Something occurred to me after practicing with the metronome tonight. People make a big deal out of perfect pitch, where you know which notes are which without being told. Why is perfect tempo not a thing?
It would be pretty useful, if somebody told you that a song was 92 beats per minute, to be able to count that off exactly. Or to hear a song and think, That's 92 beats per minute.
I wonder if it's possible to learn to do that.
Showing posts with label tempo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tempo. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Finding the beat
Ron the Drummer and I have taken our metronome out of mothballs. Our goal is not only to tighten up the rhythm, but also nail down the optimal tempos for our newer songs.
This is harder than you may think.
Just about every song we do has more than one optimal tempo. For instance, the best speed for the choruses might be juuust a little different than that of the verses. Ditto the instrumental bits vs. the parts with vocals.
Why don't we simply play the choruses slower than the rest of the song, or the instrumental parts faster? Because the inconsistency sounds sloppy. Tempo changes generally only work if they're deliberate.
So, we decide where in the song the tempo is most important—often the chorus—and make that the tempo for the entire song. Then we work with the unoptimized sections to make them sound better at the new speed.
The funny thing is that when we play to the metronome, Ron and I always find that we're slowing down and speeding up in the same places. I'm not sure if this means that the optimal tempos are truly inherent to the songs, or if we're just on the same wavelength.
This is harder than you may think.
Just about every song we do has more than one optimal tempo. For instance, the best speed for the choruses might be juuust a little different than that of the verses. Ditto the instrumental bits vs. the parts with vocals.
Why don't we simply play the choruses slower than the rest of the song, or the instrumental parts faster? Because the inconsistency sounds sloppy. Tempo changes generally only work if they're deliberate.
So, we decide where in the song the tempo is most important—often the chorus—and make that the tempo for the entire song. Then we work with the unoptimized sections to make them sound better at the new speed.
The funny thing is that when we play to the metronome, Ron and I always find that we're slowing down and speeding up in the same places. I'm not sure if this means that the optimal tempos are truly inherent to the songs, or if we're just on the same wavelength.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Tempo inflation
Listening to the recording of our last gig, I noticed that we played some of our slow songs a little fast. This is a common performance issue. When you're in front of an audience, the extra adrenaline makes you want to speed up, and also makes it harder to realize you're doing it.
We decided at yesterday's rehearsal to work on those slow songs and get them up to speed. Or down, as the case may be.
As we practiced, I realized I couldn't blame my fast count-offs on the thrill of playing live. Here we were, in Ron's living room, no one to hear us (except Ron's wife, who's allowed to witness our mistakes), and the songs at the correct tempo sounded like freaking dirges.
Why is it that music seems slower when we play it than when we listen to recordings of ourselves playing it?
Is there a neuroscientist in the house?
We decided at yesterday's rehearsal to work on those slow songs and get them up to speed. Or down, as the case may be.
As we practiced, I realized I couldn't blame my fast count-offs on the thrill of playing live. Here we were, in Ron's living room, no one to hear us (except Ron's wife, who's allowed to witness our mistakes), and the songs at the correct tempo sounded like freaking dirges.
Why is it that music seems slower when we play it than when we listen to recordings of ourselves playing it?
Is there a neuroscientist in the house?
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