Although the pandemic has halted some of the holiday traditions that many enjoy, the West music program presses forward with traditional concerts via a virtual twist. The music departments have been utilizing many different softwares to create the best virtual concert possible for the community to enjoy. Music classes have become more difficult to teach and learn from than the typical in person experience.

Sophomore choir student Delaney Koch has encountered new obstacles within the online format.
“I think the biggest challenge is not being able to hear everyone else singing with you,” she said.

Band director Daniel Singer agrees that online music classes have provided a number of challenges both musically and socially.

“The whole way the band works is being in a group and hearing others adjusting and blending the music,” he said. “It's also the social aspect, being with your friends. This is my 21st year teaching, I have a masters in music education, and we didn't spend a single minute learning how to teach a band online.”

The band department has tried to provide students with multiple different options as they navigate learning music through screens. Sophomore band student Zachary Eaton has also learned to adapt.

“By having virtual band, I have been able to put more effort into learning something new,” he said. “We were all asked to pick a lesson track from a variety of different tracks and I chose the secondary instrument track. I am learning clarinet.”

Both students and teachers have had to adjust to a new way of singing and playing without being able to hear the whole ensemble, as online meeting software produces time lags making playing in real time virtually impossible. Senior Reese Meszaros has been in the orchestra program throughout high school and is learning to adjust to a new way of playing during the pandemic.

“For me this has been a season of adapting to a new way of playing, being open to making mistakes, and being accountable for my playing” she said. “The challenge level of pieces is different; last year we were playing more difficult pieces.”

Musicians learn from their mistakes and adjust to each other's sounds. Singer has discovered that, because of this, virtual classes have provided a new set of challenges for these students.

“Not being with other musicians makes it harder to hear when we play notes or rhythms wrong,” he said.

However, Koch has used this to her advantage as she has learned new skills as a result.

“I've also learned how to read music easier because we are not able to hear the music as much,” she said.

Virtual music may not be the ideal option, but students are lucky to even have a music program this year as others may not have this opportunity.

“It's not as good as having band in-person,” Singer said. “But, this is better than not having band at all. I'm very thankful that our district is continuing music classes, because many districts across the country are only doing the core classes because of the pandemic.”

The formatting of the class structure has also changed as classes have been virtual. Instead of a large group format, some of the teachers have been focusing on giving out individual assignments.

“We get an assignment every week that we have to record and turn into Canvas for the secondary instrument track,” Eaton said. “It can be challenging because I can't work one on one with my teachers in person.”

Making new friends and connecting with old friends has been a largely beneficial element of participating in a music class. Students like Koch have found this to be increasingly difficult due to the nation’s current state.

“It's hard not being able to see the people and communicate,” she said. “When you're standing right next to each other, it's a lot easier to ask questions and even just laughing and talking and making social connections.”

As the holiday season commences, many of the teachers have purchased editing software to put together the annual Christmas performance for the community. New software like this allows for students to record their parts and send them to their teachers, who then edit the video and audio together in a grid view that becomes the final performance.

“I work with Mr. Wilson, and we have had to purchase new software on our own, because the software the district has available is very low power,” Singer said. “We have both subscribed to the Adobe Creative Cloud that has a variety of tools for online production. I like learning about audio video production, but I didn't have much time to learn how to do it, so we're learning as we go.”

Choir teacher Bethany Meyer is using a website called perform.video which automatically edits the students’ videos together for the performance. She discovered this program through a group of collaborative teachers via facebook.

“When I was trying it out, I didn't realize that it was actually brand new,” she said. “Because I was using it for such a long amount of time, the developer reached out to me via email and asked my opinion and how they could make it better, which was really neat.”

Choir director Bethany Meyer smiles in front of her festive Christmas decorated live class background. Meyer hoped to bring holiday cheer to the families of her students by creating a virtual Christmas card with their carols.

Organizing a virtual choir requires multiple hours of editing and specific technology that the school doesn't have access to, but this program allows for the students to record together in real time without the hassle.

“I did tear up a little bit in chorale when we first sang and recorded ‘Silent Night’,” she said. “Just to be able to see the joy of the students on the screens and being able to sing together again without being together makes everything worthwhile. This is the time for holiday cheer and making music together.”

This software has given a new hope for students to be able to share their music with others. Meyer has arranged for her students to record themselves singing their Christmas carols in a festive manner and plans to release the completed songs on December 18.

“It was important for me to be able to share with the students what we have been working on,” she said. “Even though we are at home and the learning is more difficult, we are still singing. Our parents, families, and community members want to see that we are making the best of a not so great situation and this allows us all to feel like it is a little bit more normal.”

Like the choir students, the band students look forward to sharing their music with their families.

“For the Christmas concert we are recording small parts of our piece to eventually be combined together into a full performance,” Eaton said. “It has been nice to look back on all that we have worked on and to be proud of it. It is also nice to be able to share our music with others.”

This is a year unlike any other, but the West music department has pushed through the challenge to create a virtual concert for family and friends to enjoy.

“Even during this time of virtual learning, it is important to make music together and rely on each other,” Eaton said. “I miss my band friends but seeing them in class has been uplifting and I look forward to playing live music together again someday.”

By Jenna Mollenhauer and Abby Eaton

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue III

December 11th 2020

Music department push technological boundaries to keep students in harmony