Projects During the Pandemic
Introduction |
Like many, my 2020 plans were put on hold due to the pandemic. During this time, I spent a large amount of time practicing my skills and taking advantage of the many online resources designers and companies alike graciously offered. Below are a few of the major projects I worked on during this time.
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Recording Sessions The trombone studio at Penn State performs a "Labor Days" concert each year to introduce the new members of the studio along with a musical recital by the faculty and guests. This year, the entire concert had to be adapted for a streamed audience with PPE requirements for all performers. With one week of multiple recording sessions and two days to edit, this was a fast paced, challenging, yet rewarding experience to put on the most viewed concert by the School of Music.
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Les Misérables Design Project |
In order to position myself for possibly working as an assoc. or asst. designer or another related field, I chose to do a full paperwork package for a production of Les Misérables as it would appear on a touring production. This allowed me to take a closer look at my drafting blocks and learn about industry standard pieces of equipment that I may not have the ability to use in my University productions. This is currently a work in progress, but my work so far can be found here:
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DAW Mixing Projects |
While I didn't have access to Penn State's resources over the summer, I turned to working on my ear and mixing skills in Logic Pro. I took a few multitracks of shows I had previously worked on and created a few sample songs. Two of which can be seen below
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"Live" Mixing Projects |
Once I returned to the University in the fall, I put my efforts towards re-designing, programming, and mixing a few of my previous productions including A Little Night Music, Hands on a Hard Body, Crazy for You, and other one-off cabarets and performances. This allowed me to once again work on my skills on a theatrical system and experiment with different workflows and techniques using the Digico. I set up a system including a LR d&b T10 hang, center Q7s, floor subs, a Digico SD9 console, a Waves Soundgrid system, and two computers running Tracks Live, Mainstage, and Qlab for endless possibilities.
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"Master Classes" |
Once the system previously mentioned was set up in the playhouse, I hosted a series of master classes in the evening for my peers going over how the system was constructed as well as tutorials on using Digico consoles. This allowed many who have previously not used some of the equipment to come in and have a chance to mix and experiment around with a variety of multi-tracks.
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Music |
Since the School of Theater elected to not do any in-person productions, I took advantage of my newly found free time to participate more heavily in the School of Music. To my surprise, I was placed into the highest ensembles offered including the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, I played in the Trombone Chior and Campus Orchestra in addition to taking a brass repertoire class focusing on orchestral excerpts. One of my audition videos can be found below.
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