Rob
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Caring for your Instrument
We know – what can possibly be more boring than cleaning? Watching paint dry maybe, but we don’t have to worry about that here! Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts; you have to keep cleaning in order to maintain your instrument in its’ optimum condition. Some instruments require less attention than others (pianos, for example, just…
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What is it with guitar strings?
Why are there so many different gauges to choose from? I mean choosing a brand is easy ‘cos there’s only a couple of hundred of them, but then there’s gauges and there’s coatings and every brand has a couple of dozen and none of them are the same gauge and none of them use the…
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Sibelius
This a renowned music notation software that has been widely used by composers, musicians, and educators. It’s now a subscription service so you may wish to think about that before buying because this could turn out to be quite expensive. There are several variants. Sibelius First (free to get) gives you just 4 staves to…
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AnthemScore
AnthemScore is specialized software designed for automatic music transcription. It’s developed by Lunaverus and has been recognized for its ability to convert audio files into sheet music or guitar tabs with impressive accuracy. It does make some mistakes though, which is why you will probably also need to get hold of score editing software. Depending on…
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Orchestral Strings
Finding the right string for your instrument can be daunting. Each instrument is different, and no one type of string will suit every instrument. And no string is guaranteed to make you sound better either! So, inevitably there will be some trial and error involved in finding the right string for you and you instrument.…
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Komplete Audio 6 Mk2
Well, what a surprise, although I suppose it shouldn’t really be one. This is a radically different animal to the Mk-1. The most noticeable difference (apart from the black colour) is that instead of a series of LED telling you a port is active you’ve got a display that shows you the output level on…
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Presonus Faderport 8
As soon as I saw this device it got filed in the category of “I want One of Those”. Ok, I had been looking for something like this but one specific requirement always seemed to be missing. I mean is it too much to ask that a mixing desk should behave like the ones you…
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Scales, Arpeggios & the boring stuff – Pt 2
I’d decided to concentrate on my other academic love, Science. I wanted to do a degree in Physiology and Biochemistry but my Physics A-Level was one grade lower than I needed, so I thought I’d get a job as a lab tech at a local hospital and resit the next year. This was when I…
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Scales, Arpeggios & the boring stuff – Pt 1
Scales, arpeggios, exercises. Why bother? I mean they’re so absolutely boring right? Who uses them? Who, in their right mind, would use them? Why on earth would I want to spend time learning Bach two and three part inventions? (Keyboard players know what I mean. they were written, after all, just to teach his kids…
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Why Am I Disorganised?
OK, why don’t you tell me why you think you are disorganised? Letters on a postcard please. The excuse I hear most often is “I’m disorganised because I’m artistic”. Really? Lets look at 5 artists, Beethoven, Turner, Piers Anthony, Damien Hirst and Elvis Costello. Starting with Mr Hirst, I don’t like his works, but then…