{"id":10412,"date":"2021-01-25T00:01:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T05:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/music\/?page_id=10412"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:26:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T14:26:42","slug":"virtual-ensembles-showcase","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/music\/virtual-ensembles-showcase\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Ensembles Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Virtual Ensembles Showcase\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

UPDATED: When we learned, late last spring,<\/strong> that the upcoming Carleton academic year would be fully online, there was a (virtual) palpable sense of bewilderment and apprehension amongst our Music colleagues. It was one thing to consider putting courses online, but how could we possibly<\/em> offer our performance ensembles in a virtual format? In a meeting with our Ensemble Directors in July, our hardworking SSAC Tech team (Paul Jasen and John Rosefield) outlined several possibilities for moving forward into this new frontier of online performance.  At the same time, a summer research project (OMER<\/a>), funded through Carleton\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), tackled this very problem, engaging three of our Ensemble Directors and a group of enthusiastic students to try out platforms and techniques for making music together online. With little time to consider the options or anticipate the steep learning curve ahead, our Ensemble Directors enthusiastically gave their thumbs up to forge ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results have been as creative and varied as the directors and students involved. Here, in their own words, the Ensemble Directors give us a glimpse into the synchronous and asynchronous<\/a> music-making in their ensembles during over the 2020-21 school year. Some audio and visual examples are included to give you a sense of the process and efforts. Kudos to all involved; we are making history!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Kathy Armstrong<\/a>, Supervisor of Ensembles and Masterclasses<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jump to an Ensemble
\n<\/strong>Fall: <\/a>Roots<\/a> | Lyric Theatre<\/a> | Fusion<\/a> | Chamber Music<\/a> | Saxophone<\/a> | Choir<\/a> | Jazz<\/a>
\nWinter (NEW)<\/strong>: Brass<\/a> | Singer-Songwriter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roots Ensemble Directed by Petr Cancura
\n(2021 Carleton Music Artist in Residence)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This ensemble is about exploring the roots of the musicians in the group, their inspirations, and relevant musical threads. We tackled different styles of music that challenged our skills within the context of each project and tried to clearly identify the best musical solution that we could offer in the moment. Our goal was to advance our musical and online skills and explore concepts that move us forward as musicians and human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We had a group of very musical artists. Our non-standard instrumentation compelled us to find creative ways of putting together songs. We used every minute of our three-hour sessions to work together on this music. For certain sessions we would break into duos and trios, each of which would be given a set amount of time to record the same song, coming up with their own approach. For other projects we would talk about a song, what we liked about it and how we wanted to approach it before assigning tasks for each member. Then we would come back together, listen, mix and decide what to do next. The platforms we used were Zoom, Zoom Livetrack 8, Loopback, Logic and Digital Audio Workstations (DAW)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Beyond their sense of musicality, it is clear how everyone in this group brought an open minded and supportive approach imperative to the success of an ensemble whether it is in person or virtual.”<\/em><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Each session, we began by working on a melody or a tricky piece of music, whereby everyone would be muted and playing along with a leader to learn the song and its phrasing. In a similar fashion we worked on rhythm and time, an element as important as instrumental technique itself. Beyond their sense of musicality, it is clear how everyone in this group brought an open minded and supportive approach imperative to the success of an ensemble whether it is in person or virtual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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