3d - Other People's Good Ideas

[alexruthmann]

Listening for the Overall Structure of Songs

Listening for musical structure often involves moving from the big picture to the details. If you are new to listening to music in these ways, check out the following videos and articles for more background and practice:

LISTENING FOR SONG FORMS AND STRUCTURES

• Common Song Structures by Genre
• On Labeling Song Sections- Song Structure in Popular Music
• Understanding Song Forms- The Vast Collection of Song Forms

Listening for and Counting Beats and Measures

LISTENING TO AND COUNTING BEATS

• Organizing Sound: Beat & Pulse from Dave Conservatoire
• What is beat? from Dave Conservatoire
• Counting in beats from Dave Conservatoire

FIGURING OUT TEMPO IN BEATS PER MINUTE

• Tap Tool for Beats per Minute
• EchoNest's In Search of the Click Track tool

Use the above web app to figure out your song’s tempo in beats per minute. Pop, rock and dance music is almost always between 60 and 140 beats per minute. If you’re getting a tempo outside of this range, try tapping half as fast or twice as fast.

Listening for and Graphing Entrances and Exits of Individual Sound Sources

LISTENING FOR MUSICAL LAYERS AND TEXTURE

• Introduction to Texture from Dave Conservatoire
• Monophonic, Homophonic, and Polyphonic musical textures from Dave Conservatoire
  

Infinite Jukebox

The EchoNest's Infinite Jukebox is an innovative tool for using the computer to literally play with the structure of your favorite music. If you haven't had the chance to load your favorite song into it, take a few minutes, load it up and play around. Check out this article by the developer of the Infinite Jukebox - Paul Lamere from The Echo Nest - to learn more.

[alexruthmann]

This topic is now pinned. It will appear at the top of its category until it is either unpinned by a moderator, or the Clear Pin button is pressed.