On exercises, practicing, and rehearsing

MagicD · 2022-05-25T17:38:53.420Z

Breathing is good! As I sit here, I am building an instructional video for work. Part of that includes recording and editing the voice-over. I started with tape, but you can’t analyze and edit tape the way you can with digital waveforms. So for a long time, I have been acutely aware of the timing of human voices when recorded, either singing or speaking. That timing is all about breath control.

Working with close analysis and editing shows me exact timing and pitch. I realized as soon as I started recording that when I played bass with my fingers, I was always behind the note. Pick no prob. So I’ve adjusted my technique for recording. Same with singing. I know when I am flat or sharp right away, just by looking at the track. So that awareness becomes it’s own form of learning.

I think unless you want to do something fancy like Tuvan throat singing, it’s really about helping the machine work as efficiently as possible. The best singers I’ve recorded know when to breath in. And for sure there are physical exercises to strengthen the diaphragm to control breathing out.

I once recorded a band called Meliah Rage. Got them a deal with Epic. I was in the control room with the singer. He is wearing phones cranked so they are blowing the hair out of his ears. He’s singing into an SM57 because I don’t trust him with any other mic. And when this very athletic dude screams at the absolute limit of his voice, it is a sound to behold.

This is also why I’m learning to play the harp. Much easier on the ears.
Dave

illumina · 2022-05-25T17:43:02.438Z

I suppose the lesson I can take here is to keep jamming and singing, but the intentionality and structured self-learning needs to involve recording it all to “tape” and reviewing the warts 'n all with a critical ear with a notepad for follow-up on successes and tendencies that need attention.

juhbuba · 2022-05-25T17:46:30.535Z

I asked a friend who was classically trained in trumpet and composition about this and his advice was essentially what you just summarized.

makamqore · 2022-05-25T17:54:07.383Z

I would try to book at least 1-2 in-person lessons with a vocal coach, though, since posture issues, not “breathing from the diaphragm” sufficiently, excessive neck tensing, and such, are hard to pinpoint and then to correct without someone being able to see your body singing.

JES · 2022-05-25T18:48:28.844Z

I have nothing of use to say about vocals. But I can STRONGLY recommend lessons with a good teacher with whom you gel. I’ve spent a big chunk of my gear budget on lessons over the past 3 years and as a result have learned a new instrument, and developed a new level of understanding of music and composition as well. I chose a teacher who does not think too much like I do, but who is similarly intellectual and nerdy about playing. Works for me.

If you have time to practice or play, you have time to book a lesson every so often. It can be over Zoom; doesn’t have to be in person. My teacher and I are 6 hours and an ocean apart. And musicians are still hurting from the pandemic, so you’re also helping support a fellow artist.

–

On GAS, I notice that mine shifts from place to place over time. I “solve” one area and it moves somewhere else. It’s GAS whack-a-mole. Part of it is an honest fascination with how stuff works. Part of it is wanting an easier or better way to do things. I have certainly made enough bad purchases to learn what DOESN’T work…

anon60283851 · 2022-05-25T19:16:44.479Z

juhbuba:

Often easier to invest money than time. But just as you can’t put a price on time, what you get back from committing it to something like learning a defined instrument is priceless.

Exactly this. During the same long period I did make hundreds of unfinished loops and ideas and three self-published albums that I still think are half decent - but the flipside is that I still can’t really play anything to save my life. Now that the interest is not on making songs but playing an instrument, I wish I’d had at least some focus and practise routine on that side as well… Better late than never of course.

GAS - gear acquisition syndrome & related discussion

On GAS, I notice that mine shifts from place to place over time. I “solve” one area and it moves somewhere else. It’s GAS whack-a-mole. Part of it is an honest fascination with how stuff works. Part of it is wanting an easier or better way to do things. I have certainly made enough bad purchases to learn what DOESN’T work…

Thanks for saying this aloud, it really describes my current pattern of buying stuff I don’t necessarily need, better than I could.

More specifically, it feels I sort of have an urge to look at things I own and use, figure out what’s missing or what isn’t “”“optimal”“”, and fill the empty spots or iterate one by one - not hoarding a lot of things because they seem cool, more like I was preparing for something, or fine-tuning a complete system that would let me do everything I want in the easiest and nicest way I want, in some imaginary sense. When one thing feels satisfying and works / sounds like I want to, I suddenly realize there’s something else that needs attention and money, and it goes on and on slowly but surely.

Familiar adult GAS thoughts: “now that I have a good instrument and good effect of this and this kind and I don’t really need any others right now, I really want to build exactly the right length of custom patch cables for myself - even though there’s no sign of the current ones getting in the way or failing, it would be so tidy and reassuring… Oh, and I really need a really good overspecified pedalboard power supply because reasons and peace of mind”.

illumina · 2022-05-25T19:19:54.745Z

JES:

If you have time to practice or play, you have time to book a lesson every so often. It can be over Zoom; doesn’t have to be in person. My teacher and I are 6 hours and an ocean apart. And musicians are still hurting from the pandemic, so you’re also helping support a fellow artist.

I have no problems doing that, these days I’m all about fixing up old gear and spending money on myself over… stuff! It’s the sporadic nature of my time that makes it hard to find a good instructor and feel like I’m not yanking their chain to only take a few lessons spread out so far.

If anyone has experience on the instructor side or having similar experience, I’d love tips for not feeling like a jerk for starting and stopping as needed (anxiety is the pits.)

eblomquist · 2022-05-25T19:43:30.900Z

GAS - gear acquisition syndrome & related discussion

On GAS, I notice that mine shifts from place to place over time. I “solve” one area and it moves somewhere else. It’s GAS whack-a-mole.

My experience as well. Part of the “problem” is that I can play a number of instruments decently enough that I wind up fantasizing that I’m actually able to be a one man band…

Bass? Yep!
Guitar? Yep!
Keyboard/synth/Ableton/iOS ? Yep!
Drums? Not kit really, but hand drums? Yep!
Flutes? Yep!
Vocals? Yep!
Production? Yep! Sorta…
Oud? Well, I’m trying…

Unfortunately, each of these disciplines requires its own instrumentaria, effects, amps, cases, etc…. It’s an endless bottomless pit….

But it’s also fascinating and fun and challenging and fun and therapeutic and fun and and and…

So the GAS keeps moving from thing to thing to thing…

JES · 2022-05-25T19:43:47.214Z

GAS - gear acquisition syndrome & related discussion

If anyone has experience on the instructor side or having similar experience, I’d love tips for not feeling like a jerk for starting and stopping as needed (anxiety is the pits.)

I don’t have that particular inner struggle but I am sure it really is the pits.

I think the key is just being clear about your expectations. Also, don’t book and cancel stuff over and over. I have a regular teacher. We meet every couple weeks, but sometimes delays are longer when I get super busy (or pre-Covid when he went on tour).

I have also done a couple 1-off lessons with other people where I just wanted some guidance on a particular technique or a perspective different from that of my main teacher. And when I was having some trouble with Logic, I hired a guy for a session just to work with me, and then I hired him again later on to solve another problem.

If you want voice lessons, you can just write to someone and say you’d like to try one, and then you might want another one a couple months later. It doesn’t have to be a regular thing so long as they’re not expecting it to be.

There are also online things you can sign up for where there are recorded video lessons. My wife, who is a drummer, signed up for Drumeo and loves watching videos.

I find the interaction, plus responsibility to another person, really makes a difference for me.

GAS - gear acquisition syndrome & related discussion

But it’s also fascinating and fun and challenging and fun and therapeutic and fun and and and…

I’m not as far along as you down that path, but it’s nice to have a lot of instruments around.

juhbuba · 2022-05-25T20:33:39.013Z

illumina:

It’s the sporadic nature of my time that makes it hard to find a good instructor and feel like I’m not yanking their chain to only take a few lessons spread out so far.

If anyone has experience on the instructor side or having similar experience, I’d love tips for not feeling like a jerk for starting and stopping as needed (anxiety is the pits.)

As mentioned, being upfront w what you are looking for and your practical constraints is the way to go here imo.

My brother-in-law started playing the kids’ drumkit. He’s super busy, but sister ended up buying him four drum lessons. I helped find the instructor, and the people I called were more than willing to accommodate.

At the end of the day, they’re running a business and they deal with this kind of scheduling thing all the time. A decent instructor will try to meet their student where they’re at in terms of skill and interest, but also availability. Remember, you are hiring them and they want to work! (Also, good point made above about pandemic financial stress on music people.)

Some musicians will book a session or two just to get exposure to a certain teacher’s perspective or skill. I took three classical guitar lessons some years back, and even then split them between two teachers at the same shop. Everyone was fine with that.

illumina · 2022-05-25T21:03:33.565Z

juhbuba:

Some musicians will book a session or two just to get exposure to a certain teacher’s perspective or skill.

Thanks! These perspectives help. My close friends are either college trained, full time artists or completely uninterested in these matters

JES:

I think the key is just being clear about your expectations. Also, don’t book and cancel stuff over and over.

Great! I’m all for setting expectations so no disappointments on either end.

I’d never book and cancel anything someone relies on, which makes it difficult to set a regular schedule without stress about needing to from time to time or taking a break when I’m overscheduled.

I’ll skim local FB for a few vetted intro lessons!

juhbuba · 2022-05-25T22:06:46.435Z

illumina:

I’d never book and cancel anything someone relies on

Again, this is their responsibility, not really yours. I understand you not wanting to inconvenience someone or “harm” their income, but seriously, they are running a business and things change all the time.

In my experience, income is never consistent in professions like that (my mom was a private tutor and I worked for her for a bit and have taught music lessons myself).

Part of what you’re paying for is professionalism on the teacher’s side of things, and for them to have the experience and sense to manage their business’s finances, volatile though they may be.

A pupil’s responsibilities are to pay on time, show up (or cancel/reschedule w fair notice unless in an emergency), and do the work. That’s plenty!

anon45924993 · 2022-05-26T00:47:26.270Z

timp:

A simple example: go for a walk, stop for a break, sit down & listen.
As you listen, consider that if you had to recreate what you are hearing (with control of the elements) how many layers and perspectives would be required?

Foreground, mid distance, distant.
What are you hearing that can be discreetly assigned to each layer?
What is periodic, intermittent, constant, passing?

One of my favorite places to do this is at a beach where double-overhead size waves are not uncommon. When the waves are really crashing noisily, I’ll sit and imagine what it would take to synthesize and replay the experience accurately. Not only can I hear dozens of simultaneous overlapping noise sources, they’re scattered all about in 3D space, and also in (fairly complex) motion.

I love the impossibility of the task. I love how hard it makes me listen. I love all the details I start to notice (the spontaneous harmonies and dissonances constantly erupting and dissolving) and I love the feeling of awe at the sheer complexity of ordinary moment to moment existence. I love feeling humbled, that the sum total of every musical idea I’ve ever had in my entire life, are dwarfed by a few minutes listening to the waves at the beach.

timp · 2022-05-26T05:09:59.654Z

This is kind-of related: Many years ago I worked with a recording mixer predubbing ambiences & at one point he sardonically said something like ‘all ambiences are just filtered white noise…’ I laughed at the time but I always wondered how much work it would take to try & achieve exactly that (just as you did)
So when I made a sound library of ‘noise sources’ I created a challenge open to anyone, to design sound for a couple of beach drone shots, with the restriction that the only source material that could be used was a small collection of noise bursts… 76 people attempted it, here are the 25 I liked best And to prove to myself it was possible, heres my version
Nature is so incredibly complex! I know that’s not news to anyone, but I think there is especially something incredibly complex in the strange combinations of filtered and shaped diffuse noise as perceived inside out heads, when near the ocean. So much incredibly complex phase interaction and fall off with distance etc occurs… and yet still we can focus through the roar of the ocean & discern sounds that the best microphone likely could not.

anon45924993 · 2022-05-26T06:30:46.052Z

timp:

I created a challenge open to anyone, to design sound for a couple of beach drone shots, with the restriction that the only source material that could be used was a small collection of noise bursts…

OMG you actually did it!

Amazed at the audacity of the attempt but also pretty impressed with the results!

It’s further humbling to see the degree to which I would need to simplify my concept of the aural experience of the beach in order to render it (regardless of the audio tech or source material in question). Our tools aren’t graceful for managing the hundreds or thousands of layers that could potentially make up a moment.

And yet, like in an impressionist painting, it isn’t necessary to render in infinite detail in order to capture and express the energy that you wish to communicate.

illumina · 2022-05-27T01:01:38.560Z

anon45924993:

And yet, like in an impressionist painting, it isn’t necessary to render in infinite detail in order to capture and express the energy that you wish to communicate.

It’s an internal feedback loop, especially when you’re not getting regular external feedback, or able to distance yourself from your content.

janglesoul · 2023-04-21T08:14:04.295Z

Just felt a need to express my joy for practicing and feeling progress. Putting in the work on my instrument opens up so many possibilities. When I feel the progress, it’s very easy to create an upward spiral with motivation to put in more time and take on new challenges. A true GAS antidote too.

kirklandish · 2023-04-21T13:17:14.724Z

swannodette:

Leavitt Modern Method

Were you able to read music before getting this? I am considering getting Volume 1, but I don’t know how to read very well so I’m a little hesitant. It is something I’ve wanted to learn, but it’s a lower priority, than instrumental technique or ear training.

janglesoul · 2023-04-21T14:47:45.339Z

I have bought Leavitt’s book with the intention to do it. Haven’t started yet. The first exercises show string/fret for each note. But I assume it will take a little patience for us who can’t read (me included).

(Some year ago I made an attempt at learning to read music and felt there were pretty good sight reading apps on the phone. I dropped out of the habit though)

kirklandish · 2023-04-21T16:02:05.342Z

I found a used copy in good condition for $5 so I decide to go for it. I’ve been much much worse impulse purchases in the past lol