Cheap soundproofing techniques for small home studios

Do you want to soundproof your room and do not have the money to it?

Well I will be sharing one in-expensive way how to do it. Although this method is not the prefect solution for a small home studio, it should be a great start until you can get some money to do proper soundproofing. I have tried it before and it worked well. However, I did my recordings during the after noons and in the nights after 10:00 p.m.

Here are the materials I used.

1.      Thick cardboard (The types that large appliances and equipments come in. Collect as much to cover the entire area.)

2.      Used Egg trays (Collect as much to cover the area.)

3.      Double side tapes (especially the ones used on floor carpets)

4.      Drill and wall screws (optional)

5.      Drapes or thick curtains

6.      Wood glue

7.      Hangers and rods for drapes

Simple Steps

·        Place card board to the wall by using the double tape and screws to hold it to the wall. Make sure you do this from floor to ceiling level.

·         After all the card board is up glue the egg trays to the card board. (After egg trays are glued to the card board you might have to leave it to dry for 24 hours.

·         Install the hangers at suitable locations so that the drapes can be hanged on them. (I had my permanent hangers installed before everything else.)

·         Then hang up drapes to cover the card-board and egg trays mounted to the wall.

·         You can also hang drapes at the door entrance and windows to keep out extra sounds from outside.

N.B. You can always choose whatever design you want for your studio and make your own adjustments. You can also use other methods of your choice to mount the card board and egg trays to the wall.

I hope you enjoy this project, have a nice day.

What is the best age for a child to take music lessons?

A number of parents have asked musicians at what age it is best to teach children music. The answers received can be very interesting at times. Today I want to share my view on this matter.  I know that I will help clear up any doubt that exist and motive parent’s interest in allowing their child to take music lessons at an early age.

The question asked frequently by parents – (At what age should my child start taking music lessons?)

Before I give a specific answer to the question I would like to let parents know that music is naturally apart of human nature. While some persons might not agree, I want to highlight that there is no factual research that have given any proof as to where and when music started. When a child above 12 months old can dance and shake to music without any instructions this tells me that human beings are created and born with this unique gift.  

From my experience of teaching music to different age group for more than 10 years, I can say that I have seen great results when children start taking music lessons from ages 5 or 6. While teaching this age group I have realized that these children will follow basic instructions given to them clearly and their interest and attention span is fairly high. Five and six years old children will be able to sit in a music lesson for 20 to 35 minutes. But younger children have shorter attention span. Most 5 and 6 years old children are able to use their fingers to do a number of things. When your child is involved in music lessons from as early as 5 or 6 years old, they tend to do well in the future and most of them turn out to be great musicians as early as age 10.

What about the younger kids? Children younger than five years old are good at manipulating objects and are still exploring their surroundings. Their attention span is shorter and parents might waste a lot of money having them doing music lessons so early. I would recommend that parents use this time to create a musical environment for their children. Parents can do so by buying some musical gadgets and some “kiddie’s versions” of musical instrument to develop their interest in music. A lot of parents have done this and it worked well in their favor.

So based on my experience in teaching music to children, I would say that between  ages 5 to 6 is a good time for children to start doing music lessons. Yes! Let them learn to play the piano, guitar and even the drum kit. Age five and six is the later part of the preoperational stage of cognitive development in one of Jean Piaget’s theories. Children at this stage are able to understand basic information and are able to relate to their parent, peers and teachers. However, some parents allow their children to be involved in music lessons as early as 4 years old.

It is very important that parents do researches pertaining to child development. This will give them an idea as to what age is suitable for their child to be involvement is extra and academic activities. However, there are some children who are born with higher IQ (Intelligence Quotient); these children normally catch on to practical and academic activities faster and earlier than others.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Carlinton Singh

Music Theory Lesson: What are Time Signatures, Bars and Barlines?

Today we will be looking at some other important aspect of the music: Time Signatures, Bars and Barlines.

First let us discuss the meaning of the term "Time Signature".
Time Signatures are musical symbols that tells us number of beats or counts that are in each bar of a piece of music. There are different types of time signature but today we will only look at "Simple Time Signatures". Time Signatures are numbers written above each other that appears at the beginning of a piece of music after the clef sign. Below are examples of simple time signatures.

Each time signature has its own meaning and function in music.

Now let us take a look at how each time signature is presented on the staff and the meaning of each.

When you see this time signature on the staff it means that there are two beats or counts in each bar.

This time signature tells us that there are three beats or counts in each bar.

This time signature means that there are four beats or counts in each bar.

N.B. >  There will be a follow up lesson on time signature, explaining the concept in more details.

Now what are Bars and Barlines?

"Bars or Measures" are divided sections on the staff or stave on which musical notes are written. Each bar includes specfic notes or rest based on the time signatue used. Bars or Measures are formed by barlines. Barlines are vertical lines that are used to separate each bar on a piece of sheet music.

The diagram below should explain.

Here you see that the area on which musical notes, rest and other symbols are written is called a bar or measure. Bars or measures cannot be formed unless there are barlines.

Barlines are used throughtout the entire music but a double barline is used when the music comes to an end.

Here is an example of a double barline.

Thanks for participating in todays lesson. Have a wonderful day and remember to subsribe or leave your comments. 

Amazon, a geart place to buy all your music books.

Hi my friends. I just want to remind you that there are a number of books on amazon that will help in developing your approach and techniques in music.

Make use of this great resource centre. Visit them today. Click any amazon link that is located on this site.

www.BrucieRiddims.com

http://www.brucieriddims.com

For all your original Reggae / Dancehall Riddims, listen online now !

Bob Marley - The Great Reggae Artiste Ever.

Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) is no doubt the greatest and most popular reggae artiste of all times. Even though he is not around he is still touching the lives of many individuals around the globe.

Bob Marley was born on February 6 1945 in St. Ann, Jamaica. His passion was music and so he dedicated his life to it. His career in music grew to maturity but he was taken away by the most feared sickness – cancer. He died on May 11, 1981.

May 11, 2011 makes it 30 years since Bob Marley have passed. But we still remember some of his greatest hits and still sing them today.

It is our duty to preserve this part of our musical heritage so that generations to come will enjoy it.

Let now listen to this message from Bob Marley.

ONE LOVE

Teach yourself how to play a musical instrument and how to understand music theory.

Hi guys! I hope you are enjoying life.

In this modern era there should be no complainning about resources. Today individuals can teach themselves how to play a musical instrument to some level by just browsing the internet.

The information that I have posted on this blog is very useful. I enjoy sharing information because there are persons searching for answers. Please feel free to subscribe and take advantage of the information that I have shared over the passed few months.

Have a great day!

PIANO LESSON - PLAYING G & D MAJOR SCALES ON THE PIANO. (LEARN PIANO LESSONS TODAY)

It has been a while since our last piano/keyboard lesson. In our last piano lesson  an article was done on the concept of major scales. The term "Major Scale" was defined and illustrations were showning how to play the C major scale on the piano.

Today I will be showing you some illustration as to how you can play the G and D major with the right and left hand on the piano.

For those of you who would like to view the previous piano lesson on major scales you can click here.

Let's begin! First let us take a look at both G and D major scales.

G Major Scale

D Major Scale

It is very important that you look carefully at the notes used for each scale. In G major scale you will play the all the notes in the natural or white key except for F sharp. When playing the D major scale you will play D, E, G, A, B as natural keys but F sharp and C sharp will be played on the specific black key assigned to them.

If you are not clear as to how to find the sharp keys, please click here for a lesson on that topic.

Below are illustrations showing you how to play the G and D major scale on the piano. Please try and analyse the techniques used.

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR G MAJOR SCALE

1.

2.

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR D MAJOR SCALE

1.


2.

 NB - (RIGHT FINGERS IN ILLUSTRATION 2 FOR D MAJOR SCALE SHOULD BE LEFT FINGERS)

The illustrations are clear and simple, once you have the basic knowledge of the letters of the keyboard then you will be able to play them.
Play each scale slowly first then increase in speed as you go along. Play the scales using each hand separately until you can play them fluently. Then try playing the scales using both hands at the same time.


Copyright (c) May 2011 by Carlinton Singh. Please remember to subscribe and leave a comment.