Update

So I've written all the scores now for the longer pieces, need to give them all a proof read and make sure everything is ok, but I should be able to take the book to the printers on Tuesday and get a couple of copies printed!

I recorded the drums for the duets yesterday, think I'll do the main mix in the room mics and just use the others to boost any quieter drums (I'm aiming for it to sound like another drummer is in the room with the player). Will be cutting the recordings up today and getting it all organised.

Also today I will be finishing off the last of my exercise scores (may leave some for tomorrow, depending on how I get on - the printers won't be open until Tuesday anyway).

I've done some of the recordings for the pieces, duets and exercises, need to blast through that starting Monday.

All going well I should have all the work finished by Wednesday, which will leave me 4 or 5 days to go through it all and make sure it's well organised and how I want it.

I need to dedicate an hour or two a day to report writing among all this, but should be able to write enough over Thursday and Friday.

I want to finish the report by Saturday morning so I can get it printed before Monday (no chance I'm leaving it until Monday morning!)

Yes, so a busy and pretty hectic week ahead, but I have plenty of coffee and know what needs to be done.

Progress report

Quick update on where I'm at:

• Finished the later long piece scores and one of the duets, I need to write the score for a second one.
• Need to finish the second beginner duet too, once that's done I'll be getting in the studio to record the drum parts.
• Samples almost finished, sounding good!
• Need to bust out a few exercises to lead up to my extended pieces: want to do ones that practice changing time signatures.
• I've realised the best target audience for this book is actually going to be for drum tutors to use as a teaching aid, although that doesn't mean it won't be useful for people looking to teach themselves.
• Will start recording the earlier exercises this week,

Urrgh, I've left things really late -______-

Still, I think it's realistic that I will have every bit of score written out by Friday, then I can really focus on the CD part.

My samples work!

I've only done the bass drum so far, but I've managed to create a working .gog file within Drumagog and tested it with a track of midi bass drum hits at varying velocities and everything is fine. I can't figure out how to get CamStudio to record sound, but you can pretty much see what's going on in this blurry video.

It's not clear enough to see in the video, but I've set some room samples (from the overheads L+R) to each sample, so you can adjust how much of the room mics you want to hear on each beat.

Margins, hey?

Here is a print screen of the first piece from my book. I've also finished the scores for all the exercises leading up to this piece. I won't show them on here though, because blogger doesn't like to upload .pdf's and I don't want to print screen everything for the sake of it.

It may still need a tiny bit of modifying, but yeah this is what I'm doing.

Upcoming Presentation

Just going to bullet point a few things here to remind myself of the things I should talk about in next weeks' viva:

• Case Studies of other books; how I decided on what to include in my book, and also which kit notation to use (and how Cubase does it wrong when taking it directly from midi)
• Research into Multisampling (how to do it, best software available for drums, etc)
• Use of MuseScore, including pdf's of completed pages so far
• Process of recording my drum samples
• Create a screen capture video of Drumagog in use.
• How my gantt chart has changed (with the decision to include sampling)
• Why I chose to use samples instead of a live recording (felt that good timing would be crucial, etc)
• Composition process: writing final pieces, using as basis for exercises, making sure I cover everything that's found in other books (either a similar thing or a variation of it; i.e. if other book has a 6/4 rhythm, I do either a few other 6/4 rhythms or some other time signature like 7/4, 5/4, etc).

Umm... that's all I can think of for now, will edit this post if more comes to mind.

Samples recorded

I spent Saturday (17th March) recording my drum samples back in Chippenham. It took a while but I got my kit sounding really good and I have a lot of great sounding, clean samples.

I initially thought that Drumagog was able to read an audio file and figure out where each sample was itself, but having played around with it a little more I think I'm going to have to cut the samples myself and load them in individually. I will spend tomorrow getting through this.

I looked into free score writing software since last week too, and have gotten a fair chunk of my exercises for the first chapter written out now using MuseScore. This software is functionally the same as Sibelius, but is available as a free download. I figured, even though I'm not including the business element of my book in my Major Project, since the end result is something that would be sold, this would be a cost saving measure.

It's going to be a busy week for me, as I am hoping to have finished scoring chapter one by the time it comes to the viva (giving me... a week - give or take a couple of days), as well as being able to play the audio for at least one exercise from this chapter.

I'm currently at a bit of an annoying stage where everything I'm doing requires a lot of work in order to actually do it, without a tremendous amount to show for it at the end. Once I've done this initial work (i.e. cutting up my samples, programming what I've scored out) the work-to-output ratio will be much more rewarding, as I will be easily able to open templates, apply presets, etc and the plan is to be pumping out a lot of work over the Easter break.

Chapter 1 Pieces

So here is the first song in my book; a straight up 8-beat drum track with a few semi-quaver fills, and a section in the middle for the player to add their own style to the song.

My second song is in 3/4 time, changes to 4/4 in the middle section, and back to 3/4 for the ending (a bit like a coda).

And here is my third solo piece. This one in is 12/8 and is more sparce than the other two; the idea is that the gaps in the music encourage the drummer to learn good time keeping, and how sometimes more can be achieved when less is played.

I've written a duet too, but what I've uploaded there is just the half the drummer would be playing. This piece is designed to show the importance of playing in time, and allow the player to enjoy something a bit different from their drum tuition book.

Uploading my compositions so far

Meeting with Paul today brought up a good point: I actually have no evidence of any work yet o___0

I hadn't wanted to upload anything until it sounded good and I was happy with it, but I guess I can label it as a work in progress and upload some dodgy sounding midi files of my tracks for chapter one. Not going to upload the indiviual exercises, but they will basically be working up to the rhythms that can be heard in the pieces, as well as variations of those beats.

I will link to my SoundCloud shortly...

Case Studies

Case Study________________________________
Guildhall School of Music and Drama:
Exercises and Pieces for Snare Drum
Grades 3 and 4

Jack Richards & David Arnold
                                                                                  ­­__
Overview

This book contains a series of exercises and pieces for snare drum. The book states that "the exercises and duets in the book are for private study, at whatever tempo or dynamic the teacher or student consider appropriate.". At the end of each Grade section of the book are two pieces that are required to learn for the graded examination.

Format

Each grade has a series of four exercises, each containing a series of four bar pieces, very similar in terms of timing, getting slightly more difficult as the pieces progress. The exercises are followed by three duets, containing parts from the previous exercises strung together into a longer piece. The parts in the duet are played in both canon and unison, and each is one page long, or approximately sixteen bars.

After the duets come the two pieces that are to be played in the graded examination. Each is one or two full pages in length, and contains parts similar or identical to parts from the exercises and duets. The graded pieces also contain instructions regarding dynamics and tempo.

Analysis

The way new time signatures are introduced gradually is good as it allows the player to improve slowly. The format of exercises followed by full pieces is a nice way to give the exercises application to a complete song. The duets add an interesting, interactive element. The way that learned skills accumulate in a final piece can be applied to my book.

 

Case Study________________________________
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Drum Kit
Grades 1-4

Jack Richards
                                                                                 
Overview

This book contains four sets of exercises for use as grading material in the Guidhall School of Music and Drama exam for Drum Kit, grades 1-4. Each grade contains either four shorter set pieces, or two extended set pieces, both of which should be learned for the exam, as well as some Rudiments at the start of each grade. As the book progresses the pieces become more complex and new musical and technical elements are introduced.

Format

Grades 1 and 2 have three rudiments (short sticking exercises) at the beginning, followed by four short pieces in varying musical styles. These pieces range from two to five lines; the shortest being just eight bars, the most twenty bars.

Grades 3 and 4 share the format of rudiments followed by exercises, but grade 3 introduces a further six, and grade four six more (twenty in total) which each need to be learned for the grade. These grades only have two set pieces, but they are extended pieces, using an entire page in the book each; the shortest being 34 bars long and the longest being 47 bars.

Every piece in the book contains information regarding dynamics, tempo, and other musical expressions, which become more complex as the grades progress.

Analysis

Drum notation is unclear as all cymbals are listed as "above the stave", it would be preferred if it was made more specific as to which cymbal should be played (i.e. ride, hi-hat, or crash) by using other staves (as other books do); eliminating the need to clutter musical scores with "R. CYM" or "BELL OF CYMBAL" notes. Also, unlike other books, there are no exercises to build up to the level required by the pieces; the learning curve between grades, however, is fair and achievable. It could be suggested that a drum teacher would need to be present when using this book.

 

Case Study________________________________
Rock School
Drums
Grade 8

Jeremy Ward, Simon Pitt & Simon Troup
                                                                                 
Overview

The Rock School grade 8 book contains six pieces, each spanning over two pages in length, and contains an accompanying audio CD. The pieces are all play-along songs, with accompaniment music contained on the CD.
For the graded exam students have a choice of taking a "Grade Exam", which focuses on developing performance and technical skills, where three of the pieces are played as well as the technical exercises and quick study pieces, general musicianship, etc.; a "Performance Exam", with focus on performing in a range of styles, where the student plays five of the six pieces; or a "Band Exam" where five of the pieces are played with a bassist and guitarist, for students who want to take the grade as a band.

Each song is very complex and contains many unusual time signatures, varied tempos and dynamics, as well as many other musical expressions relevant to drumming.

Format

The book consists of six drum scores, each in a different style of music. The audio CD contains the play-along tracks for each song. Each song has three tracks assigned to it; the first is a full mix of the song (with drums), after a full mix of each song is each song again but this time with the drums removed. After these is each track again, drumless, but with a click track added. After the songs the book and CD both go onto a few technical exercises, quick study pieces and ear tests.

Analysis

The accompanying CD is great as it allows the student to hear exactly how the song should sound, and providing each track three times is a very useful learning aid. The songs show an interesting variety of styles to develop the player.

LENGTHY POST INCOMING

I have a meeting with Paul tomorrow so I thought I had better make a blog post (mostly so I can remember what things to talk about).

FIRST THING: New blog layout! It was a bit embarassing when I cracked open a blog covered in robots last time, but that didn't bother me as much as recent self promotion lectures where the importance of showing professionalism on the internet if you want to be taken seriously was pretty heavily emphasised. So, yes, now I'm sticking to a boring, sensible blog template.

I did those book case studies I talked about in my last post, I'll see if I can somehow make them available on the internet so I can open them up during my meeting, otherwise they shall be another blog post. I also have my first chapter pretty much written out on paper, and have made a start on working them into Cubase 6.

The score editor is incredibly fiddly, so I may download the 30-day free trial of Sibelius: I've used it before and it makes life so much easier, the only problem would be that I wouldn't be able to go back and edit any mistakes or make modifications if I want to after the trial expires! But that's just a thought at the moment anyway, I'm sure once I get the hang of the Cubase score editor I'll glide through it (midi and score editing has always been my strong point on this course).

I've set a date for recording my drum samples too! It is Saturday the 17th March, in Chippenham. It would have been easier to do them here, but I want to record my own drum kit because the university's kit is in terrible shape!

My drum replacement software works really well, it's a bit of a lengthy process though to get from midi to good sounding acoustic drums (I have been using to samples that came with the software at this stage to get used to the technique), and involves splitting the drum midi into individual instruments (bass, snare, etc) and then exporting each of those midi files as an audio mixdown, bringing them back into the mix, and then replacing that audio. The results, however, are fantastic so far, I can't wait to try my own samples!

The sample replacement is really the last stage of the whole process anyway, so I haven't been in a huge rush to get on with it while I'm still writing!

Outside of my major project I've been busy with a couple of assignments this week, which have been a bit of a nuissance really when I would rather be getting on with my major project. I've also finally got my home studio running in my bedroom and have been helping a gaming student with a few SFX and a soundtrack to his game.

Gaining momentum

Ok, so after my meeting with Paul last week I have decided to go ahead with the sampling plan. I finally got my audio interface sorted in my room, so I can record the majority of the drum parts here using my electric kit, rather than use the university's facilities; which is good because I tend to be more productive if I have a good flow of coffee to hand and can work at my leisure.

Have been thinking more about my "chapters" and started work on one of the final pieces that will be in the later chapter. I have decided to include a bass track to jam along to in this case: nothing overly complicated, just some midi bass. On the final CD this composition will be presented once with just the bass, no drums or click track, once with bass and a click track, and once bass, drums and a click track.

I still need to write out some "Case Studies" for a few of the books I've looked at as inspiration. I think I will use my "Rock Drum Basics: Steps 1+2" book, as it has a CD with it and includes tracks at the end where you jam with a bassist, and it is more similarly laid out to how my book will be (and contain similar exercises to my early chapter). I will also include my "Guildhall grades 1-4 book" because it is a completely different style of teaching, where it just gives the set pieces and that is it. I'll also do one of my "Guidhall Snare Drum" grade books, because they focus a lot on different time signatures, and drum duets and solo snare drum compositions. And finally my "Rockschool Grade 8" book, because it is similar to my book in terms of audio CD playalong type thing, but doesn't contain any of the tutorial exercises I intend to include. I may also do one for "Rhythm" magazine, because it contains articles for tuition, I guess I'd be weighing up the pros and cons of it, like keeping totally up to date and fresh with current music, but is one month between learning new things + monthly expenses.

I am bad at blog

Well, I haven't been updating my blog, but I haven't had a lot to say as far as Major Project goes; it has taken a back seat since Christmas as I've been busy with other assignments.

Still, the DVD authoring and surround recording presentation went... well? I guess it was the shape of the room, but there was some massive bass buzz on all of my tracks which I'm sure I got rid of in the studio, Anyway, now I have a couple of weeks to concentrate on my major project and getting most of the compositions done if I can.

I had an idea for creating some of my own drum samples and then recording my parts using an electric drum kit. This would mean it's easier to adjust the tracks to make them more in time and fix any duff notes, the only problem though is that this would remove some of the recording element of my project.

I would still record some drum parts, as I want the duets to sound like a different drummer on their own kit is playing in the room with you, but this could end up being only about 15 minutes worth of recorded material + the material for my own samples, then the rest would essentially be midi sequencing. I guess I could push that I'm striving for as much realism as possible through digital techniques.. or something.

Anyway, I'm organising a meeting with Paul sometime next week to discuss it, then I can really get into my project properly.