Cut off from the concert hall, their fellow musicians of the orchestra and their audiences, and limited to digital communication, the musicians (and the researchers) couldn’t fall back on a rich tradition of concert formats, routines and rituals. We were amateurs regarding digital media: the recording, editing, and production of videos with (smartphone) cameras and editing software. We started experimenting with performing music on camera, and reflecting on what it means to teach and rehearse through video-conferencing software. This raised topical questions and challenges regarding performance qualities, audience participation, and societal relevance.

After individually experimenting with different digital media – creating videos reflecting on what it means to teach violin over Facetime, a podcast with inspiring stories about musical works, to a video series in which a violinist searches for a lost audience – we decided to try to record something together.

The first challenge was the repertoire: what to play? The musicians who volunteered for our experimental project were not selected based on their instruments, so we had the odd instrumentation of two percussionists, two violinists, and a horn player. We could dub a violin, and a percussionist also happened to play bass guitar in his spare time. But to find repertoire for this instrumentation was impossible.

While we were discussing the repertoire for the collaborative video in relation to possible audiences, the musicians immediately proposed film music and game music, so we could address children and teenagers. We discussed this ‘educational move’: falling back on routines of engaging audiences that musicians knew from their educational projects. We reflected on this and decided to try to aim for adults this time, and find something from the canon instead of popularised versions of classical music. We eventually settled for a waltz from Shostakovich’ Jazz Suite that could easily be arranged for the instruments we had.

Then the issue of sound quality emerged again as a challenge. Some musicians were hesitant to produce something of ‘low’ sound quality, given the lack of technical equipment at home, other than smartphones. What would possible audiences or colleagues think? We returned to discussing our previous videos, and what the qualities were. Then one of the two violinists argued: “The smartphone has become an important part of our lives while in lockdown. And if we keep trying to get the best acoustic quality that is possible, then we are trying to conceal that we don’t have access to a concert hall right now. So if we really would like to relate to the world in this moment, we should use our smartphones.” We all agreed, and we started to plan our recording of Shostakovich.

April 8, 2020 A week later, Axel presents the video to the group.

We discussed the editing and production process. Because of the straight tempo, Axel found it relatively easy to put all the audio and video files in the software program. Though it did take him quite some time to work with different sources in terms of audio quality and screen ratios, making sure that all the transitions between the parts and the videos run as smoothly as possible. We discussed the overall acoustic quality of the video, and decided that next time, they should all record in their bedrooms where reverb is less, to make the editing afterwards easier.

We could hear that not all the instruments had the same acoustic and sound quality. Axel noticed that the violins sounded surprisingly good on a smartphone-microphone, whereas the overtones of the marimba were difficult to pick up. We were surprised by the result, given the problems the musicians encountered when recording alone at home. Finding the right intonation and dynamics was challenging, as Jaap reflects: “You cannot colour your tone, not tune in to each other. That’s very difficult.” Frank struggled with recording the dynamics of the marimba: “If I would play pianissimo it would still sound as mezzo piano.” The violinists also found playing with a click track challenging, even though they had some experience with it.

This exercise highlighted the skills that it takes to create an online collaborative video, and the challenges of producing a collaborative home-recording. The musicians delegated roles, and Axel manifested himself as a digital craftsman in many ways: arranging, recording, editing, and producing a musical video. All kinds of skills that are normally not part of being a musician became necessary when performing classical music online, and to deal with challenges of not being able to perform together.

After producing one ‘rehearsal’ as experience, we wanted to create a new collaborative musical video. Still, some musicians remained a bit hesitant, comparing their video to top quality videos from orchestras with budget and experience. What could we offer an audience instead, next to our own learning process? One musician noticed that audiences often like to see rehearsals and wondered whether we could show our online rehearsal: the challenges of playing with click track, recording with a smartphone, alone at home. Another musician wondered how we could make the audience of the video actually feel as audience, as they are probably sitting home alone too. How to create an inclusive experience at home? How to provide musical content and create a musical atmosphere in audiences’ listening situation at home? How to create a situation that would improve the skills of the listeners at home?

We pondered about the emotions of being isolated at home in relation to repertoire. Violinist Christina suggested that the songs of Schubert fit with the kinds of emotions people now go through at home: loneliness, sadness, frustration, hope, joy. The other musicians liked this idea of telling the story of being quarantined at home using songs of Schubert. We discussed the stages of the story of home-isolation in times of corona, starting with peacefulness and carelessness, then shock, sadness and frustration, some joy of being at home with family, and ending with hope. We eventually chose four Schubert songs: Die Forelle, Erlkönig, Lachen und Weinen, and Du bist die Ruh.

We also recognised the benefit of Schubert songs for our atypical instrumentation. Axel: “If we choose songs instead of bigger orchestral works, than we can actually enrich it instead of reducing a musical work to something less.” But how to arrange the Schubert songs for our instrumentation? As this became a much more ambitious video, we decided to cut up the process, and have a better division of tasks and roles. We would first work on the arrangements and the video, and later think about presenting it online to specific audiences. We asked Neil, one of our researchers and a composer, to create the arrangements of the Schubert songs and provide midi-files. Axel would create the click track, edit the videos and produce the collaborative video. Christina, together with student Sanne, would work on the visual narrative of the video. The rest would focus on providing the musical and visual content.

The Sounding North West experiment as it was originally designed focused on the societal relevance of classical music, by working together with local neighbours of the orchestra. The corona crisis disrupted our plans and made us part of a much more encompassing experiment on a global scale. The question what music to perform now, how exactly and for whom became all the more urgent. Classical music initiatives on social media in the first weeks of the lockdown emphasized the power of music to bring people together. Online Musicking was our exploration and attempt to show what it takes for five musicians (and three researchers) to perform classical music online and engage with online audiences.

In the beginning of our journey in online musicking, most musicians were reluctant to value the homemade online videos of classical musicians and orchestras. But when experimenting with creating their own performances using their smartphones, however, we discovered that the videos have their own quality and aesthetic values, such as intimacy, directness, and authenticity. The musicians created individual videos, ranging from reflecting on what it means to give violin lessons using video-conferencing software, recording a podcast with inspiring stories about canonical musical works, to a video series in which a violinist plays short pieces for an audience that she misses.

In experimenting with these media, the musicians shifted their focus from trying to improve the acoustic quality to other aesthetic elements, including the visual qualities of a movie clip, and its narrative structure or scenario. Instead of trying to retain a form of ‘liveness’, which is a main strategy in many online classical music videos, the musicians started to experiment with the particular aesthetic affordances of the media used, as well as their limitations. As one of the two violinists explained “If we keep trying to get the best acoustic quality that is possible, then we are trying to conceal that we don’t have access to a concert hall right now, so if we really would like to relate to the world in this moment, than we should use our smartphones.” Balancing different aesthetic criteria is a vital feature of any experimental project in classical music, especially when such projects entail a collaboration with other partners or media.

With nothing less than their instruments and smartphones at home, the musicians created two collaborative music videos. In these videos, musicians combine their individual recorded performances at home with additional shots that portray emotions during the corona-lockdown. The final video is an adaptation of Schubert, not only because we arranged his songs for this specific and arbitrary instrumentation, but also in the way that it connects and adds a new relevance to them, by explicitly putting them in the contemporary context of the corona-crisis. The musicians managed to combine and balance with different sets of aesthetic criteria: acoustic, visual, and narrative criteria. In the end, it was challenging to lower the high expectations both musicians and audiences have about the acoustic and sound quality of music videos.

The musicians and researchers were amateurs in digital recording, editing, and producing of videos with smartphone cameras. The experiment Online Musicking showed the hidden work that goes into creating an collaborative music video based on individual recordings: the negotiation and balancing between different aesthetic criteria; the different ways to cope with and complement the lack of playing (articulating, intonation and playing in-tune) together in the recording and editing process; the skills that are needed to perform in front of a camera and make it into a collaborative whole. Our attempts at online musicking raised topical questions and challenges regarding performance qualities, audience participation, and societal relevance.