By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
While I conduct bands, I need to satisfy my itch to actually MAKE music.
One of my outlets is the Wallaceburg Brass Quintet that Dan White, my column mate, friend, and tubist in our Concert Band started a few years ago.
During the COVID lockdowns, there was a lot of down-time to fill so our Wallaceburg Brass Quintet decided to create YouTube videos of some of our favourite songs that we play.
Being a mere quintet, there were several times that the constantly changing COVID gathering rules permitted the 5 of us to meet, which we used to record and film.
On the heels of just releasing our latest effort, I thought it might be interesting to explain how we go about making our videos.
Our videos are essentially made the same way big time artists make theirs, minus any kind of a budget, film crew, dressing room trailers, contract, or extras.
Each video starts off by selecting a piece of music that we enjoy playing, and the first step is to record the music.
I own a multitrack recorder that allows us to record our parts one track at a time at a time.
One can monitor what the previous musician(s) have recorded, while playing and recording their own part.
Typically, I’ll lay down a click track first, which is a fancy term for a recording of a metronome which keeps us honest by setting a steady tempo to play to during the recording process.
The first instrumental part will almost always be the first trumpet part which typically carries most of the melody in a brass quintet.
It’s not a simple matter of recording the notes exiting your horn the first time you attempt to record your part, however.
Oh no!
Regardless of how much one has prepared their music, you will no-doubt “cack” a note here and there (brass terminology), play an incorrect note, be out-of-tune on a specific note, a valve will get stuck, you suddenly need to empty your water key, a car that needs a new muffler drives by, the cell phone you forgot to silence will ring, or a host of other potential problems.
You WILL need to record your part, or parts of your parts, several times.
A multi-track recorder will allow you “punch-in” to the record mode seamlessly, allowing one to go back and fix the errors you made the first (or 30th) time through.
It’s an often-maddening process.
I once read that the recording process is God’s way of saying “you suck” and truer words were never spoken.
After the first person to record is happy with their part, it’s time for the next person to lay down their track, and the maddening process starts all over again.
Eventually, (sometimes it takes a few weeks for everyone to find the time to record) we end up with a recording of all five parts.
I often resort to the common recording technique of doubling some of the parts to provide more “depth” to the sound by recording the same part on a different track.
Next, we may add some effects to each track such as reverberation or compression.
Once all tracks have been recorded, the next step in the recording process for us is to mix down the parts to a stereo track.
In mixdown, instruments are typically panned to be featured more prominently on the left or right channel with the tuba usually in the centre.
If there are two 1st trumpet tracks for instance, I’ll usually pan one to the left channel, and one to the right, again to provide more depth to the recording and if for instance the melody suddenly shifts to the French horn, other parts will be brought down in the mix to allow the horn to take front and centre.
Mixing-down is much like painting a picture and an Art unto itself as you try to get a good balance of all the instruments.
After we have a recording we’re happy with, it’s time to film the video.
While we’re all welcome to contribute ideas, Dan is the one who largely scripts our videos.
His background in Theatre and Improv are invaluable tools in the creative process.
He’s almost always writes the script long before we begin the recording process, but occasionally things are changed as we come-up with alternative ideas.
The filming process can be long and tiring but it’s always lots of fun, and depending on where we are filming, there can be spectators completely confused with what we’re doing.
In filming, we bring a speaker, our camera gear, and whatever props and clothing we need to each site.
We then “Milli Vanilli” our playing (synchronize our fingering to the pre-recorded track blaring in the background), film each scene usually several times, then head to the editing desk.
After all the scenes are shot, we need to synchronize the original pre-recorded track with each filmed scene, but I won’t attempt to explain how that process is done here.
There are always mistakes while filming (some of them hilarious) which usually make it to the out-takes that we include after the credits have rolled.
Once we’re happy with the final product, we upload the video to our YouTube channel and wait for the money to start rolling in.
We’re still waiting….
As small-town as our videos are, they are the culmination of a lot of work, but are also a great deal of fun to make.
Our most recent video is set to the music of “On the Street Where You Live” and was filmed in the dead of winter at the soon to be open Glasstown Brewery.
If you watch the video, you need to be aware of just how freezing cold it was when we were filming.
While incredible work is being done in the Brewery on all 3 floors, the furnace didn’t extend beyond the first floor at the time, but as challenging as it was, it’s so much fun to watch now.
Todd Shepley was ever so gracious in allowing us to film in what was essentially a construction site at the time but let me assure everyone that this place is going to be a SPECTACULAR addition to our community… and that’s from guy who doesn’t even drink beer!
I want to remind everyone of our Pre-Mother’s Day “Who Done It?” fundraising Dinner Theatre on May 13 th at the UAW Hall.
Dinner will be catered by the Black Goose.
Our first Murder Mystery in 2020 was a complete sell-out. Tickets are $50 each and can be reserved by calling 519 627-4602.
