With musicians quarantined at home and bars/restaurants closed, many bands have released videos of themselves playing “together” from home. Ever wondered how they do that?
Well, as it turns out, no matter how real it looks, it is virtually impossible to play music collaboratively over the Internet. Due to lag and latency in Internet speeds, there’s no great way to use Zoom or any other platform to create high-quality videos. This means each musician has to record his or her part(s) alone at home. Why is everyone always wearing headphones, you ask? Well, we’re all playing along with the same recording to make sure we’re using the exact same tempos and arrangement. Next, a master editor has to combine all of the videos together in one platform. Luckily for Mama D & The Vexations, our drummer John Holmok was up for the challenge! After all members had finished recording, John mixed the vocal levels first, trying to mimic what it might sound like when we play for you live. Then he merged the videos together and came up with the layout of squares.
“There is a lot of individual work and trust involved since we are all recording our parts independently,” John says. “We’ve all put a lot into these performances and it’s been great to see what each musician has brought to their part. It’s not until I start assembling the separate pieces that the final product and sound begins to take shape, which is definitely the most exciting part of the process.” The finished product is reminiscent of a live Mama D & The Vexations performance and John says, “it’s super fun and gratifying to be able to work with the rest of the band on developing our versions of these songs.” In fact, John has enjoyed the editing process so much that he has started offering his services to other bands and musical groups!
So are making band videos just as fun as playing live? Yes and no. “Of course,” John says, “you don’t get the immediate response of the crowd cheering to a great solo or end to a killer set, but the response on social media has been fantastic after we release a video. It takes more time and effort up front, but I’m glad we can still provide entertainment to our fans while everyone is stuck at home!”
So while we don’t know exactly when we’ll all be able to rock out in the same room together, you can be sure that we’ll keep playing for you “virtually” to keep the music alive!