Audio Coaching

Bonus

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the blog post page for the link to some smokin' HOT tunes. 🔥🔥🔥

Hearing Impaired?

Read the Transcripts for Audio Coaching April 26, 2023 HERE

Hi drummers.

Happy Wednesday. This is Mickey Stewart here with another great tip for you for practising.

Now what I have to say is, you might not need all of these tools but what I'm trying to do is meet you where you're at - in what will serve your purpose.

So I have every metronome and slow downing tool known to man because I use them a lot for teaching. But don't feel like you need to go out and buy all these apps.

Today I've got a free app for you. So listen up.

I have used the software on the computer for VLC media player for years, but it wasn't until this week where my 27" iMac had to go to the computer hospital, to get some tender,  loving care, and hopefully it will come back and work for me, but I've been really just stuck with using my phone for doing work.

Yeah, typical as I'm trying to record this bagpipes are always playing in my house. 

It's a band practice night so Mark and Cameron are just giving their pipes a check over before they head out the door.

Anyway, yeah, I've used VLC media player for a long time, but this morning I was wanting to slow down, or figure out how to slow down, a video because I have a video that Mark took of the Vale Of Atholl Grade 4 band. He went along to help them out last week and he took a video of them playing their March, Strathspey and Reel.

I have this incredible young nine year old snare drummer at my school that I teach and he's like a little sponge. I can't teach him fast enough. He is just phenomenal and he's ready to learn his first big March, Strathspey and Reel so I'm going to use the Vale's video to teach him the scores and so he can hear the pipe tunes in the background.

So I'm on my phone and I'm trying to think, 'Okay, what's the best way to slow down a video?' and I wondered if VLC media player had an app and sure enough, it does and it's free.

I use the Amazing Slow Downer, probably more than anything else on my phone for a slowdown tool, but I have the paid version of that.

I wanted to give you a great free option - the VLC media player app.  As I'm going through it and I'm trying to figure out how to slow down this video I thought I may as well take some screen captures and take some notes and show you how I did did it.

It's all in the blog post and I take you through step by step through the seven simple steps. I've showed you how to do it with a video and you can follow the same steps with the audio.

I've also included the link for the software for the free computer version as well. The links for the AppStore and the the actual computer software are both there.

Also, I'm going to hook you up by giving you a big blast of some really fiery hot reels from my friend Matt MacIsaac. If you scroll right down to the bottom of that blog post, there'll be a link to his YouTube channel. But there's also a great quote from Matt at the very beginning of that blog. It's worth printing off that quote and sticking it up wherever you're going to practice. Honestly, it will land with you,

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I can't wait to to see you next week with another great tool. I'm really excited about sharing all this with you. It's a little bit tricky trying to write blog posts and and share things and record things without without my main computer.

But, one last thing I did want to share with you is that in the last week, a lot of things have gone wrong - like technically, whether it's my phone or my computer or just things breaking or being just really slow.  Whenever things like that happen to me, I remember that quote that 'life isn't happening to you, it's happening for you'.

I also think of when things are breaking, or if I stub my toe, drop the toilet roll in the toilet or get spaghetti sauce on my new favourite white blouse that  something amazing is going to happen.

So I'm excited for what's going to happen because there's all kinds of things that are kind of going a little bit haywire in the last week. If and when that happens I'll be sure to share that with you too.

Anyway, I just hope that perspective helps you because sometimes we just need to hear that - even if just one person reading this needed to shift that perspective today.

So get excited when things go wrong. That's just a good sign. That's how I choose to think anyway.

Little bit off topic, but hey, that's me.

I get excited. I get passionate and enthusiastic.

Tag you're it. Pass it along to you.

Talk to you next week.

Goodbye

Mickey