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Tutorial | Hydrogen

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Tutorial

AntonioPiraino
You'vejustdownloadedthelatestversionofHydrogenandhaveitinstalledsuccessfully.Hydrogenmaycomeinhandyforthesetasks:
Itcanbeusedasanadvanced"click"machinehelpingyoupracticing(inspeed,precisionandrudiments)drums,maybewithacustompatternyouwrote.
Youwanttolearnhowtoproperlyplayasong:youcan"writeitdown"insideHydrogen(orjustafewdifficultpartsofit).Doingtheeffortoffinding,splitting
andreproducingthedifferentpartsofthesongswillimproveyourunderstandingofit.Also,usingHydrogenwithyoursongswillensurethatinfutureaquick
glanceatthesongfileyouhavecreatedwillbringthesongupimmediatelytomind.
YoucanplayH2withothersoftware(Ardour,...)
Thissimpletutorialwillguideyoucreatingacompletesong.Wewillworkon"GeorgyPorgy"ofTotowhichhasaquitestraightstructure(thereforeappropriatefora
guidesuchasthis)butthisdoesn'tmeanthesongisactuallyeasytowritedownsincethedrummer(JeffPorcaro)enrichesthegroovewithhispersonaltouchand
fantasy.RememberthatHydrogenwillnotplaybetterthanthedrummerworkingonthesongsincemostofthetaskmustbeaccomplishedbytheprogrammer's
sensibilityandexperience.
Tableofcontents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Let'sstart
Intro
Firstverse
Bridgeandfollowing
Theriff
Thesecondhalfofthesong
Thefinalriff

1.Let'sstart
Beforestartingmakesureyouhaveafewthings:
Thesongtostudyon:eitheranaudiocdor(better)an.oggor.mp3foroptimalflexibility.
Optionallyaroughlayoutofthesongonpaper:itmaybeusefultocountbarsanddifferentpartsofthesongthateventuallywiigetintoHydrogen.
Thesongwewillworkonhasthefollowingstructure:
Intro:4bars
Verse:8bars
Bridge:8bars
Verse:8bars
Bridge:8bars
Chorus:8bars
Riff:4bars
Verse(withguitar):8bars
Verse(withvoice):8bars
Bridge:8bars
Chorus:8bars
Chorus:8bars
Chorus:8bars
FinalRiff:4bars
Lookingatthisschemewecanseethatsomepatternrepeats,sowe'llusethissymbolsinHydrogen'sSongEditor:
Verse>A
Bridge>B
Chorus>C
Andtosaveupwordsonexplainationswe'llusetwocommonTLA(ThreeLettersAcronym^_^):
LMB:leftmousebutton
RMB:rightmousebutton
Well,nowunplugyourphoneandlaunchHydrogenfromtheshell:let'sgettowork!

2.Intro

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Thebasepattern(Fig.1and2)is4barslong(dividedin2differentbars,eachrepeated2times,soit's[2a*2]+[2b*2])andlastsforthewholesong,fromthe
beginningtotheend,riffincludedmostofthetime(introandriffexcluded)thisbasepatternisrepeated2timestoreachthecommonlyused8barsforeachpartof
thesong(A,B,C).
Beforestartinglet'ssetthespeedto98bpm(HINTHINTyoucanfindoutbyyourselfthespeedofthesongwhileplayingitwithyourfavouritemediaplayerand
followingtherhythmbyclick ingrepeatedlytheback slashk eyinHydrogen)andfromthemenu"GridResolution"let'sset'16'.
Tocreateanewpatternselecttheinstrument"ClosedHH",clickonRMBandchoose"FillNotes":thefirsttwobarswillbefilledup.Theninsertmanuallythebeats
onSnareJazzandKickasindicatedinthe2picturesbelowandtherewehavethebasepatternforoursong.Notehowthebeatsonthehihathavedifferentvelocity:
beatsfallingonthebeginningofthebararesetaroundat75%ofthefullvelocitybar,theothersaroundathalfofit,inordertogivegroovethesong.
Fig.xBasepattern,firstbar

Fig.xBasepattern,secondbar

Beforewestartwritingdownversesthereare4introbars,allequalstoeachother,exceptforthelastonewhichattheendhasanopenhihat.Weshoulddothen:
RenamethefirstpatternintheSongEditorwithRMBclickonthename"EmptyPattern"andchangeitto"intro_a",forexample.
Addtwonewpatternsnearthefirstone(secondandthirdbars)
CreateinPatternEditorthebasepattern(Fig.1)
Forthefourthbarwe'llinsteadopenthehihat(Fig.3):

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RMBinSongEditoronthenewlycreatedpattern,choose"copy",thenchooseaname(ex."intro_b")andautomagicallyyouwillhaveanewonerightunder.
Selectthepatternyou'vejustcreated(IMPORTANT!)
Deletethelast2beatsof"ClosedHH"andmovethemon"OpenHH".
Select'32'from"GridResolution"andaddanother2beatsrightnearthepreviousones.
Adjustthevelocityofthese4beatssothatthefirstisaround75%whiletheotherthreeareat25%tosimulatealongeropening.

Fig.xIntrodetail,fourthbar.

3.Firstverse
Sincewehavewrittenthebasepattern,nowweshouldalreadyknowthebasis.TocreatethefirstversewejusthavetocopyfromtheSongEditorthepattern
"intro_a"andrename,say,to"ABC_1",becauseitisthefirstbaroftheversethateventuallywillalsofitforthebridge(B)andthechorus(C).
Payattention,whycan'twejustaddtwonewmorepatternsnexttothis?Becauseinthefirstbarthereisa"Crash"beatwhichendsthepreviousintro,thereforethe
twobarsarenotcompletelyequalyouhavetocopythepattern"ABC_1"andrenameitto"ABC_2",cuttingthe"Crash"beatcitedbefore.
Samethingforthefollowing2bars:justcopyintotheSongEditorthepatterninFig.2,renameitaccordingtothepreviousonesandaddtwopatterns(because
they'reidentical),youshouldreachnumber'8'asshowninFig.4.
The4remainingbarsoftheversearemoreorlessthesameofwhatwe'vejustwritten,sowhyredoeverythingfromscratch?Barsnumber5,6,7arevirtuallyidentical
tothepreviousonessowejusthavetoaddtwopattern"ABC_2"andone"ABC_3+4"takingcareofrenamingthepatternslogically(sotounderstandhowthe
songmovesaroundtheSongEditor),whileintheeighthbarthereisafillwhichclosestheverse.Wehavetocopy+pasteinanewlineapatternalreadywritten(ex.
"ABC_3+4"),renameitto"ABC_8"andmodifyitasinFig.4.
Notehowinthiscasetoothethree"SnareJazz"beatsonfourthbarhavevelocityproperlytunedtoa10%,20%and75%youcan'tseeitinthepicturebutalsothe
twofinalbeatsof"TomMid"areboth'touched'to50%,afterallit'sonlyjustasmallfill,betternotbeathardonthedrums:)
Fig.xEighthbarofthefirstverse.

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TheresultintheSongEditorshouldbesomethinglikeFig.X.
Fig.xIntroandfirstverseintheSongEditor.

WARNING!ifyoureachedthispointwithoutsavingyourwork,NOWisthegoodtimetodothat.Asimple[CTRL+S]followedbythenameofthesongfileandyou'll
beok.Ifyouwanttoaddsomemoreinfos,LMBon'S'buttonoftheSongEditorandchangethefieldsasyoulike:theseinfoswillbeshownuponopeningofthefile.

4.Bridgeandfollowing
Nowthatwe'redonewiththefirstverseyoushouldhaveanideaofhowthewholethingworks:thefirstbridgeismadeofthesame8bars(4+4)withaslightchange
attheendofthefourth,whichforcesustocreatea'custom'fourthbarwhiletheothersareeasilyaddedaddingpatternsalreadydefined.
Let'stakethelatestpatterncreatedassample("ABC_8"),copyandrenameitto"Bridge1_4"(i.e.fourthbaroffirstbridge)andmodifyitasinFig.6.Wehave
quicklycompletedthebridge!
TheSongEditornowshouldappearasfollowsinFig.7.Lookingcloselyyoumaywonderwhythefifthbarofthebridge(17thbarofthewholesong)isn'tassignedto
thepattern"ABC_1"theansweristhatthepatternhasalsoa"Crash"whichisnotpresentin"ABC_2+5+6".
Fig.xFourthbarofthefirstbridge.

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Fig.xTheSongEditorwiththefirstbridge.

5.Theriff
Aroundathalfsongtherearetworiffs:eachoneis2barslongbutactuallythepatternisthesame,justtheotherinstrumentsplaysomethingthatwewillseeinthe
lastriffofthissong(wheredrumstooplaythepatternoftheriff).
Inthisriffthedrumsplaythesamepatternwealreadyknowforonebar(seeFig.1)whileinthesecondbaronlybeatstwotimes(Fig.8),thenthepatternagainand
thenagaintwobeatswithasmallfinalfill(Fig.9)againtheopenhihatisdonewithbeatsofdifferentvelocity:75%and20%.
Fig.xSecondbaroftheriff.

Fig.xFourthbaroftheriff.

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6.Thesecondhalfofthesong
Aftertheriffwehavehalfjobdone.Wejusthavetowritedowntwoverses,onebridge,achorusrepeated3timesandthesameriffattheend.
Thesecondpartofthesongisslightlydifferentfromthepreviousonebecausewehaveafewhihatopeningduringtheversesandevery4barsthere'sasmallfill
almosteverytime:it'seasiertostartfromscratchanewsetofpattern(i.e."ABC*")intheSongEditorcopyingthemwithasuffixlike'_hh'toshowthepresenceof
the"OpenHH".
Asnotedintheintroductionofthisguide,JeffPorcaroputsmuchofhisskillsplayingthesongandthismakesthedifferencebetweenasongplayedfromarawand
"cold"transcriptiononpaper(oronHydrogen):thereforethefollowingpartsofthesongwilltrytobefaithfultotheoriginalpiece,butanother'ear'couldgiveanother
writtenlayoutofthesamepart:afterallthisdoesn'tmattersomuchsinceweareshowinghowHydrogenwork,nottoplaylikePorcaro:)
Fig.10showsthesectionintheSongEditorofthetwoversesandthebridgefollowingthefirstriffasyoucanseethefirstbars(4850accordingtotheSong
Editor'senumeration)arealreadywrittenbeforewhiletheothers(5171)arenew.Moreoverthereafewpattern'adhoc'identifiedby"ABC3a_hh"(Fig.11toseean
example)and"ABC4a_hh"sincebothhaveafewchangesnotpresentinanypatternwrittenuptonow.
Fig.xThirdandfourthbarsintheSongEditor.

Fig.xSeventhbarofthethirdbridge.

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Afterthethirdbridgewerepeatthechorus:thefirsttimethe"Stick"isusedinsteadofthe"SnareJazz"andwedon'tplaythe"Kick"(evenifitmaysoundthe
oppositesincethebassguitardoesplayhere,sowehaveputthesamethekickbeatssoftlyat50%velocity),whilethesecondandthirdtimethechorusgoeson
thereareafewbarsdifferent,asshownfrompatterns"C3_*".InFig.12thepattern"C3_6+7&C4_3"(slightlydifferent...)whichcriptycallyidentifythesixthand
seventhbarofthethirdchorusANDthethirdbarofthefourthchorus:ifyouthinkthisisconfusing,youmayfindoutyourownnamingmethod:)
Fig.xPattern"C3_6+7&C4_3".

7.Thefinalriff
Thesongendsrepeatingaslightlydifferentriffwehavemetbefore:thefirst2barsarethesame(i.e.pattern+2beats),whiletheinthirdbarthedrumplaysactually
withtheotherinstruments(Fig.13)tofinallyendasalways.
Fig.xThefinalriff.

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Andthisistheend.ThegoalofthislittletutorialisgivingaquickoverviewofthemostcommonfunctionsofHydrogen:thispieceofsoftwarecanalsorunforother
purposes,likeanadvanced'click'playedwiththedrum,ortoloopplayingsomepartofasongdifficulttocatchhowever,asinotherthings,analyzingthesongitself
helpsthecomprehensionandheretoo,Hydrogencanbehelpfulreducingthetimeneededtowritedownapatternandtuneit.
Forcomments,suggestions,corrections,youcanusetheHydrogenmailinglists(http://www.hydrogenmusic.org).

Ifyoulikedhydrogen,buyussomebeer.

thx.

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