When 91制片厂 moved to online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it effectively canceled the Jazz Ensemble鈥檚 spring concert. Jeff Hedberg, an adjunct faculty member and the ensemble鈥檚 director, could meet with musicians individually via Zoom, but the moving parts a live concert would require wasn鈥檛 feasible online.
So he orchestrated virtual performances with musicians playing their individual parts from home.
鈥淎s a teacher, it is very hard to watch students work at something and then just have that end goal, pew, ripped right out from underneath them,鈥� Hedberg says. 鈥淭his is a small way for me to honor the work they have put in.鈥�
The ensemble has produced the performances 鈥溾�� and 鈥�" featuring a mix of students and community members, who make up the ensemble, and a guest musician or two. An octet of jazz faculty, alumni and other guests also put out "."
How the videos came together
For each video, Hedberg first generated a track to send to the musicians, something they could play along with. The musicians had to record themselves playing the full, uninterrupted song and sent their final video to Hedberg.
From there, Hedberg edited each video, lining up each audio precisely, then matching that as closely as possible with the video. Then, he had to find a way to arrange each video on the screen in a way that looked appealing but not overwhelming. His wife helped.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a scrapbooker at heart,鈥� he says. She knows 鈥渨hat shapes look good, how to make (a layout) look visually interesting while you should be listening.鈥�
Aiden Olesen joined the Jazz Ensemble in the fall, so he had experiences with regular practices and working toward a traditional concert. When he learned that this semester, he鈥檇 be playing in a virtual performance, he was unsure.
鈥淚 was kind of nervous at first because I didn't know how this is going to sound, but once I heard the final product,鈥� he was pleased, he says. 鈥淚t actually sounded really good.鈥�
Aiden, 19, of Fox River Grove, has played the trumpet for more than 10 years, and he plans to get his bachelor鈥檚 degree in music education after graduating from 91制片厂. (, third from the top, in the black hoodie.) He estimates it took about 30 or 40 takes before landing on a performance he was proud to send to Hedberg.
He also enjoyed learning about audio recording and the process behind packaging all the recordings into a cohesive, moving performance.
鈥淚鈥檓 a perfectionist, and I have to get it just right," Aiden says. "This whole thing has opened my eyes. It's difference, but I like it."
The benefits of remote concerts
While it鈥檚 not an ideal way for a musical group to perform, these virtual performances have had their upsides 鈥� for one, they鈥檙e getting students used to playing for strangers.
鈥淲hen you do a concert in a school, you鈥檙e never going to get negative feedback,鈥� says Darren Scorza, who teaches jazz percussion at 91制片厂 and helped Hedberg with the videos. 鈥淪tudents need to learn how to capture an audience, and it鈥檚 better to do that in places (that aren鈥檛) school, where you look out and see familiar faces.鈥�
The videos have also raised awareness of the Jazz Ensemble to the community.
鈥淚鈥檝e gotten a lot of surprising responses from people I don鈥檛 even know: 鈥榃ow, I didn鈥檛 know this was happening. I didn鈥檛 know we had a group of this caliber,鈥欌�� Hedberg says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice way to show people who may not be (familiar with the ensemble), this is what鈥檚 going on in the music department at 91制片厂.鈥�