It has been almost 2 years since I first set up this blog (April, 2016) … intending to add to it regularly. I have to admit that I have been somewhat sporadic in my additions (just 12 posts in 2 years), but I will try to do better! Blog wise, I’ve branched out into a...
Author: Tommy Doyle
Should I practice scales on the piano?
I was watching an interview of a young Martha Argerich on YouTube some time ago. She made the remark “je ne fais pas de gammes” – I don’t do scales. So many scales and so little time All pianists will have memories of learning all of their scales, Major, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Chromatic in...
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How to Record the Orchestra
So far, I’ve described how I decided what equipment I needed and which DAW and Virtual Instruments I’d use. Now it is time to actually play each instrument part into the computer. This, in itself, isn’t so hard (or so I thought) – playing one instrument at a time on a keyboard should be child’s...
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Virtual Instruments and MIDI
A Symphony Orchestra is a significant body of musicians. For the String Section alone there could be as many as 60 musicians (16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses). Then you have all the additional instruments (such Woodwind, Brass and Percussion) – a full stage. For my project,...
What is a Digital Audio Workstation (or DAW)
We’re all fairly familiar with the interior of a Recording Studio, if only from seeing music videos over the years where the recording process is often featured. Image By Rebecca Wilson – originally posted to Flickr as Vicariously, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11992757 Whilst we recognise the image , the majority of us of course haven’t...
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What do I need to know to create an Orchestra on my Computer
Before embarking on the 18th Variation project, I decided that this time, rather than plunge head in and then get demotivated by poor results, I should do some decent research to get a fuller view of what is involved. My first step (seemed logical) was to research what is involved in creating a Home Recording...
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Adventures in Digital Audio
Some people might remember Mike Oldfield perhaps? He released an album called Tubular Bells back in May 1973 on which he played every instrument himself, recording track by track on a (then) state of the art multi-track recording system. This was featured on Blue Peter (he even re-recorded the Blue Peter theme song in the process)...
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But you don’t have Pianist’s hands
When I decided to re-start piano, I mentioned it separately to a couple of friends who didn’t know me as a youngster (and so didn’t know I used to play). Interestingly, the first thing both of them said was ‘but you don’t have pianist’s hands!’. More oddly, one of them has never even played piano before...
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Thoughts on Piano Technique
Why Technique? When I reached my grade 8, I hit a sort of technical wall. I had never previously struggled with repertoire at my grade – passing my exams with distinction for very little effort. At grade 8, I scraped a pass mark (and think I was lucky to get that). One of the first...
Chopin ‘Valse du petit chien’ – the ‘little dog waltz’ (Op. 64 No. 1)
This fabulous little waltz is more commonly called the Minute Waltz – almost always pronounced ‘minute’ as in hours, minutes and seconds but actually intended as ‘minute’ as in very small. Chopin’s inspiration was apparently watching a little dog chase its own tail. This is the type of piece that I would never try to...
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