Technique & Musicality

The Soft Landing

A hard landing puts a knock at the front of the note, just before the tone arrives. Once you have heard it on purpose, you cannot unhear it.


Listen to the first quarter second

Not the note. The moment just before the note. Drag the slider and watch the knock appear.

A picture of the first quarter second of the note, showing the knock and the tone

Felt

Try this order

  1. Press Hear both first. Soft, then hard, on the same note. Listen to the front of the sound, not the note itself.
  2. Drag the slider up slowly and find the exact point where a knock appears. That point is different for everyone's ears, and finding yours is the whole exercise.
  3. Push it to the top. That is the sound you are removing from your playing.
  4. Bring it back down to Felt and leave it there. That is your target sound.
  5. Go to Up, down, start the count, and say the words out loud. Yes, out loud. It is the part that makes it stick.