Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music continues to explore innovative methods to reach out virtually to its students and music-loving audiences.
A virtual “Quarantine Concert” will feature pre-recorded performances by students in the Sound Recording Technology program at 7 p.m. Monday, May 4, on the School of Music’s YouTube Channel.
After learning they would not return to campus this semester, SRT ensemble directors collaborated with their students to produce the playback concert, according to James Adams, assistant professor of music and SRT director.
“Each student recorded their parts at home and uploaded their audio to collaborative sessions,” Adams said. “Ensemble directors (SRT faculty) assembled all the parts to produce the recorded performances. They sound wonderful.”
Adams directs the Contemporary Ensemble, while James Taylor directs the Commercial and Popular ensembles. They were assisted by graduate teaching assistant Scott Hanson. Two of the ensembles also produced music videos of their tracks.
The concert covers many popular and commercial music genres and features songs made popular by Harry Styles, John Mayer, Radiohead, Adele and others. Several of the works were selected by the Contemporary Ensemble because of the opportunities allowed for infusion of various performance technology into the curriculum. Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek,” for example, is a work for solo voice with vocoder accompaniment, while Adele’s “Skyfall” is a piece for voice with orchestra and band accompaniment. “We selected that piece so that we could attempt a virtual orchestra performance with six students playing the orchestra parts on MIDI keyboards,” Adams said.
The concert can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xSGMWmz81w or accessed at SFA SRT Concert.
“This is yet another example of our students and faculty being innovative and overcoming the hurdles of our remote learning situation,” Adams said. “Although they signed up for live performance groups initially, students adapted to the new stay-at-home situation and helped evolve a format for us to still make music together. The SRT area has an amazing community, and it shined brightly during this creative process. What they and the faculty were able to achieve without ever being in the same room is astonishing. We are very proud of our students and hope that everyone enjoys the music.”
To view a humorous yet heart-felt message from SFA music faculty to their students, visit the School of Music website at music.sfasu.edu.