As I write, many of us are entering our third month of remote teaching. The virtual choir and instrumental ensemble has become a lockdown phenomenon. I say this because, like many other schools, my college has launched one, too. This month, I explain the initial set up and some of the challenges that we have overcome.
Music selection
The lag over video conferencing software makes live rehearsals difficult (not impossible – but difficult). I picked music I knew that the students would be able to access relatively easily and provided lyrics, chords, a lead sheet and a simple vocal arrangement for those who wanted to add harmonies. The hardest element is ensuring that everyone is in time with one another. The first thing you need is a guide track with some method of ensuring everybody starts at the same time.
Getting started
The method I used was to have a count-in at the start – everybody clapped on camera at that point so I could synchronise the performances afterwards. I then sent this guide track to everybody who wanted to record a part. They all then listened to the guide track on headphones and recorded themselves on another device and sent me the resulting video. The advantage of this was that I only had their performance on the recording and no bleed from the guide track.
Once the students had recorded their performances, they then uploaded them to a shared folder that allowed me to download them and load them into my editing software for mixing and visual layout. The quality of the audio and video varied enormously, but every performance was useable and of a high enough video/audio quality for the software.
The cutting room
I loaded the 25 performances into my DAW for audio mixing, using the same project that I used for the guide track and lined up all the claps at the beginning of the recording. Everything was immediately in-sync and, even before any mixing, it already sounded good (phew!).
After I'd mixed the audio, I imported everything into my video editing software – including the mixed audio. Again, I lined up the performers’ clapping with the synchronisation sound and everybody was once again in sync. I then laid the performers out on the screen to make everything fit and have some vague sense of ‘look’ for each group of performers. I used Adobe Premiere Pro having spent some time in Final Cut Pro X. They both do the same thing, but I found the workflow in Adobe Premiere easier – but this is a personal thing.
Easier options
Obviously, the method I have used is quite complex and requires a level of technical skill (I had no video editing skills before lockdown – I've been learning this in the evenings!) but there are easier methods. If you happen to have a device that runs iOS there are apps that can help you. For instance, Acappella allows users to do this within an app. Performers can either record all of the parts themselves or record one and share it with collaborators to add parts – no extra equipment is needed.
Summary
The idea of a virtual ensemble has many benefits: it helps students who might be feeling isolated from their musical peers collaborate again. It's unlikely that extracurricular music is going to be at the top of priority lists when schools are fully back, sadly, so it's even more important that we continue to make music together in whatever way we can.
