Music basics

[slipstick]

You've picked a seriously tricky bit of music to use to learn score reading. But to attempt to clear up your problem with the arcs....first of all the things you're looking at are ties (not slurs or phrase marks which have a completely different purpose). Ties connect a number of written notes of the same pitch and you play only one note. The length you play is the lengths of all the written notes added together.

As for why ties are used it's all down to the sometimes odd rules of music writing, There are two main reasons:
1. You aren't allowed to write a note which would play across a bar line e.g. in 4/4 you can't write a note 6 beats long...so if you need one you have to write the note separately in each bar and then tie them together.
2. If you want a note that lasts for a non-standard length of time like 3 7/8 beats there's no way to write that note length in one go so you have to write several smaller notes and tie them together to make up the correct note time.

From what I can see the bit you're looking at uses both reasons, it's a very long note across several bars AND it's an odd length.

Hope that didn't confuse you still more.

Steve

[Gps]

Thank you guys, you are not confusing me, and you guys make me happy. Most explanations I find online do confuse me. One pdf I found, explains about those arcs, it means play the notes as one note, then they show you can also write it as one note. Although that makes sense, specially for this song it only confuses me, and is not exactly true.

Also the part about not being allowed to make a note cross a bar, makes things a lot more clear.

Also the remark that the sheet music is not an always an exact representation, helps me a lot. ( odd length )

I don't mind it takes me a lot of time to put some piece into lmms, because I am also learning.
Its also why I hope the midi controller is gonna help me. Then I can use my ears ( sense of rhythm ) to get the right note length.
My musical hearing is not ( yet? ) good enough to hear if its a C or D , but that part is easy enough to get from a piece of sheet music.

Maybe for music bear and others, about the clefs. (there is a third one, but that works the same)
The clef only tells us, were the F or G is at. (or C)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clef

[musikbear]

Ties connect a number of written notes of the same pitch and you play only one note. The length you play is the lengths of all the written notes added together.

oki then it was as i thought : one long c basnote held down

@gps, i suddently had a fun idea -You know anvil-studio, right?
http://www.anvilstudio.com/
There you can import a midi, and then set display to sheet-music!
Voila, now you have both a midi display of the notes, and a 'true' music-sheet version!
That should make reading notes more simple i think.
When lmms can export to midi, this option will be even more fun, i think?

[Gps]

Yes you were right, but that part I did understand. Still it confused the hell out of me, because they don't use two notes, but three on a row.
But that part was explained by slipstick. ( you're not allowed to cross bars )

Midi export will be fun for other reason too. You can hook up a midi device, and then let that play the tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ha8obP0Qqc
Or a synth.

Because of my interest in music and computers, a know bit about midi.
I don't know if they still exist, but you could buy a sound card for your pc, which had the same sound module as the keyboard, from Roland to name one example.

I have a friend print the music sheet for me, and because the page I mentioned, lists a midi file and the sheet music, we can assume they match.

Something I like to add.
Because I have been struggling so much with that one part, I can play the first part on the keyboard already.

The keyboard I bought, is really awesome to use with you pc. It does not need much space, and the keys being smaller is for me only better.
Its a bit smaller then a normal computer keyboard.

Never give up, never surrender.

And I love this forum.

[slipstick]

Of course if you have a midi file there's nothing stopping you from importing it into LMMS, going into the resulting piano roll and deleting the notes that aren't in the voice you're looking at currently. Then you can change the instrument in the Song Editor to whatever synth/VST etc. you want to use for that voice.

It's perhaps a bit like cheating but since I'm just finding my way round LMMS I've been doing it quite a bit lately. I'm very slow getting anything right in the piano roll so it saves me a lot of time. I can get a bit of Bach or something in there quickly and then convert the instrumentation to synths. (Anyone here old enough to remember Wendy Carlos - Switched on Bach ?)

Steve

[Eino]

Gps, you now have me hooked on the same project, I printed the sheet music, and played it, then penciled in some changes for myself.
I decided to go with an accordion, and the bandoneon.
This is what I have so far.
https://jumpshare.com/v/vGRCaPxcAISezcSiZJuD

I'am going to add a fade at the end when I'am done.
Yes, those notes are held for that odd amount of time.
Nice way to spend a cold winters day.

Edit: I just added the acoustic bass, and finished the sea shore effects.
Then added my automation tracts.
I did pencil in some changes to the bass also. I play it once the way it's written, then make the changes I think fits by my ear.
https://jumpshare.com/v/Hu128ViONJxgei4E8v9O

[Gps]

Sounds very good.

And yes its a great piece of music, at least I think so.

I do have a bit of envy, because you already made this much, and I am not even that far with one track.

I am using this vst for the accordion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XpTAf6k3eQ
(there is one in zynaddsubFX, but I think this vst sounds better.

I am surprised though, you found a bandoneon

Is that a vst, or should I look better in lmms it self?

I am pretty sure yours will sound better, but I am learning allot from this, which I can use later in other projects.

Maybe we should set up a biscaya competition.

[Gps]

Of course if you have a midi file there's nothing stopping you from importing it into LMMS, going into the resulting piano roll and deleting the notes that aren't in the voice you're looking at currently. Then you can change the instrument in the Song Editor to whatever synth/VST etc. you want to use for that voice.

It's perhaps a bit like cheating but since I'm just finding my way round LMMS I've been doing it quite a bit lately. I'm very slow getting anything right in the piano roll so it saves me a lot of time. I can get a bit of Bach or something in there quickly and then convert the instrumentation to synths. (Anyone here old enough to remember Wendy Carlos - Switched on Bach ?)

Steve

Well if you want to use a midi file, its fine, but I first want to know what I am doing, before I take the easier way out.
And although I don't use the notes from the midi file, I have already copy pasted them into my song, just to learn from it.

To see if I am doing it right. Only two months ago, I could hardly read sheet music, but I am learning.

I don't remember Switched on bach, although I prob old enough for it.
I did find this picture of that album though, when I was looking at the minimoog.
You do know there is a great minimoog vst ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DDmxZVv7DE

[Gps]

I found this, but have not tried anyone in lmms, on linux. So I cant tell yet if they work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN0nxibnx-0

http://syntheway.com/
Edit: Did some more looking at that page, there are free demos, but these vst are not free.

[slipstick]

I have enough free synth VSTs to keep me going for a while thanks. Synth1 is good and I have a great EMS VC3, a pretty good ARP2600 and a few others. And the built-in ZynAddSubFX is not at all bad, though a bit complicated. Plus if I want some "real" analog sounds I can always sample my old EDF Wasp that's somehow still working after all these years .

Yes I'm happy to cheat with the midis because what I'm trying to learn at the moment is how to get songs together using LMMS and the various VSTs, effects etc and I find sorting those out much easier when I'm playing with real tunes. Then I'll move on to trying something a bit more original.

We all have our varied ways of doing things. Isn't it great that LMMS can cater for us all.

Steve