2020 Video Project

Instead of an in-person strings camp this June, we will all play together with a virtual video project! We've selected two pieces for this, the beloved Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and a fiddle style tune Millionaire's Hoedown.

Everyone will record their part separately from home, and they will be edited together. To get an idea of what the final project will look like, here are two examples from the Colorado Symphony.

Instructions for making your video:

1. Tuning: use a tuner set on A=440 and check every string with the tuner.

2. Recording with headphones: you must record your video while listening to the video of your part, so that the video engineer can sync all of them together. All of the videos are on this website.

Ode to Joy click tempo: this is set at quarter note = 120, so you can practice with metronome at that speed as well as with the video. Violin C and Viola have the melody in this arrangement, so play out! in the video, the coach will count off "1 2 3 4" so you know when to start playing.

ODE TO JOY CLICK TRACK: Download Practice Metronome File

Millionaire's Hoedown tempo: this is set at half note = 92. That means that this song is "in 2," where every metronome click is a half note instead of a quarter note. In the video, the coach will count of "1 2 1 2" so you know when to start playing.

MILLIONAIRE'S HOEDOWN CLICK TRACK: Download Practice Metronome File

3. You can record on whatever device you have available - a phone works just fine and you don't need professional equipment. You do need to have the video playing on headphones connected to a device separate than the one you're using to film.

4. Set your camera to record in landscape mode, and not vertical. Use the rear camera for better resolution.

5. If possible, film when it's sunny so you can get some natural light.
-Try not to place a window right behind you.
-Try to avoid bright spots like an overhead light or window to the side.