For my expert tour, I chose to reach out to a former classmate, Dr. Jim Buennig. Jim and I were classmates during our undergrad at WIU. Since then, he has gone on to get his masters and doctorate in saxophone/jazz performance. He is currently working as an adjunct professor at Cornell College in Iowa. This past semester, he was a visiting professor at University of Iowa, where he got his masters degree and he filled in for the jazz saxophone professor.
For this project, I asked Jim about his home studio and the technology that he utilizes there. From his home, he can teach virtual lessons, record and publish collab videos with other artists, and record and publish his own videos (transcriptions, general practice, gear vids, etc.).
Above is Jim's setup, where you'll see plenty of Apple devices (iMac, MacBook Pro, and an iPad Pro). He also has the basics, a camera and a microphone. The piece you may not recognize, is the small black box on the back of the desk. That is a Blackmagic ATEM mini, which is a live production switcher. It allows Jim to seamlessly switch between multiple camera angles and display screens. It's commonly used by musicians and various streamers alike.
Above is Jim's audio interface, a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4. This piece of hardware is used to convert all of Jim's live playing into data the computer can understand. His microphone is connected to the interface, which is in turn connected to the computer. The interface not only translates his playing for the computer, but it also cleans up the audio for the highest quality recording.
Jim uses this set up to teach his private saxophone and improvisation lessons. In addition to this hardware, there is specific software that he uses as well.
Synergy - this software allows you to share your mouse and keyboard between multiple computers. This allows Jim to use his keyboard and mouse from his iMac on his MacBook as well. That way he doesn't have awkwardly reach up to the MacBook.
MyMusicStaff - this software is designed for private music instructors. It allows you to create a scheduling calendar, list prices and process payments, and market yourself. It's become a very successful product in the recent times!
Zoom - we all know what zoom is and I'm sure you've seen it used in this same way. But, if you look at the first picture, you'll see a piece of music that has a circle on it. Jim hosts lessons through zoom and he can share his screen, with their lesson music, and make notes or circle specific points for the student.
I've attached a list of all the gear Jim uses, if you're interested!
Collaboration Process:
If there's no backing track, Jim and colleagues begin by discussing the form. How many choruses for each solo? How long/what kind of intro and outro? This way they know exactly how many times to play through the form and everything.
The bassist would record first and then send his track to the guitarist.
The guitarist would then send it on to the next person...and so on.
Eventually the tracks would all make it to Jim. There would be 2 files for everyone, audio and video.
Jim syncs the video with Adobe Premiere and syncs the audio with Logic.
Once everything is all synced up, he uploads to social media! Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
Do: All of this technology makes it possible for musicians like Jim to perform and publish content for all of his followers. He can have a full on "gig" from the comfort of his own home if he'd like.
Mean: The technology allows Jim to perform as a way to survive. During a global pandemic, he can't get out and play a live gig, but with this tech, he can do that from his own home. He can have a virtual tip jar via cash app or venmo. He could even offer ad space for people or businesses. The tech can turn these home gigs into a full blown career.
Relate: Performers and their audiences thrive from connection and presentation. If you are unable to go out and be seen by your audience, the next best thing is social media. The more you can publicize yourself virtually, the better. That is why all of the collaboration videos are important as well. Not only do you connect to your home crowd, you can reach the other collaborators audience as well.
Think: Virtual performances have the potential to change how we view performers and what they do. I think they will always draw a crowd and help to serve the performers, but ultimately, I think the audience will always long for a live performance.
Be: Technology like this allows Jim and every other professional musician out there, to be themselves. To be a performer. COVID came along and destroyed the live music field in an instant. It left performers in a limbo of confusion, but through technology they were able to get back to some version of their old self. Now that things are opening back up, they won't leave the tech behind. Instead, it is now a part of their new identity.
Teaching implications:
As a high school music teacher, I am not allotted much time to do individual lessons with my students. While I will obviously work with them when needed, I do not have lessons happening on the regular. With that said, there isn't too much for me to apply directly to my teaching. Something that I can add, as an extra/exploratory lesson, is just a view into the music business world and the life of a talented and accomplished musician. Jim's current career status is one that's VERY common for players of his caliber. This provides me with the opportunity to show my students a very realistic look into the performing musicians' career. It isn't as "pretty" as they probably assume, but it is possible!
In my opinion, the most beneficial aspect that I could share with my students is the amount of technology at their disposal and how anyone can use it. Any one of my students can purchase a cheap, but decent, microphone and an audio interface to start dabbling in a career as a performer. If I have a student who is seriously considering pursuing a career as a performer, I would gladly work with them on learning this technology.
In a perfect world, I would be able to start some sort of music production class where we study programs like Logic or Ableton. We could also talk about the recording technology (mics, amps/pre-amps, etc.). Since that isn't an option right now, what I can do instead is to help my students learn the concepts of working in small jazz combos. With my jazz students, we can schedule some extra time and go through the process of picking a tune, learning the head, and creating an arrangement. Creating an arrangement is something that's absolutely within their ability, they just need some guidance on how to create an intro/outro, how to add harmonies, and other general elements you encounter in combo playing. Once they learn these concepts, they'll be able to create their own collabs like the one below!
To close, here's a collab video that Jim did last summer during the height of COVID, enjoy!
Great writeup, Nigel; I enjoyed learning about Jim's setup. One of my bass students is going to Cornell this fall; maybe the two of them will interact! As someone who has never really gotten into the "studio" side of music, I am really impressed with people like Jim who do it so well. Thanks for sharing.
Seeing a post like this is just so awesome to me. Music is life and see how there are so many programs available to make a recording session happen is very cool. For musicians like Jim to be able to do so much from home like teach, record and publish is remarkable.
It's neat to see the "real life" use for some of these items. In my recording courses, we used Scarlett 2i2's to record, but my students are probably under the impression it's just to get the sound they make on the program we use and don't quite grasp exactly everything it can do. A lot of what he does is what we did as teachers last year or that my students did in our recording class. So this is a great way to show my students that what we did in class is not just for the class, but it's actually a job!