Practicing playing in a group

2 complementary apps

IREAL PRO AND DRUM GENIUS

Link :

https://nebout-hamm.com/blog/applis-pour-jouer-du-jazz-irealpro-drumgenius/

Scale and arpeggio generator

You'll find guitar scales, arpeggios, and chords on a free website. Understanding scales and arpeggios is a logical step for guitarists who want to play solo, improvise, and compose. This tool is designed to be visual, allowing you to quickly see the notes or intervals of scales and arpeggios on the fretboard. You can download it as a PDF.

Link : https://guitar-trainer.fr/scales.php#

MUSESCORE

Create, listen to and print beautiful sheet music using this free and easy-to-use music notation software.MuseScore.

https://musescore.org/fr

L'acoustic guitar recording'

1. Work at the source
2. Mono recording of the acoustic guitar
3. Stereo acoustic guitar
4. Microphone selection for recording an acoustic guitar

Work at the source

Let's not beat around the bush: if you're not satisfied with the sound of your instrument even before you've placed a single microphone, there's no secret spell jealously guarded by the Illuminati of the sound engineers' lodge that can change that during recording, mixing, mastering, or even during a black mass under a red moon, sprinkled with the blood of a still-virgin lamb sanctified by Pipo IX himself. The moral of the story is, choose your guitar carefully based on the sound you need for the track you're producing. Along the same lines, take the time to wisely choose your string gauge, pay attention to their age, consider playing with your fingers or a pick, carefully select the thickness and material of your pick, think about the sonic impact of the area where you play (towards the neck or the bridge), as well as the voicing of your chords, and so on. Take my word for it, all these points will have a much greater impact on the quality of your recordings than the use of any particular microphone in any particular location. If you'd like to learn more about these considerations, I encourage you to take a look at...this article on labor at the sourceas well as to this one onthe prerequisites for recording electric guitar, or even that oneregarding the remaining prerequisites for recording electric guitar.

With that said, let's get down to business!

Mono recording of the acoustic guitar

Whether it's a folk or classical guitar playing an arpeggio, a riff, or a strumming rhythm, the best starting point is to use a small-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone placed at the height of the neck, between fifteen and fifty centimeters away, with the capsule aimed at the twelfth fret. To make it clearer, here's a small diagram:

The resulting sound will be well-balanced. You can adjust the distance to fine-tune the balance between attack and sustain. It's also possible to slightly adjust the capsule's orientation, as shown in the diagram, to achieve a fatter sound (towards the body of the instrument) or a brighter sound (towards the neck). Be careful, however, not to overdo it, or you risk a muddy sound or, conversely, a sound that's too thin.

Note that using a small-diaphragm cardioid pickup minimizes the proximity effect while preventing significant tonal changes due to any movement by the guitarist during their performance. However, don't expect miracles if they're more restless than a raver on acid…

This mono recording technique will suit most contemporary music productions where the guitar isn't the central instrument and the arrangement is somewhat complex. However, if you still feel the need for a bit more "depth" than a stereo recording, I suggest you consider...the dubbing technique that I already mentioned in the chapter on electric guitarIndeed, the result seems much more interesting in the context of contemporary music when the acoustic guitar only has a supporting role: the spatialization thus obtained is more "alive", which makes the instrument more easily perceptible to the listener without putting it too much in the foreground and above all, without having to excessively manipulate the sound during mixing.

Let's now move on to stereo recording.

Stereo acoustic guitar

Recording an acoustic guitar in stereo is particularly effective when the composition's arrangement is relatively open. A typical example is a simple guitar/vocal duo. For this type of production, a stereo recording of an acoustic guitar will add sonic depth to the track while keeping the center clear, thus allowing the vocals to stand out.

Let's start with the simplest technique to implement: the X/Y pair. Nothing too complicated here: simply use two matched cardioid microphones and position their capsules as close together as possible to obtain a 90-degree angle. Then place this pair as described previously, namely at the height of the neck and at a distance of between fifteen and fifty centimeters from it, with the axis of the pair pointing towards the twelfth fret. Here is a diagram illustrating this method:

Similar to mono recording techniques, it's best to use condenser microphones with a small diaphragm. Additionally, you can adjust the placement distance to control the balance between attack and sustain, or subtly adjust the microphone pair's orientation to fine-tune the tonal balance.

Using an X/Y pair has several advantages: ease of implementation, excellent mono compatibility, and a generally realistic stereo width. That said, for a larger-than-life sound, nothing beats an A/B pair. To implement this method, take two matched cardioid microphones again – preferably small-diaphragm condenser microphones. Position one at the twelfth fret as before, but place the other so that its capsule points towards the bridge, as shown in the following illustration:

The placement distances are still around fifteen to fifty centimeters from the instrument and always at the height of the plane defined by the neck. To limit phase problems, be sure to respectthe 3:1 rule described in this articleFurthermore, be careful that the musician's arm movements do not obscure the bridge from the "view" of the second microphone, as this would certainly compromise the consistency of the recording.

The advantage of this technique is, of course, unparalleled stereo width. However, mono compatibility is significantly compromised. It's up to you to weigh the pros and cons.

Microphone selection for recording an acoustic guitar

To conclude this chapter, here is a selection of microphones that I believe are particularly well-suited for recording acoustic guitars. As usual, this list is by no means exhaustive, as I obviously don't know every microphone available; and it is also necessarily subjective, reflecting my personal preferences.

As I've said several times, it's best to choose small-diaphragm electrostatic microphones. Now, if you've been following this series closely, you'll know that I have a particular favorite within this microphone family: theOktava MK-012I assure you that I am absolutely not sponsored by this Russian brand, but it must be said that the quality/price ratio of these toys is unbeatable.

When it comes to recording a rhythm on a folk guitar played with a pick, however, I have another favorite: theAKG C451 Bwhose brilliance adds a very pleasant little "sparkle" to the "strumming".

Naturally, Neumann offers some very pleasing small-diaphragm cardioid models, such as theKM 184For example.

For recording nylon-string acoustic guitars as the main instrument, I particularly appreciate theSchoeps CMC 6Uequipped withMK4 capsules, but it's not a solution that's affordable for everyone, I agree.

Moreover, since we've just entered the category of exceptional microphones, here are the inevitable exceptions to the small-diaphragm cardioid rule. First, there's the ribbon microphone.Royer Labs R-121This last one really works wonders on acoustic guitars, but to be perfectly honest, I've never encountered a sound source that could truly push it to its limits. Then there are the legendary...Neumann U 47AndU 87are obviously still excellent candidates. Finally, for a wonderfully retro sound, theColes 4038They are true gems.

Note that it's perfectly possible to record an acoustic guitar with virtually any microphone. In fact, I myself made do with a cheap, large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone when I started out, and I still managed to get satisfactory results. That said, it required significantly more work, both during recording and mixing. Therefore, if you frequently record this type of instrument, I highly recommend investing in a pair of dedicated microphones; I guarantee it will be a game-changer.

With that, see you in the next episode for the final chapter of this series dedicated to recording in a Home Studio setting!

HARMONIZING AND ACCOMPANIED A MELODIUME WITH SOFTWARE

How Creating melodies for songs without knowing music theory, and especially not about harmonization. Composing by instinct.

Having a program where you look for chords that go well with a melody.

Harmonizing a melody always seemsOurs is one of the main concerns of many musicians. But how can this be done effectively?

Can we really trust a machine to bring a well-balanced musical creation to life? It seems audacious and may appeal to many of us… but beware, because the laws of harmony are implacable and a machine will tend to use them mechanically, without harmonic surprises, or in the worst case with a few surprises, but full of errors!

To our knowledge, and until a program like My Song becomes commercially available, the only truly reliable alternative for harmonization lies in so-called "intelligent" arranger keyboards. Available from any good music production specialist, this type of keyboard is designed for arrangement (as the name suggests). This means it will provide you with all the tools you need to compose, arrange, and harmonize your ideas. Brass sections, harmonization in doubled fifths, and octaves are just some of the ideal tools for your creations. Furthermore, you can create your own harmonizations, save them, and then recall them at will to modify them. A minimum level of piano practice is, however, necessary.

On the software side, there are solutions. I'm thinking in particular of Band In A Box from the American publisher PG Music, which offers a very advanced melody harmonization module. With this program, you can easily choose from a multitude of pre-programmed harmonies those that best suit your melody. Of course, you won't be able to sing it, but rather play it on the keyboard, as there's no vocal support function. Other types of arrangement software exist, such as The Jammer for Windows or Big Boss Arranger (if it's still available for purchase).

(1) Testing: Before choosing a program or keyboard, you can test its "intelligence" by playing two melodies. The first will be from a song whose harmonies you know perfectly. It must be played flawlessly, respecting its rhythm. Upon listening, you'll notice that other chords are sometimes used, which is normal, as it's always possible to harmonize a melody in different ways. The main thing is to hear a coherent accompaniment that matches the melody. Finding all the original chords is impossible or a matter of pure chance. Don't get your hopes up! The second melody, which can be the same as the first, must be played rhythmically in different ways, changing the note values. This second test will allow you to hear the program's responsiveness and behavior: for example, how well does it follow the notes of the melody? Does the speed at which the notes are played affect the chords played? Etc.

Finally, I'd like to point out that any good sequencer allows you to transpose your tracks (or parts of tracks) as you wish. So, copy your melodies, change channels, then sounds, transpose, add effects, expression, and panning—the result will certainly surprise you.

Alternative solutions do exist and have proven successful for many musicians. However, if you are not satisfied with these solutions, never forget that nothing can replace harmonization through the brain!