Moving Music Online
Near the end of February 2020, something that never happened before occurred. The world stood still while a virus spread across the United States resulting in schools, malls, restaurants, and multiple public locations closing down.
Students took online classes, adults worked from home, and athletes trained at home. But, have you ever wondered how musicians dealt with this situation?
Lessons and masterclasses over video conferencing platforms, even for music students, sprung up over the internet. Suddenly, classes were created online that had never been available before.
But how did these online sessions work? Here is my experience…
First, individuals logged onto their devices. Then, they joined the scheduled meeting on the chosen platform by clicking on a link or by inputting the meeting’s ID/password. After being admitted by the teacher, students see the gallery of individual faces of the people in attendance. In speaker view, the teacher is the main focus on the screen, and she can even share her screen in order to sheet music.
Surprisingly, orchestras can put a virtual concert together! Most people think that we all play together at the same time in a conference call, but actually, it is a whole different story.
Because of latency, which means a lapse between two different systems, it is necessary for musicians to record their parts individually. You might wonder how they will all sound together. The answer is that a conductor records a “click track” which is a recording that puts together the clicks of the metronome with the visuals of the conductor’s cues.
To begin with, musicians practice the assigned piece on their own while listening to the click track. Then, they record using two devices —one to play the track into their ears via earbuds, and the other to record only themselves playing their instrument. The reason earbuds are required is so that the final recording will not contain the track playing in the background. In my experience, my brother bought an external microphone (Blue Snowball) to help with the quality of our sound.
When the individual recording work is finished, each one sends it to the conductor through an app called Dropbox. The conductor listens to each recording, provides feedback if needed, and contacts those who need to re-record it. To assemble an entire concert, a video editor combines individual recordings to build together a complete orchestra or ensemble!
At 7:00 PM on the scheduled night of the week, my family and I gathered in the living room to watch the live concert on Youtube. A chatbox was available for people to comment in while the music played.
During quarantine, music filled the extra time available in my day. It made my life more colorful and interesting. I practiced everyday, made new friends, and connected with my orchestra group over video conferencing platforms. We even performed duets! Quarantine gave me new opportunities to appreciate music and to meet new people.
Moving music online presented a new way to learn that I had never imagined before. Everyone had to adjust to the pandemic situation. Musicians began to take lessons through video conferencing platforms, and conductors recorded pieces with their orchestras, quartets, and duets. When people tried new things, they discovered new ways to make music, wonderful programs, and other creative techniques that might be helpful in the future!
- Written by Emily Zhu | 7/29/2020