Quantizing A Recording To Improve Rhythm (Online Course Homework)

If you have ever performed music for a recording session, you have probably had more than your fill of “let’s try another take” and “let’s punch (replace a short part of a recording with another) that note.” However, if you are recording tracks with a software instrument that sends MIDI signals instead of audio sounds, you can edit the MIDI notes inside of the digital audio workstation (DAW) that records the tracks, thus potentially saving an almost-perfect take.

Here’s a video I made for this week’s online Production course homework teaching how to use the Quantize function in GarageBand to make notes that were not played quite on the beat line up more closely (and in a future post I will tell you how I made this screen-capture video!):

How To Record An Acoustic Instrument (Online Course Homework)

[Note: As I mentioned in this post I’m taking a free online Berklee course in Music Production. It includes weekly assignments that must be posted so that they may be peer reviewed by another class member. Since they require teaching one of the topics covered in the week’s lessons I will be posting them here so you may see as well – hence the slightly odd format required by the course.]

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Don’t Use A Debit Card As A Credit Card

If you have a debit (aka “ATM”) card associated with your checking account chances are that it sports a MasterCard or Visa logo. You may use it to pay for purchases as if it is a credit card when the merchant does not use a debit keypad for entering your PIN to authenticate the transaction. You may also use it for most other transactions that require a credit card online.

This is very convenient, especially if you only want to spend real money in your checking account rather than accumulate debt on a credit card. But there’s a very good reason NOT to use your debit card as a credit card.

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