Building Your Band

A better conversation about music, with David Loftis and Peter Bulanow

Toto Masterclass

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When we hold a workshop, we start out by talking about the roles for each instrument. Knowing the role of each instrument goes far to inform what everyone should play.

But even without that understanding, we have clear examples of the kinds of things we should play all around us: original studio tracks. If your playing doesn’t line up with basically the kinds of things you hear on records, you may be overplaying.

Session players are the ones that get the call to play in the studio while the tape is rolling and there are a bunch of people sitting around charging by the minute for their time – when you need to get it right the first time. Toto is a band that formed out of session players – so in many ways, they are a textbook.

This is a breakdown of a famous song of Toto’s from the 80’s called “Rosanna” which you can read all about at the wikipedia page. Other than the fact the announcers talk too much over the tracks, this really does go far to break down just how little is needed, yet how significant each contribution is. If your playing is significantly different than what is on here, it’s time to rethink some things.

A couple things jump out at me listening to this:

Jeff Porcaro on Drums – he is famous for just playing the groove and not playing a lot of fills. My kind of drummer, and exactly what you need most Sunday mornings.

Steve Porcaro on Keys – This really is textbook keyboard playing. Something as simple as a roll down at the right time can shift the whole song.

Steve Lukather on Guitar – Note just how tasteful his playing is when called to play rhythm. Don’t be afraid to step out a little when asked to solo.

Vocal Harmonies – Everything should start out with melody. You build harmonies slowly. Blend is everything. You can actually get away with a lot of harmonies if you’re tasteful and intentional.

Finally, everybody uses contrasts to make certain things speak, and other things lay back.

What jumps out at you?

Post-MIDI Subdividing

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One of my favorite influences is an electronic recording artist Brian Transeau or BT. He is known as the “Godfather of Trance” in the EDM (Electric Dance Music) genre. One of the main reasons I like BT is because he assumes his audience is intelligent and have long attention spans. BT’s songs have recently been 8 – 12 minutes long but can be 46 minutes long, and it is only after he has produced these original versions, that he creates a 3-4 minute radio edit.

BT made his first significant contribution to the world of music production in 2003 with his song “Simply Being Loved” which had 6,178 edits to the lead vocal track all done by hand in Peak Bias – placing the song in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Here he is in the original music video:

And this is just the vocal track which BT was gracious enough to release about a year ago…

This song has 1,024th notes in it, but ultimately is still rooted in duples and triplets. My wife and I actually met BT at a theater in MD for the release of his next album, This Binary Universe, which was shown with video and in 5.1 surround sound. One thing the wiki page doesn’t explain, but BT explained to us, is that this album breaks the mold of subdividing by 2s or 3s in that it uses logarithmic curve to move from say a 512th note duple, slowing down to a triplet 8th note figure. So not only are we shifting from two different note values, but the interpolation between them is not linear, it’s a nice smooth logarithmic (or exponential) curve. Musically you might think about how a washboard is played or hear how a turbine spins up. Listen to Every Other Way.

I’m actually producing a song with this kind of technique right now, using logarithmic and exponential curves to move between different kind of subdivisions, and I hope to release it in the near future. I’m doing this not as an end in itself or just because I think it’s an interesting production technique, but because I really think it serves the song. Can’t wait to share that!

Unity and Diversity in the Band

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unseemly guitar pedals by Pete Bulanow

unseemly guitar pedals by Pete Bulanow

Now if the kickdrum should say, “Because I am not a snare, I do not belong to the drum kit,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the drum kit. And if the BGVs should say, “Because I do not have the same spotlight as the worship leader, I do not belong to the band,” they would not for that reason stop being part of the band. If the whole band were a guitar, where would the sensibilities of the keyboards be? If the whole body were a bassist, where would the counterpoint be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the band, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one instrument, where would the band be? As it is, there are many parts, but one song.

The bassist cannot say to the keys, “I don’t need you!” And the keys cannot say to the guitarist, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the band that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor (we call them the rhythm section). And all the MIDI cables and guitar pedals that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our worship leader needs no special treatment. But God has put the band together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it (looking at you house engineer), so that there should be no division in the band and tech, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

~ Not 1 Corinthians 12

Basic Time Signatures

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I happened to be in the studio when one of my favorite drummers was tracking some parts, and I don’t recall if I was supposed to be helping produce or why I was there, but for some reason I butted in and said, “You just need to stick in an extra 2/4 measure.” Remarkably, he didn’t know what that meant. He told me to just play it for him once, so I did, and he immediately got it. It wasn’t a matter of capacity or ability, he was a drummer with incredible feel and never missed a beat. He just didn’t know how to count.

That’s happened to me often enough that I now recognize training and musicianship do not correlate. Still, learning the language of counting helps us communicate, so let’s talk about it. After all, it would have saved us maybe a minute of time and at $100 an hour that’s as much as it costs for a tall coffee!

When I started piano lessons at age five, I recall the only requirement was that I be able to count to 4. To play most music these days, you can get away with being able to count 4/4 time, and 6/8 time.

The basics are: the top number in a time signature means how many counts in a measure. The bottom number in a time signature means what kind of note (think a fraction of 1 over that number) gets one count.

The most common time signature of 4/4 time says that there are four counts to a measure, and a quarter (1/4) note gets one count. When counting 1-2-3-4, the accents are on 1 and 3, and the time signature has a duple feel to it.

  • So a 2/4 measure means two counts to a measure, and a quarter note gets one count. Counting 1-2, the accent is on count one. This is essentially a half of a 4/4 bar.

In 6/8 time, there are six counts to a measure and an 8th note (1/8th) gets one count. Counting 1-2-3-4-5-6, you see the accent is on 1 and 4 and there is a triplet feel to this time signature. Think Indescribable.

  • Similarly 9/8 time has nine counts to a measure and an 8th note gets one count. Counting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, we still have a triplet feel, but it’s three groups of three, which is slightly different than a waltz. Count 1 is accented more than count 4 and 7. Think Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring.
  • A waltz in 3/4 time has three counts to a measure and a quarter (1/4) note gets one count. Counting 1-2-3, the accent is on count 1 and there is a slow triplet feel to this time signature, with each measure feeling consistent. Think Stronger.

Those are really all of the basic time signatures, but it’s worth it to dig deeper.

Good Form

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My daughter Nyah helping me pack my gig bag (Pete Bulanow)

My daughter Nyah helping me pack my gig bag (Pete Bulanow)

If you’re a vocalist or instrumentalist, if you sing backups or lead, if you’re the worship leader or the producer, the drummer, bassist, guitarist or keyboardist, or you plug an audio cable into something you do on stage, you should know how to wrap a cable properly.

If you don’t know how, ask someone from your tech team to teach you.

And if you can, you should wrap your XLR cable(s) for your tech team at the end of your gig.

It’s just good form.

And I promise the house engineer will find an extra dB of headroom for you in your monitor next time you ask to turn yourself up a bit 😉

Beginning and Advanced Keyboard

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The genius plan of David Loftis was to feature a key signature a day and build from there. Generously, instead of starting with the key of E, which would be easy on guitars, he started in the key of C which would be easy on keyboardists.

BEGINNER COURSE

Jamaican Co-instructor Luke Smith) by Pete Bulanow

Jamaican Co-instructor Luke Smith by Pete Bulanow

This was my curriculum for my beginner keyboard class in Jamaica. Again the goal wasn’t to teach “piano” it was to teach “keyboard” chart playing.

Prerequisite:  identify middle C / names of notes

Warm Up:

  • Scales: 3 octaves up and down, correct fingering, one new key signature per day
  • Right hand first, then left, then both hands

Lesson:

  • Chords with all inversions, I, IV, V, and relative minor, all chords on the keyboard, up and down, correct fingering
  • Right hand first, then left hand, then both hands
  • One key signature per day. Continue building on this for all keys in the circle of fifths.
  • Introduce a new song in the key of the day. Show instructors’ preferred inversions for a chorus or a verse), let students develop their own voicing for the verse (or chorus).

Practice makes PERMANENT:  Go slow and even, the speed will come.

ADVANCED COURSE

Keron Scott) by Pete Bulanow

Keyboardist Keron Scott playing bass by Pete Bulanow

I had a few students who were interested in an advanced course, but were courteous enough to sit out of my beginner course. If we had an advanced keyboard course, this would be my suggested curriculum.

Prerequisite:  All Major/minor chords, all inversions

Warm Up:

  • Scales:  3 octaves up and down, two hands played evenly, all key signatures
  • Hannon Exercises – add one new one per day

Lesson:

Idea Share  (we can all learn something from each other)

  • Pick a song or two or three
  • Pick a tempo / groove (with a drum machine)
  • Go around the room and share how you play/voice the tune

Intro to Classical Technique (fingering, pedaling, terminology)

I would love to hear feedback on this from any of the veteran or advanced students in Jamaica, or anyone else for that matter. Thanks!

Keyboard Class in Jamaica

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My Keyboard Class (Pete Bulanow)

My Keyboard Class (Pete Bulanow)

I just wrapped up a week of keyboard instruction in Jamaica at Dave Loftis’ Teach 412 camp, and this was (most of) my keyboard class. I can’t say enough about how hard these guys all worked. They came in not quite sure of a C Major scale, and left knowing all inversions of the I, IV, V and vi chords, as well three octaves of scales in the keys of C, D, G, and A, all with correct fingering.

Most of the students could play this not only with their right hand, but their left hand as well, and a couple attempted with both hands. This is incredible work in 2-3 hours of instruction per day for one week. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys.

There was a choice to make with curriculum: teach notes or teach chords. Since we came with 104 chord charts, I wanted to teach to those. Although I have had 17 years of piano lessons, 15 of them were about notes. So although my personal journey has been grounded in notes, my journey has been one of moving away from them, which ultimately provides a freedom of expression. So the class was not a “piano” class, it was a “keyboard” class.

We applied our new found chording skills to play a song in the key of the day. On the first day, the song was Stronger (mp3). I taught how I would voice the chorus (starting with a 2nd inversion C), and then let each student work out their own voicing for the verse. The amazing thing was that everyone voiced the verse differently, but each was correct. This is what we wanted to teach with the knowledge of chord inversions – the power to play the song the way you individually feels best serves the song.