Loops have gotten an unfortunate reputation as being a stand-in for real musicians or real musicianship – perhaps because, too often, they are. That’s why it’s always refreshing to see a discussion of how looping can incorporate musical technique. Like many electronic musicians, I have zero background in drumming; I’m a keyboardist and was trained in Classical Piano. But then, part of the gift of being a composer is getting inside the heads of musicians who play instruments you can’t. And when it comes to understanding rhythm, there’s a limitless supply of work to explore from around the world.

Ryan Gauss writes us to share a blog that’s all about rhythm and drumming. Blogging can be a distraction from music making, but in this case, he’s using it to help be even more disciplined in building technique:

Every day I record and post a new drum loop (with a link to the Logic session and .wav files). I organize the beats by category (rock hip hop, jazz etc) and try to change up the production style with every loop.

So far, there’s a terrific piece on “linear drumming” – a style in which you hit only one part of your kit at a time. (Now, this really inspires me in terms of some of the rhythmic sequencing ideas I’ve been thinking about – I’ll have to explore. Maybe I can build a linear pattern sequencer.) See notation at top.

Linear drumming for dummies. | ryangruss.com

There’s also a fantastic video from drummer Shawn Pelton, who to me really exemplifies the marriage of great drumming and sophisticated use of technology (Ableton Live, in this case).

Shawn Pelton’s studio | ryangruss.com

I’ll be reading this site, for sure. Thanks, Ryan.

http://ryangruss.com/ “Fresh Drum Loops Made Daily”
(question – are they best hot, as with Krispy Kreme?)

Here’s a novel concept:

• Provide video tutorials that teach you how to play an instrument and walk you specifically through the technique of a song
• Make them available as downloads
• Charge US$4.99 each
• Get the artists (and producers) involved in the original song
• Let people hear the original track
• Break down the song piece by piece so you can learn it
• Get the artists talking about the inspiration for the song, and what it means

Apple pitched these as a new concept in music education in its Macworld keynote. The company calls the videos “a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar” and said they “also give you something you won’t find anywhere else: the story behind the song.”

The only problem is, every one of these features – every single feature – has been available for months on ivideosongs.com. (Thanks for the comment, Anders!) Updated: one correction. As Tracy notes in comments, the celebrity ivideosongs entries are $9.99, though the rest of the content is $4.99. So, either Apple quietly partnered with that site and didn’t mention it (very possible), or they blatantly ripped off the site. Either way, the feature isn’t really new, which I missed. And either way, this is a great way to learn about music without buying any new software for five bucks a pop or even free. (The only real catch is, as with Apple, if you’re not a pianist or guitarist, you’re likely to feel left out.)

I had heard of the site but unfortunately didn’t spend the time I should have with it. Other bloggers wisely paid more attention:

Learn to Play an Instrument Online, Adam Pash, Lifehacker

Video-Tabs: Learn to play guitar the YouTube way, Brad Linder (sometimes CDM tipster), Download Squad

Listening Post’s Top 10 Hottest Music Sites, Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired

In fact, for a really terrific, thoughtful essay on learning and what these sites can provide, check out the always-wonderful blog Key of Grey. I like this bit:

Playing exactly like SRV is an impressive technical feat, but you won’t be revolutionary, or even evolutionary. You’ll be an SRV clone. If that’s what you want, then great, but it’s not for me.

A person can learn guitar without a teacher; learning anything takes motivation. But with the right teacher, that same motivated person could accelerate their learning.

Most importantly, while ivideosongs.com may lack the whiz-bang features of GarageBand, it also doesn’t require special software. You don’t need a Mac (any OS that plays videos will work), you don’t need iLife ‘09, and you can (ironically) load the videos onto your iPod or iPhone or other device if you want.

On Learning

GarageBand does have some additional unique stuff, though, that is worth mentioning. Most notably, you get solo-able tracks that you can play along with or use to zero in on one soloist. You also get downloadable tablature, which is a huge extra. Still, I have to say – Apple really thinks you have to buy their software for a hundred bucks or so, plus possibly a computer to run it, just to watch what is really a video tutorial? Especially when there are other videos out there and, hopefully, should be many more? It’s a fantastic deal for GarageBand users, of course, just less so for everyone else.

In the end, it may not matter. ivideosongs could get more attention out of this, and the likes of Giles Martin, John Oates, and Graham Nash should easily attract people to the site. Addicts of this way of learning may grab both. But regardless, it’s worth checking out. And as I said, I hope more people rip off his idea. I hope more artists get involved, artists use this as a new revenue stream, people experiment with new ways of talking about and learning about music, and people work on their musicianship. So, Apple, if you did rip this off … thanks! And given the attention you generate, ivideosongs may even thank you, too.

ivideosongs.com

Free tutorials to go practice (scales, fingerpicking, etc., sadly for some of us, all acoustic/electric guitar):

Free tutorials search @ ivideosongs

Free ivideosongs videos at howstuffworks

Jaymis at Create Digital Motion was admiring this video and watching the Lemur action at the beginning. It further inspires me to custom-install a touch overlay on my laptop, which isn’t terribly expensive – having touch in a live playing situation is really quite nice.

But as I watched the video and its modular synth action and Novation gear, I actually found myself thinking about something else: why aren’t more bands this tight? Most importantly, why don’t more bands simply use in-ear monitors when they’re working? Lots of bands now are adding drum machines again, working with more complex rhythms and harmonies, mixing electronic and acoustic elements. Yet you’ll often see them playing live trying to stay together with a monitor on the floor, and they not surprisingly go out of tune and out of step.

Shure makes a number of fairly affordable models with different in-ear attachments for adapting to different situations. Frankly, just about anything would work. There’s also no crime to routing a separate output with a click track. That’s something even a lot of “serious music” contemporary composers are doing these days. It’s not always the right answer, but there are now situations across genres where it makes sense.

The main thing is, set up so you can take advantage of the musicianship you’ve got. And on that note, while readers here regularly knock Nine Inch Nails – something along the lines of, “if they weren’t NIN, you wouldn’t care” – imagine if you hadn’t heard of this band. They’re an extraordinary group of musicians. Plenty of brilliant musicians labor in obscurity, but it is comforting to know that some of the light of fame is hitting people who can play amazingly well.

Now, sing along: “You will never ever ever ever / own this much gear.”

What? That’s not what they’re singing?

(Actually, the lyrics “You will never ever ever ever get to me in here” can also work nicely on the door to your music studio.)

NIN Visuals:

For once, the visual environment is actually upstaging the sound gear lust. See this video on the “stealth” LED screens, cameras, particles, and … lasers. Mmmmm, lasers.

LEDs In The Sky: MomentFactory’s “Show Environment” for Nine Inch Nails [Create Digital Motion]