ot: odd idea?... playing keyboard while reading

haulin_notes

Ahh... the bizarre ideas and joys that come from having too much time, lol. Anyone try this? Playing keyboard, guitar, etc. while reading? Either reading in tablet form or the good old fashioned paper book?

Kinda started this by watching recordings of sports on mute while noodling on the keyboard. I’ve tried it with movies too, which i hear is a somewhat popular thing to do... kind of compose your own improv score. I had begun reading a large paperback novel, so why not combine the two? Like mixing chocolate and peanut butter, lol? (Or with coconut for those with allergies). Seems to work better with something in “book form”. I find reading Internet while playing too distracting.

Not necessarily a “multitasking” timesaver thing. It’s just kind of neat to let the subconscious have a larger role in playing while simultaneously reading. TBH, I’m not playing nor reading anything terribly complicated... which probably is what makes it an enjoyable experience. Not recording, just practicing, a stream of consciousness type of playing. Maybe having a sequencer going, wiggling kobs and adjusting parameters would be a similar thing.

Thoughts?

aleyas

Well.. I was doing a hanon piano exercise as I read this post!

david_2017

I watched a Netflix Documentary and trained scales on muted electric guitar but I think I would never try to read at the same time 🥵 😅

ecou

Pretty much as long as I been playing music I been practicing while watching tv. I do think it as some benefit of letting your subconscious taking over the playing. That way you internalize what your playing.

Anyway that’s my 2 cent theory.

I never tried read a book but I will.

Masanga

I've done it while noodling on an Artiphon, but it's not very rewarding or useful, though I suppose you could learn some things about scoring by improvising a mood to the text. But as @ecou says, what does work really well is playing while watching TV, which I do all the time (usually with one earphone) – running through scales, practising pieces, improvising over the soundtrack (Hildur Gu∂nadóttir's Chernobyl score was fantastic for this), or sometimes attempting my own live score John Carpenter-style, especially over documentaries. It does really help you to play by feel, intuition, and muscle memory, especially if you're a guitarist and prone to looking at your fingers.

ecamburn

I’ve heard folks describe similar techniques for breaking blocks and letting subconscious ideas come through. Someone suggested playing expressively on a keyboard not paying much attention to the melodic content but then later editing the melodic content. The idea was to get the feel out on the table.

ecou

It’s a trick to learn to play faster for beginner. You get your hands used to the feel and technique of playing fast without caring about what you are playing. When you can play faster you concentrate on playing the right note.

zilld2017

Ha! I’m reading this on an iPad Pro while using Audiobus Remote on an iPad Air to trigger Loopy recordings of Streamur audio on the Pro! (AUM is also involved).

This makes no sense, I fear. But it works. Basically, if I like what I hear in Streamur, I reach over to the Air, tap on a Loopy clip in AB Remote to record a stem. Export said stems when Loopy is full.

Thanks for the great topic, @haulin_notes!

haulin_notes

@zilld2017 said:
Ha! I’m reading this on an iPad Pro while using Audiobus Remote on an iPad Air to trigger Loopy recordings of Streamur audio on the Pro! (AUM is also involved).

This makes no sense, I fear. But it works. Basically, if I like what I hear in Streamur, I reach over to the Air, tap on a Loopy clip in AB Remote to record a stem. Export said stems when Loopy is full.

Thanks for the great topic, @haulin_notes!

Thanks. Neat system you got going! 😊

haulin_notes

Interesting ideas and experiences so far from many folks.

@ecamburn said:
I’ve heard folks describe similar techniques for breaking blocks and letting subconscious ideas come through. Someone suggested playing expressively on a keyboard not paying much attention to the melodic content but then later editing the melodic content. The idea was to get the feel out on the table.

Ahh, yes... getting the subconscious ideas up into consciousness (well, the “good ones” anyway. The rest we can save for our nightmares and visits to the psychiatrist, lol). The eternal quest of artists, poets, and other mystics. Whole movements created and books written about it. And still we dig...