Jamkazam

Date

June 2020 to present

Audio, Video

Skills

Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Media Encoder, A/V operation and maintenance

Adapting to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and thus the inability to rehearse music in person, I’m collaborating with the California-based male vocal ensemble, Men in Blaque, to explore the application Jamkazam: an online platform made for real-time rehearsing and recording.

Alongside director Joseph Huszti — Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine — we set a goal to prepare two selections recorded in real-time accompanied by a video presentation by November 2020. We prepared an arrangement by Ben Johns of the traditional folk song, “Red Rose” and an “Alleluia” canon by William Boyce.

I am located in Chicago for this project while the rest of the singers are scattered across California.

August 8, 2020

After months of experimentation and trial runs, a select group of singers met to run through “Red Rose” for the first time. While battling the expected hurdles of latency alongside learning the music, we still had a successful first run.

September 6, 2020

Realizing that video would only slow down the process, we decided to rehearse and record with audio only.

These recordings are full run-throughs of both selections with post enhancements and added effects.

September 15, 2020

We began inviting more singers to join our remote sessions as we became more familiar with the platform. We were able to hold one-hour rehearsal sessions hosting up to 12 singers.

We did, however, run into latency and equipment issues. Thus, we had to split into two sessions as we figured out issues with the software.

September 20, 2020

Although software updates did improve the overall user experience, it also ushered in issues that affected the sound quality of our recordings.

September 27, 2020

As we were reaching our goal of producing two visual products, we noticed an improvement in latency which presented an opportunity for experimentation.

Using different techniques such as playing a metronome in the background or using the video of a conductor each proves to have their successes as well as setbacks.

October 22, 2020

The final products demonstrate a three-month process of learning unfamiliar technology –microphone technique, the Jamkazam software, and basic audio interface knowledge for instance — in order to successfully rehearse efficiently and beyond.

We hope in the coming future to produce more presentations like this so as to further expand the way we rehearse and record music — during and after the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine period.