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 Milton Parker is a classical and jazz guitarist and teacher in Auckland, New Zealand. |
“I find it to be indispensable in my teaching studio.”by Milton Parker Man I love my PSD340! I keep thinking “I wonder if it could...” and most times it can. For instance, [I mainly do the education thing these days] — a student is playing a real basic “blues-in-E.” It’s the middle of the lesson — time is tight. I need to come up with a variety of backing tracks to sustain his interest while he develops some core skills. |
So — I think I’ll lay down a rhythm guitar track on a CD-RW, copy it over to another CD-RW — then I lay some short lines down for him to “cop.”
These are based on whatever skills we are working on at the time:
The student is given the parameters we have to hone and his job is to copy every detail: bend, accent, slide etc., first record to his copy, just the rhythm track — then my over-dubbed solo phrase.
Now I’m thinking, if only I had some playalongs on an E blues, but a bit more jazzy or funky. Like a lot of jazz-influenced players I have loads of Jamey Aebersold playalongs. Well, just find a track that has the right vibe and simply change the key to suit the application [I will also record a slower/faster version].
Finally, I record the “rough” of the lesson to a regular CD for him to play in the practice room, car [good for ear training] or wherever.
By the way, a cool trick I learned from another user, is to have the whole process go through the studio sound system i.e., the backing track and my guitar parts. The student is more involved, [much more than initially, when I would be monitoring with headphones]. Sometimes I’ll hear the spontaneous response: “that’s fun. Maybe I will record myself at home.”
Considering I purchased my PSD340 primarily for transcription duties, because of its dazzling array of features in that area, I find it to be indispensable in my teaching studio — at all levels. It’s easy and quick to set up, easy to operate [for those who remember them, tape decks come to mind — and — after over two years’ daily hammering, not the slightest hint of any fault!
So what are you waiting for? Get one! [No, I don’t work for the company. I bought it at the full retail price and have never had a moment’s regret].