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Instrument care summer heat tips

Instrument Care Tips

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As with most things like appliances, houses, cars, and even weight (looking at you, carbs…), it’s far easier to prevent problems before they start than to fix a developed issue. Instrument care is no different, and there’s a lot that you can do to keep your beloved musical friend in good condition! This is particularly crucial during summer months in Florida – yikes to all that humidity!

 

First Things First – Heat and Humidity:

There’s no way around it: this state is brutally hot. It’s best to treat your instrument just like a person or a pet. If you would be overheated in a certain situation, your instrument would be as well. Never leave your instrument in a car or outside for extended periods (this includes overnight!). If you’re enjoying marching band camp or must be outside, try to keep your instrument in the shade or out of direct sunlight.

UV damage from the sun is a real issue. We don’t have sunscreen for instruments, but it’s a good idea to move your indoor musical friends away from windows with direct sunlight. This not only prevents discoloring, but it reduces tuning issues and prolongs overall instrument life!

Humidity is the real enemy of all acoustic instruments, and left unchecked, it can ruin your instrument and leave it requiring major repairs. Your instruments should always spend the majority of their time indoors in a climate-controlled environment. If your house is particularly humid, a small dehumidifier for the room may be a good idea. You can also experiment with desiccant packs in the instrument case (beware, they do wear out eventually). Acoustic pianos may require dehumidifier bars that can be easily installed in the shell. If you have a particularly valuable instrument that lives in a case, special humidity-controlled cases are available for a pretty penny.

 

Wood Instrument Care:

Even many years after its creation, wood forever remains an organic substance that is impacted by humidity and external conditions. Check with your Songbirds instrument technician about what treatment your instrument wood needs to stay healthy. For example, most woods need to be occasionally oiled to prevent a complete dry-out which leads to cracks and damage. Lemon oil is available, but you can also use mineral oil as it is the same thing without the added fragrance – plus it’s not as expensive!

A gentle abrasive like 0000-grade steel wool or a fine Scotch-Brite pad may be useful for removing built-up dirt and grime on the surface of the wood. I always recommend lubricating abrasives with a bit of mineral oil and rubbing with the grain of the wood to prevent scratches.

 

The Secret Weapon:

Microfiber cloths! These handy rags do a ton of heavy lifting with instrument care. Use them to wipe down your instrument after use and remove fingerprints and oils. You can also use them to apply oil or cleaning products, plus they do a fantastic job with buffing and polishing. Just be careful to keep them clean – if something sharp or gritty gets stuck in a microfiber cloth, your instrument may get scratched!

 

Buffing and Polishing:

No matter what you play, your instrument probably has some metal pieces. Any good automotive polish works wonders in brightening your metal hardware and removing light scratches. I prefer McGuiars – look for one that has a high or very fine finish!

 

Extra Tips:

Wipe down your instrument after each practice session, especially if you are prone to sweaty hands like me! The natural oils from our body don’t play well with instruments, and a gentle wipe goes a long way in preventing damage. It’s like brushing your teeth!

If you play a stringed instrument, you’ll likely notice the need for more frequent string changes in the summer months. This is normal, don’t worry. Some string cleaning products may be helpful in prolonging corrosion, but I find it best to spend a few extra bucks and purchase coated strings that are resistant to sweat and oil.

For brass instruments, try to buff out scratches and scuffs soon after they happen so that they don’t build up and get worse. If a scratch exposes bare metal, check with your technician on how to prevent rust and corrosion.

Keep a tuner handy – your instrument will go out of tune frequently in the summer!

 

Conclusion:

I hope that these tips help you keep your instruments in their best shape and away from damage! Just remember that being proactive goes a long way and can help save you money on future repairs. Stay tuned for future installments of the Knowledge Blog, keep practicing, and stay cool out there! Don’t forget to hydrate, of course!

Pivot Percussion Pedal Review

Pivot Percussion – A Review

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What feels like 403 years ago, the world was plunged into distress with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We don’t need to relive the panic and hardship. However, it’s worth mentioning that musicians and the performance industry were hit extremely hard. Bars, restaurants, and venues closed. Overnight, singing became one of the most transmissible and dangerous pastimes. Gigs and performance opportunities are slowly coming back, but the landscape has been forever changed by Covid-19. Venues that used to regularly hire full bands and groups can now only afford to support solo players and duos.

 

Act I: The Problem.

Without his trusty band behind him, the hero of our story, Shaun, felt the need to augment his performance. He plays guitar and sings, but there wasn’t enough punch or low end to his show. One night, he saw a fellow musician play guitar and stomp on a suitcase that had an SM58 microphone stuck inside. The sound was unreliable and muddy, and the singer’s constant motion looked exhausting. But the idea was sparked. Shaun knew that he could take this concept and turn it into something incredible.

 

Intermission: Testing, Testing, Testing.

Shaun developed “The Lab”, a specialty workshop on his property for creating, testing, and prototyping what would one day become Pivot Percussion. I was fortunate enough to gig with him frequently as a duo during this development period, and there was a new model under our feet nearly every week. From the beginning, Shaun had nailed the ergonomic and comfortable nature of the pedals, but there was still work to be done with the perfect tone and sound. With what is now unique patented technology, Shaun created the Pivot Capsules. These are modular cores that can be swapped in and out of the pedals to make different sounds. Whether it’s a punchy bass drum, a sizzly shaker, or a snappy maraca, we were able to completely customize our show.

 

Act II: The Solution.

Enter, YOU. It’s time for the audience to try out Pivot. These one-of-a-kind instruments are now launched to the world and for sale at pivotpercussion.com. There will also be some at Songbirds very soon! Here’s an honest review of Pivot and what it can do for your performances:

 

The Review:

I absolutely love my Pivot pedals. There are other percussion instruments on the market, but Pivot fills a much-needed void. The pedals themselves are beautiful and nearly indestructible, plus there’s peace of mind knowing that the heart of the technology, the capsules, are easily replaceable if something were to go wrong. Here are my specific pros and cons after playing the pedals from their inception to launch:

 

Pros:

Passive components. I LOVE the fact that the Pivots don’t require external power or batteries. They’re just like a guitar – plug and play. I’m fortunate enough to know a little about how they’re wired on the inside, and I can say with confidence that the patented technology is extremely robust. Shaun said from the beginning that he wanted to be able to run them over with a van and they could keep playing. I’m confident that would be possible. (No Pivots were harmed in the making of this review.)

Impact reactive. Pivot pedals are all analog, meaning they don’t work like a digital trigger. With competitor percussion devices, the sound is constant no matter how hard you play. Pivots are a real instrument – the sound and attack changes the harder you stomp. You can also get interesting and varied results based on your footwear. This makes the Pivots much more musical and organic.

Incredible sound quality. Shaun nailed each of the capsules and their sound signatures. Pivot pedals sound massive and present through PAs and powered speakers right out of the box. Very little (if any) tweaking is needed on the speaker to make the Pivots sound their best.

Eco-friendly. Each Pivot pedal is made with locally-sourced, reclaimed lumber. This includes trees that were lost during hurricanes and storms. Instead of destroying wood in a landfill, Shaun turns fallen trees into musical works of art.

Locally owned and operated. Pivot Percussion is based out of Longwood, Florida. Each pedal is handmade and inspected.

Great customer support. Shaun stands by each pedal and is quick to offer support and replacements if needed.

Unique builds with customization. Because Pivots are made of real lumber, no two pedals look alike. Shaun makes some incredibly attractive Pivots that showcase natural woodgrain and the beauty of the tree. There are also customization options available. I was given a prototype pedal that has my face on it!

Super comfy. This is the kicker (pun intended): you really can play for hours without getting tired. The design of the Original Pivot works perfectly with the flow of the leg and the knee. Using your heel to stomp prevents any shin pain or muscle fatigue, and the padding of the Pivot plus your footwear prevents any soreness in the heel. You can literally stand on the Original Pivots while playing them if you prefer to stand while performing. The Standard Pivots are great for playing piano or a minimalistic drumset. It’s worth mentioning that the Standards can be played with both the heel and the toe for maximum comfort.

Extra goodies. Shaun offers quality Pivot cables, cases, and straps for the instruments. It’s nice when companies go the extra mile. Everyone knows Sweetwater for the candy that they throw in every order – Pivot’s attention to detail with bonus goodies is even better.

 

Cons:

Difficult to master at first. I won’t sugarcoat this – Pivot pedals take a lot of time to get the hang of and master. I’m admittedly not the most coordinated person, but playing guitar, singing, AND stomping your feet on rhythm is challenging. I started incorporating Pivots into my performance gradually. Once you get over the first coordination hurdle, they do start to feel natural and second nature. Most of us tap our feet while playing anyway; the mental obstacle isn’t there, but the physical one takes some time.

Lots of options. This is both a Pro and a Con: there are a lot of customization options with the Pivot sound! There are three standard options with capsules: kick, maraca, and shaker. Combine this with using two pedals at once, and there are A LOT of possible combinations to take your playing to the next level. I use my Pivot pedals with a looper, and it’s easy to get lost in the possibilities and overcomplicating your performance. I started incorporating just the kick capsule with one pedal until I felt confident enough to expand.

Need a good sound system. This likely isn’t an issue, but Pivots sound the best when played through a nice powered speaker or PA. Pivots are targeted towards the professional, working musician who likely has a quality system already, so I don’t expect that this would be a hindrance to anyone purchasing a Pivot pedal.

 

Conclusion:

We are incredibly proud of Shaun and excited about the launch of Pivot Percussion! Come check them out at Songbirds, and ask Justin when you can see them in action at a local gig. Until next time, keep practicing, and check out our other posts on the Knowledge Blog!



Guitar Tone Guide

Guitars: What Actually Matters for Tone

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We are ecstatic to announce our new dealership agreement with Ibanez! In light of the good news, I felt it prudent to write a blog about what actually impacts an electric guitar’s sound and playability. This is a hotly contested topic, and there is no shortage of opinions online. I recommend following the advice of individuals who have done genuine scientific experiments and have building experience to back up their claims. I have personally built several guitars from scratch and have repaired many instruments of varying quality. The opinions here are what I’ve discovered – if you have varying information, please let us know!

A further disclaimer: Paul of PRS Guitars famously follows a 21-point checklist that his company developed. This list includes 21 points on the instrument that impact sound quality. My list below isn’t to say that I don’t believe Paul or conventional wisdom on the topic – I’m just of the belief that the list can be heavily skewed towards things that matter a lot versus things that hardly matter at all.

What Matters A LOT:

  • Pickups. At this stage of my career, I’ll die on the hill that pickups are the most important feature of an electric guitar. This is only tied with the neck (see below). A good quality pickup can make or break the sound of the instrument and how the signal is translated to the speaker.
  • Pickup orientation. There’s a huge tonal difference between single-coil pickups, humbuckers, active pickups, and other types that you commonly find in guitars. For example, the thinner, chime-y sound of single-coils is what defines country, southern rock, funk, and classic rock. What’s more, the pickups can be wired to virtually any configuration. Whether it’s three-position, five-position, or more… coil tapping, wiring mods… the possibilities are endless and can all change the tonal palette that you have on your instrument.
  • Neck/Fretboard. The neck of the guitar has the biggest impact on how it feels when played. In my opinion, a good neck should be straight and slick with frets that are set well and intonated correctly. If the neck is excellent, your playing will improve dramatically.
  • Setup. Every guitar needs a professional setup to play and sound its best. A setup includes action adjustment, or how high the strings are from the fingerboard, and intonation adjustment, or how in tune the guitar is with itself. Both of these have a massive impact on how easy it is to play and how correct it sounds.
  • Speaker/Amp. This a bit beyond the scope of this blog, but your output setup matters. An incredible and expensive guitar will only sound average when played through a low-quality speaker or amp. Balance the quality of your speaker with your guitar for best tonal results.
  • Tuners. I’ve found that tuners don’t change the sound of the instrument – their job is to stay in place and be reliable. However, this is important when you’re playing frequently and doing lots of re-tuning and bending. Low-quality tuners will go out of tune frequently and make your instrument sound wonky. I always recommend locking tuners – even the cheaper models are above and beyond what standard tuners can accomplish in regard to reliability.

What Matters A LITTLE:

  • The pick that you use. Picks of different hardness and elasticity will have different strengths of attack against the strings. This mostly translates to loudness, but different picks also change how you play.
  • The strings. You’ve probably heard of string gauge, or how thick a string is. You can get monster sound from both thick and thin strings – what really matters is tuning stability and sustain. Thicker strings stay in tune longer and sustain more, but they are difficult to bend and can hurt the fingers. Thin strings have the opposite features. Experiment with what size strings are best for your play style, and don’t forget that fresh strings will always sound and feel better than old ones.
  • The nut. Players often get into arguments about what material of nut is best for the sound of the guitar. I don’t have strong opinions on this topic, but I do believe that cheap plastic nuts should be swapped out for better-quality materials like bone, synthetic bone, or brass. This is to prevent breakage and keep the strings in tune longer.
  • Internal electronics. Better quality electronics like potentiometers and wires don’t have a huge impact on the signal of the guitar, but they’re much more durable and feel better to use. I always recommend swapping out stock electronics for ones of better quality simply because they’ll last longer and resist wear.

What HARDLY MATTERS at all:

  • “Tonewood” or what the body is made of. This has a big impact with acoustic guitars, but it doesn’t matter very much at all for electric guitars. Your primary concern with the body should be its shape (how does it feel to hold it and play for extended periods?) and its weight. There’s nothing worse than playing a multi-hour gig with a brick tied across your shoulders. Check out this video by Glen Fricker for a tonewood side-by-side comparison (parental discretion advised: language) and this video of that one time someone made a cement guitar.

The Final Takeaway:

If I were building a guitar on a budget for a professional gig, I’d splurge on nice pickups and a good neck. Nothing else has a massive impact on my style of playing. Check out this video for a demonstration of why pickups matter, even when there isn’t a guitar body at all.

I hope that this helped clear some things up! Let us know if you’d like to check out some awesome new Ibanez products, and until next time with the Knowlege Blog, keep practicing!

How to Actually Count Triplets

How to Actually Count Triplets

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Music notation is full of all kinds of tricky rhythms, but one of the hardest to master as a beginner or intermediate student is the triplet (duhn duhn duhnnn!). Learn how to properly count it with this guide. Once you learn how to count them, you’ll never have to second-guess triplets again!

 

What is a Triplet?

In case you missed it, a triplet is a group of three notes that are grouped together. They often have a beam that connects them, and there’s almost always a little ‘3’ above or below them to indicate that they belong in a triplet group.

Triplets are tricky (say that ten times fast) because we often encounter them in even-beat meters like 4/4. In these meters, we usually count and feel the rhythmic stresses in groups of two. For example, eighth notes are commonly counted “one and / two and / three and / four / and”. With triplets, you have to somehow smush three notes in a space that normally only fits two. Eighth-note triplets go by slightly faster than their eighth-note counterparts, for example. So, how do we accurately count this?

Bonus: Triplets exist in triple meters like 6/8 all the time. We feel and count groups of three easily in that territory. A group of two notes in a triple meter behaves and “feels” like a triplet in 4/4. This is called a duple and goes by slightly slower than the normal triplet grouping. For example, in 6/8, three eighth notes normally fill half the measure, or the space of one dotted quarter note. A duple fills that same space, so those two notes are heard as just a little slower or elongated. Duples in triple meters are the opposite of triplets in duple meters.

 

How Triplets are Taught:

There’s a lot of variance in the way that music education is approached across the world. From general music class teachers to private instructors, a lot gets missed along the way. I was taught that triplets should be felt, not counted. This is pretty tricky for a middle school band kid. My teacher said that you can count triplets by saying “tri-pl-et” for each note as they go by. So, in 4/4, I could count it as “one and / two and / three / and / tri-pl-et”. I’ve heard that this method is still pretty common.

The issue with this is that there isn’t a way to tell which beat (or where in the beat) you are. We usually count sixteenth notes as “one ee and ah / two ee and ah / three ee and ah / four ee and ah”, so we should adopt a similar trick for triplets.

 

Count Triplets Like This:

One ah lee / Two ah lee / Three ah lee / Four ah lee.

If you prefer, you can think of it as “ollie” and imagine the notes doing cool skateboard tricks on your music.

This style of counting will help you always know where you are in the measure. If you have sixteenth-note triplets, you can insert the syllable “ee” like we do for regular sixteenth-notes. That would sound like this: “one ah lee / two ah lee / three ah lee / four ee ah ee lee lee”.

 

A Note (Pun Intended) on Counting:

This could get its own blog post (and maybe it will), but Counts and Beats are NOT the same thing. They often get used interchangeably, especially in school. Here’s the difference:

Counts are how you navigate the music. If our song is in 4/4, it has four quarter notes in the measure and we COUNT the unit of the quarter note. We say “one, two, three, four”. If the song switches to 2/4, we still COUNT quarter notes, but only two: “one, two”.

Beats are how you FEEL the music. There’s not a consistent way to feel music, and beats can be fluid. In 4/4, we commonly feel the strong beats on beats one and three. In a dance song, you may COUNT in four but BEAT (or feel) the music in two.

This is easier to hear in 6/8. In this example, we count sixth eighth notes per measure, or “one two three four five six”. I’ve highlighted counts one and four because those are usually the strongest counts and are where we feel the beat. A student playing the music may be counting in 6/8, but the conductor leading the band may be using a conducting pattern that only has two distinct motions – a beat of two. Something to keep in mind, especially when learning trickier rhythms like triplets.

 

Conclusion:

I hope this helps you work on triplets and other more advanced passages in your music playing! Stay tuned for more information on the Knowledge Blog, and keep practicing!

Special Thanks to Dr. Tim Peterman, drumming extraordinaire, for clarifying the mystery of triplets. 🙂

Practice Tips for Performance

How to Really Practice

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This upcoming weekend, our student Rock Bands will be performing at one of the biggest local festivals that occurs each year. In light of that, I thought it’d be a good idea to go over some tips for preparing for your next big performance, audition, or show! This information is geared towards musicians, but dancers and other performing artists may find it helpful as well. These tips apply most appropriately for live music – stay tuned if you’re looking for tips on how to record successfully. On to the info!

 

1. Accessories and Backups

No matter what you’re playing or performing, your instrument or equipment will need accessories of some kind. That may be reeds for a clarinet, slide oil for a trombone, picks for a guitar, or rosin for a bow. The night before you perform, check that you have everything packed and that it’s ready to go. Always bring as many backups as possible – you’ll never need them if you have them, but that one time that you only have one set of guitar strings will be that one time that they break during a show. Being prepared with all of your gear will give you extra peace of mind and will help you focus on having fun for your performance.

 

2. Tuning

It may seem obvious, but it’s super easy to overlook tuning. Tune your instrument before you play, and double-check that tuning before you go on stage! Singers should warm up gently without overdoing it. If you are playing in a climate with humidity and temperature fluctuation, like outdoors in summer, you’ll need to check your tuning more frequently. It’s a good idea to go the extra mile and have your instrument serviced by a professional repair technician in between shows. It may need some TLC to get it playing optimally. The worst feeling is playing an instrument that fights against you.

 

3. Silly Things

Double check all of the silly things that often get overlooked. Is your guitar plugged in? Is the amp volume set appropriately? Are the PA speakers on? Did you tighten your bow? Is your reed set correctly on the mouthpiece? When something goes wrong at a performance, it’s almost always due to something silly and minor. The amount of times that I’ve forgotten to plug in a cable…

 

4. Take it Seriously, but Don’t.

Performing should always make you a tiny bit nervous. This doesn’t mean that earthshaking, panic-inducing stage fright that we feel the first time that we try something new – this means that little tingle of nerves that mean we care. Taking your performance seriously helps you focus and play your best, but remember that the Arts are meant to be shared and enjoyed. We aren’t saving lives and the stakes aren’t high when we play. Just have fun, play, and take it seriously (a little bit).

 

5. Control Your Body

With any kind of performance, your body is either your instrument or an extension of your instrument. The best thing that you can do is breathe slowly, deeply, and with steady rhythm. Deep breathing tricks your body into feeling calm and safe. On the other hand, fast, shallow, and arhythmic breathing starts a panic reflex in the body. This then snowballs into an adrenaline rush, or the fight/flight/freeze response that you often hear so much about. If you’ve ever had sweaty palms, increased heart rate, or dizziness before going on stage, you’ve had your panic reflex well underway. Before performing, take purposeful time to breathe and slow down. Try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth on an “s” or “z” sound. This trick slows your air and offers gentle resistance to your airstream. You can also experiment with using a “power pose” – the most common is a shoulder-width stance with your hands on your hips and chest raised. An open position like this also tricks your body into slowing down and helps fight off stage fright.

 

6. Practice with Intention

Take time to practice well before your performance. The phrase “amateurs practice until they get it right, masters practice until they can’t get it wrong” is annoying, but accurate. Practice with intention and focus as much as possible, but don’t overdo it. It’s much more effective to practice in short increments frequently than one big chunk per day. Take breaks when needed, and make a point to be honest and focus on the sections that need the most work. It’s tempting to practice your performance all the way through, but the spots that need fixing will be glossed over and sloppy. Be like a bloodhound after a scent and target the tricky bits – if you can fix them, your entire performance will improve! Lastly, remember that good practicing takes time (a lot of time!). You probably won’t be able to prepare a new piece the day before a performance, so plan ahead.

 

I hope that your next performance is fun, awesome, and rewarding! Stay tuned for future installments of our Knowledge Blog, and in the meantime, keep practicing!

Locrian Mode How to Use

Locrian: How to Use the Final Mode

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Locrian is our last musical mode, and by far the craziest one. If you’ve missed out on previous articles, check out all of the other modes here with Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Phrygian, Ionian, and Aeolian. Our last mode, Locrian, isn’t extremely useful as it sounds dissonant and somewhat unmusical. It’s rare to see it in the wild, with the exception of metal and some progressive rock. Still, it’s important to learn about it, plus you can impress your friends with your complete knowledge of modes!

 

A Quick Review:

As with our other explorations with modes, we’ll use the key of C Major to learn about Locrian. The notes in C Major are:

 

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

 

You may remember that each mode is a mode of C, or the key that you are using. We can use the same notes of C Major but simply start on a different scale tone to get the mode that we’d like to use. Locrian forms when we use the above notes but start and end on B. Therefore, the B Locrian scale looks like this:

 

B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B

 

How to Form Locrian:

If you’re intent on using Locrian while performing and improvising, it’s unlikely that you’ll have the luxury of playing it only in relation to C Major. Locrian is more closely related to the minor scale than the major scale. Let’s take a look at B Natural Minor and compare it to B Locrian. B Natural Minor is:

 

B – C# – D – E  – F# – G – A – B

 

Looking at both this scale and B Locrian, we can see that the Locrian scale is just a Natural Minor Scale with the second and fifth note lowered one half-step, or flatted. Using numbers, Locrian would look like this in relation to the Natural Minor Scale:

 

1 – flat2 – 3 – 4 – flat5 – 6 – 7 – 1

 

If you’re insistent on thinking through modes using the template of a Major Scale, we must compare Locrian to the B Major Scale:

 

B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A# – B

 

This is where things get messy – there are a lot of alterations that we need to make in order to arrive at B Locrian. From the perspective of the Major Scale, we must flat, or lower, the second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh notes. That looks like this:

 

1 – flat2 – flat3 – 4 – flat5 – flat6 – flat7 – 1

 

It’s a lot cleaner to think about Locrian in relation to the Natural Minor, as you can see!

 

Why is Locrian so Rare?

Frankly, to most people, Locrian sounds bad or wrong. This is mostly due to the flat five note in the scale. Western musical harmony relies heavily on the stability of the Perfect Fifth interval – it’s present in every Major and Minor chord. Most songs, especially in pop and rock, only use Major and Minor chords. Our ears are hardwired to hear that interval!

What’s more, the flatted fifth in Locrian forms a tritone. This is one of the most dissonant intervals in music and is responsible for forming the diminished chord. Locrian doesn’t have a Major or Minor chord as its root – it actually has a Diminished chord! It’s tricky, if not frequently impossible, to create a sense of musical resolution when home base is a Diminished chord. Musical harmony relies on a relationship of tension and release – how can we create that release when the very spot to which we are arriving is the most tense and dissonant sound of the scale? 

 

Conclusion:

Learning Locrian is important to round out your understanding of all of the musical modes, plus it’s a cool feather in your cap. Try to write a song or solo using Locrian and see what you come up with! It isn’t easy, but it can be done – maybe it will help you write the next big Metallica-esque solo!

In practice, the Musical Modes that are the most useful and intriguing to the ear are Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Ionian. You’ll remember that Aeolian and Ionian are just the Minor and Major scales, so that only leaves two unique Modes to explore for most of your musical flavor. Phrygian and Lydian are beautiful and awesome, but they lie just a little bit outside of the realm of “normal” to be palatable to a lot of listeners. Locrian is in another world of its own. Have fun exploring all of the Musical Modes, and thanks for learning with us! Stay tuned for future editions of the Knowledge Blog, and in the meantime, check out our other posts!

mixolydian mode

How to use the Mixolydian Mode

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Welcome back to another round of Modes with Songbirds! So far, I’ve published blogs on the Dorian Mode and my personal favorite, the Phrygian Mode. Check them out if you haven’t already! This post is all about Mixolydian, a cool workhorse of a Mode with a distinct flavor. It’s also quite easy compared to the others!

 

Quick Status Check:

Let’s take a pause and see the progress that we’ve made (and where we still have to go). There are seven different musical Modes, and each one correlates with a note of a normal seven-note scale. Let’s pretend that we are in C Major. The seven notes of that scale are:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C (but we don’t count this C – it’s just a higher octave of the first C)

Using all of the fancy Mode names, the Modes correlate with the scale in this order. Modes that we have discussed in blog form are in bold:

Ionian – Dorian – Phrygian – Lydian – Mixolydian – Aeolian – Locrian

Now, keep in mind that Ionian is just the Major Scale as we know and love it. There aren’t any tricks. Likewise, Aeolian is the natural minor scale. We’ll discuss the different types of minor scales in a future post, but you probably are already familiar with some form of Aeolian. That means that, after this post, there are really only two unique Modes left – Lydian and Locrian!

 

All About Mixolydian:

Here’s the meat and potatoes of this post: The Mixolydian Mode. Like all other modes, Mixolydian borrows the same notes and accidentals (sharps and flats) of its parent scale. If we are playing in C Major, and want to use the Mixolydian scale that already lives in C, we would start our scale on the note G. All we have to do is play the notes of the C Major scale from G until we hit the next G. Those notes would be:

G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G

Take a second to try this on a nearby instrument. You’ll likely hear the strange note right away – we are so used to hearing a normal Major Scale that the “weird” F natural note jumps out! Our ears want to hear F#, but Mixolydian surprises us.

 

The Theory of Mixolydian:

Mixolydian Mode is very closely related to the Major Scale. All you have to do is find a Major Scale and then lower the seventh note, or leading tone, by one half step. In the above example, the G Major Scale was transformed into Mixolydian by lowering the normal F# to F natural. This applies to every major key.

For example, C Mixolydian would be:

C – D – E – F – G – A – Bb – C (notice the Bb, not B natural!)

 

How to Mixolydian:

Given that Mixolydian is just one note away from the Major Scale, it’s extremely easy and fun to “flirt” with that special seventh note. For example, you could use the F natural as a chromatic passing tone in a G Major solo. You can also over-accent the lowered seventh to give your performance a bluesy, folk-like feel.

Mixolydian works perfectly with songs in Major Keys. It’s just enough to make your listeners’ ears perk up and pay attention to what you’re saying!

You can also lean hard into the lowered seventh note and write songs with a lowered seventh chord. For example, in the key of G Major, the normal diatonic chords are as follows:

G – Am – Bm – C – D – E – F#dim – G

Using Mixolydian, the diatonic chords look like this:

G – Am – Bm – C – D – Em – F – G

Whoa, F Major instead of F# diminished? That’s something exciting! Using this chord immediately sounds like folk and bluegrass. It’s not as dramatic as some other, more exotic, chord substitutions, but it’s instantly recognizable and sounds good to every listener. It’s unique and powerful, but not too out-of-the-box.

 

A Popular Example of Mixolydian:

Take a listen to Clocks, the huge hit song by Coldplay. This song is actually in Mixolydian! The main piano lick is formed around the following chords:

Eb – Bbm – Fm

The song is in Eb Major, and we would expect to hear a Bb Major chord as the fifth diatonic chord. However, Clocks uses the minor five, the third of which is the note Db. That is the flat seventh note in the Eb Major scale – or in other terms, the secret spicy Mixolydian note!

Note: The minor four chord substitution is quite common and alluring in most music. This is NOT derived from Mixolydian. The Mixolydian substitution is the minor five chord.

Try It Out!

Mixolydian is a great Mode with very little risk. That lowered seventh tone doesn’t sound bad or like a mistake in most instances, and even if it sounds a little funky, repetition legitimizes. Try out Mixolydian the next time that you improvise a solo or write your own material! Stay tuned for future blog posts that discuss the remaining modes that we have yet to explore, and until then, read the other posts on our Knowledge Blog!

Electrical Components Basics

Basic Components for Electronics

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Basic components in electronics are all around us, but most people don’t really know how they work! It’s crazy to think that almost every device from the smallest computer mouse to the biggest airplane all function with a handful of tiny components – it’s really like Legos for engineers! It isn’t difficult to get started with electronics. This blog will inform you about what each unique component commonly does, and further posts will give some ideas about how to use those components in cool circuits! Keep in mind that this will have a slight bias toward audio – I’ve worked on a lot of amps, speakers, keyboards, and pedals!

 

Power Source:

Electricity is generated in two ways: Alternating Current (AC), and Direct Current (DC). Now you know why the rock band AC/DC has a lightning bolt in their logo! AC is what runs through your house and most buildings. AC is dangerous and can cause bodily harm (or worse!) if you get zapped. DC is what almost all small devices like computers, phones, TVs, and more run on internally. Most DC devices don’t have a ton of voltage, and oftentime DC isn’t that dangerous. Most basic electronics projects run on 9v DC current, or the same power as a 9v battery. If you’ve ever licked a 9v, you know it’s not so bad. 😉

Almost all circuits need active power to function.

 

Resistors:

Ah yes, the mighty resistor. The true workhorse of every electronic circuit and one of the most basic components. A resistor’s job is simply to resist the flow of electrical current. A resistor doesn’t stop electricity, it just slows it down and reduces its power. We commonly think of electricity like a flowing river – in this example, a resistor would be a big boulder that slows down the water as it rushes by. Resistors have color bands on them. These bands tell you how strong the resistor is, or what its value is. Resistance is measured in Ohms, or Ω.

Technician Hint: Resistors rarely fail, and when they do, it’s pretty obvious. Look for burnt or discolored resistors in your non-functional devices. Resistors can fail open or closed, meaning that bad ones can either allow the electricity to pass unimpeded or will completely block the current altogether.

 

Diodes:

Diodes are awesome little guys that fill a couple of important roles. The most unique quality of a diode is that it only allows current to flow in one direction. Every diode has polarity, or a positive and a negative side. Flipped one way, the diode will prevent all current from passing through the circuit. Flipped the other way, and the circuit will receive power.

Almost all devices include a diode for polarity protection. This brave little guy stands faithfully by the incoming power and will sacrifice himself if there is a surge, or if someone plugs in the wrong power adapter. By doing so, his noble death saves the rest of the circuit from being zapped!

In audio applications, diodes can also be used as clippers. This means that they clip off the top and bottom of the waveform. This causes distortion, or that rock and roll sound that we all love! Every diode is different and will clip in different ways – that’s where a lot of the fun and experimentation comes in.

Technician Hint: LEDs are also diodes. LED stands for “light-emitting diode”, and they make fantastic-sounding clippers. What’s more, LEDs light up when the sound signal passes through. It’s pretty cool to stick clipping LEDs out where they are visible – the guitar pedal or amp will flash while you play!

 

Transistors:

Like diodes, transistors can be used in a couple of different ways. Most commonly, transistors make things louder – almost every guitar pedal, amp, and speaker uses at least one transistor to boost the incoming signal. Transistors can be chained together to REALLY make the signal loud.

Transistors also can be used like a switch. When certain electrical conditions are met, a transistor can turn on or turn off a section of the circuit.

Certain transistors can be quite rare and valuable for those seeking “mojo part” tone and quality. If you have antique electronics like radios or anything made in the USSR, you probably have some cool parts hiding under the hood!

Technician Hint: Transistors come in a wide variety of configurations and polarities. Always check the model’s datasheet online to make sure that it’s compatible with your project.

 

IC Chips:

The most famous of them all – the IC or computer chip! IC stands for “integrated circuit”. These little bug-looking guys contain entire circuits within their black bodies, carefully wired and connected on a micro level. ICs can do nearly anything and are the brains of every circuit. Analog ICs are common in guitar amps, speakers, and pedals. They do things like amplify the signal, add delay, add reverb, and even convert the sound signal to binary! Digital ICs have limitless application and can be found in your phones, computers, cars, and more complicated audio electronics like PAs, keyboards, and synthesizers. This is the most advanced member of the group of basic components – ICs can even involve coding and all that fancy computer science work!

Technician Hint: ICs are the most fragile part of your device. Always handle with care and install them last when possible. Avoid static electricity buildup and excess heat!

 

Capacitors:

Capacitors are the trickiest basic components to understand at first. They are found in nearly every circuit and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some capacitors have polarity while some, often the smaller ones, do not. Capacitors act like little batteries within the circuit. They take an incoming charge, store it within themselves, and discharge it out the other side when they can’t hold any more. If we use the water imagery, pretend that electricity is like a garden hose. Someone has put the hose in a bucket and left it to run. When the bucket is full, the water will spill out and water the garden. In this example, the bucket is the capacitor! Capacitance is measured in Farads, but most devices have tiny slivers of this measurement for their capacitors. For example, it is very common to see units of picofarads, nanofarads, and microfarads!

Technician Hint: Capacitors are the usual culprits when a circuit fails. Look for the big barrel electrolytic capacitors – if they are bulging, cracked, or leaking, they have gone bad and need to be replaced. A good capacitance meter goes a long way in saving time on diagnosing issues!

 

Hardware:

Of course, there are a lot of other bits and pieces to every circuit. You’ve got switches, knobs, sliders, LCD screens, charging jacks, and more! None of these are very complicated, and we’ll go over the two most common: potentiometers and switches.

A potentiometer (or pot), is just a knob or dial. Pots act just like resistors – in fact, they can be called “variable resistors” because they change how much resistance is being applied to that part of the circuit! Think about a volume control on the radio – if you turn the pot all the way to the left, the pot is at max resistance because no signal is allowed to pass. If you turn it to the right, the resistance slowly lessens until there is none – and the signal gets loud!

A switch simply completes or breaks a circuit. In your house, there are many lightswitches that are constantly receiving power from the breakers. If the switch is off, the circuit is broken and no power is permitted to travel to the light. If the switch is on, a small piece of conductive material bridges the gap between the incoming power and the light, and voila: let there be light!

 

Conclusion:

I hope that you’ve learned about basic components and what each one can do! With this information, you can tinker with your own circuits and even learn how to repair your own devices that may be acting up. Stay tuned for more information in coming blogs about some starter circuits that you can try, and check out our other awesome posts on the Songbirds Knowledge Blog! If you're hungry for more information, check out this great YouTube channel – it taught me a lot, but take it slow as it can be pretty in-depth!

Basic Components Electronics
music blogs for musicians

Music Blog List: What’s Happening in Music for Fans, Insiders, and Pros

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A music blog is a powerful learning tool, but surfing the web to feed your musical interests can be intense. Trying to sort out what’s legit from what’s noise, finding what you want to know from ‘who cares,’ and unearthing proven tips and tricks that are buried in the opinions of people … well, you might as well go to the library and take your chances with the Dewey Decimal System.

We’re going to save you that trip by naming the top-quality music blogs that our team and partners in the business recommend.

 

KICKING IT OLD SCHOOL

Billboard is the digital doppelganger of the magazine that has been the first name in music coverage for more than 40 years. If it has anything to do with music, from inside-the-business to the charts and who’s climbing, it’s in Billboard.

Pitchfork, the self-proclaimed “most trusted voice in music” has been on top of the music scene since you needed a modem and AOL account to surf the interwebs. It’s the music blog for experimental, metal, electronic pop, and hip-hop sounds, and posts new reviews, interviews, features, news, and information on upcoming music events daily.

 

INSTRUCTION AND HOW-TO

Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. Doron Orenstein has sat in with performers ranging from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra to reggae master Half Pint. When he posts about anything from great saxophonists, business wisdom, and elements of saxophone mastery, you can take it to the bank.

The International Clarinet Association’s music blog not only sponsors its world-famous Clarinetfest® but also nurtures a global online community of clarinetists, and publishes the quarterly scholarly journal, The Clarinet. 

Ledger Note offers authoritative content designed to advance the skills, knowledge, and competency in the performance of all musicians. Its rigorous standards and experience make it worth bookmarking for expert information regarding all aspects of music.

CMU Insights (Complete Music Updates) is a music blog about anything and everything pertaining to current trends and best practices in the business of music. Make it your one-stop resource for training, research, webinars, and masterclasses. 

Hypebot updates its news, views, and do-it-yourself content daily to keep readers at the intersection of music, technology, and business informed. It is the spot for keeping up with how emerging technologies are changing the way music is produced, discovered, consumed, marketed, and monetized. 

 

MUSIC INSIDERS

Music Business Ahead delivers timely and authoritative information for music store owners who are looking for tips, tricks, and trends to help their businesses thrive. 

The Music Entrepreneur serves the whole scope of the music industry: musicians, label owners, producers, managers, and anyone else who makes and markets music. Its insider contributors’ music blog is about promotion, instrumentation, tech, and playing techniques. 

The Buzz Factor is run by Bob Baker, musician, lecturer, and author of the Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook and the Berklee School of Music’s online Music Marketing 101 course. He’s the guy to read if you’re ready to break out and step up. 

MBW has been the go-to music blog for news, insight, and jobs for 15 years. How popular is it? Very. It gets 300,000 unique users every month—with a total of 7-million-plus page views since 2019. It’s the place to go before making career and business decisions.

Ditto Music blog is the spot where Indies of the world unite. If you have a question about music distribution, ramping up your social media, marketing, promoting, and—most important—how to get paid, hit Ditto. 

 

GENRES

Pigeons & Planes lives at COMPLEX.com and covers everything from the best new artists in hip-hop, pop, indie rock, and electronic music to in-depth interviews with the biggest names in the genres.

Brooklyn Vegan covers the metal, punk, and dance music scenes. It also throws in news and views from the world of comedy and film to keep things interesting.

Stereogum calls itself “the world’s best music blog.” It earned its rep more than 15 years of covering breaking news, new music, informed opinion writing, interviews, and lists.

Resident Advisor is the premier music blog for electronic and dance enthusiasts. Staffed entirely by dance music aficionados, it is dedicated to shining light on the people and communities who make electronic music tick at the local, national, and global scene. 

Hip Hop Wired is a music blog with a mission. It is committed to covering Hip Hop Nation with respect and verve, advocacy, and promoting meaningful discussion and debate on critical issues. 

 

While this is by no means a complete list of all the music blogs out there, it provides a nice mix of reputable blogs that are publishing great content across music types, audiences, and interests. Stay up to date by following the ones that provide information about the topics you care about, like ours, of course – The Songbirds Knowledge Blog!

Stay tuned for a future edition of this post which will include my favorite musical YouTubers and streamers if you prefer the video format. 🙂

EQ Mixing Guide

EQ for Beginners

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Now that recording audio and video is accessible to almost everyone, learning a little about mixing can help your content stand out from the crowd. The single most important edit to any sound recording is Equalization (EQ). Correctly using it gives your work a professional, polished sound! Check out this guide if you are a musician, sound tech, videographer, social media content creator, and more!

The Tools

There are a ton of apps and programs that allow you to adjust EQ. Fortunately, the principles of it are the same across every platform. While other programs intended for video editing may include EQ, Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) offer the most utility for music and audio. The most popular ones, in no particular order, are Logic Pro X (Apple Devices only), Garageband (Apple Devices only), Reaper, Cubase, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton, and Audacity. My favorites from this list are Reaper due to its incredibly low cost and Audacity because it is free. It’s also a workhorse and a very light program that works across many devices. My personal choice is Logic Pro X, but that’s only because I learned it first.

If you're interested in learning more about Logic Pro X (especially if you're a beginner), check out this awesome guide by our friends at SoundsWow, an excellent resource for home recording, audio learning, and music making.

Note: There are many ways to access the use of DAWs through free trials and other… less legal… means. If you are brand new, don’t go out and buy a full version of one of the expensive ones. Sign up for a trial or stick with Audacity for now.

Steps for EQ Setup:

  1. Take a recording of an acoustic sound in your DAW of choice. Use a good quality microphone and try to capture the sound as cleanly as possible at the source. This recording could be an instrument, the human singing voice, or even spoken word. Avoid digital instruments for now as most are already EQ’d and edited for general use. Ensure that the signal is hot enough for you to see and hear the waveform completely.
  2. Load or access the EQ plugin on your DAW. This should display a flat horizontal line. Be sure that the plugin is turned on! This is what EQ looks like in Logic Pro X.
  3. If possible, turn on live tracking so that you can see the shape of the soundwave on playback. This isn’t necessary, but it helps identify troublesome frequencies.
  4. Play around! Without reading further, apply peaks, valleys, and shelves to the sound signal. The horizontal line will change to a wave, cliff, or whatever you set it to. You’ll notice that the sound of your recording will change a lot. Try to break it and make it sound crazy on purpose – this is the best way to learn the breadth of EQ before we dial it back.

Refining EQ:

Now that you’ve played around and heard what EQ can do, let’s discuss some common tricks for cleaning up the sound of your recording. Why is this important? There are a lot of frequencies in the audio spectrum that don’t need to live in your finished product. Too many will make your project sound muddy or not as crisp as it could be. Almost every single sound sample or track on your favorite song has a generous heaping of EQ applied – that’s why it sounds so good, after all!

Note: EQ adjustment involves both boosting and cutting certain frequencies to clean up the sound of the recording. Boosting refers to increasing a frequency, and cutting is reducing one. An EQ curve that looks like a bell would have cuts on the low (left) end, boost in the center, and cuts on the high (right) end. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz).

  1. The Low End: It’s always a good idea to limit the sub-frequencies of any recording. This includes low sounds like a bass drum or bass guitar. Select a steep shelf with your EQ program and cut off all frequencies below the 40Hz mark. This will prevent rumble and bass echo. Higher-pitched instruments or sounds can benefit from starting the cut-off higher, like around 80Hz.
  2. The High End: Experiment with using shelves at the high end as well. Low instruments like a bass guitar may require a high cut to eliminate noise and digital artifacts from the recording process. Acoustic instruments and voices may benefit from using a high-shelf boost. This opens up the frequency spectrum and can give the recording more headroom. This means that it sounds more open and airy.
  3. Undesirable Sounds: Listen to your recording and try to pinpoint any specific sound characteristics that you don’t like. This might be a howl or hum if the microphone was placed too close to the sound source. It could also be microphone feedback or sibilance, that annoying harshness that comes through when singers pronounce the “s” sound too clearly. Select a steep valley shape on the EQ and slowly drag it through the remaining audio field. The goal is to cut the sound sample until the undesirable sound goes away or gets to be as reduced as possible.
  4. General Balancing: It is common for the recording to sound a bit off-balance. Maybe there is too much bass or it sounds a little hollow. Select a gentle EQ valley shape and start by reducing the ranges of the audio field that are too pronounced. If that doesn’t cut it (pun intended), select a mountain shape and boost the opposite frequency range. For example, I may very slightly boost the bass on a guitar recording while simultaneously cutting the treble range, giving it more weight and heft.
  5. Refine: Play back the sample many times and make your final adjustments. You may need to apply the recording to the final project to see how it sits in the mix, or how it reacts to other elements of your project.

Note: Listening on car speakers is often the most reliable way to hear what’s really going on. Take a drive and take mental notes of what may still need to be adjusted.

EQ Tips:

Now that you’re on your way to using EQ effectively, keep these tips in mind:

  1. If it sounds good, it is good. Don’t get caught up in what the EQ field “should” look like. Some recordings may require very little adjustment and some may require a TON. This is particularly valid if you are EQ’ing live sound. Use your ears!
  2. Avoid comparing your progress to the pros. The big professional sound engineers have years of experience and can really hear the difference between the slightest EQ adjustments. You’ll get there with practice. The vast majority of people on this planet will never be able to hear as articulately as those engineers can – so don’t sweat it.
  3. Blind tests are your friend. If you’re in a bind, copy your recording and apply a different EQ to it. Listen back to compare, or ask a friend to alternate between options so that you aren’t able to rely on bias.
  4. Use fresh ears. Work on a project until you get tired, then come back to it the next day or later. Taking a break almost always reveals changes that you weren’t able to hear previously.
  5. Remember the mottos. There are two excellent phrases that help when using EQ or any sound project, and they both mean the same thing:
    1. Projects are never finished, they are only abandoned.
    2. Perfect is the enemy of good.

It’s a Wrap!

I hope that this tutorial gave you the confidence to experiment with using EQ on your content. Stay tuned for future Knowledge Blog articles about other mixing and recording tricks! Check out this cheat sheet and this other cheat sheet to see some EQ curves for common instruments. These are great templates and usually help you get close to the sound that you want to hear – just adjust them to taste!

Note: When I was learning, I printed a bunch of these and kept them near my desk. You’ll memorize the shapes with enough practice! It’s also great to start with templates that exist in your DAW. 🙂

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