ClarinetFest Multitrack Recording Instructions for the ClarinetFest® 2021 Virtual Guido Six Virtual Clarinet Choir

ClarinetFest Multitrack Recording Instructions for the ClarinetFest® 2021 Virtual Guido Six Virtual Clarinet Choir

As part of the ClarinetFest 2021 Virtual event, we are excited to hold a multitrack project for the Guido Six Virtual Clarinet Choir.

Repertoire:

• Klezmer Fire Dance
• Simple Gifts

IMPORTANT FILES

Score and parts to Klezmer Fire Dance

Score and parts to Simple Gifts

Transposed contralto part to Simple Gifts and Klezmer Fire Dance

Click track videos for Klezmer Fire Dance and Simple Gifts

Audio mockup for Klezmer Fire Dance (below)

Audio mockup for Simple Gifts (below)

DEADLINE

July 12, 2021 at 11:59 PST. No submissions will be accepted after this time.

Please upload your files using this link.

HOW TO PICK A PART

Pick a part that is appropriate for your skill level. If you are unsure, it’s always safer to go down a level – we need strong players on every part! If you want to play a part but one bit is too hard (for example, you’re playing bass clarinet on the Klezmer Fire Dance, but the measure before D and the measure before L are too hard), just leave that small section out! There’s no problem with leaving SMALL sections out. If you have to leave out more than a bar or three, you should probably just move down a part. Use your best judgement and put yourself in a situation where you can contribute your best to the ensemble!

RECORDING TIPS & INSTRUCTIONS 

• Record your video in LANDSCAPE (horizontal) mode.
• Choose a quiet area with minimal reverb (for example, a small carpeted bedroom is better than a large “echoey” room with hard floors). In other words, try to find a “dead” acoustic space. Reverb can be added later; we want to capture just your sound.
• Don’t “spike” or “peak” your microphone – we can always amplify soft sounds, but distortion cannot be removed.
• Be aware of your background. A plain white wall is fine.
• Make sure your face is well-lit, and there are no light sources (windows, lamps, etc.) behind you.
• Turn off A/C, fans, any other devices that are making sounds in the room. Microphones will often pick up the sound of air coming out of an A/C vent, for example.
• Tune to A=440 before recording.
• Do a sound check for quality. Record a little and listen back. Your device may need to be moved closer/further from sound source. Try not to pick up a lot of “room sound.”
• Use the best headphones you have on hand and make sure you can hear yourself well (remove one headphone, if needed).
• Don’t alter the length of your video in any way. All videos must include the sync beep at the beginning, along with the entire piece, whether you are resting or not. In the finished product, you will likely not be shown on screen while you’re resting, but we still need all the videos to be the same length following the sync beep. Do not skip any rests.
• When submitting your videos, do NOT email them or text them – this will compress the quality and make everything super pixelated. Instead, upload directly to the cloud storage site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).
• N.B. for experienced musicians: Over the course of the past year, many musicians have become accustomed to recording audio and video separately, where you “mime along” with the pre-recorded audio in your video recording. If you want to do that, that’s fine as long as we hear the sync beep in both the audio and the video.
• The USAF Band of the West created two excellent tutorials (one for audio and one for video) specifically for musicians who aren’t used to recording themselves from home. Watching them ahead of time will help eliminate the most common recording mistakes!

SUBMITTING YOUR RECORDING

Please use the following format for titling your files before uploading:

[part]_[name]_

For example: Clarinet3_AnthonyMcGill_audio+video

Submit files here.