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Audio quality is a much discussed topic amongst audiophiles, muso’s and musicians. There are some people who have a preference for the sound of vinyl records, they prefer the warm sound and pops and crackles add a sense of nostalgia or time stamping a different era of recording. Much of audio quality has to do with the frequency response of any given piece of music, this in itself will differ from one musical genre to the next. However generally speaking there tends to be a preference for warm sounding recordings as opposed to “harsh” sounding ones.

Since the advent of digital recording the noise floor (hiss levels) has been significantly reduced in recordings and this has created a trend to add extra treble to recordings (high frequencies). Adding high frequencies through use of equalization (like an amplfier tone control) used to compound any hiss problems when analogue magnetic tape was used and you could easily end up with “frying eggs” hissing sounds in the background.In part this over use of high frequency eq on digital recording mediums can account for the harsh sounding modern records of today. Another reason why harshness can creep in is because of limiting which is a process used in mastering studios to increase the perceived volume of music on a CD.  Read more...

Raised in a bothered home the place his father was a suffering piano player, Prince’s break out was, from an early age, his music. A authentic musical prodigy, he taught himself to play greater than 20 different tools by means of ear alone, and as early as junior prime was fronting his own band, Grand Central. He graduated from highschool at age sixteen and moved out of his parents’ area to live in a friend’s basement. A year later, a studio engineer offered to switch him a few recording time in exchange for a few session piano work. After he stepped clear of the keyboard, Prince introduced bass, drums, lead guitar, and backing vocal tracks to the similar piece, stunning the studio tech and writing the script for the remainder of his career. A travel to New York led to 2 contract offers, but also definite the youngster that he’d left his heart in Minneapolis. Returning to his hometown, he cut a three-track demo that amazed Warner Bros. Records executives, and at 19, he was given a budget of $100,000 and total keep an eye on over his debut album.  Read more...

Learn jazz piano without spending too much money on piano lessons. Believe it or not, you can actually learn how to play the piano even without undergoing formal schooling on this musical instrument. Many people may feel hesitant about learning piano all by themselves, but there have been many piano players who actually started out by learning the instrument on their own. While it is true that kids are able to learn how to play the piano faster, there is actually no age limit as to who can learn how to hit the piano keys. Although, you have to understand that the older you get, the more effortful would piano lessons be for you. Be prepared to spend some time before you can play like a professional jazz pianist.

If you decide to learn how to play jazz piano at home and on your own pace, you would still need to have some form of structured piano lessons. This will ensure that you will be successful in your quest to become a jazz pianist. Following modules and ordered sets of piano lessons will make your learning more effective. At the start of your piano training, you have to focus on the basics. Jazz can be a very challenging music genre. You have to know the notes and chords for you to be able to play all sorts of rhythms.  Read more...

So you want to get into hip-hop/rap/R&B production and you don’t really know how? Well, it’s way easier than you may think. With just a few items, you could be well on your way to being the next Timbaland, Dre, or Alchemist. 

So where do you start? First off, you need to make sure you have the right software. A lot of people out there like to sample beats and use other people’s music, but you want to be original. At least in the beginning, because if you are like I was, you probably want to develop your own style. Here is my list of the essential start-up software you need to make beats: 

Reason 4.0 – Propellerhead’s Reason is one of the most dynamic pieces of software you can have in your arsenal. It’s relatively inexpensive, yet it allows you to produce nearly any sound you can think of via a vast range of synths, drum machines, and effects. It is very user friendly, and produces a powerful, professional sound. Nearly every major producer has used Reason at one point in his or her career. 

Fruity Loops Studio – Many producers use Fruity Loops to create entire productions. What really separates FL from Reason is that it has the ability to become a VST instrument when used with some mixing and recording programs such as Cubase or Pro-Tools. (These are the crème’ de la crème’ – but not necessities when you are just starting out)   Read more...

The music generation has changed. New heights are attained by music industry in the twenty first century. The introduction of mobiles, iPods, and numerous other music gadgets has breathed a new life into music industry. Today’s youth is in synch with new music trends and every other youth you will find carrying iPod! No wonder these are the people who keep searching for new music albums and DVDs to download on their iPods or mobiles, or on their home pc. Though the style of hearing music has changed, there is hardly any change in the taste of music and it remains evergreen since decades.

However, the problem this generation faces is about downloading their favorite music albums. Well, they need not venture through music galleries of their area like their elder music lovers. They get different genres of music at the click of the mouse. But still this youth faces problems with the authenticity of the music download sites. Many people complain that the music download takes hell of their time and they cannot devote that much time to fulfill their hobby of listening to music. Quite right, isn’t it?

Especially today many of us want to download full length DVDs or CDs which take really too long time from many sites. This is troublesome. What can we do to avoid time consuming music downloading websites?  Read more...