Goodbye Metronome, Hello Soundslice!

[joebegly]

In case you’ve never tried using Soundslice to jam along/learn a song, it’s a way more fun way (than a metronome) to practice small portions, or even entire sections. I’d just thought of it as a music notation tool but I’ve started using it for practicing almost exclusively - no notation at all!

You just create a new slice and choose the option to start with a recording:

Choose the YouTube option:

Then paste in your YT link and click the “Add Recording” button:

Once the video loads you can use the “WaveForm” control to browse around in the recording. Then here’s where it gets really good, you can use the “Loop” function to make the part you’d like to practice just go over and over (and over):

You set the region by just dragging the mouse around to where you want it to start and end. Then for the real metronome replacement part, you can really have at it with the speed control. We of course know we’re supposed to start with speed…but that only counts if you already know all the notes you’re supposed to play While you’re learning it, you can start slow and really get all the little fretting hand shifts and string changes down.

It’s also great for melodic parts, if you’re into trying to match your favorite player’s vibrato (like I am haha).

I’m sure plenty of you know all about using Soundslice this way, but just in case you don’t I wanted to make sure I shared it. I’ve only been using it this way for a week and I’ve made a lot of good progress on a few Eric Johnson solos that had been giving me a fit. I think the ability to loop and play along at the various speeds really helps get the notes under my fingers.

Enjoy!!!

[SlyVai]

Sounds cool I’ll give it a go !

[JakeEstner]

Hell yeah. The wave form thing is just such an easier way to work with audio. It kind of baffles me when someone does it any differently!
We can get the same thing with most recording software as well as Audacity, “Transcribe!”, etc. But I do love the ‘in-browser’ aspect of soundslice.

[joebegly]

@JakeEstner

We can get the same thing with most recording software as well as Audacity, “Transcribe!”, etc. But I do love the ‘in-browser’ aspect of soundslice.

That and the whole “free” thing sure is appealing lol! Though a product as great as Soundslice, I should consider upgrading to a paid membership at least for a little bit. I like supporting good platforms.

[tommo]

Joe, as I told you before, this is brilliant

@JakeEstner

We can get the same thing with most recording software as well as Audacity, “Transcribe!”, etc. But I do love the ‘in-browser’ aspect of soundslice.

I think a key advantage here is that you get video too (assuming you can find a performance video of the song you want to learn), so that you can listen but also look at the player’s hands and whatnot.

Additionally, you can work directly with YT videos without any downloading / use of dedicated video software etc.s

[JakeEstner]

@tommo , Totally re the download component. However, in Transcribe! and Garageband, and probably other similar software, you can also have the video alongside, just ‘in fairness to the truth.’ But it’s generally moot because the extra things that soundslice can do make it superior imo, for most variations of “figuring out music.”

[joebegly]

@tommo

I think a key advantage here is that you get video too (assuming you can find a performance video of the song you want to learn), so that you can listen but also look at the player’s hands and whatnot.

Exactly! I found some ‘okay’ quality footage of Eric Johnson playing Manhattan and SRV. It’s so cool to see his fingering/picking choices. It takes the guess work away. Still, amazing that all of Troy’s theories about his playing seem to hold up everywhere. Also, he actually sneaks in legato more than I thought! At least in these 2 performances.

(Another) Also, and this is particularly true for EJ, I find it so helpful to loop and play along at about 80% of the original speed because it really helps me lock into his ‘feel’. We’ve all acknowledged the challenge with his stuff in that it’s so loosey-goosey. Attempting to nail his ahead-the-beat (or) behind-the-beat vibe while playing along with a metronome just confuses me. Getting to just “play along” with him is really helping me nail his phrasing. I’ll have to post videos when I get it to a respectable level Or, maybe just swallow the little bit of pride I have and do some ‘diary’ type stuff so I can see the progression over time. It really feels within reach, which excites me because for years I wrote off being able to play his stuff at tempo.

[SlyVai]

A diary would be cool, I’ve been trying to tackle Cliffs Of Dover for a couple of weeks but it’s very messy, I need to get my down sweep technique right, although I think it’s the fingering that is the trouble.

[JakeEstner]

I do think there’s a lot of advantage, for aural skills, in trying to do as much as possible without looking at what the player is player, and just using the video for error-checking or to solve a ‘location’ mystery (correct pitch, but which string) or something else that’s close to impossible to determine from audio alone, like upstroke vs downstroke.

I know that’s slightly OT, just wanted to put in those 2 cents.

[joebegly]

I think at minimum I need to take the plunge and at least get enough video editing skills that I can record the audio through my DAW and use that with the video, instead of having the video capturing the sound coming out of my amp/speakers. When I just set up a phone or camera and record myself and just watch it raw, it sounds so bad I don’t even want to watch/hear it myself lol! Not talking about fixing up mistakes or anything like that, it would be the actual take, just embedded with the video, replacing whatever audio the video recorder captured.

[joebegly]

Nah, that is a great point. I think it sort of comes down to what skill we’re trying to sharpen. For this, I’m 100% focused on the physical act of playing the music. My ears are fine I’ve done my time in ear training bootcamp. But yeah all this stuff (looping small sections, easily at variable speeds) is a great transcribing tool and I agree if aural skills are the focus, best to not look at the hands of the player.

On a related note (and you did address this), one of the frustrations I had with playing EJ’s stuff over the years is that I always learned it from just the recordings (no video) and now after seeing Troy disect his technique, I know I wasn’t playing the stuff the way he was…which was making it even HARDER to play at tempo than if I were playing it where he was, AND I had a clue about escape trajectory (which I did not, way back when I transcribed his stuff to learn it). So in this case, it’s great to be able to see his fingerings and where he adds in the legato, because all that is a key to how effortlessly he plays this stuff. I of course suck compared to him, BUT I want to level the playing field. What I was trying to do is way hard than what he’s actually doing, if that makes sense.

[joebegly]

These hidden features just keep getting better! On the speed control area, if you click the ‘percentage’ instead of the +/- controls, a little dialog pops up:

If you select the “Speed training…” option, you get another dialog that lets you make the loops increase in tempo, by a specified amount, after a specified number of loop repetitions.

It’s pretty powerful. Great for warming up just below your target tempo.

EDIT:

Looks like I’m inventing functionality that doesn’t exist (I guess that makes me a customer??? ) Turns out you cannot decrease as I’d specified in a previous edit. Oh well.

[JakeEstner]

It’s a new feature - highly recommend getting on their email list because they’re adding stuff all the time, and sometimes it can be pretty useful. They also post about all changes here: The Soundslice Blog

I’ve found this useful as well: Introducing focus mode | The Soundslice Blog