Yamaha introduces new metronomes

Digital piano players may wonder at the need for a separate metronome, but acoustic piano players and other musicians often benefit from an external timekeeper.

In fact, Yamaha’s latest metronomes are a little more versatile than the ones found on digital pianos and keyboards.

Ideal for musicians of all levels, Yamaha’s new metronome models ME-55BK, ME-120BK and ME-D1 are available in three options: clip-on, digital Quartz watch, and digital Quartz cube. These new stylish and fully functional metronomes are perfect for all practice situations.

The clip-on model ME-55BK fits perfectly on clothing or music stands for effortless operation and includes key features such as dial type volume control, a memory backup function and a superior beat visual on the LCD screen.

The ME-120BK is presented as a digital quartz wristwatch. Features include a stopwatch, timer and pace calorie counter. Additionally, the metronome vibration mode allows users to sense the tempo through the wrist.

The Yamaha Digital Quartz Cube Metronome ME-D1 features two LEDs, making the tempo easier to observe from any distance. The ME-D1 includes a unique 360-degree tempo dial, allowing for a wide tempo range and generous sound output, making it easier to hear.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Jazz legend Chick Corea endorses the Yamaha AvantGrand hybrid piano

Legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea recently took Yamaha’s newly launched AvantGrand N3 hybrid piano for a “test drive.” Initially skeptical about the world’s first stringless piano to feature the sound, touch and action of a concert grand, the 67-year-old jazz superstar was quickly won over.

“My standard of comparison is the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano with a gorgeous, beautiful sound, so I was a little apprehensive when I first saw the AvantGrand,” says the Yamaha Artist, who was recently named JazzTimes’ 2008 Artist of the Year.

“I thought, ‘look at this little thing, what’s it going to do?’ It blew me away,” recalls Corea. “I sat down and adjusted the volume to make it sound like a big piano and immediately went into reverence at the R&D department and how they pulled it off, because it’s quite an accomplishment.”

Priced at a fraction of the cost of a concert grand, the N3 features the exquisite sound of the acclaimed Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano in a stunning grand piano style cabinet.

Currently on tour as a member of the Five Peace Band, also featuring John McLaughlin, Corea will be making select solo appearances, including the Nice Jazz Festival in Nice, France and the Detroit Jazz Festival in Detroit, Michigan. He will also perform with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White for several dates in September.

“Once I started playing the AvantGrand and getting into the musical flow of it, I could lose myself in the music just like I like to do. I could certainly envision using this instrument in my louder bands, my electric bands.”

Fusing 21st century music technology with Yamaha’s century-long heritage of piano craftsmanship, the N3 features highly advanced sound reproduction and sampling technology, without the tuning, cost or footprint of a comparable stringed instrument.

One of the greatest challenges in creating a true acoustic piano experience electronically is to accurately re-create the vibrations integral to the playing experience. The AvantGrand Series are the first pianos to actualise the physical connection with their instrument that pianists could only experience – until now – with an acoustic grand.

Its innovative Tactile Response System transmits “string” vibrations through the keys to player’s hands. Even the foot pedal action became subject to Yamaha’s demanding criteria. In traditional pianos, resistance is created in proportion to how deep the pedal is depressed. To replicate this, Yamaha created a new, specialized grand piano pedal for AvantGrand that reproduces the finesse of acoustic pedals, duplicating the spring, friction and inertia of traditional pedals.

The placement of the four-channel, three-way Spatial Acoustic Speaker System mimics the points where the original grand piano samples were taken, while the Soundboard Resonator create a non-directional sound dispersion directly in front of the player, duplicating the subtle reproduction of the buildup of sound felt by concert pianists. These technologies combine to authentically re-create the depth of tone of the Yamaha nine-foot CFIIIS grand piano, the choice instrument of many of the world’s top musicians and performance venues.

In addition to the remarkable grand piano sound sample, the N3 also features electronic piano and harpsichord voices.

The AvantGrand N3 is slated to ship in July 2009. The AvantGrand N2 upright model will be available in September 2009. Both include a matching padded bench.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Artist Profile: Jade Simmons

Honing her musical creativity and electrifying audiences worldwide is merely the warm up for Jade Simmons. The Yamaha pianist, whose mission is to “expand the boundaries of classical music,” seeks nothing short of a musical revolution.

Simmons recently joined the Yamaha Artist roster, which includes acclaimed pianists such as Abbey Simon, Frederic Chiu, Alexander Kobrin, Oxana Yablonskaya, Olga Kern, Maria Joao Pires, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Gavin DeGraw and Norah Jones.

A musical force of nature, Simmons champions a diverse mix of repertoire from the classics to the cutting edge, designs her own concert wear, writes articles on the arts, and maintains a busy performing, speaking and lecturing schedule. Simmons will also serve as the inaugural host for the Cliburn Competition’s first interactive live Webcast later this month. This confluence of imagination, talent and drive resulted in Simmons being named as one of Ebony Magazine’s 2007 “Young Leaders Under 30.”

According to the former Miss Illinois and 1st-runner up at the 2000 Miss America Pageant, her affiliation with Yamaha “was inevitable”. Recently, when considering some of her most significant and successful performances, it became clear which brand she had come to rely on the most.

“The one thing that was consistent was Yamaha; I really believe in their product,” said Simmons. “There’s a consistency there that is lacking with other brands. There’s a comfort level there. Even when you don’t have time to warm up, when your fingers are cold, a Yamaha piano will work with you and not against you.”

The Charleston, South Carolina native recently experienced the CFIIIS concert grand piano at a recent performance Dublin, Georgia. “I was drawn to it because of the variation in colour, and the responsive action of the keys,” she recalls. “It was 4:30 and I only intended to practice 15 minutes. I didn’t leave until 7:30 when it was time to change for the performance. Despite being road weary, the instrument made me want to practice.”

“Jade is the kind of artist you formally welcome into the fold after, it turns out, you’ve been working together all along,” says Yamaha Artist Services Director James Steeber. “She makes a brilliant impression, has a presence which fills the room, and plays with authority and dedication – something which benefits Yamaha tremendously. Additionally, her outreach to young people in the name of classical music is vital.”

Simmons’ latest CD release, Revolutionary Rhythm is the first installment of “The Rhythm Project” which features repertoire that capitalises on the piano’s rhythmic and percussive nature. This connection was nurtured by her father, who plays African drums, and her mother, who plays piano. An avid bucket drummer, Simmons enthusiastically drummed with her high school and college marching bands (“number 4 bass, baby!”).

According to the artist, Revolutionary Rhythm reflects her affinities and influences, highlighting American composers Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, Russell Pinkston and in pieces by DBR, she is complemented by Hip-Hop beats she co-produced. She sums up the recording as “the musical story of a pianist enamored with rhythm, indebted to classical music, drawn to modern music and surrounded by technology and popular culture.”

After a recent performance at the CD launch, an admirer offered Simmons “one of the best compliments I ever received. He said, ‘I feel like am witnessing the beginning of a movement.’ That personifies what I am trying to do. I want people to leave enjoying the whole musical package.”

Since her days as Miss Illinois, Simmons has spoken across the country to great acclaim, offering humorous and inspiring presentations as part of her “Where Do You Stand?!” speaking series. “The most fulfilling part of my touring is going to schools and community centers, speaking with kids and encouraging them to find their passion.” She has appeared on a variety of radio and television programs speaking on topics from the arts to youth suicide prevention, a cause that she’s “passionate about”.

As an advocate for the arts in education, she has created a presentation entitled “Mozart on the Move” for elementary school students. “My message is don’t let someone look at you and limit you,” says Simmons, who grew up listening to Lauren Hill and Missy Elliott, and is drawn to Beethoven, Timbaland and Rachmaninoff. “I am careful to say that what I do, meaning classical music, is not better than popular music,” adding that “the mixing of genres feels like second nature to me.”

At the 2000 Miss America Pageant, Simmons performed Chopin’s Etude in C-sharp minor, Op.10 No.4 live, before a television audience of millions. In 2006, she became the first ever New Music, New Places Fellow for the esteemed Concert Artists Guild organization. Under this initiative, she helps to build new audiences and generate interest in concert music by bringing traditional and new works to non-traditional and alternative venues.

Recent engagements include Symphony Hall with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Seattle’s Meany Hall, Detroit’s Institute of the arts, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. and New York’s Town Hall, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space. A soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, her performances have been broadcast on PBS and National Public Radio affiliates. Abroad, she has performed in Spain, France, Greece, Italy and The Canary Islands.

Winner of numerous awards and scholarships, Simmons is a graduate of Rice University’s prestigious Shepherd School of Music and received her Master of Piano Performance degree as a Provost Fellow. In 2001, she completed her undergraduate work at Northwestern University, where she co-founded the popular percussion and dance ensemble Boomshaka! As a follow up, Simmons formed the progressive, contemporary Collide Trio which performs a mash up of hip-hop, electronica and art music.

Simmons is Founder and Artistic Director of The Impulse Artist Series, which provides performance opportunities and career building support for emerging pianists. “It’s increasingly important that students coming out of art and music schools to present something different and exciting,” Simmons notes. “You have to be creative. I am lucky that I found a platform that is not a gimmick, but allows me to express myself as an artist.”

Simmons’ artistic and life philosophies seem to converge in her CD liner notes, where she writes: “If we’re lucky, when we die maybe a handful of people will remember us vividly. If we’re really fortunate, we will leave this earth having made an indelible impact, having rebelled for a purpose, having revolutionized something.”

For more information on Yamaha artists or the extensive Yamaha product catalog, please visit www.yamahaartists.com.

Popularity: 2% [?]

How to label and write notes on the piano keyboard: a basic guide

Do you want to read standard printed music? Check out our primer on how to read music for a thorough introduction to the basics

Check out our articles on buying a child’s first keyboard and ten books to help your child learn to play piano and keyboard

Introduction

I created this “How to label notes on the piano keyboard” article based on a reader’s question.

Karen writes:

My 10 year old daughter has a 54 key keyboard and is teaching herself to play it. She is already mastering the songs from Mary Poppins along with some current chart music using her own ear.

My problem is that she wants me to be able to label the keys for her with the letters and numbers, but I know nothing about this and from what I have found on the internet it just confuses me further. I have spent a long time reading stuff on the notes and octaves but got no further.

This guide will hopefully make it easy to create a system that not only works now but can be used as a stepping stone to reading and writing standard musical notation.

Basic Keyboard Layout

Before embarking on labelling the notes of the keyboard, it’s important to understand how the keyboard is laid out — its structure.

If you look at any keyboard you will see that it is made up of a repeating series of 12 keys. How many times that series repeats depends on how many keys the keyboard has overall.

Here’s one section of a keyboard, starting with the white key immediately to the left of the pair of black keys, and finishing with the white key immediately to the right of the group of three black keys.

This set of 11 keys – seven white notes and five black notes – repeats across the whole keyboard. The pattern may well be cut off at the left and right ends of the keyboard, but this is the pattern of keys you’ll see repeated on any keyboard instrument.

Basic Labelling Techniques

The highlighted key in the diagram above is often called C (as in the third letter of the alphabet). It’s also known as “do” (from the do-re-mi scale that you’ve no doubt heard of from The Sound of Music).

The next white note to the right is labelled D (or “re”) followed by E (“mi”), F (“fa”), G (“sol”), A (“la”) and B (“ti”), before returning to C (“do”).

Only seven letters or sounds are used to describe the white notes on a keyboard, and they form a run of notes known as a scale.

The black notes are labelled in relation to the white notes they sit in between.

Each black key immediately to the right of a white note are said to be “sharp” and each black key immediately to the left of a white note are said to be “flat”.

You can probably see that, when using letters of the alphabet to name the notes, each black note can have two names.

To the immediate right of C is C sharp (C#), though it is also known as D flat (Db) because it’s also to the immediate left of D.

The complete run of notes in the diagram above — both black and white notes — is:

C – C#/Db – D – D#/Eb – E – F – F#/Gb – G – G#/Ab – A – A#/Bb – B

Twelve distinct notes.

If using the “do-re-mi” scale then each black note only has one name. The complete run of notes is:

do – di – re – ri – mi – fa – fi – sol – si – la – li – ti

But if this set of eleven notes repeats across the keyboard, how can you tell one “C” from another “C”, or an “A” from another “A”, or an “F#” from another “F#”?

This is where I’m going to recommend working only with the alphabetic names of notes. I personally find it easier, and shorter, to write down notes this way.

Firstly, it’s important to find out where “Middle C” is. On a full-sized piano, that’s generally the “C” closest to the middle of the instrument, but on a smaller keyboard with less notes, that might not be the case.

To help you find it, play all the “C” notes on your keyboard until you find the one that sounds the closest to the following note:

Middle C [MIDI file. Most modern PCs should play this automatically when you click on it]

It’s worth starting to learn what that particular C – Middle C – sounds like so that you can find it easily on any other keyboard or piano you might want to play.

We’re now going to introduce some numbers so that it’s possible to identify all the different notes on the keyboard.

“Middle C” will be known as “C4″. Why C4? Well, on a large piano it’s likely to be the fourth “C” counting up from the left hand side of the keyboard.

This is a fairly standard naming convention. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have that many notes on your keyboard.

This means that the first C to the left of “Middle C” will be “C3″, and the one to the left of that is “C2″, and the one to the left of that is “C1″. And so on (you’ll probably have run out of notes by now).

And, unsurprisingly, the first C to the right of “Middle C” will be “C5″, followed by “C6″, then “C7″.

Finally, all the other notes slot into place just as before, but with the correct number after them. Always ensure you have a complete run from A through to G using the same number before starting with a new number.

What about the black notes? Well, for now you can either call them “sharp” or “flat”, or if you really want to you can label them as both.

Here’s a fully labelled diagram that you can use to help you label your keyboard. Click on it to see the full sized version.

Practically, it’s probably worth using lightly coloured sticky labels that you can write the name of each note on and then stick either directly on each key, or above it on the casing of the instrument.

Writing Down Notes

Now that you’ve labelled the keyboard, how do you go about writing down the notes that you’ve played so that you can go back in the future and play them again?

It could be as simple as writing down the letter and number combination for every note that you play, but this doesn’t take into account the length of each note, or if there are any gaps/pauses in the music (often known as “rests”).

If you play mainly “by ear” and are writing the notes down mainly to jog your memory, this might not matter.

The first two lines of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” might simply look like this:

C4 C4 G4 G4 A5 A5 G4 F4 F4 E4 E4 D4 D4 C4

And if you know the tune well, you’ll automatically play each note with the correct length.

If you are interested in recording the length of each note, you could put the names of each note into a grid. To do this, you’ll need to count each “beat” in the music. The beat is a steady rhythm.

For “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” it’s easiest to count in groups of four. Here’s how the first two lines would look.

1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
C4	C4	G4	G4	A5	A5	G4	—	F4	F4	E4	E4	D4	D4	C4	—

You’ll see that I’ve used a dash where a note needs to be held on for more than one beat.

If there are any sections of music where nothing should be played, you could simply write an “X” or a “/” to indicate that nothing should be played (not even a held on note).

You might find in more complicated music that sometimes there’s more than one note in a beat. Then you’ll have to squeeze more notes into each space on the grid.

For example, here’s the first two lines of “Castle on a Cloud” from Les Miserables:

1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
A4	B4 C4	B4	A4	A4	G#3	A4	—	A4	B4 C4	B4	A4	G3	F3	E3	—

Do you get the idea?

That’s just one method for writing down music in a fairly simple way.

It would start to get more complicated if you wanted to write down music where more than one note is played at the same time.

You could create a taller grid and write down groups of notes, but you’d have to remember which fingers on each hand you’d used to play them.

If you want to read other people’s music, you’ll probably find that it’s been written using standard modern musical symbols. It’s also very useful for writing down more complicated music.

That’s a bit much to handle in this article, but check out our how to read printed music primer for a thorough introduction of the basics.

I hope this guide helped you. If you have any questions do feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll help you out as much as I can.

Popularity: 58% [?]

Concept electronic drums have real possibilities

There’s some great stuff comes up on Yanko Design, such as these concept electronic drums, shaped a bit like a UFO and in gorgeous glossy black that’s just aching to be played with.

These electronic drums won’t only produce some kind of synthetic drum/percussion sound when struck, but also a visual treat in the form of a multicoloured hand print.

Radhika writes: “With each strike, the surface produces lighted impressions of your hand to highlight the effect. I can picture myself sitting in a dim-lit room, thumping this, beat for beat to the songs that I like, and the magical display of lights corresponding to my mood. This is music heaven!”

Yes, it’s a concept, so specifications are fairly irrelevant, though I reckon once the actual form is constructed, it’d be a rather trivial affair to fit it with MIDI or OSC so that it could be used to trigger other effects and sound modules – perhaps even a lighting rig. Maybe a video output that could be used to project the hand prints.

Whether this will ever make it to production is another matter, but it’s another one of those really cool designs that I could imagine really enjoying playing.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Review: Tripper for iPhone

A couple of days ago Xyster.net released Tripper for the iPhone.

Tripper is a fairly simple 16-step looping sequencer spanning ten distinct notes. All highlighted notes are played, together with colourful animation.

At present there’s just one sound, which could be likened to some kind of toy/electric piano. There’s not a lot of fancy stuff – you can’t swipe your finger to create runs of notes, alter sounds, change velocities, or do the sorts of things a Yamaha Tenori-On would offer you, but then you wouldn’t expect that from a 59p (99c) app.

One interesting feature is the ability to create “Game of Life” cell formations onto the board and have the melodic patterns evolve over time.

Used as a virtual instrument along with a sequencer and some of the iPhone’s other synth apps, this could be used to general an interesting, evolving base for mmore ambient/experimental compositions and performances.

A pause/edit button would be a useful addition to make it possible to build up a pattern without the instrument playing. It makes setting up accurate formations, particularly for use in “Game of Life” mode, very difficult.

It’s possible to save compositions for later playback, but although the app states that it’s possible to email these to other users, I’ve not found out how.

Another cool feature for power users on my wish list would be the ability to transmit notes via OSC, for hooking up to an external sequencer/sound generator, or the ability to save a composition’s MIDI file for later editing.

More sounds, of course, and maybe some other gestures, would be great, but this is the first version and it is a very inexpensive app. Good job from Xyster for fun and maybe a bit of inspiration too.

Tripper App Store link

Popularity: 3% [?]

Joseph Bertolozzi’s Bridge Music: is this one of the biggest object to be sampled?

I’ve just read an interesting article over at the Naxos blog which talks about Bridge Music, an album by composer Joseph Bertolozzi.

The composition features ten movements comprised of nothing but sounds recorded from the Mid-Hudson Bridge itself, including “Bridge Funk” and “Rivet Gun”. There’s also an “audio tour” bonus track.

In something of an irony, the bridge’s designer, Ralph Modjeski, was a skilled pianist, so it’s fitting that his engineering feat is being used for music creation.

Both as a pioneering engineer and as a musician who loved the music of his own time, I think he would be intrigued to experience this boundary-shattering synthesis involving his beloved bridge and the music of our own time,” writes Bertolozzi.

Not sure when or if the album is going to be available, but apparently “Bridge Music is available free to the public, beginning in June 2009, through Listening Stations on the towers of the Mid-Hudson Bridge and FM transmitters in waterfront parks along the Hudson River.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone: capture great audio

Apparently this great little microphone has been around for a little while now, and has gone down particularly well in the States, but I first got a glimpse of it at an exhibition last Thursday evening.

The Snowball Microphone is a multi-purpose, professional-grade USB-powered condenser mic for either PC or Mac, offering a frequency response of 40Hz-18kHz, and three recording types: cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad, and omnidirectional.

The mic sits upon the included six-inch stand. So not only does it look fantastic but it does the job, too. It’s only monophonic, but you can always hook two up, and at less than £90 ($100 – exchange rate strikes again) it’s pretty decent value.

Check out the images below.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Cello meets computer: Zoe Keating creates classical music with technology

There’s a fascinating article and video over at Wired.com featuring classical cellist Zoe Keating.

She uses her Apple MacBook Pro to record her cello, and then creates loops and layers based on that.

Instead of trying to get fifty cellists together in one room, she is the sole instrumentalist. In fact, it probably gives her more creative freedom – why try to organise a load of human musicians when you can do it all yourself?

It’s reminiscent of some of the work Mike Oldfield has done, building up layer upon layer of instruments.

“My music is the fusion of information architecture and classical music,” Keating says in this Wired.com video. “The way that you problem-solve in the world of technology … really lends itself to problem-solving with the kind of music that I do.”

Software wise, she uses Ableton Live, SooperLooper, and some DIY AppleScript, plus a set of ten MIDI foot pedals which can control it all.

Definitely worth watching.

Popularity: 4% [?]

AudioCubes: funky new cubes with sensors can shape your samples and music in real time

I’ve just started exploring AudioCubes, a cool hardware cube that can interact with its surroundings and with other cubes (up to eight) as well as control software via MIDI and generate lo-fi audio.

It’s worth taking a look at the videos to see how they work, rather than me trying to explain it to you. Suffice it to say they look pretty cool and I’m sure there are some amazing uses you could put them to in both audio and lighting rigs.

Check out manufacturer Percussa‘s home page, the YouTube channel, Flickr photo gallery and blog.

Basic specs for the cubes are:

• Dimensions: 75mm x 75mm x 75mm
• Weight: 0.4 Kg
• Wireless transmission range: approx. 40cm
• Battery Autonomy / Full Charge Time: approx. 3 hours
• USB 2.0 (HID) (per cube): full speed data rate (12Mbps) for fast trigger / continuous controller info, MIDI compatible
• Audio In/Out (per cube): 1/4 inch jacks for lo-fi sound processing (32kHz / 9 bit)

They work with software on the latest Mac OS X and Windows systems.

They’re not cheap, though. A single AudioCube costs €219 (about $291 / £256), set of two cost €399 ($530 / £467), four at €649 ($836 / £572) and eight at €1,269 ($1,668 / £1,120). Here’s the online store.

(Via GizmoWatch)

Popularity: 1% [?]

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