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Music Theory 109
Music Theory for DAW Musicians
by: joshuacarney
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  • Student469162
    Posts: 426
    Joined: Sep 20th, 2020
    A midi keyboard
    Well. If I am not an experienced songwriter and using a midi keyboard, but missing (am being too late) placing the notes, I mean as a result will be spaces between the notes (while I am looking on the keyboard for the right key the gb records quickly on, it doesn't wait for me). Is there any program which "gathers" my notes all together one by one (without unwanted spaces) as a normal song sounds, or do I need them one by one drag to each other ("deleting" spaces by myself) manually? For example, entering notes on piano roll I have plenty of time to place them where I want. No need for a race with record button there...
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  • Joe A
    Posts: 1834
    Joined: Oct 1st, 2013
    Re: A midi keyboard
    If you're not a keyboard player then you may not be able to play in realtime with the metronome click, so you'd probably be better off penciling the notes in. Quantization can automatically move played notes to the nearest musical gridline (quarter-note, sixteenth-note, etc) correcting the timing, but you still have to play pretty accurately against the click for that to work, it only can make small corrections -- if you have to hunt for the right notes you probably won't be able to play parts in realtime successfully..
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  • Student469162
    Posts: 426
    Joined: Sep 20th, 2020
    Re: A midi keyboard
    I don't like metronome click. I turn it off. Can I make a quality song without using a metronome? I mean if I type the notes in midi keyboard, I got too long pauses between notes. Can I get rid of the pauses by any program or have I delete the pauses by myself?
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  • Joe A
    Posts: 1834
    Joined: Oct 1st, 2013
    Re: A midi keyboard
    The metronome click is only for when you play in notes in realtime -- it's just an audible reference for the musician, it has nothing to do with where notes are placed when you pencil them in, other than as a(n optional) reference in playback to hear whether the notes are in time with the bars/beats. If you pencil in notes, just place them at the appropriate barlines as you enter each note, and set an appropriate length for each note. You can Command-click to enter each note and while you're still holding the mouse button down drag to set the length of each note *as it's entered*. Then the positions and lengths of all penciled-in notes should be correct as you enter them. If for any reason there are still unwanted pauses between notes, then just adjust the lengths of the notes as necessary after they've been entered..
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  • Student469162
    Posts: 426
    Joined: Sep 20th, 2020
    Re: A midi keyboard
    I still don't understand, why I need to use a metronome with midi keyboard. I can record the notes and choose instruments without a metronome. What a metronome does exactly? If I choose c maj or tempo, are they also a part of metronome or I can use them when metronome is out? Is a metronome a metronome click by other words? If I don't use a metronome with midi keyboard, what is the result for my song... ? What is the difference between a song without a metronome and song made with a metronome?
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  • Joe A
    Posts: 1834
    Joined: Oct 1st, 2013
    Re: A midi keyboard
    The metronome clicks on the musical beats so when you play in realtime you will be in time with the session's bar & beat ruler so you can perform musical edits more easily and use MIDI/Flex features like quantizing (automatic timing correction). If you're not a musician, or have no knowledge of musical terminology, you might want to watch some music theory courses. Maybe this one: https://www.macprovideo.com/course/music-theory-109-music-theory-for-daw-musicians?afid=E470KLQ7r9 Or this one: https://www.macprovideo.com/course/musictheory103-rhythm?afid=E470KLQ7r9 And here are other (possibly more advanced?) courses on music theory: https://www.macprovideo.com/library/topic/musictheory?afid=E470KLQ7r9
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  • Student469162
    Posts: 426
    Joined: Sep 20th, 2020
    Re: A midi keyboard
    So metronome guarantees that the song is still in signature? Right? For example, I choose 4/4, so the whole song completely will be in that 4/4. Or how? I haven't checked out your links yet.
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  • Joe A
    Posts: 1834
    Joined: Oct 1st, 2013
    Re: A midi keyboard
    The metronome reflects where the bars & beats fall in whatever time signature the song is in -- it's based on the time signature, not the other way around. The metronome will click on all the beats (the denominator in the time signature), with an accented click on the downbeat (first beat) of each bar. It doesn't mean the song will necessarily be in the same time signature all the way through, though in GB there will only be one time signature all the way through. If any of those musical terms are unfamiliar to you, watch the second course I linked in the previous email: https://www.macprovideo.com/course/musictheory103-rhythm?afid=E470KLQ7r9
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  • Student469162
    Posts: 426
    Joined: Sep 20th, 2020
    Re: A midi keyboard
    So I understand that a bar or a measure is a note(s) between two bar lines by the course you attached? But on youtube I watched the bar is a number above the timeline. For example, from 8 bars (above the timeline on the ruler?) he made 12 bars. So what is a bar, or there are two different things and both are bars.. ? And what is a beat? Is a beat a note?
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  • Joe A
    Posts: 1834
    Joined: Oct 1st, 2013
    Re: A midi keyboard
    No, a bar is not a note -- a bar is a grouping of beats. In traditional musical terminology a beat is a rhythmic pulse, and a bar (or measure) is a grouping of beats. The number of beats in a bar is described by the Time Signature -- so in common time 4/4, there are 4 beats in every bar. Musical rhythms are based on the pattern of beats in the Time Signature chosen for that song. Once again, to explain music theory properly really requires audio examples, which cannot be included in a text-based discussion group. I encourage you to watch the recommended video(s) -- I've attached the same course to this thread that I did to your other thread. Watch the 1st video and then skip to video # 6 and watch (& listen ) from there -- the course (and the other one) explain the terminology of music theory, and audio examples are, of course, included. https://www.macprovideo.com/course/music-theory-109-music-theory-for-daw-musicians?afid=E470KLQ7r9
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