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Conducting During COVID: What is possible and how has the role of the conductor changed?
Conducting During CO
ID: What is possible and

Beyond this, as much as we ducting egos, is to treat conducting represented in the guide track. The
might hope, conducting is often as a reactive choice and to focus recorded voices (which could be

less precise than we as conductors our initial efforts on crafting the conductor generated or from lead-
imagine it to be. While our con- guide track. In this approach, after ers in the ensemble) are responding
ducting might be clear and easy to the musical decisions are made, the to the conducting gesture and the
follow in-person, much of that has guide track comes next and should synced guide track. This process
to do with our ability to process live thoroughly represent the artistic hopefully produces a more accurate
performances and micro-adjust to choices that the conductor wants and representative response to the
the intricacies of how a perform- each performer in the ensemble interpretive ideas for the perfor-
er or ensemble is following us. If to make. Conducting can then be mance.
a conductor, for example, makes a added on top of this pre-record- Similarly to live-remote rehears-
conducting track to their imaginary ed guide track to visually reinforce als and performances, the rehearsal
performance and then sends it off what is happening. While this might process for a virtual choir also var-
to their accompanist to create guide feel very disingenuous for us as con- ies understandably from the normal
tracks, the performance may not ductors, used to being the genera- in-person rehearsal. One particular
fully represent what that conduct- tor of the musical interpretation, strategy that can yield a much more
ing would have generated in a live the conducting is more likely to be thorough, grounded, and peda-
situation. This can then create chal- synchronized to the musical ideas gogical approach to creating virtu-
lenges when singers are listening to being expressed in the guide track, al projects is to record iteratively.
the guide track if it doesn’t match and we have more control over the At Santa Clara University in the
precisely with the conducting, as musical product than we might in spring of 2020, the unauditioned
every introduction of a moment of any kind of video exchange or con- concert choir completed a virtual
discrepancy can be multiplied by ducting response (Table 2). project using this approach by sub-
the various interpretations of the The benefit of this approach is mitting three successive recordings

singers recording along with the that the initial source recording pro- of the same piece with opportuni-
track. vides stability for the process that ties for feedback in between. After
One possible approach, that re- follows, and the conducting video initial rehearsals and essential ma-
quires a major release of our con- clearly reinforces the artistic choices terials were provided, singers sub-

Table 2. An Effective Process for Creating Virtual Choirs Workfl ow

Create part Create Sync guide Record vocal Create fi nal
by part conducting track and tracks for each guide video
recording video to conducting voice part using with synced
with MIDI match the video the generated vocal tracks
instruments guide track guide track with and conducting
conducting video for
video singers to use
in recordings

70 CHORAL JOURNAL April 2021 Volume 61 Number 9