![]() So we do a lot around how we can help people to build a solid habit of practicing.” Our theory is simple, if you practice you’ll get better, if you don’t you wont. Beyond that is helping to build a habit around practice. That’s the code of the product – the instruction and feedback you get on the screen. The most immediate thing is learning how to play a particular piece of music. “I see three key areas where Melodics can help musicians. As Gribben explains, it still requires a lot of practice to see lasting results. “There are a lot of amazing tools these days, but combined with being able to really play something in yourself lets you really make your music your own.”Īlthough Melodics is easy to use and fit around your daily schedule, it’s not a quick fix. “We’ve been doing a lot of research in the lead up to releasing Melodics Keys, and I think the appeal comes from helping people to get away from presets, from using sample libraries, loops and other tools that make it easier to create, but harder to put your own stamp on your productions,” Gribben believes. So with Native Instruments’ Komplete Kontrol keyboards offering chord and scale modes that make it impossible to hit a wrong note and allow you to create pleasant chord progressions with not much difficulty, what’s the incentive to use Melodics? When it came to moving my hands around the keyboard, I performed quite badly. ![]() The first finger-drumming lessons involve simple tasks like timing a kick and snare drum correctly with single fingers, but the first level of keyboard lessons has you making relatively difficult chord shapes straight away. ![]() I have some experience with Melodics’ finger-drumming lessons already, and my first impression of the new keyboard lessons is that they’re just as good, but with a much steeper learning curve. You can sign up and get access to 60 lessons free, but a $9.99 a month subscription is necessary to get access to the full 500 lessons needed if you’re going to really improve your abilities. Each of the lessons is graded from level one to 16, starting at simple chord stabs and going up to more complex arrangements that have you using both hands to add bass or melodies into the mix. All of the tutorials are producer-focused, covering topics such as playing techno basslines and house chord progressions, skills that are primarily relevant to electronic musicians. Melodics Keys isn’t intended to be a replacement for proper piano lessons. It got me thinking – what if I could plug my instrument into software that would listen to what I was actually playing, and give me feedback on my performance? I was also inspired by things like Fitbit and Duolingo – products that help you get into the habit of doing something that you want to do, but might lack the motivation to persevere with.” “I watched a ton of videos on YouTube – and there are some amazing lessons there – but I found that just watching videos was a really frustrating way to learn. “I was frustrated by my own lack of progress learning to play piano and bass guitar,” says Melodics CEO Sam Gribben, who launched the company after leaving the chief role at digital DJ giant Serato. Melodics now wants to do the same for keyboard players, today (November 29) launching a set of keyboard lessons in the same format that will teach you finger positioning, timing and more. It works a little like Guitar Hero, except it’s compatible with your existing MIDI controller plug it in, load up a lesson, follow along with the tutorial, then when you’re ready to be tested, you hit the pads in time with the notes scrolling along the screen as they pass the finish line. In 2015, the company launched a desktop app that helps producers improve their finger-drumming skills with controllers like the Ableton Push and Maschine. New Zealand-based startup Melodics thinks it has a solution. But where do you start, especially if you don’t have the time or the money to commit to proper lessons? If you’re like me though, you probably wish you’d started learning piano as a child so you can actually play your MIDI keyboard proper, rather than just using it as a device for browsing presets and triggering chords with a single finger press. Clip launching and scale modes on controllers like the Push and Launchpad mean that you don’t even need to know how to play an instrument to get ideas down. Here’s how CEO Sam Gribben aims to help turn bedroom producers into skilled instrumentalists.Īpps, MIDI controllers and DAWs like Ableton Live have made it easier to make music than ever. ![]() New Zealand startup Melodics, whose finger-drumming tutorial app has been helping musicians’ MPC skills since 2015, has today launched a set of more than 500 keyboard lessons that work with existing MIDI controllers. ![]()
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