Spring 21 virtual music thread

[thirdfiddle]

New year, new lockdown, new virtual ensembles and digital exams - welcome to a new, virtual, all digital, socially distanced music thread.

This is a continuation of a very long running and friendly series of threads, dating from long before my time, and anyone with music learning kids from pre beginner to music college is welcome to jump in at any point. Thank you to our esteemed founder and to all the lovely knowledgeable folk who chip in.

PS success stories welcome too, we like a cheery post. Never mind the stealth boasting here, just boast, your kids earned it.

It's really interesting reading about all the grades / auditions going on via recordings. I'm currently trying to record my daughter's euphonium audition pieces for NCBB and so much sound quality/ tone is lost in the recording that it sounds quite different.

I record on my IPhone, but does anyone have any (preferably inexpensive ) tips for recording to improve sound quality? What do you all record on? I guess it doesn't help that we live in a tiny cottage with a very low roof

@Polar81 try recording at different distances from DD and see what difference that makes. Being to close could be distorting the sound, especially with a loud instrument.

I use a Shure MV88 microphone with my iPhone and am pretty pleased with the sound quality. It's not cheap, but for the amount it gets used I think it was a really good investment. The software is good and easy to use. Only downside is I haven't been able to make it work with zoom etc so it's no good for online lessons.

We recorded an audition on a very ordinary phone and DD was accepted for NYOS, I wonder if they give the benefit of the doubt if quality is hard to tell? I think video quality is much better than zoom though. We tried in a couple of rooms and let her teacher decide which sounded better- it was a playroom with quite a bit of soft furnishings eg sofa, long curtains so don't know if that helps? We moved the sofa to get a clear background against the wall so visually it was as good as possible. I think they will know instantly if the recording be equipment is professional quality or just bog standard phone and still be able to judge on the actual performance though. Good luck 🤞! We will have a piano one to do for a performance exam soon, and a JD one as well so not looking forward to it! She has to talk on the JD one too, so not sure how that will go!

Thanks Horseymum and Doesanybody- that's helpful. We have tried in a couple of rooms but not much difference. The best way I can describe it is it makes her euph which is a warm toned instrument sound a bit honky (like a beginner sax player sound). All the tone is ripped back.

I'll definitely check out the mics though- my use of tech has vastly improved since last March, but it's still not great!

@Polar81

It's really interesting reading about all the grades / auditions going on via recordings. I'm currently trying to record my daughter's euphonium audition pieces for NCBB and so much sound quality/ tone is lost in the recording that it sounds quite different.

I record on my IPhone, but does anyone have any (preferably inexpensive ) tips for recording to improve sound quality? What do you all record on? I guess it doesn't help that we live in a tiny cottage with a very low roof

I felt that the sound was poor on the NYMT recording I made on my iphone 6 but I airdropped it to ds's Mac and he played it through the speakers. It sounded really good.

Some very helpful theory book thoughts, thanks everyone.

Not sure if this has come up already, but there are settings you can change in Zoom (on PC and laptop, don’t think the app is as sophisticated) to optimise for musical meetings - lessons, live auditions etc - by keeping the original sound.

I’ve noticed the volume limiting kicking in when DD’s teacher plays high and loud but it’s fixable her end, if she’s using a PC or laptop. (She’s probably had quite enough of my tech advice so I haven’t emailed a helpful link!)

There is something that over-rides the background noise thing. Dh tells his students to disable it. It's something where the mic assumes thast something is background noise that needs muting. I'll have to ask what it is.

Might be this support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360046244692-Background-noise-suppression

Don't suppose anyone can help me. My dd piano teacher has magically decided that we need to decide today if she should sit the theory exam in the next Session.
We have vaguely covered theory but teacher said she may as well intensively prepare and pass the exam.

The thing is I'm so worried because no matter how much I search the abrsm website I don't really understand the changes for the online theory test will be. Which books do I need to get to prepare dd for it because I think the syllabus is different for online version? Is this true? Teacher is rubbish and I think may be replacing him ASAP as he can't answer any of the questions but ideally I will let him apply for dd then I can be free of him with less disruption.

Thanks for any help

Oh it's grade 5 theory I meant to add.

Sorry I don't know but I've just seen that children can now only take Grade 5 theory if they have photo ID. That's going to be very expensive if you have to get a passport just to take a music exam.

Greenmonkey and Comefromaway, yes you do need photo ID for grade 5 theory upwards and playing grade 6 upwards (not sure about 5, I don't remember that). Luckily we had a passport still in date. You can get away with having a Candidate Identification Form (it's on this link) where an adult just needs to confirm that the photo is of DC: gb.abrsm.org/en/policies/candidate-identification-policy/

We did theory just before lockdown. Unless your teacher has been doing bits as part of the lesson I would have thought that "cramming" grade 5 in 5-7 weeks would be a bit of an ask for a younger child. There are some resources here:
gb.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/online-theory/exam-preparation-resources/

Maybe get DC to have a go at answering one of the lower grade papers (they have the answers online in that link) and see how she gets on (you can make quite a lot of mistakes and still pass).

I think there are a few more dates for the theory now, instead of the usual three per year so you might be better taking your time ( unless your DC does well under pressure!)

Yes dd has studied theory to grade 5 but is in no way ready for an exam today. It will take a lot of effort. I think I'll take a look at the practise papers. If it was paper I'd probably go for it because I can practise that more at home but it's the online thing that's concerning me.
Lucky we have a passport that would be annoying if we didn't too.

What are posters wanting from the theory exams? Is it just a pass grade 5 so that they can move forward with practical exams? Or is it because they want to continue onto grade 8 and further with their analytical work? It's maybe not the correct way forward - but there are ways of approaching the exam that will get some points and a pass without following the whole programme (with cadences for example). Talk it through with your theory teacher. Ive had some students do the musicianship exam instead of theory too.

Sorry to be a muppet but registering the DC for the exams is confusing me. School usually do it on our behalf so this is my first go. I registered myself as I thought it would need an over 18 in charge of the account and also as payment will be needed? But the email I received suggests I need to register the kids independent of me? I've mucked this up, haven't I? Do I need to do each child with a seperate email address? Is It ok that the DC won't be linked to the exams they previously took via school or do I need to link to those somehow?

Thread has moved on since I checked but thanks bostik for the recommendations, will check them out. We had the first ever broken string last week. DS was initially distraught so perhaps he's more bothered about his cello than I think he is! Thankfully a call to the teacher, speedy delivery and youtube helped put it right and I'm feeling proud to have learned a new skill! The tone on the new string is noticeably better even to my ears so we may change the others once we're out of lockdown. It's a music service instrument so goodness knows when they were last changed.

I'm finding the chat about online exams and theory helpful. DS has started to prepare for G5 theory with his piano teacher. Not sure when he will take it but it's helpful to hear about the online assessments and book recommendations.

My son needed his grade 5 as some of the Uni music courses he’s interested in ask for it for those not taking A level (he’s doing btec) a couple of places also ask for a higher grade.

@Purpletomato, I think you can use the same email address (I set up accounts for myself and DD using the same one). Have your DC got candidate numbers from their school exams? That’s how it all links together, iirc?

Oh, hang on - may be something called a Contact ID rather than candidate number. Sorry, I’m not really helping, am I?

@OneLovelySister Thank you - I have their certificates from their exams taken through school but none of the entry paperwork as we don't get given that. I can't see a candidate number on the certificates? If it's something I need, I could email school to ask for it?

@Purpletomato, so I’m cobbling this together from when I had to create an account to view DD’s results late last year.

Before I got the email from ARBSM saying the results were ready to view, I’d set up an account in my own name (using my email address that was given to ABRSM by DD’s music teacher). When the email arrived, I realised DD needed her own account, which was to be created using the Contact ID given in the email. When I set up DD’s account I used my own email address again.

The school may be able to give you the Contact IDs? Failing that, maybe contact ABRSM?

Screenshot of the email

Thank you OneLovelySister, that really helps I actually do have that number on the youngest's last mark sheet so I'll try to find a mark sheet for the older one and if not, I'll email school. I assume if school can't answer me, then ABRSM will have some way to tie the records together later.

My daughter just used her Zip card (public transport pass) for photo ID for grade 6. They barely glanced at it. Think a school pass would have been ok too.