghosted for a couple of times you can try and put all of it back together.

Let me know how this works for you.

• Melody
• Counter-Melody
• Harmonic Material

Melody is usually the lyrics or the singing part of the music. This is the part most people grab onto.

Counter-Melody is a secondary melody. Sometimes it occurs at the same time and other times we get a call and answer effect. But it’s function is to balance the melody and fill some musical space. Most of the time this is the bass line, but it doesn’t have to be.

Harmonic Material is the chords and background sounds. In pop music this is usually played by the rhythm section. This part of the music helps to drive the music along. It’s what gives us tension and release which is like jet fuel for songwriting.

I’ll post more details about each section in the next few weeks. Questions? Put ‘em in the comments section.

Well, you would be on your way to a good routine and you’d most likely have a new piece of music under your belt. If you’re expecting anything more I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.

Music, like most fine motor skills, requires about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice in order for you to become proficient at whatever skill you are trying to master. The Beatles played for hundreds of hours at German night clubs before creating a chart topping song.

What makes it tough is many musicians like to tell people they only practice a short amount of time. However, when we probe deeper we find that the expert has practiced far more hours than they have led us to believe.

So, have you put in your 10,000 hours?

In Western music, musicians use the key to mean a note in which a piece of music is based on. This also helps musicians to establish notes that are also available in that key. What this means is that only certain notes will sound good within a key.

For example, if you hear that a song is in the key of C you’ll know that C is the note in which the song is based on. You’ll also know that D, E, F, G, A and B are also part of the key based on the major scale. A major scale is a specific set of notes that make up what is known as a tonality. Most scales you will hear are either major or minor. All scales of a similar type, major or minor, follow the same pattern of intervals (a distance between two notes).

A quick note about naming: If a key is major you’ll see either the key of C or the key of C major. In minor you will see the key of c minor. The word minor will always follow the key letter and should also be in lower case.

The basic formula is to find the key center (the letter name of the key) and then figure out the other notes (from the major or minor scale). I’ll cover minor scales in the future so check back for that.

The Emoti-Chair was the piece of technology I had the pleasure of working with for an entire weekend. Essentially the Emoti-Chair tries to simulate the human ear through a series of voice coils attached to a chair. In doing this they allow people to feel vibrations that in turn allow communication to the deaf and hard of hearing.

That being said we spent our time creating new ideas for uses of the chair and on how we can create a new art form. One of the things I learned from this experience is that when forging new ground there are no rules. New thought structures need to be created. We, as researchers, needed to try ideas and fail at them a few times before we could progress.

This is important to remember that you should always look for new ways of doing things. Look for new methods and push boundaries. It will allow you to break new records and achieve more in your personal and professional life.

For more info about the CLT at Ryerson university visit http://www.ryerson.ca/clt/.

Today I just want to give you a few quick tips on how to buy a guitar. I’ll even point you to a few of my favourite stores.

Alright, first thing you need to decide is what type of guitar do you want. Acoustic? Electric? or classical? The playing style for each of these is slightly different but the playing techniques are similar. The big difference comes from the tension of the strings and the size of the frets. Most people should start with an electric because it’s easier to play.

After you’ve decided on the type of guitar now is the fun part. You need to visit you’re local guitar shop and try some of the many brands. When you go and try out guitars all you are looking/listening for is do you like the sound and do you like the feel of the guitar. Give lots of brands a try. You might just be surprised.

You’ll want to have an idea of your budget before you go, but remember that cheap can also mean poorly designed. If you are on a budget keep an eye out for used guitars. It’s also a good idea to check out the knock off versions as well.

Quick tip: If you are looking at an electric guitar play it without an amp. If you like the sound sans amp you’ll like it even better with the amp cranked!

There isn’t much else to it. Most guitars are built to last a long time and if you properly maintain your guitar it will last a life time.

Here are a few of my favourite guitar shops: (no, I’m not being paid for this)

• http://www.stevesmusic.com/
• http://www.tomleemusic.ca/
• http://www.bellonesmusic.com/

If you have any guitar purchasing questions leave them in the comments section and I’ll answer them for you.

Creativity and innovation is formed through connections. The more connection you have and the more connections you can create in you mind the more chance you have a of creating truly innovative ideas. In the arts this is important.

One of the best ways to shake this annoying side effect of creativity is to look at things from outside of your art. So, if you are a musician try visual arts or cooking. Maybe you can try a sport of two if you are a desk jockey.

So, get out there and start making connections.

Enjoy the week!

Check out your favourite music composers you’ll find that some of the best entries and exits for music are at the film edit points. By doing this you will make the music seamless with the visuals. The last thing you want is for the music to distract from the dialogue.

Watch the cuts and you’ll never go wrong.

Digital Audio Workstation – DAW

A DAW is known as a Digital Audio Workstation. It works just like an analog mixing console. The biggest difference is that it also includes a digital version of a tape deck. These programs will be where you’ll spend most of your time. It’s also the place where you can add the following tools.

Reverb

This tool is used to take a sound and put it into a different space. Many plug-ins of this nature can emulate real locations such as the Sydney Opera House or an airplane cockpit. It’s important to remember that most applications only need a little bit of processing or you’ll risk sounding unnatural.

Compression

Compression is used to even out the dynamics of an audio track. It does this by “squashing” or compressing the loudness so that there is a maximum loudness to a track. In doing this, you can bring up the quite parts of a song and lower the loud parts.

Again, a dab will do you. If you use too much compression you will get a pumping sound. All effects including compression should sound as natural as possible.

Delay

Delay is simply repetition of a sound. With a delay plug-in you can create an echo effect. Many reverbs are based partially on this principle.

With a delay you can set how long the next repeat will come. You can also set the number of repeats. This effect is versatile and is worth the time to experiment with.

Gate

The job of a gate is to reduce noise. It works by only allowing sound to pass through the gate if it reaches a certain sound level. This plug-in is best used in noisy spaces or when multiple instruments are being used.

Limiter

A limiter is the opposite of a gate it works to stop sound from getting too loud. It’s also an extreme setting for a compressor. It’s main function is to protect your equipment and audio sound from clipping. Digital clipping is an awful sound so avoid it if you can. But in the analog world clipping may be desired as this is essentially what distortion is all about.

I hope this gives you enough to try and experiment with your audio recordings. If you have any questions please post them below.