Wow, I bet you are going to get some "interesting" responses here.
My initial thoughts, having tried playing tunes with drum machines are that the drum boxes tend to "nail" the rhythm - they cant manage the natural skip and lift that tunes need to make them fly. However, there is a lot to be said for practicing with a metronome like beat that keeps one's timing exact and true.
To get software to make a bodhran sound I would look for (or record if you have a tame bodhran player) samples of the real thing and then loop them. Almost any sequencing software will do this for you (cubase, ableton live, garageband (for mac), audacity (free).
Reason, which is a whole package of different synths and drum machines can be programmed to provide a metronome type beat, but it also includes the Dr. Rex sampler that plays loops of many different percussion instruments like tabla and cajon. Unfortunately the standard loops it comes with do not include bodhran but you should be able to find samples on the web.
Thanks for the ideas - I can understand that some people would regard this as being non-traditional but i am used to playing against the click track from audacity and it has really helped but is driving my family mad!
I will certainly have a look at the hydrogen- music idea - thanks Ramiro.
I havent got a tame bodran player to record a sample from but I am sure i can find a suitable sample to put into Audacity
Llanman, I have not heard you play, but I would wager a conciderable amount that you do not play with much feeling.
As an aside, I was chatting to someone last night who related a story of being in Ireland at some festival - can't remember where - and walking into a pub where there was a great session the night before and sat round a table was four bodhran players. All thumping away to a CD the barmen had put on. When the track finished, the four went, "Awe lads, wasn't that great, I love those tunes." And one shouts over to the barman, "Hey mate, would you mind putting track 7 one please?"
The Idea is that we play with each other! not follow someone slavishly. The Drum can help to keep a large group together. the tuneplayers play with the beat, the drum plays with the tune. Some tune players cant keep a beat to save their life!
Untill you can play confidently and relaxed with a metronome without F ups no one will be 'following' you!
If you haven't used a metronome before(depending on how your timing is)it can be pretty awkward,but you'll notice a significant difference in your playing within a couple of weeks.
It's important not to get too rigid when practicing with one.
I've found it helpful to(after nailing the one and three beats(that's 2 beats a bar for a reel)) put the metronome beat on the 2 and 4 beats,as this is much more conducive to playing with a swing,as this is how jazz musicians practice.
Then after that I've recently started practicing slowly with the beat on every 2nd note of a reel,or on every third note of a jig.
But having said all that,music isn't always about keeping in time.....
Some of the best musicians I know,and best recordings I have speed up,slowly,and naturally.
This can give a nice drive to the music when done subtly.
I think the advent of the click track has taken a lot out of recordings Irish music,even though it's made it neater to listen to,there won't be a whole lot more Stoney Steps.
Remember,a metronome,or drum machine is only a practice
tool,
Personally, I think before you can add any lilt, swing or lift to the music, you need to be able to keep a steady rhythm. Practicing with a metronome helps a lot.
*Knowing* when to speed up or slow down to add a little drive or variation is fine, and all part of the tradition, but doing it because you can't control your speed is just amateurish and adds nothing to a tune or set.
You can control all of the various 'ticks' to get some interesting bodhran-like sounds.
A common suggestion is to 'learn the rules before you break them'. In a similar fashion, learn to keep a steady rhythm before you start varying it for artistic reasons.
I personally recomend Click per note . this is much harder, forceing you to really be precise, allowing no leeway for error. When you are dead on the click it will dissapear, you wont be able to hear it, and when you start to hear it its because you are loosing it. Once this is accomplished you can vary the swing as you choose, the click will be there as referance.
For sceptics i suggest simply tapping your foot to a metronome, easy you might think? not at all.
As i tell my drummers, if you cant play with a metronome, you cant play with me. For tune players who cant keep the beat it is much easier to play with other tune players who can , the pressure is much harder upon a drummer, they have to be dead on, or listen so well that they can follow an uneven meter.
Once you can play with a metronome, comfortably then you can leave it. It is but a tool to help achieve a certain aim.once that aim is achieved.....
Try a bass drum as the metronome click, of course any sound will do, drum machine etc or a tight recording of a solo player, Liz Doherty is one hell of a tight player. However the advantage of a metronome is that the aim is tightly defined. Start slowly, then as each stage is mastered move on till correct pace is achieved. An idea then is to push beyond this speed so that once achieved, normal speed is well within your 'comfort zone'.
It is also possible to use abc player software to program rythm patterns. Experiment with the setting of the midi instrument parameters. It is even possible to use the melody which might download from here to control a midi "bass drum", sounds a bit like a bodhran player following the melody. Not to my taste, but can make sense for practising.
Drum machine software
Drum machine software
Is anyone using drum machine software which produces a bohran backing track so i can play my flute against it?
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by Llanman
Re: Drum machine software
Wow, I bet you are going to get some "interesting" responses here.
My initial thoughts, having tried playing tunes with drum machines are that the drum boxes tend to "nail" the rhythm - they cant manage the natural skip and lift that tunes need to make them fly. However, there is a lot to be said for practicing with a metronome like beat that keeps one's timing exact and true.
To get software to make a bodhran sound I would look for (or record if you have a tame bodhran player) samples of the real thing and then loop them. Almost any sequencing software will do this for you (cubase, ableton live, garageband (for mac), audacity (free).
Reason, which is a whole package of different synths and drum machines can be programmed to provide a metronome type beat, but it also includes the Dr. Rex sampler that plays loops of many different percussion instruments like tabla and cajon. Unfortunately the standard loops it comes with do not include bodhran but you should be able to find samples on the web.
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by bodatcha
Re: Drum machine software
Hydrogen under GNU/linux. A nice piece of software. It has a 'swing' control, very useful for this music:
http://www.hydrogen-music.org/
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by Ramiro
Responses
Thanks for the ideas - I can understand that some people would regard this as being non-traditional but i am used to playing against the click track from audacity and it has really helped but is driving my family mad!
I will certainly have a look at the hydrogen- music idea - thanks Ramiro.
I havent got a tame bodran player to record a sample from but I am sure i can find a suitable sample to put into Audacity
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by Llanman
Re: Drum machine software
You do realise that you are conspiring with the devil in this enterprise ?
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Drum machine software
Llanman, I have not heard you play, but I would wager a conciderable amount that you do not play with much feeling.
As an aside, I was chatting to someone last night who related a story of being in Ireland at some festival - can't remember where - and walking into a pub where there was a great session the night before and sat round a table was four bodhran players. All thumping away to a CD the barmen had put on. When the track finished, the four went, "Awe lads, wasn't that great, I love those tunes." And one shouts over to the barman, "Hey mate, would you mind putting track 7 one please?"
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by llig leahcim
The 4 bodhran players
Thanks for the story about the bodhran players - the stuff of legend!
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by Llanman
Re: Drum machine software
No "Llanman". The bodhran is supposed to follow you, not the other way round [ unless of course, it's "bodhranbliss" ].
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by Kenny
Re: Drum machine software
I was going to say - why not play with it not against it?
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by c.g.
Re: Drum machine software
The Idea is that we play with each other! not follow someone slavishly. The Drum can help to keep a large group together. the tuneplayers play with the beat, the drum plays with the tune. Some tune players cant keep a beat to save their life!
Untill you can play confidently and relaxed with a metronome without F ups no one will be 'following' you!
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by jig
Re: Drum machine software
Just for the record,Steve Cooney used to use a drum machine to practice with,as he reckoned a metronome was too boring.
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by P.browne
Re: Drum machine software
If you haven't used a metronome before(depending on how your timing is)it can be pretty awkward,but you'll notice a significant difference in your playing within a couple of weeks.
It's important not to get too rigid when practicing with one.
I've found it helpful to(after nailing the one and three beats(that's 2 beats a bar for a reel)) put the metronome beat on the 2 and 4 beats,as this is much more conducive to playing with a swing,as this is how jazz musicians practice.
Then after that I've recently started practicing slowly with the beat on every 2nd note of a reel,or on every third note of a jig.
But having said all that,music isn't always about keeping in time.....
Some of the best musicians I know,and best recordings I have speed up,slowly,and naturally.
This can give a nice drive to the music when done subtly.
I think the advent of the click track has taken a lot out of recordings Irish music,even though it's made it neater to listen to,there won't be a whole lot more Stoney Steps.
Remember,a metronome,or drum machine is only a practice
tool,
ONLY!
relativitively,(E=Fb)
P.Brain
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by P.browne
Re: Drum machine software
"relativitively,(E=Fb)"
Ha! I love that and will steal it straight away.
# Posted on December 13th 2007 by Bob himself
Re: Drum machine software
Drum machines, which do exist, should be classified as WMDs, hunted down, and destroyed.
# Posted on December 14th 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: Drum machine software
Personally, I think before you can add any lilt, swing or lift to the music, you need to be able to keep a steady rhythm. Practicing with a metronome helps a lot.
*Knowing* when to speed up or slow down to add a little drive or variation is fine, and all part of the tradition, but doing it because you can't control your speed is just amateurish and adds nothing to a tune or set.
Here's a program I've used before; Weird Metronome: http://www.pinkandaint.com/weirdmet.shtml
You can control all of the various 'ticks' to get some interesting bodhran-like sounds.
A common suggestion is to 'learn the rules before you break them'. In a similar fashion, learn to keep a steady rhythm before you start varying it for artistic reasons.
# Posted on December 14th 2007 by KeepFiddlin'
Re: Drum machine software
I personally recomend Click per note . this is much harder, forceing you to really be precise, allowing no leeway for error. When you are dead on the click it will dissapear, you wont be able to hear it, and when you start to hear it its because you are loosing it. Once this is accomplished you can vary the swing as you choose, the click will be there as referance.
For sceptics i suggest simply tapping your foot to a metronome, easy you might think? not at all.
As i tell my drummers, if you cant play with a metronome, you cant play with me. For tune players who cant keep the beat it is much easier to play with other tune players who can , the pressure is much harder upon a drummer, they have to be dead on, or listen so well that they can follow an uneven meter.
Once you can play with a metronome, comfortably then you can leave it. It is but a tool to help achieve a certain aim.once that aim is achieved.....
Try a bass drum as the metronome click, of course any sound will do, drum machine etc or a tight recording of a solo player, Liz Doherty is one hell of a tight player. However the advantage of a metronome is that the aim is tightly defined. Start slowly, then as each stage is mastered move on till correct pace is achieved. An idea then is to push beyond this speed so that once achieved, normal speed is well within your 'comfort zone'.
# Posted on December 14th 2007 by jig
Re: Drum machine software
It is also possible to use abc player software to program rythm patterns. Experiment with the setting of the midi instrument parameters. It is even possible to use the melody which might download from here to control a midi "bass drum", sounds a bit like a bodhran player following the melody. Not to my taste, but can make sense for practising.
# Posted on December 17th 2007 by swisspiper