Tutorial _ Hydrogen
8
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 1/8 Tutorial Antonio Piraino You've just downloaded the latest version of Hydrogen and have it installed successfully. Hydrogen may come in handy for these tasks: It can be used as an advanced "click" machine helping you practicing (in speed, precision and rudiments) drums, maybe with a custom pattern you wrote. You want to learn how to properly play a song: you can "write it down" inside Hydrogen (or just a few difficult parts of it). Doing the effort of finding, splitting and reproducing the different parts of the songs will improve your understanding of it. Also, using Hydrogen with your songs will ensure that in future a quick glance at the songfile you have created will bring the song up immediately to mind. You can play H2 with other software (Ardour, ...) This simple tutorial will guide you creating a complete song. We will work on "Georgy Porgy" of Toto which has a quite straight structure (therefore appropriate for a guide such as this) but this doesn't mean the song is actually easy to write down since the drummer (Jeff Porcaro) enriches the groove with his personal touch and fantasy. Remember that Hydrogen will not play better than the drummer working on the song since most of the task must be accomplished by the programmer's sensibility and experience. Table of contents 1. Let's start 2. Intro 3. First verse 4. Bridge and following 5. The riff 6. The second half of the song 7. The final riff 1. Let's start Before starting make sure you have a few things: The song to study on: either an audiocd or (better) an .ogg or .mp3 for optimal flexibility. Optionally a rough layout of the song on paper: it may be useful to count bars and different parts of the song that eventually wii get into Hydrogen. The song we will work on has the following structure: Intro: 4 bars Verse: 8 bars Bridge: 8 bars Verse: 8 bars Bridge: 8 bars Chorus: 8 bars Riff: 4 bars Verse (with guitar): 8 bars Verse (with voice): 8 bars Bridge: 8 bars Chorus: 8 bars Chorus: 8 bars Chorus: 8 bars Final Riff: 4 bars Looking at this scheme we can see that some pattern repeats, so we'll use this symbols in Hydrogen's Song Editor: Verse > A Bridge > B Chorus > C And to save up words on explainations we'll use two common TLA (Three Letters Acronym ^_^): LMB: left mouse button RMB: right mouse button Well, now unplug your phone and launch Hydrogen from the shell: let's get to work! 2. Intro Downloads Features Screenshots Documentation Forum Developer Zone
description
Hydro
Transcript of Tutorial _ Hydrogen
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 1/8
Tutorial
AntonioPiraino
You'vejustdownloadedthelatestversionofHydrogenandhaveitinstalledsuccessfully.Hydrogenmaycomeinhandyforthesetasks:
Itcanbeusedasanadvanced"click"machinehelpingyoupracticing(inspeed,precisionandrudiments)drums,maybewithacustompatternyouwrote.Youwanttolearnhowtoproperlyplayasong:youcan"writeitdown"insideHydrogen(orjustafewdifficultpartsofit).Doingtheeffortoffinding,splittingandreproducingthedifferentpartsofthesongswillimproveyourunderstandingofit.Also,usingHydrogenwithyoursongswillensurethatinfutureaquickglanceatthesongfileyouhavecreatedwillbringthesongupimmediatelytomind.YoucanplayH2withothersoftware(Ardour,...)
Thissimpletutorialwillguideyoucreatingacompletesong.Wewillworkon"GeorgyPorgy"ofTotowhichhasaquitestraightstructure(thereforeappropriateforaguidesuchasthis)butthisdoesn'tmeanthesongisactuallyeasytowritedownsincethedrummer(JeffPorcaro)enrichesthegroovewithhispersonaltouchandfantasy.RememberthatHydrogenwillnotplaybetterthanthedrummerworkingonthesongsincemostofthetaskmustbeaccomplishedbytheprogrammer'ssensibilityandexperience.
Tableofcontents
1. Let'sstart2. Intro3. Firstverse4. Bridgeandfollowing5. Theriff6. Thesecondhalfofthesong7. Thefinalriff
1.Let'sstart
Beforestartingmakesureyouhaveafewthings:
Thesongtostudyon:eitheranaudiocdor(better)an.oggor.mp3foroptimalflexibility.Optionallyaroughlayoutofthesongonpaper:itmaybeusefultocountbarsanddifferentpartsofthesongthateventuallywiigetintoHydrogen.
Thesongwewillworkonhasthefollowingstructure:
Intro:4barsVerse:8barsBridge:8barsVerse:8barsBridge:8barsChorus:8barsRiff:4barsVerse(withguitar):8barsVerse(withvoice):8barsBridge:8barsChorus:8barsChorus:8barsChorus:8barsFinalRiff:4bars
Lookingatthisschemewecanseethatsomepatternrepeats,sowe'llusethissymbolsinHydrogen'sSongEditor:
Verse>ABridge>BChorus>C
Andtosaveupwordsonexplainationswe'llusetwocommonTLA(ThreeLettersAcronym _ ):
LMB:leftmousebuttonRMB:rightmousebutton
Well,nowunplugyourphoneandlaunchHydrogenfromtheshell:let'sgettowork!
2.Intro
Downloads Features Screenshots Documentation Forum DeveloperZone
http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#chap1http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#introhttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#firstversehttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#bridgehttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#riffhttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#secondhalfhttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7#finalriffhttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/24http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/2http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/6http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/393http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/forumhttp://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/394 -
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 2/8
Thebasepattern(Fig.1and2)is4barslong(dividedin2differentbars,eachrepeated2times,soit's[2a*2]+[2b*2])andlastsforthewholesong,fromthebeginningtotheend,riffincludedmostofthetime(introandriffexcluded)thisbasepatternisrepeated2timestoreachthecommonlyused8barsforeachpartofthesong(A,B,C).
Beforestartinglet'ssetthespeedto98bpm(HINTHINTyoucanfindoutbyyourselfthespeedofthesongwhileplayingitwithyourfavouritemediaplayerandfollowingtherhythmbyclick ingrepeatedlythebackslashkeyinHydrogen)andfromthemenu"GridResolution"let'sset'16'.
Tocreateanewpatternselecttheinstrument"ClosedHH",clickonRMBandchoose"FillNotes":thefirsttwobarswillbefilledup.TheninsertmanuallythebeatsonSnareJazzandKickasindicatedinthe2picturesbelowandtherewehavethebasepatternforoursong.Notehowthebeatsonthehihathavedifferentvelocity:beatsfallingonthebeginningofthebararesetaroundat75%ofthefullvelocitybar,theothersaroundathalfofit,inordertogivegroovethesong.
Fig.xBasepattern,firstbar
Fig.xBasepattern,secondbar
Beforewestartwritingdownversesthereare4introbars,allequalstoeachother,exceptforthelastonewhichattheendhasanopenhihat.Weshoulddothen:
RenamethefirstpatternintheSongEditorwithRMBclickonthename"EmptyPattern"andchangeitto"intro_a",forexample.Addtwonewpatternsnearthefirstone(secondandthirdbars)CreateinPatternEditorthebasepattern(Fig.1)
Forthefourthbarwe'llinsteadopenthehihat(Fig.3):
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 3/8
RMBinSongEditoronthenewlycreatedpattern,choose"copy",thenchooseaname(ex."intro_b")andautomagicallyyouwillhaveanewonerightunder.Selectthepatternyou'vejustcreated(IMPORTANT!)Deletethelast2beatsof"ClosedHH"andmovethemon"OpenHH".Select'32'from"GridResolution"andaddanother2beatsrightnearthepreviousones.Adjustthevelocityofthese4beatssothatthefirstisaround75%whiletheotherthreeareat25%tosimulatealongeropening.
Fig.xIntrodetail,fourthbar.
3.Firstverse
Sincewehavewrittenthebasepattern,nowweshouldalreadyknowthebasis.TocreatethefirstversewejusthavetocopyfromtheSongEditorthepattern"intro_a"andrename,say,to"ABC_1",becauseitisthefirstbaroftheversethateventuallywillalsofitforthebridge(B)andthechorus(C).
Payattention,whycan'twejustaddtwonewmorepatternsnexttothis?Becauseinthefirstbarthereisa"Crash"beatwhichendsthepreviousintro,thereforethetwobarsarenotcompletelyequalyouhavetocopythepattern"ABC_1"andrenameitto"ABC_2",cuttingthe"Crash"beatcitedbefore.
Samethingforthefollowing2bars:justcopyintotheSongEditorthepatterninFig.2,renameitaccordingtothepreviousonesandaddtwopatterns(becausethey'reidentical),youshouldreachnumber'8'asshowninFig.4.
The4remainingbarsoftheversearemoreorlessthesameofwhatwe'vejustwritten,sowhyredoeverythingfromscratch?Barsnumber5,6,7arevirtuallyidenticaltothepreviousonessowejusthavetoaddtwopattern"ABC_2"andone"ABC_3+4"takingcareofrenamingthepatternslogically(sotounderstandhowthesongmovesaroundtheSongEditor),whileintheeighthbarthereisafillwhichclosestheverse.Wehavetocopy+pasteinanewlineapatternalreadywritten(ex."ABC_3+4"),renameitto"ABC_8"andmodifyitasinFig.4.Notehowinthiscasetoothethree"SnareJazz"beatsonfourthbarhavevelocityproperlytunedtoa10%,20%and75%youcan'tseeitinthepicturebutalsothetwofinalbeatsof"TomMid"areboth'touched'to50%,afterallit'sonlyjustasmallfill,betternotbeathardonthedrums:)
Fig.xEighthbarofthefirstverse.
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 4/8
TheresultintheSongEditorshouldbesomethinglikeFig.X.
Fig.xIntroandfirstverseintheSongEditor.
WARNING!ifyoureachedthispointwithoutsavingyourwork,NOWisthegoodtimetodothat.Asimple[CTRL+S]followedbythenameofthesongfileandyou'llbeok.Ifyouwanttoaddsomemoreinfos,LMBon'S'buttonoftheSongEditorandchangethefieldsasyoulike:theseinfoswillbeshownuponopeningofthefile.
4.Bridgeandfollowing
Nowthatwe'redonewiththefirstverseyoushouldhaveanideaofhowthewholethingworks:thefirstbridgeismadeofthesame8bars(4+4)withaslightchangeattheendofthefourth,whichforcesustocreatea'custom'fourthbarwhiletheothersareeasilyaddedaddingpatternsalreadydefined.Let'stakethelatestpatterncreatedassample("ABC_8"),copyandrenameitto"Bridge1_4"(i.e.fourthbaroffirstbridge)andmodifyitasinFig.6.Wehavequicklycompletedthebridge!TheSongEditornowshouldappearasfollowsinFig.7.Lookingcloselyyoumaywonderwhythefifthbarofthebridge(17thbarofthewholesong)isn'tassignedtothepattern"ABC_1"theansweristhatthepatternhasalsoa"Crash"whichisnotpresentin"ABC_2+5+6".
Fig.xFourthbarofthefirstbridge.
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 5/8
Fig.xTheSongEditorwiththefirstbridge.
5.Theriff
Aroundathalfsongtherearetworiffs:eachoneis2barslongbutactuallythepatternisthesame,justtheotherinstrumentsplaysomethingthatwewillseeinthelastriffofthissong(wheredrumstooplaythepatternoftheriff).
Inthisriffthedrumsplaythesamepatternwealreadyknowforonebar(seeFig.1)whileinthesecondbaronlybeatstwotimes(Fig.8),thenthepatternagainandthenagaintwobeatswithasmallfinalfill(Fig.9)againtheopenhihatisdonewithbeatsofdifferentvelocity:75%and20%.
Fig.xSecondbaroftheriff.
Fig.xFourthbaroftheriff.
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 6/8
6.Thesecondhalfofthesong
Aftertheriffwehavehalfjobdone.Wejusthavetowritedowntwoverses,onebridge,achorusrepeated3timesandthesameriffattheend.
Thesecondpartofthesongisslightlydifferentfromthepreviousonebecausewehaveafewhihatopeningduringtheversesandevery4barsthere'sasmallfillalmosteverytime:it'seasiertostartfromscratchanewsetofpattern(i.e."ABC*")intheSongEditorcopyingthemwithasuffixlike'_hh'toshowthepresenceofthe"OpenHH".Asnotedintheintroductionofthisguide,JeffPorcaroputsmuchofhisskillsplayingthesongandthismakesthedifferencebetweenasongplayedfromarawand"cold"transcriptiononpaper(oronHydrogen):thereforethefollowingpartsofthesongwilltrytobefaithfultotheoriginalpiece,butanother'ear'couldgiveanotherwrittenlayoutofthesamepart:afterallthisdoesn'tmattersomuchsinceweareshowinghowHydrogenwork,nottoplaylikePorcaro:)
Fig.10showsthesectionintheSongEditorofthetwoversesandthebridgefollowingthefirstriffasyoucanseethefirstbars(4850accordingtotheSongEditor'senumeration)arealreadywrittenbeforewhiletheothers(5171)arenew.Moreoverthereafewpattern'adhoc'identifiedby"ABC3a_hh"(Fig.11toseeanexample)and"ABC4a_hh"sincebothhaveafewchangesnotpresentinanypatternwrittenuptonow.
Fig.xThirdandfourthbarsintheSongEditor.
Fig.xSeventhbarofthethirdbridge.
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 7/8
Afterthethirdbridgewerepeatthechorus:thefirsttimethe"Stick"isusedinsteadofthe"SnareJazz"andwedon'tplaythe"Kick"(evenifitmaysoundtheoppositesincethebassguitardoesplayhere,sowehaveputthesamethekickbeatssoftlyat50%velocity),whilethesecondandthirdtimethechorusgoesonthereareafewbarsdifferent,asshownfrompatterns"C3_*".InFig.12thepattern"C3_6+7&C4_3"(slightlydifferent...)whichcriptycallyidentifythesixthandseventhbarofthethirdchorusANDthethirdbarofthefourthchorus:ifyouthinkthisisconfusing,youmayfindoutyourownnamingmethod:)
Fig.xPattern"C3_6+7&C4_3".
7.Thefinalriff
Thesongendsrepeatingaslightlydifferentriffwehavemetbefore:thefirst2barsarethesame(i.e.pattern+2beats),whiletheinthirdbarthedrumplaysactuallywiththeotherinstruments(Fig.13)tofinallyendasalways.
Fig.xThefinalriff.
-
6/30/13 Tutorial | Hydrogen
www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7 8/8
Andthisistheend.ThegoalofthislittletutorialisgivingaquickoverviewofthemostcommonfunctionsofHydrogen:thispieceofsoftwarecanalsorunforotherpurposes,likeanadvanced'click'playedwiththedrum,ortoloopplayingsomepartofasongdifficulttocatchhowever,asinotherthings,analyzingthesongitselfhelpsthecomprehensionandheretoo,Hydrogencanbehelpfulreducingthetimeneededtowritedownapatternandtuneit.
Forcomments,suggestions,corrections,youcanusetheHydrogenmailinglists(http://www.hydrogenmusic.org).
Ifyoulikedhydrogen,buyussomebeer.
thx.
http://www.hydrogen-music.org/https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&[email protected]&item_name=Donate%20a%20beer%20or%20two%20via%20Paypal.http://www.radut.net/
