Keyboard

This chord progression is so useful, it basically has a name.

Speakers are kind of like a pair of new shoes.

Yesterday, in Keyboard Skills Elective, we did this.

This switch right here is something a lot of seasoned engineers understand instinctively, but don’t really articulate.

Recording every instrument comes with its own set of challenges, but this one, it can be a real beast.

(beep) - What’s happening here might not be exactly what you think.

There are vocalists out there that will never ever give you a good performance in headphones, but even seasoned vocalists sometimes have a hard time matching the vibe and the performance of a relaxed studio environment with the monitors on.

Tuesday’s Music Theory Gym and its Stevie Wonder adds where we find a convergence of ascending and descending movement.

Stereo width is not one thing — it can come from microphone placement, processing, or panning. Fields vs. flashlights: two mental models for how width works in a mix.

They say monsters aren’t real, but I’m not so sure.

Some voicing variations on a popular chord progression that came up during a quiet office hours session.

This is a story about perfection.

This might be the easiest complicated chord progression you’ll ever learn.

I don’t give a rat’s ass if you use presets or not.

The color tones in a chord tend to be the ones that create a little friction.

How many notes do you hear?

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to impress you with my pitch.

How many musical keys are there?

The Neapolitan 6th, it’s the first inversion of a b2 chord and it usually resolves to the 5 and then back to the 1, generally minor.

What’s a chordal? It’s a little game and you can play it with yourself. But every week we put them in our story to help you practice music theory. It’s…

As a sound source gets closer to any directional microphone, it doesn’t just get louder.

Do you think there’s a difference between a hook and a chorus?

This cable goes one way.

So why can’t you use a guitar tuner on a piano?

I would argue that sampling has changed our modern conception of harmony and here’s why.

When you’re working in the box, you enjoy a luxury, which is that all of your plugins and settings snap to attention as soon as you open your session.

Some people don’t like getting syrup on their bacon.

How to tell major, minor, and diminished triads apart by ear and on the keyboard — the three chord qualities that underpin all of harmony.

Let’s take a look at this descending chromatic line and ask ourselves what it has to do with the key of C.

The goal of the upcoming musician basics elective is to get you to recognize that you can stack a bunch of notes together and create a chord.

Let me simplify chords for you a little bit by telling you that on the piano there are only four augmented chords.

Today I’m gonna tune this monster.

If you’re starting to make your own music, there will come a time when you find yourself scratching your head looking at a bunch of notes and asking what chord is this?

Having a key center means holding a note in your mind even once you stop playing it.

A descending baseline over a minor chord appears in thousands of songs. But that little wrinkle at the end means you can't use a single scale.

Another useful chord progression to put under your fingers — a common keyboard trope built on the 6/3 church resolution.

The most valuable piano voicing you can learn — a 6/4 inversion straight out of Miles Davis that exerts maximum force for minimum energy.

We see both experienced and beginner producers at Bee Kitchen.

First, let’s start with the obvious.

Thoughts on playing wide intervals on piano, plus a couple exercises from physical therapy for extending your reach.

Getting comfortable with keyboard chords means getting comfortable with inversions.

This is the simplest of riffs, but if you put it under your fingers on a little teeny tiny keyboard, it will be more useful than you can possibly imagine.

You’ll get unexpected mileage out of this suspended chord shape.

This may sound boring, but this sounds a lot more exciting.

Before you mix in earbuds, I want you to try this.

The practical application of a multiband compressor comes into focus when you consider not just how it differs from a regular compressor, but how it differs from a traditional equalizer.

If you’re unfamiliar with the keyboard, this is about to be the best and the worst lesson you’ll ever get.

If you’re starting to make your own music, there will come a time when you find yourself scratching your head looking at a bunch of notes and asking what chord is this?

No matter what your beliefs, the way the universe sometimes lines up is so mind-bogglingly inspiring.

You know that frequency response chart that came with your nice set of speakers?

Real piano. Sample piano. Oh boy. Gone are the days when piano in a can sounded like this. There are lots of great options these days and if you’re expecting…

If you’re starting to make your own music, there will come a time when you find yourself scratching your head looking at a bunch of notes and asking what chord is this?

I’ve discovered a new chord!

This morning in the region we looked at Stevie Wonder "Isn’t She Lovely?" There’s a lot this song can teach us, but we have time to talk about the first four chords.

Can you have your cake and eat it too?

The topics in this 10-minute video include the harmonic series and the physical nature of sound.

With or without an audio degree, you wouldn’t be the first musician to come to me, never having been told what key tracking is and what it’s for.

What’s a 2-5-1 progression got to do with baseball?

Michael Jackson’s Rock with You.

After attempting loads of mouthcam videos, it was suggested to me that Jacob Collier is shooting keyboard videos wearing a hoodie turned around with the camera in the hood.

Every converter gives you a number. None of them explain why -50 cents is 26 Hz in one octave and 200 Hz in another. The relationship between cents and hertz is logarithmic — here's what that actually means for tuning, pitch correction, and your ears.

Transform Logic Pro X from beginner to power user: comprehensive guide to advanced settings, custom templates, workflow optimization, and professional interface customization.

If you’ve been scrolling around here long enough, you’ve certainly found somebody telling you that you’re supposed to tune your kick to the key of your song.

A melodic pattern built on the diminished scale — the symmetrical eight-note scale that alternates whole and half steps. A landmark exercise for advanced ear training.

What’s your first upgrade or purchase once you’ve set up the bare bones minimum for your studio?