Clarke Central High School band students perform in a digital Winter Holiday showcase on Dec. 20. The students recorded their pieces separately and compiled them into one video through the use of the Upbeat app. “I think in this virtual situation, it’s been the best out of a bad situation,” CCHS Director of Bands Chris Simpson said. “I think this is another opportunity for ensembles to showcase the talent that our kids have.” Screenshot by Natalie Schliekelman
With difficulties playing online, the Clarke Central High School orchestra and band are utilizing the Upbeat Music App to perform together.
For CCHS Orchestra Director Dr. Eunice Kang, having the whole class play together over Zoom has proven to be difficult.
“It is so hard for me (to teach on Zoom) because I can’t have them all unmute. The delay and the sound is too jumbled and messy, so they’re all muted for most of the time. I have (had to take) them into breakout rooms in small groups and having them unmute one at a time or two at a time, but that’s it. More than that (and) you can’t tell what’s going on,” Kang said.
CCHS Director of Bands Chris Simpson has experienced similar problems with digital band classes.
“(Online learning) is tough. We can’t all play on Zoom. So that’s a very big problem that we just can’t get around,” Simpson said. “Right now we’re just trying to make the best out of the virtual situation. It’s not the same, but you know, it’ll hold hopefully until we come back into school.”
Kang is trying to solve issues with online orchestra class by using Upbeat Music App to engage her students.
“(Upbeat) is a really exciting new feature that just came out. Students may record themselves individually with a (song) that they listen to while they’re playing and then submit that video, and the app will put all of their videos, up to 100 students, into one video,” Kang said. “It’s just like in Flipgrid when you get a link, you (create) a video and you click submit.”
“It’s making the best out of a subpar situation. It’s not a replacement for in-person band, and there’s definitely a lot of nuances and things we’ve got to learn for the program, (but it) helps the students become better musicians.”
— Chris Simpson,
CCHS Director of Bands
After trying multiple programs for band classes, Simpson has also settled on Upbeat as the best option for digital music classes.
“It’s making the best out of a subpar situation. It’s not a replacement for in-person band, and there’s definitely a lot of nuances and things we’ve got to learn for the program, (but it) helps the students become better musicians,” Simpson said. “(Using Upbeat) makes (playing) a little bit more formidable, in the sense that the individual has to be perfect, (and) in the sense of having to balance and play individually, and putting all that together and try to make it sound like one.”
For CCHS freshman Sarah Hernandez, a violinist in orchestra, using Upbeat took several experimental tries.
“It can be a little difficult to learn how to use (Upbeat) at the beginning, but once you get on Upbeat more, you get (the) hang of it a lot,” Hernandez said. “I think it was the metronome (that made recording difficult). Sometimes you have to play with the natural metronome (or beats per minute of the song) to play the beats correct, so that part was difficult and trying to record it was difficult.”
To CCHS sophomore Kiana Hillis, a band student, a perk of Upbeat is that it does not come with the pressure of playing in front of others.
“It takes a little bit of stress of having to play in front of a bunch of people, because I get some anxiety when that happens, if I’m put on the spot,” Hillis said. “Because nobody plays really loud all together, you just hear everybody but they don’t hear you playing. So it kind of takes some of the stress off.”
However, despite some students’ positive feelings, Simpson expects students may be disheartened by Upbeat’s disconnect from ensemble playing.
“(Students) are probably frustrated with it, to be honest with you. Because again, it’s no replacement for playing in an actual ensemble, sitting next to somebody, because when you don’t have somebody sitting to the left and right of you, it does make it difficult (to play),” Simpson said. “(Recording with Upbeat,) it’s very tedious, and it can be frustrating.”
The CCHS band was able to create a Virtual Winter Holiday Showcase with Upbeat, which premiered on Youtube on Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
“A lot of bands have been using (Upbeat) to do these virtual concerts and I think, just in the pandemic, coming up with this has been the saving grace for a lot of programs,” Simpson said. “Because by now we would have done two concerts, the fall concert and our Christmas concert. I think in this virtual situation, it’s been the best out of a bad situation and it’s giving them something that we’re actually practicing towards.”
Without a plan for an in-person concert, Kang hopes her students will work hard to contribute to an Upbeat compilation for orchestra class.
“If (the final Upbeat compilation) is not showcasing our very, very best performance, then I’ll share it with parents only,” Kang said. “I asked students who work very, very hard and are very motivated (to record on Upbeat), and then others who are not as much so, so I could also potentially not include the videos that are not contributing (to the overall performance).”
“Music has still been happening here and at (Cedar Shoals High School), and at our feeder middle schools. It just looks a little different and we’ve all had to adjust to that”
— Chris Simpson,
CCHS Director of Bands
Looking forward, with the use of Upbeat, Simpson hopes to bring some normalcy back to band classes.
“We’re still doing music and we’re still advocating for our kids to have the different opportunities they’d get in a traditional in-person setting, but we had to modify them,” Simpson said. “Music has still been happening here and at (Cedar Shoals High School), and at our feeder middle schools. It just looks a little different and we’ve all had to adjust to that.”
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