Posted on April 18th, 2020 by shineuser
If you are a musician, and you have the space at home, it may be a fun project to design and create a home studio. Somewhere dedicated just to your music. A place that inspires you to practice and play. If you don’t have the space at home, perhaps some of these ideas can be applied to other parts of your home decoration! We all could use a little bit of music in our lives!
All Important Acoustics
Different textures covering the walls and ceiling of your home studio help to absorb and break up the sound waves, giving you a better auditory experience! Experiment with the acoustics! Go all out with these grass walls from Design Milk.
You could even get yourself your own custom Vocal booth, or try your hand at building one yourself!
Or you can try different kinds of padding to achieve better sound and protect both your family and neighbours when you “rock out!” It doesn’t have to be ugly, check out this stylishly upholstered door.
And have a look at this useful setup, explaining where to place your acoustic boards to improve the sound in your studio. You can find acoustic foam boards at your local hardware stores like Leroy Merlin or even have them delivered on Amazon.
Setup Tricks
These drum machines and keyboards have been cleverly placed on an IKEA Stolmen Shelf. A good and inexpensive solution to storing and using your equipment.
You can even try your hand at some wood work and create a guitar or string instrument rack with a few pieces of wood.
Decorate with Music
Experiment with this DIY hack of bending and altering the shape of vintage vinyl records. The possibilities are endless! From Shelves to lamps. Just using boiling water or by placing the vinyl in the oven, bend the vinyl as desired!
Storage shelves for musical odds and ends, or even a book or magazine rack!
We love this hilarious and fun way to store your musical cables. Jacks and other miscellaneous cables always get knotted up, so this is a fun way to decorate your studio in a useful way!
You could paint a music themed mural on the wall or put up music wallpaper or a vinyl decal like this one!
Or keep it classical with these framed music note sheets. Print out your favourite musical piece or song and decorate your home.
Or if you feel up to it, create a piece of furniture out of old instruments or like this light fixture, out of old drum sticks. Perhaps keep an eye out at vintage and second hand stores for old musical items you could repurpose. And now you know what to do if you accidentally break a stick as you are thrashing away your most complicated metal track!
And if none of these ideas inspired you to make your own studio, perhaps you prefer to try your hand at making your own instruments. Or you could rent one from us if you are located in Barcelona, and start playing!
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Posted on March 24th, 2020 by shineuser
It’s time to put together your own music band!
What could be better than creating your own band with instruments built at home?
Children love noise and creating sounds. Spent time together to create something new and fun. Be creative and learn at the same time!
Build instruments together with your family, start discovering different sounds and how to create them by playing on your new instruments! Now you can make your own songs just by using your imagination and creativity … Hey Presto! You have your own band!
1. Maracas made from old plastic Easter eggs:
Many of us keep plastic eggs from last Easter and don’t know what to do with them. Well here is the perfect way to reuse them! All you and your child should do is collect some seeds, stones or other similar elements that can generate sound (if you don’t have anything on hand you can use coins!). Put them inside the eggs. Tape them to keep them from opening. Decorate them with colored paper or paint. Get some tape to make sure the eggs don’t pop open as you shake them. You can even use the plastic “shells” from Kinder eggs. If you want to be fancy, tape plastic cutlery to the egg to make a handle.
2. Drums made from empty containers:
Search your home for containers ( anything from chips to cereal, even tupperware works), they will be your drums. Making them is very simple: you cover the container with paper and decorate the sides it as you like. Then you must make the skin of the drum. For that choose the material you want. You can experience different sounds depending on what you use: aluminum foil, cloth and plain paper. Wax paper that your mom uses for baking might work really well! Tape this paper over the top of your container. Two pencils can work as your drumsticks. Begin tapping the top of your container and see what sounds your drums make. You can even attach a string and hang your drum around your neck. Make a marching band, and march around you house to the beat of your drum!
3. Guitar made with a shoe box:
To make your own guitar you will only need a shoe box, glue and elastic bands. Cut a round hole in the lid of the shoe box. Glue the lid to the box so it won’t come off. When it dries, stretch the rubber bands across the box. Try it and find out what it sounds like! You can have fun painting and decorating your guitar.
thanks to https://www.parents.com/fun/arts-crafts/kid/craft-guitar/
4. Handmade Shakers / Shakers with pebbles or beans:
Use any cylindrical container: these can be tubes of potato chips, toilet or paper rolls, or empty soda cans. You’re going to need crayons, glue, paper, and dried beans (or any dried seeds, like rice or lentils). Cover the cylinder with the paper, decorate it with crayons as you like. Place the dried beans inside and seal both ends with paper, making sure it is well closed by gluing it on o using tape.Try shaking them! The different seeds on the inside make different sounds!
5. Harmonicas made with combs:
Search your house for hair combs (different colors if possible) and sheets of waxed paper. Fold the paper over the teeth of the comb, making it equal on each side. The side of the paper that has wax should be away from you. Now you can blow on the comb and play your homemade harmonica! The vibrations on the paper make the sound! Try adding some words or humming as you blow to change the sound!
6. Symbols made with kitchen pot lids:
To make these fun and noisy instruments, you must use two pot lids and a little ribbon or thread. You tie the ribbon around the handles of the lids and you will have the dishes ready to use. Use these instruments sparingly and with care! They work well as the final “BANG!” at the end of your song!
7. Mini Lid Banjo:
These little instruments are super easy to make. For each mini banjo you will need a wooden stick (an ice cream stick works well, otherwise cut a similar shape from cardboard), 4 rubber bands (small ones), adhesive tape and glue. Place the four mini elastic bands over the lid and secure it in place with a piece of tape. You can decorate the wooden stick with printed ribbon or paint it. You can use duct tape or industrial masking tape to secure the elastic bands and the “stick” to the lid. Decorate your Banjo handle. Start plucking! What sounds does your banjo make?
Thanks for the inspiration from https://www.thecrafttrain.com/mini-lid-banjos/
It’s awesome for little ones to build their own instruments and to experiment with sounds. These activities are great for developing imagination, creativity, as well as working important motor skills by playing and learning music. Building instruments and playing them is great fun for adults too! Take advantage of time at home to play and learn while making a fun music band! What’s the name of your band?
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We rent instruments to families in Barcelona!
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Posted on April 5th, 2017 by shineuser
Music is one of the most complex and engaging human expressions. Ever since the first humans started experimenting with rhythmic patterns, the art of mixing sound and silence has managed to cross cultural and language barriers, and has become an essential part of the human experience.
Although music tends to feel as an emotional and even magical creation, there are very real and measurable scientific reasons behind a lot of its effects on humans.
1. Dopamine release
Those chills you feel when you are listening to a song that just “makes your heart explode”… well, scientists have made studies proving that a dopamine release in the brain is behind this feeling. Incidentally, dopamine is also released during sex and when eating chocolate…so, next time you’re feeling moved by a love song, remember to thank your brain chemicals for the ride.
2. Music can change your heartbeat
No, we are not talking about your heart skipping a beat when the radio plays that song you used to dance with your first love. Studies have shown that the human heart beat tends to accelerate involuntarily when listening to fast paced music (trance/techno) and tends to slow down when listening to minimal house music for example.
3. Music can be addictive (addictive as in drugs)
Can’t wait to charge your phone so you can listen to your new favorite track over and over again, itching to hear your favorite band play live? Well, turns out the dopamine release in the brain related to our musical experiences means that besides the emotional cues we get from the experience, our bodies also become accustomed to the chemical rush elicited by sounds. So, next time your guitarist claims to be addicted to his new riff, you might have to take his word for it. It’s not him, it’s the dopamine in his brain.
As it turns out, science and music are not as unrelated as you might think. In fact, regardless of the genre, music can affect our bodies as much as it affects our minds and soul.
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Posted on March 17th, 2017 by shineuser
So you have seen the light… After many sleepless nights you have finally understood what your soul was aching for: bone shattering lows and thick chunky grooves, earth shaking notes are what make your heart sing. Welcome to the wonderful world of bass playing. You are in good company, from Jaco Pastorius to Paul McCartney, from Victor Wooten to Pino Paladino, the bass is one of the most powerful and expressive instruments out there. Here we have gathered some tips from experienced bassists that might save you valuable time in your quest to master the instrument.
1. It’s all about the fingers!
Tone. Feeling. Mojo. These are words used to describe that elusive sound that separates the masters from the students. No matter how expensive your instrument is, no matter how many effects are plugged into your loop channel, no matter how much you turn that amp up to 11. It’s all about the tone, and as many masters have taught us, tone is in the fingers. Exploring the sonic possibilities is a life long journey, and there certainly is a lot of gear out there to keep you busy, just don’t forget that whatever equipment in your signal path it all starts with your fingers.
2. Use your ears (don’t rely on patterns)
Navigating a fretboard can be intimidating, thats why a lot of guitarists and bassists lean on scale or chord patterns they can easily move around to transpose. Although useful, you can start to rely too heavily on the “visual” part of the patterns, hampering your ability to develop your ears. Remember that though visual patterns are a great memorization tool, music is about listening, so don’t forget to open your ears.
3. Learn to play in the pocket
Maybe you have heard drummers and bassists talk about the “pocket”. The concept may sound foreign but you have certainly felt its effects. That feeling when the rhythm section is completely looked into groove? thats the pocket. Some people have defined it as a precise timing between kick drum and bass notes, others call it playing with perfect timing, others simple call it “groove”. Whatever you choose to call it, playing in the pocket is one of the elements that separates the casual player from the dedicated professional.
4. Play for the song
We’ve all been there. You’ve been practicing that sick slap riff all month and want to show it off the first chance you get. That slow flute solo in the middle of the song? perfect place to practice your finger acrobatics. The solo ends and the band looks at you befuddled. Remember that the best musicians never stop listening to each other, and always play for the song, and not for the instrument.
5. KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)
Besides being one of the most famous rock and roll bands of all time, KISS is also an acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid. The sure fire way to distinguish between an amateur and a professional is, ironically, the notes that they DON’T play.
If you want to improve your bass guitar skills find more information at Shine Music School.
Or rent a bass guitar at Instrument Rental Barcelona.
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Posted on December 14th, 2016 by shineuser
If you’re looking for an exercise that’s fun, interesting, and will work out your entire brain, grab an instrument and start playing.
When you play music, the entire brain lights up because you’re using almost every region of the brain. Specifically the regions dedicated to audio, visual, and motor functions. Naturally, those regions are strengthened as you practice and play your instrument more and more, and that leads to many benefits outside of music. These benefits include a better attention to detail, stronger planning and strategic skills, and a better memory.
Researchers at Northwestern University found that people who play a musical instrument generally have a greater memory, attention span, and ability to convey emotions. Such activity can also help develop enhanced speech and language skills. According to the researchers, the brain builds new neural connections (paths for information to travel through your brain) while learning to play music. This increases the brain’s ability to adapt and change.
The influence of music on society can be seen clearly from modern history. Thomas Jefferson played the violin for hours at a time while in the process of writing The Declaration of Independence to help him relax enough to write. Albert Einstein, recognized as one of the smartest men who has ever lived, was very fond of music as well and played the violin and piano. Not only was music relaxing to Einstein, but it also helped him with his work on his theories. He would go back and forth from working on a theory to playing a few chords on the piano, jotting something down and then returning to his study. In both cases, music has influenced these well-known people in history, specifically helping them to focus and relax when trying to perform a task.
So why not give it a try?
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