Posts Tagged music
Choosing the Right Microphone for Digitally Recording Live Music
Things to Consider
There are many things to consider if you are considering recording live music digitally. One of the decisions you have to make has to do with what type of microphone you will use. There are all different types of microphones and each one is made for a specific purpose. Here I will give you an overview of what you need to know when choosing yours.
Condenser or Dynamic
There are two main types of microphones to choose from, condenser mics or dynamic mics.
A condenser microphone typically has a thinner plastic diaphragm which is placed closely to the back plate. The diaphragm and the back plate create a small pocket of air creating a condenser or capacitor. This electrically charged capacitor is affected by sound waves and the diaphragm vibrates, changing the voltage. The changes in voltage are a representation of the sound based on the disturbance caused by the frequencies passing through.
A dynamic or moving coil microphone can considered a reverse loud speaker of sorts. The idea behind a dynamic microphone is there is a wired coil that is placed in the pocket of air between the diaphragm and backing. When sound passes through the coil itself vibrates and creates a magnetic electrical impulse which is then recorded.
When taping a live show you will use a condenser microphone. Condenser microphones can be miniaturized and record a much broader frequency of sound. If you can afford to add the second mic for stereo always use the exact same duplicate.
Polar Pattern
Microphones have what is called a polar pattern. It dictates the area in which the microphone will focus upon when recording.
A cardiod polar pattern is a heart shaped recording range which will focus upon frequencies coming from the front and some side sounds, but tapering around the back. Picture the top of the heart as shooting out from the microphone and a little behind, and the bottom of the heart going toward the stage or source of input. This limits the amount of background noise that is heard when recording at large venues.
A hypercardiod polar pattern is similar to the cardioid pattern but allows a little more sound from behind the mic’s point of reference to filter through. The hypercardiod is more so used for vocal recordings, and are usually noisier than cardiod mics for live music recording.
Omnidirectional microphones are not recommended for recording live music at all. These mics will record in all directions equally, thus reproducing a lot of unwanted crowd noise.
When choosing a microphones frequency range, you are deciding on what frequency will be accepted by the microphone. The human hearing range is from 20hz to 20khz, and so this is the recommended range for a recording mic for live music.
Conclusion
When you are choosing a microphone for recording live music, remember to do a lot of research, and determine the style that will fit best for your recording campaigns. There are many out there, and some are very expensive. If you are patient however, you should be able to find the perfect microphone for all your live music recording endeavors.
Tags: microphone, music, recordingPractising Music – What To Do Outside Your Music Lesson
Practice makes perfect. These three words are heard every day and time after time these words are ignored. But why? Music is such a vast subject that for anyone, even the professionals, mastering it is near impossible. With years of work one can be very knowledgeable in specific areas of music but it would take more than a lifetime to fully understand every aspect of an instrument or music theory.
With that in mind hopefully people should start to understand that having a one hour lesson once a week is not even close to enough to gain substantial progress and development on a musical instrument.
This series of articles offer tips on practicing music which will hopefully demonstrate the benefits, enjoyment and fulfilment that can be gained through practicing music.
1. Goals are key. It is human nature to take pride in reaching a goal whether a promotion at work or winning a competition. If you have a set goal to reach you will be more willing to put in the work required to achieve it. Some examples of goals could be to learn the latest song you’ve fallen in love with, to be able to sight read in a certain key, to develop faster, more technical playing or to reach a certain exam grade before a certain period.
2. Little often is better than a lot occasionally. One key point to remember is that repetion is the quickest way to learn something due to your brain and muscles ability to develop and store a so called ‘muscle memory’. It will take a substantially longer time to learn and retain your new knowledge if you practice for a long period but only occasionally. See tip 3 on how to easily incorporate regular practice sessions into your daily routine.
Another benefit of practicing a little often is that your concentration levels are kept up throughout your practice session. Brass players will understand this the most – after playing a trumpet or any brass instrument for approximately an hour your lips start to feel numb which in turn begins to restrict your playing abilities. The knock on effect of this is that the longer you practice without a break, the more harm ultimately you will cause yourself – both mentally and physically – it will knock your spirit and could even do damage to your embouchure. Obviously this applies to all instrument groups; as is well documented repetitive strain injury is common among musicians. The primary cause of this is improper technique but as the name implies too much repetition through a movement can create serious effects. Therefore if you are practicing for longer periods be sure to take regular breaks – 5 to 10 minutes for every 50 minutes for adults and 10 to 15 minutes for every 25 minutes for children.
3. Routine. Imagine this – every morning you wake up, maybe make a cup of coffee or sort through the post and eventually at some point you will go to the sink and brush your teeth. Now most people do this without any thought – it is just something that gets done. This is the effect of getting into a routine. If you set aside a time each day to practice, away from distractions if possible, you will get into this routine making it much easier to practice, it becomes a part of your day to day life.
4. Practice with a partner. Most humans love competition – especially if you know you are the winner – and by tapping into this you’re making your practice session less of a chore and more of a game. Set challenges between you both and find some reward for the winner. The other benefits are that you gain an outsiders opinion and criticism on your playing, the opportunity to practice duets and you will have some company rather than being locked away in your bedroom.
This is just a glimpse at the different methods you can adopt to improve your practice and in the next article I will demonstrate some more music based tips to help you improve; using a metronome to develop your internal body clock, a fun method for scales and arpeggios and how and why you should be incorporating sight reading and music theory into your practice sessions.
For now just focus on your desires and on the reasons why you started music and give the tips above some thought.
Tags: lesson, music, practice, practicingIntroducing Music For Little Mozarts
Music for Little Mozarts is a program designed to help your little ones develop a love of music. Learning music at an early age helps develop little minds and expands their cognitive ability. While listing to music can certainly help your youngster pick up songs, actually learning to play the piano can expand areas of the mind that are responsible for fueling later leaps in the childes education development.
This program was developed for the little ones attention spans in mind. It focuses on little creatures that both entertain and teach. By grasping the attention of a young child’s mind and engaging them with stories along with hands on experience, you can provide them with a positive experience that just may fuel a little Mozart in later years.
What Does This Program Offer?
Within this multi-book and multi-year lesson plan there are ten little characters that help draw the child into the lesson plan. These little creatures actually can be used to help the child grasp basic concepts n music. The series starts out in the preschool years and provides day by day lessons that can aid the child or a classroom of children right through early adolescence.
The series is a designed for both classroom and preschool use and for those at home with homeschoolers. It contains a series of books along with audio CD’s, flash cards, and other visual aids that can help very young children develop an ear and an eye for music.
Developing a Love of Music Quickly
It can be hard to hold the attention spans of children for very long. However, with the right creativity and the proper attention along with simple, easy to master daily lessons, most children will not only grasp music rather quickly, they will also develop a love of real music, not just banging on a piano keyboard and making sounds.
The short, daily lessons are planned out so that children learn to play music by ear. They focus on short, easy to master songs or song parts and gradually add more song elements in a quick progression. Children find that they learn to play real songs and master real passages quickly and easily. This element keeps them involved. They also master playing by ear and then later by reading rather quickly.
We all know how in wonder children’s minds are, and we know that if they feel they have accomplished something then they quickly learn to love performing that task again and again. This sense of accomplishment with easy to learn lessons helps children to develop a love and desire to play music. Music for Little Mozarts is designed to engage the child through the use of play and quick accomplishments while repetition and small victories over time help the child maintain the interest.
Adapting the Program for Home or Preschool
• If you are homeschooling your youngsters or have preschool age children whom are not attending preschool you can still use the lesson plans. The books are designed for home or classroom use. You may find that your children at home can easily handle a few minutes every morning while their minds are still fresh, to learn music.
• If you own a preschool or day care you may find that adding a few minutes into your daily routine to stop and go over the lessons with your charges will prove very rewarding. You can easily fit in these short and fund lesson plans right into your daily activities.
Music for Little Mozarts was developed and designed by a team of expert pianist who have experience teaching young children and classrooms of students. It is designed for children ages 4 to 6 years old. The books not only teach piano, but also singing and a general love of music. They help develop listing skills and impart an appreciation for many different musical styles. If you decide to use the system in a preschool, day care, or at home you will be delighted to find how much fun your children find in playing music.
Tags: mozart, music