From A Distance- Running Your Contemporary Ensemble in the New Age of Quarantine and Cancellations

By Raina Murnak

So, you are in the throes of rehearsing for the final show with your popular music ensemble or contemporary band and suddenly, the world comes down with a VERY valid excused absence.  What happens now?  What are you to do with your normally hands-on, experiential class time as it turns to an isolated and individualistic distance learning experience?  And what can you do about the momentum crush of a show cancellation?

Acceptance

Well the first step with this, as with other events in life, is to allow yourself and your students to be disappointed.  This is normal and it’s healthy to acknowledge the feelings that underpin this loss.  However, be the leader and also encourage everyone to move forward and find the blessing in this.  Resiliently model to your class how this constraint can be an opportunity.  My father, paraphrasing advertising master Paul Kim under whom he studied, used to teach me ‘if you want to be creative, eliminate options.  Make the box smaller’.  I can think of no smaller box than, perhaps, whole families shuttering-in-place.  Let’s treat this as a moment of inspiration and ingenuity!

Don’t Lose Face

Understand that the loss of in-person contact does not have to mean a loss of the group chemistry.  This is where technology can provide vital social bridges between the members of your ensemble.  Schedule whole-class zoom meetings to get that important ‘face-time’.  Also, set up small group video-chat meetings or break-out rooms to enable organized collaboration.  Much of communication happens at the non-verbal level and for this, you really need tools that facilitate this kind of human sharing.  Encourage group chats- chances are, they already have one!   Promote file sharing amongst your students and appoint differentiated tasks that highlight your students’ aptitudes.  Now is the time to discover your hidden heroes as you create your new, creative virtual show.

Discover Hidden Talents

Maybe you have a quiet student who is a secret Finneas; an ace at their DAW (digital audio workstation) like Logic, Final Cut Pro or Ableton.  This is the time to use this student’s skills to produce and arrange some of the songs you would have been performing live.  Also, utilize peer-to-peer learning and have that student teach the rest of the class tips on getting started in audio freeware (like Audacity or Garageband which comes standard on a Mac). 

Perhaps you have a digital Frida Kahlo on your hands; manipulating imagery, splicing people together in photos and creating compelling and seductive album art effortlessly! They can make oodles of media that can surround the digital ‘performance’.

Do you have a burgeoning PR person in your midst- perhaps even that student who can’t get off of their own phone in class?  The one who is the first to know about anything and everything happening?  Deploy their crowd-sourcing skills and have them promote your show and gather content.  Perhaps they even can dole out branding advice to members of the band without depending on WebCitz or organize a coordinated, albeit remote, photoshoot. 

A new Sofia Coppola is born!  That student who is constantly posting funny, clever or well-shot videos might be your director and perhaps they have a vision for the creative direction of the show.  Time to put their imaginative energy to work!

“Showtime”

So, the team is in check- now what?  In lieu of the much awaited and much cancelled performance, try some of these alternatives for a vibrant experience they can all buy into.

Recorded Audio

Have your students record their own part onto a global track.  With some initial guidance, they can all record their part to a click or a scratch track.  Then your class producer can assemble the parts into a final mix. 

Remix

Have your students individually perform one of the songs from the show with a different twist and record this.  This is yet another creative way to interpret music and highlights individuality that may have otherwise been hidden within a group setting. 

Coffee House

Perhaps break up the songs of the show and have each student create a ‘coffeehouse’ acoustic version.  Have your PR person guide the artistic concept of this home video-shoot.

Music Video

Now with students at home, they have access to their family’s full wardrobe, the holiday decorations and all craft supplies.  This sounds like a creative music video waiting to happen.  Make the most of this home time with some dramatic interpretations of the recorded songs. 

Spell It Out

Or instead, assign different songs to different students and have them make a lyric video.  There are many programs out there, or even iMovie, that allow you to animate text and add cool graphics to your uploaded song. 

Go Live!

Take advantage of the many platforms and apps that allow for live streaming and schedule an actual showtime.  Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Stageit are relatively easy to use.  Have students play songs from their living rooms and advertise this show to the same family and friends who would have supported the live performance.  The interactivity is an added bonus as audience members can react real-time with words of praise and elite emojis. 

I think we will all learn a lot in this time about technology, interaction, strength of spirit and gratitude for the ‘normal’.  Hopefully this will be a building block upon which we continue to innovate in classroom teaching going forward.