The Playground
The Simply Music blog
A 5 second history of…. Sound Recordings
The first sound recording was reportedly captured in Paris by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1860, nearly two decades before Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone call (1876) or Thomas Edison’s phonograph (1877), Scott recorded the sound on his ‘Phonautograph’. The Phonautograph was made to study…
Choosing an Instrument – How to Pick your Piano
Did you know that piano sales have increased this year!! The New York Times reported a resurgence in ‘at home music making’ with sales of digital pianos increasing by 30% and acoustic pianos increasing in the used market! Which begs the question … should you…
Wishing you a HAPPY PIANO DAY, every day!
Piano lovers, it’s that special International Piano Day time of year again! We have celebrated Piano Day in many ways in the past with shared lists of unusual pianos, collections of all things piano and more. This year, to commemorate our favorite mechanical friend, we…
Recording Yourself Part 4 – Sharing Your Recordings
In previous posts we have discussed some benefits, learning value and methods of recording yourself, mostly from the perspective of developing your own playing. But what if you feel the urge to share your work? The playing field of recorded music has never been flatter. No…
Recording Yourself, Part Three – How To Record Yourself
Credit: http://www.intuneaudio.ca/ In the last two articles, we talked about the benefits of recording yourself and what to listen for when reviewing your recorded efforts. In this installment, we’ll discuss some practicalities of making recordings. Even if you’re simply making a cheap and cheerful recording…
Congratulations to our winners!!
Thank you to all those who entered our giveaway for a copy of Leila Viss’ e-book “The iPad Piano Studio” We are very excited to announce these 5 teachers as the winners : Unmani, Alex Nguyen, Patti Phears, Kylie Stacey, Ginny Webb Some of the ways that they would integrate the…
The iPad, Apps & Music – Together, They Pack a Powerful Punch
I would never force anyone to submit to the tyranny of technology. It can be complicated and intimidating, boasts a language all its own and has a tendency towards flakiness. However, if the world refused to embrace technology, we’d still be on horseback, boiling water…
Dynamic Processing in Music Production
Today I’d like to talk about compression and dynamic processing in music production. These are common effects and tools that are used in recordings. Dynamic processing is where a recorded signal coming in will be different coming out. The level of the outgoing signal is…
EQ & You – Why digital software is important for mixing music
Last time we were here, I was discussing some of the benefits of digital software. I originally wanted to change the topic for this installment and get into some comparing and contrasting. But for now, I’d rather expand on why digital software is beneficial, specifically…
Using Digital Software for Composing Music
Today I want to talk about some of the benefits of using digital software for composing music. First off, I would like to acknowledge that I began sequencing music on my father’s old “Ensoniq SQ-2” keyboard. I learned the keyboard in and out, and taught…
