You may have heard about Reason coming out with "something" new. They are quite mysterious about it. A video has surfaced on youtube showing the reactions of some people seeing this 'new toy' for the first time. Take a look:
I hope I don't get disappointed. How can I when people react like that though?
R.A
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Piano Lesson 2 - Minor Scales
We covered scale degrees in the first lesson, now we will be moving onto Minor Scales. What is a minor scale? Well...
"A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an interval of a minor third above the tonic" by definition, but to you people who have no idea what this means, I'll clear it up. Broken down, that sentence means,
"A minor scale in music theory is a seven note scale where the third note of the scale (relative to the tonic) is shifted down one semitone."
I'll give you an example. Play a C Major 1-chord triad (you get a triad when you play the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of a scale together, in this case C-E-G). That is MAJOR. To make it minor, we have to shift the 3rd note (E) down 1 semitone making it Eb (E flat). Now you have C-Eb-G, and this is the minor triad for C. Get it? Let's try one more example, let's go to a more challenging scale... G#/Ab Major (If you don't know where G#/Ab is, find G, which is the dominant (or 5th note) of the C Major scale, and shift up. Now play the G#/Ab Major triad.
***TIP*** To find out what notes to use for a major triad, start on the tonic, move up 2 whole notes (4 semitones) which will give you the second note of the triad, and from there move up 1 semitone and 1 whole note (3 semitones). Which will be the 3rd note in the triad. That will give you the major chord for every note.
Now, play the G#/Ab Major 1-chord (G#-C-D#). To make it minor remember what you have to do, shift the 3rd note of the scale (or the 2nd note of the triad) down 1 semitone. Now you have G#-B-D# which is the minor chord.
Now you know how to play the minor chords but how do you play the minor scale? Well that's a weird question because there isn't just one minor scale. There are actually 3. The natural minor scale also known as the relative minor scale is the one most musicians use. To find this scale is fairly simple. If you play a C Major scale (C - D - E - F - G - A - B) you can find its relative minor in 2 ways. One way is to use the circle of 5ths but that will be taught in another lesson. The other way, is by easily shifting 3 semitones down from the tonic. So start on the tonic, (C) and shift down 3 semitones to A. There you go. A minor is the relative minor to C Major. What this means is when playing A minor, treat it as if it were C Major, but instead of starting and ending the scale with C, you start and end it with A.
Major Scale (C)
C - Tonic
D - Supertonic
E - Mediant
F - Subdominant
G - Dominant
A - Submediant
B - Leading Tone
Relative Minor Scale (A)
A - Tonic
B - Supertonic
C - Mediant
D - Subdominant
E - Dominant
F - Submediant
G - Subtonic***
***What?! Why is the last note of the minor scale called a subtonic?? Well that's because the subtonic is the lowered seventh degree of the scale, as opposed to the leading tone. If the scale was A Major, the leading tone would be G#, but it is lowered to G, making it a subtonic. Also you can call G-B-D the subtonic chord of A minor as well.
If you want to find out the minor scale of any key, all you have to do is count semitones. I told you that A minor is the relative or natural minor of C Major, but what if you wanted to find C minor? Easy. Count 3 semitones up and Eb would be the relative major meaning you treat C minor as if it were Eb Major. So C minor would be C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb.
I hope you understand the relative minor now, because that is extremely important in music theory.
There are 2 more minor scales that are also available, but not as important, so I will not go over them as much as the relative minor. These scales are called the harmonic and melodic minor scales.
Harmonic: To get the harmonic minor scale, you must first find the relative minor (see how important it is to know the relative minor). After finding the relative minor scale you must raise the 7th note 1 semitone causing it to be a leading tone again. So for C minor, instead of C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C (which is the relative minor) it would now become C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C.
Melodic: To get the melodic minor scale, you must, again, find the relative minor. Once found, you must raise the 6th and 7th note up 1 semitone. When coming back down the scale, you lower them back to their original states. Kind of confusing? Well I'll show you and example. Going up the C minor scale you would play C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C. Going back down the scale, everything should be lowered back to its original positions: C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C.
Try it. To become a better piano player, you can't just read up on theory... you need to apply it, practice makes perfect. Well... no ones perfect, but practice does make you A LOT better. Have fun.
R.A
"A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an interval of a minor third above the tonic" by definition, but to you people who have no idea what this means, I'll clear it up. Broken down, that sentence means,
"A minor scale in music theory is a seven note scale where the third note of the scale (relative to the tonic) is shifted down one semitone."
I'll give you an example. Play a C Major 1-chord triad (you get a triad when you play the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of a scale together, in this case C-E-G). That is MAJOR. To make it minor, we have to shift the 3rd note (E) down 1 semitone making it Eb (E flat). Now you have C-Eb-G, and this is the minor triad for C. Get it? Let's try one more example, let's go to a more challenging scale... G#/Ab Major (If you don't know where G#/Ab is, find G, which is the dominant (or 5th note) of the C Major scale, and shift up. Now play the G#/Ab Major triad.
***TIP*** To find out what notes to use for a major triad, start on the tonic, move up 2 whole notes (4 semitones) which will give you the second note of the triad, and from there move up 1 semitone and 1 whole note (3 semitones). Which will be the 3rd note in the triad. That will give you the major chord for every note.
Now, play the G#/Ab Major 1-chord (G#-C-D#). To make it minor remember what you have to do, shift the 3rd note of the scale (or the 2nd note of the triad) down 1 semitone. Now you have G#-B-D# which is the minor chord.
Now you know how to play the minor chords but how do you play the minor scale? Well that's a weird question because there isn't just one minor scale. There are actually 3. The natural minor scale also known as the relative minor scale is the one most musicians use. To find this scale is fairly simple. If you play a C Major scale (C - D - E - F - G - A - B) you can find its relative minor in 2 ways. One way is to use the circle of 5ths but that will be taught in another lesson. The other way, is by easily shifting 3 semitones down from the tonic. So start on the tonic, (C) and shift down 3 semitones to A. There you go. A minor is the relative minor to C Major. What this means is when playing A minor, treat it as if it were C Major, but instead of starting and ending the scale with C, you start and end it with A.
Major Scale (C)
C - Tonic
D - Supertonic
E - Mediant
F - Subdominant
G - Dominant
A - Submediant
B - Leading Tone
Relative Minor Scale (A)
A - Tonic
B - Supertonic
C - Mediant
D - Subdominant
E - Dominant
F - Submediant
G - Subtonic***
***What?! Why is the last note of the minor scale called a subtonic?? Well that's because the subtonic is the lowered seventh degree of the scale, as opposed to the leading tone. If the scale was A Major, the leading tone would be G#, but it is lowered to G, making it a subtonic. Also you can call G-B-D the subtonic chord of A minor as well.
If you want to find out the minor scale of any key, all you have to do is count semitones. I told you that A minor is the relative or natural minor of C Major, but what if you wanted to find C minor? Easy. Count 3 semitones up and Eb would be the relative major meaning you treat C minor as if it were Eb Major. So C minor would be C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb.
I hope you understand the relative minor now, because that is extremely important in music theory.
There are 2 more minor scales that are also available, but not as important, so I will not go over them as much as the relative minor. These scales are called the harmonic and melodic minor scales.
Harmonic: To get the harmonic minor scale, you must first find the relative minor (see how important it is to know the relative minor). After finding the relative minor scale you must raise the 7th note 1 semitone causing it to be a leading tone again. So for C minor, instead of C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C (which is the relative minor) it would now become C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C.
Melodic: To get the melodic minor scale, you must, again, find the relative minor. Once found, you must raise the 6th and 7th note up 1 semitone. When coming back down the scale, you lower them back to their original states. Kind of confusing? Well I'll show you and example. Going up the C minor scale you would play C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C. Going back down the scale, everything should be lowered back to its original positions: C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C.
Try it. To become a better piano player, you can't just read up on theory... you need to apply it, practice makes perfect. Well... no ones perfect, but practice does make you A LOT better. Have fun.
R.A
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Adding ambience to your Drums in Reason.
This is a cool little tutorial for Reason users. You may not need this information, or you may have been looking for how to do this your whole life. Either way, it never hurts to learn something new as a producer.
The Setup
To make the setups portable and to facilitate saving Redrum patterns (which are not saved as part of Redrum patches), start by creating a Combinator. Inside the Combinator, create a Mixer 14:2, two Scream 4s, and a Redrum...
Click Here to read the full article.
The Setup
To make the setups portable and to facilitate saving Redrum patterns (which are not saved as part of Redrum patches), start by creating a Combinator. Inside the Combinator, create a Mixer 14:2, two Scream 4s, and a Redrum...
Click Here to read the full article.
Monday, May 4, 2009
LOL Clip of the day 2
This video is from one of the funniest cartoons ever. Family Guy. I know you Family Guy fans have one way or another seen some clips from the Star Wars episode. The LOL clip of the day is one of those clips. There were so many to choose from, but I had to settle with this one, this one constantly had me laughing out loud. Since embedding is disabled for this particular clip, the only thing I can do is to give you the link.
Here is the picture:
Here is the video's link:
Family Guy Couch Scene
Here is the picture:
Here is the video's link:
Family Guy Couch Scene
Is Eminem back?
Is it Eminem? Or am I listening to the real Slim Shady? I'm sure you hip-hop fans have heard the newest Eminem tracks out. Lyrically, I believe he is back, but what's with that accent? I don't know, I don't like it, but I'm not gonna hate the guy that came out with "The Way I am" or "Till I collapse" or the guy that killed Jay-Z on his own song "Renegade" and also killed 50 on "Patiently Waiting"... but I don't need to post all of his accomplishments. He has yet another new song called "Old time's sake" featuring Dr. Dre. Overall, the song ain't bad, Em puts on that accent, but man is it satisfying when I hear his regular voice on that chorus [ pause ]. Here's the song:
R.A
R.A
Piano Lesson 1 Scale Degrees
I don't know how many piano "lessons" I'm going to post, but I know that I'll do a few, just to get people who don't know that much just a little bit smarter on the keys.
The first lesson is about Scale Degrees. Scale Degrees are the names of the notes in a scale -- how people refer to each note. Before I get too confusing let me ask you this. Have you ever heard someone say something like the 'Tonic" or the "Dominant" when referring to the piano? If so, and you have no idea what they are saying, I will help you understand with this article.
Since C Major is the most popular scale, let's work with it.
So there are 7 notes in every major and minor scale. In the case of C Major (or C+ for short) the notes are:
C D E F G A B
Now each of these notes have their own names. Let's start with the numeration first though. 'C' is the first note so it is number 1 (I). Roman numerals are typically used in these instances. If 'C' is I, then can you guess what 'D' is? Yes. It's that simple. D is 'II'. This part isn't rocket science. So let's add these number to the corresponding notes:
C - I
D - II
E - III
F - IV
G - V
A - VI
B - VII
Great. So far we know that there are 7 notes in a scale and each are represented by roman numerals. Now when someone says "What is the 4 chord of C major?" you can easily reply F major.
***Note: It will not always be a major chord. The 4 chord of C is F major because the chord is F-A-C, which is indeed F major, but if someone asks what the 2 chord is, you would have to say D minor. D major would be D-F#-A, but since F# is not in the scale of C major, you cannot use it, which means you need to make it a minor chord by shifting the F# down 1 semitone to and F natural.
Ok, now on to the actual lesson. What is a tonic and dominant? Let's refer back to our C+ scale. The tonic simply means the first note of the scale, which is C. If the scale was D major, the tonic would be D etc., etc.
C - Tonic ( I )
D - Supertonic ( II )
E - Mediant ( III )
F - Subdominant ( IV )
G - Dominant ( V )
A - Submediant ( VI )
B - Leading Tone ( VII )
When coming up with chord progressions, people usually start on the tonic chord and end on the dominant chord. They end on the dominant chord because it sort of pushes you back to the tonic, making the piece sound rounded. Try it out yourself. Play the tonic chord ( C-E-G ) then play a different chord, let's say the 4 chord ( F-A-C ), now the dominant chord ( G-B-D ) and end on the tonic. Doesn't it sound like the piano just wanted to finish on the tonic after you played the dominant? Well, that progression that I just showed you is actually a very popular progression used a lot. You should take some time to practice naming and moving through each note of each scale and in no time, your theory game will be up another notch.
Hope this helped. More to come.
R.A
The first lesson is about Scale Degrees. Scale Degrees are the names of the notes in a scale -- how people refer to each note. Before I get too confusing let me ask you this. Have you ever heard someone say something like the 'Tonic" or the "Dominant" when referring to the piano? If so, and you have no idea what they are saying, I will help you understand with this article.
Since C Major is the most popular scale, let's work with it.
So there are 7 notes in every major and minor scale. In the case of C Major (or C+ for short) the notes are:
C D E F G A B
Now each of these notes have their own names. Let's start with the numeration first though. 'C' is the first note so it is number 1 (I). Roman numerals are typically used in these instances. If 'C' is I, then can you guess what 'D' is? Yes. It's that simple. D is 'II'. This part isn't rocket science. So let's add these number to the corresponding notes:
C - I
D - II
E - III
F - IV
G - V
A - VI
B - VII
Great. So far we know that there are 7 notes in a scale and each are represented by roman numerals. Now when someone says "What is the 4 chord of C major?" you can easily reply F major.
***Note: It will not always be a major chord. The 4 chord of C is F major because the chord is F-A-C, which is indeed F major, but if someone asks what the 2 chord is, you would have to say D minor. D major would be D-F#-A, but since F# is not in the scale of C major, you cannot use it, which means you need to make it a minor chord by shifting the F# down 1 semitone to and F natural.
Ok, now on to the actual lesson. What is a tonic and dominant? Let's refer back to our C+ scale. The tonic simply means the first note of the scale, which is C. If the scale was D major, the tonic would be D etc., etc.
C - Tonic ( I )
D - Supertonic ( II )
E - Mediant ( III )
F - Subdominant ( IV )
G - Dominant ( V )
A - Submediant ( VI )
B - Leading Tone ( VII )
When coming up with chord progressions, people usually start on the tonic chord and end on the dominant chord. They end on the dominant chord because it sort of pushes you back to the tonic, making the piece sound rounded. Try it out yourself. Play the tonic chord ( C-E-G ) then play a different chord, let's say the 4 chord ( F-A-C ), now the dominant chord ( G-B-D ) and end on the tonic. Doesn't it sound like the piano just wanted to finish on the tonic after you played the dominant? Well, that progression that I just showed you is actually a very popular progression used a lot. You should take some time to practice naming and moving through each note of each scale and in no time, your theory game will be up another notch.
Hope this helped. More to come.
R.A
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sampling music vs. Composing music
I compose and I suck at sampling, but I wont be biased in this article.
There are a few things that I love and hate about both of these techniques. With sampling, I love it when a sample is chopped up and flipped just right; I love seeing people banging out the sample on their MPC's and jamming to their own tunes; I love hearing the Ahh's and Ooo's in those soulful sampled beats. Also, I love it how so many different people can come up with so many different flips from a single sample. Here's an example from Boon Doc:
Although my 'love' for sampling outweighs the things I hate about it, that doesn't stop me from still being a hater... I just hate the days where you can't find that sample. You've been looking for a while and you may think that you found one, but really it's just your imagination telling you to like it when you don't. Crate digging can get a little annoying if you aren't up to it. Also, it grinds my gears when I can't find drums to go with my sample. I guess this comes with practice, but still, I hate that.
On to composing music from scratch. I love doing this. I personally start with the melodies first. I don't normally add in the drums until I finish my main chords and main melody. The feeling I get once those drums come into play is, for lack of a better word, extravagent. I love the feeling I get knowing that everything I'm hearing has come from my brain and my fingers. While I am listening to the beat, I know that I am the only person on Earth who has heard it. I love when you get that perfect progression... you know, the one that gives you chills and instant inspiration. Here's a Ryan Leslie example of what I'm saying:
I do hate some parts of it though. This whole music creation thing is a love and hate relationship with me. SOMETIMES I can't figure out a good enough bassline... oh man. I stop making music when I can't figure out a bassline. It just upsets me so much. Not being able to find appropriate drums applies to this one too, but again, that probably comes down to more practice and experience.
In conclusion. Making music is extremely rewarding. If you aren't musically trained, you can take the sampling route, or the 1 finger piano playing route (songs like Crank Dat, and Laffy Taffy fall under this category), but it doesn't hurt to get some instrument lessons (I suggest piano) and it wouldn't hurt to learn some music theory as well. I will be posting a newbie guide to piano theory so time in the future, but until then, PEACE OUT!
R.A
There are a few things that I love and hate about both of these techniques. With sampling, I love it when a sample is chopped up and flipped just right; I love seeing people banging out the sample on their MPC's and jamming to their own tunes; I love hearing the Ahh's and Ooo's in those soulful sampled beats. Also, I love it how so many different people can come up with so many different flips from a single sample. Here's an example from Boon Doc:
Although my 'love' for sampling outweighs the things I hate about it, that doesn't stop me from still being a hater... I just hate the days where you can't find that sample. You've been looking for a while and you may think that you found one, but really it's just your imagination telling you to like it when you don't. Crate digging can get a little annoying if you aren't up to it. Also, it grinds my gears when I can't find drums to go with my sample. I guess this comes with practice, but still, I hate that.
On to composing music from scratch. I love doing this. I personally start with the melodies first. I don't normally add in the drums until I finish my main chords and main melody. The feeling I get once those drums come into play is, for lack of a better word, extravagent. I love the feeling I get knowing that everything I'm hearing has come from my brain and my fingers. While I am listening to the beat, I know that I am the only person on Earth who has heard it. I love when you get that perfect progression... you know, the one that gives you chills and instant inspiration. Here's a Ryan Leslie example of what I'm saying:
I do hate some parts of it though. This whole music creation thing is a love and hate relationship with me. SOMETIMES I can't figure out a good enough bassline... oh man. I stop making music when I can't figure out a bassline. It just upsets me so much. Not being able to find appropriate drums applies to this one too, but again, that probably comes down to more practice and experience.
In conclusion. Making music is extremely rewarding. If you aren't musically trained, you can take the sampling route, or the 1 finger piano playing route (songs like Crank Dat, and Laffy Taffy fall under this category), but it doesn't hurt to get some instrument lessons (I suggest piano) and it wouldn't hurt to learn some music theory as well. I will be posting a newbie guide to piano theory so time in the future, but until then, PEACE OUT!
R.A
LOL Clip of the day.
I dunno... this might end up becoming a series, or it might not. I'll post vids that get me to seriously laugh out loud... the vids might be new or old, but that doesn't really matter if they're hilarious. This will be the first one. Good ol' fail blog. Keep your eye on the host:
LOL at him trying to play it off with "Ha ha! Get this thing off me man, get this thing off me." That smile he was giving was not genuine.
LOL at him trying to play it off with "Ha ha! Get this thing off me man, get this thing off me." That smile he was giving was not genuine.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Star Trek is such a smart show.
Star Trek 11 is coming out and a lot of people seem to be excited about it. In it's honour, I think we should reminisce on it's history. Do we really understand Star Trek? You tell me.
Ryan Anthony. Behind the name.
First and foremost, lol at me trying to sound cool with the title of this blog post... but seriously... who is Ryan Anthony? Well, I am a beat maker. I know, I know there are a ton of "beat makers" out there, even more than there are artists, but I don't care... I make music for me (and for money). There's a certain feeling I get when I make/hear exquisite instrumentals, or when I see a beautiful studio or piece of musical equipment, and every time I get this feeling I tell myself, "this must be love". I'm an R&B head... I'm guilty for being one of those people who sing in the shower, or in the car, or loud in my basement at 3 o'clock in the morning, so I, naturally, make R&B beats. I also make Pop and Hip-Hop, but R&B is my true love. I started making beats in '06 with FL Studio 3 and I never looked back. I actually started with rap beats just because I wanted to rap over them, but those days are long gone. I dusted off my old piano skills and hit the keys. A few years later, here I am making those R&B beats. That's all you guys need to know about me for now. Don't forget to check me out on soundclick and on twitter! PEACE!
R.A
R.A
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
