Fall 2020
Hello NSJWE’ers!
This page has been designed in order to provide you will all of the information you will need to get started on our socially distant ensemble. If there is a question that isn’t answered on this page, or in other correspondence, please reach out to a member on the exec. team.
Update: October 20th, 2020
We are getting a bit closer to the recording phase of the project so here are some suggestions to think about when recording!
Because the parts will be recorded in your own home, it is very important that the environments are as quiet as possible. This means things like fans, fridges, heaters, tvs, people, pets, etc. are all off and/or not making any noise. This is very important!
It would be great to get about 5 seconds of ‘silence’ at the beginning or end of each recording. This will allow me to create a profile of the noise in the room, and help remove it from the rest of the track.
When recording, the best tone will usually come from placing the phone around 1 foot away from where the most sound escapes on your instrument. If possible, here are a few placement ideas for the recording devices.
- For most woodwinds, place the phone on a music stand and raise it so that the phone is in line with the first several keys of the instrument.
- For saxophones, lower the stand so that the phone is at the same height as the largest keys on the side of the instrument.
- For brass, try to position the phone so that it is a few feet in front of the bell. This may be difficult for Tuba and french horn, so place the phone in front of the player instead.
- Because percussion is generally pretty loud, it is a good idea to have the phone a few feet away from the instrument so that it does not distort.
If a mistake is made, try to indicate it either in a message or at the end of the recording. We can probably fix it, but need to know where it is at, and this will save time searching.
If anyone is using more sophisticated gear, please do not do any processing, especially no reverb!
Message From Our Guest Conductor
SmartMusic
This year, we will be using SmartMusic to help with our virtual ensemble work.
We will be adding helpful tips and information to this page.Please check in frequently to stay up to date!
**Note: Smart Music only works with the GoogleChrome web browser. If you do not have it, here is the link to download it (don’t worry, it is very simple and FREE!).
Helpful links:
GoogleChrome
SmartMusic: How to create an account and join a class.