In an earlier post, I have mentioned that practicing with a metronome can do improve your skills. But there are some downsides with the metronome. It can produce one or two type of tones. It needs battery (in case of mechanical metronomes, they need proper maintenance). And it costs you money.
What about having a drum machine? They cost even more than metronome. What to do? Here comes two good Free Software (free as in freedom) tools that can help you improve your timing skills without any of the before said limitations and for free of cost!
GNU GTick
GNU GTick is for people who like the conventional metronome. It is fully configurable metronome with a neat and simple GUI. You can configure the tempo (speed or beats per minute) or you can pick it from the preset values. It comes with a visual tick. You can also select the beats in which the accent beat should sound. It is such a small tool that you don't need anyone to teach you how to use!
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is also a Free Software. It is a full blown drum machine. It comes with a default set of drum samples. You can also download more samples and include your own. You can compose individual patterns and club them together to create a song. Each and every aspect like velocity, pitch, volume, pan etc are controllable and you will feel that you are practicing with a real drummer by your side!
Conclusion:
With right set of tools and good practice, anyone can improve their music skills. Surely GNU GTick and Hydrogen are must have in those right set of tools! As a "Free" Musician (Free as in Freedom) let us make sure we use free software, codecs and licenses for all our works. Also we should say no to restrictive technologies like DRM. May the power be with us!
What about having a drum machine? They cost even more than metronome. What to do? Here comes two good Free Software (free as in freedom) tools that can help you improve your timing skills without any of the before said limitations and for free of cost!
GNU GTick
GNU GTick is for people who like the conventional metronome. It is fully configurable metronome with a neat and simple GUI. You can configure the tempo (speed or beats per minute) or you can pick it from the preset values. It comes with a visual tick. You can also select the beats in which the accent beat should sound. It is such a small tool that you don't need anyone to teach you how to use!
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| GNU GTick in action |
Hydrogen
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| Hydrogen in action |
Conclusion:
With right set of tools and good practice, anyone can improve their music skills. Surely GNU GTick and Hydrogen are must have in those right set of tools! As a "Free" Musician (Free as in Freedom) let us make sure we use free software, codecs and licenses for all our works. Also we should say no to restrictive technologies like DRM. May the power be with us!
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