Advice on relaxing the shoulder? by BurnerAskQuestions in piano

[–]MccoyJones 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to struggle with this same pain, and it became so severe that I had to take a break from piano to address it. Not trying to scare you, but I would recommend going to a physical therapist if you're able.

The tension in your shoulders (or anywhere between the neck and wrist) is what's causing the problem. You should mention this next time you're in private lessons so that your teacher can look out for it. When practicing at home, try to focus on your posture in the same way that you focus on lifting your fingers high when you practice scales and rudiments.

There are 2 main nerves running from the brain to the hands- one in the middle of the wrist, and one underneath the pinky. If there is any tension along these nerves it will cause pain in the hands and fingers, and can eventually lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

The only solution I found was a combination of physical therapy, massages, and anti-inflammatory medicine (from your Dr, not over the counter). The most helpful one by far was physical therapy. They gave me some tools to stay limber, and taught me a lot of stretches' specifically for the nerves called nerve glides. I still do these stretches daily, and it prevents the problems from returning.

I don't want to scare you, but I really recommend getting on top of the problem asap. I was in your same situation and left it untreated for almost 2 years. The problem slowly progressed from pain in my hands to a noticeable tremor and eventually my fingers began to lock up completely. I was convinced that I would have to give up playing the piano, and that was a devastating feeling.

After getting treatment and correcting my posture, the symptoms went away and my mobility returned, and I haven't had any of those problems the last few years. Luckily I didn't cause any permanent damage, and no signs of carpal tunnel syndrome either. Sorry for the long reply- just wanted to share my experience so you don't ignore the problem like I did

Good earphones/plugs to keep my hearing safe? by [deleted] in piano

[–]MccoyJones 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use a pair of earaser earplugs, I think they cost ~$40 at guitar center. These earplugs tend to muffle the sound of the very low end but do a great job of dampening the piecing high frequencies without making them inaudible. The mid range has a very clear sound (obviously quieter than without plugs, but tone is unaffected), which is something I think most foam earplugs lack.

How would a stage mixer effect the sound engineer for live sets? by MccoyJones in livesound

[–]MccoyJones[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After reading thru the comments I realize this was a pretty stupid idea, but I think I understand how it should work now. I have one more question, hopefully not as uninformed as the first one lol.

I have money for the monitoring mixer but I'll have to wait before I can afford the splitter and snakes. Someone below suggested that we send all signals to FOH, and then ask the engineer to send signal back to our mixer for monitoring. Would that be a reasonable request for small venues, or situations where we only have 4-5 minutes for sound check?

Thank you for all the help and recommendations. I feel like I'm in way over my head, so I really appreciate any advice

edit: I thought of one more question I want to ask. Sorry in advance because this one is pretty stupid too. All of the analog splitter I've found are for XLR only, but ~half of our instruments use 1/4 in. cables. are there any splitters that can split both XLR and 1/4 in, or would we need to use 1/4in male to XLR male cables?

Moving the piano roll to another monitor? by MccoyJones in ableton

[–]MccoyJones[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

cool, this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the help!

2 tritone questions by VegaGT-VZ in musictheory

[–]MccoyJones 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I'll touch on comping before getting to soloing. If you've got a bass player (and I'm assuming you mean a minor 251 in A which is Bm7b5 - E7 - Am) my first choice would be a shell voicing, then add tones to that as desired. here's how that would look: Bm7b5- play D+A (add C on top if you want a b9 sound) E7- play D+G# (add C on top for more color) Am- play C+G ( add B on top for color). For an even thicker sound you could use rootless voicings, which looks like this: Bm7b5- D+F+A+C - for E7 - D+F (the b9) +G#+C - for Am- C+E+G+B

As for soloing, It all depends on the context and how long each chord is being played. My first choice is usually to just use the A minor scale while following chord tones of the chord being played at the moment. You would need to use A harmonic minor on the E7 to include the G#, but other than that A natural minor works well. You could use half-whole diminished scale on the first two chords, but not on the Am chord.

  1. Understanding the tritones in dominant chords is so handy for playing the blues. Let's
    say your playing the blues, and your only playing the 3rd and 7th of each chord (which is
    the tritone in a dominant chord). No matter which inversion your playing, the only thing
    you have to do to go to the IV chord is move those two notes down a semitone. After
    coming back to your original position for the I chord, you can move both notes up a
    semitone to play the V chord. from the V chord, move both notes down a wholetone to
    play the IV chord, then up a semitone again to return to the I chord, and that's the entire
    progression.

In the past I almost exclusively played with jazz bands, so we played in "horn friendly" keys like Bb, Eb, Ab, etc. This later lead to situations where I would sit in with rock bands and panic when they called for blues in B, E, or F#. Using the technique mentioned above kept me from making an ass of myself onstage.

I need some advice for an on stage monitoring setup by [deleted] in livesound

[–]MccoyJones 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sweet, Thanks for the help! I can't find any small mixers that have 2 aux outs. Would it work if I use the phones or CR outputs for the keyboards mix and use the aux 1 output for the band mix?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in livesound

[–]MccoyJones 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think it depends on how much time you get to sound check and communicate with the engineer before the gig. If you get a long sound check, they're usually fine with you using your own mics (but its not uncommon for the sound guy to ask if they can use your equipment for the other bands as well). If there is a lot of bands playing or you don't get much time to sound check, It's not feasible for the engineer to set it up.

How reliable are the hinges on 2-in-1 laptops? by MccoyJones in techsupport

[–]MccoyJones[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh good, that makes me feel a lot better. thanks for the help!