HC Confidential: Issue 160
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Issue 160
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Dear Musician, |
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There’s a great line early in the movie The Blues Brothers where our anti-heroes Elwood and Jake Blues (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) go searching for their former bandmates, in an effort to get the band back together. They arrive at a rundown boarding house and start asking the landlady pointed questions, all serious-like in their black suits, skinny black ties, and opaque sunglasses.
The landlady eyes them warily. “Are you the police?”
The leftmost tracks are the vocals; drums and percussion are to the right of the vocals, followed by guitar and bass further right, and then synths. I’ve found segregating instruments into groups like this definitely makes parsing tracks and instruments easier.
Even without track icons, this track divider technique can also help in more of a “track view” context. In the screen shot to the right, I’ve used a string of = signs to make the divider tracks stand out, and muted them so that the yellow mute button further emphasizes that these tracks are different (click image to enlarge).
Adding track dividers may not seem like a big deal, but when you have to manage lots of tracks, I've found it definitely makes a difference. Combined with color and track icons, you’ll be able to locate the track you want faster and more efficiently.
—Craig Anderton
Forum Watch |
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A few of this week's top discussions from our ForumsWhich Would You Go for—iPad3 or Discounted iPad2? As the number of iPad apps continues to increase, more musicians are considering taking the iPad plunge. But is the iPad3 all that great, or is its value trumped by the discount on the iPad2? Get the answer here. Are There Any Rock Songs Without Electric Guitar? The opening poster wonders if there are any rock songs that don’t use electric guitar. Turns out there’s a lot of them—and we’re not just talking about Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom” (which uses three basses). This is one of those threads where you can expect to find the unexpected. Pink Floyd: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon In case you’ve missed this documentary, the Electric Guitars forum will tell you why this is an absolute must-see—and on the 40th anniversary of its release, they also have some reflections on the album itself. Ever been a little unclear as to the differences between major and minor pentatonic scales when it comes to soloing over a chord progression? How about whether a blues is major or minor, at least from a scale perspective? This thread will school you. What Is “Too Much” Rehearsing? You have to be polished, but you don’t want to rehearse a song to death: The Sound, Stage, and Studio community discusses the fine line between too little and too much rehearsing, and why it’s not a trivial topic. Need Help Picking a First Guitar for a Friend If you saw the “Dear Musician” this month, this is definitely one of those “Stand aside, I’m a musician” threads. And it’s not just about first-timers—if you want a good, inexpensive backup guitar, there’s plenty of good advice in here. Front Wash Lighting for Solo Acts—Any Ideas? Lighting is becoming increasingly important. Can you get away with mounting lights on amp cabinets? Are LED lights good enough, or do you need incandescents? And what about controllers? Check out this discussion for some clues. Cassette Tape Limited Releases Cassette tape is becoming a somewhat popular format with some artists for DIY / limited run releases. Customized artwork and inserts created by hand and other personal touches make it unique, but does it have other advantages and disadvantages as a distribution medium? Read the thread to find out. Bassists: How Hard Do You Pick / Pluck? Picking style makes a huge difference in the sound—but as this thread shows, a lot of the answer about optimum picking styles depends on much more than just the bass and strings. An old debate resurfaces, and the question remains—does one DAW sound better than the others, and if so, is it due to improved summing and plug-in handling, or is it the converters . . . or something else? Tell us what you think! |
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Editorial Craig Anderton, Editor in Chief • Jon Chappell, Senior Editor • Phil O’Keefe, Associate Editor • Chris Loeffler, Reviews Editor
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