COVID Music Project - Part 1
Author: Richard Moxley
[email protected]
Date: September 30, 2020
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Ottawa Jazz Happenings or of JazzWorks Canada.
COVID Music Project - Part 1
Looking back, my COVID music project actually started over ten years ago when Bill Jupp's band stopped operating. We all had to move on, and I decided that it was time for me to do more soloing and to switch horns from the Eb alto sax to the Bb tenor sax. I felt that, with its variety and depth of sound possibilities, the tenor was perhaps better suited to smaller groups than the alto, although of course there are many notable exceptions (Paul Desmond, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, just to name a few).
After looking into the copyright requirements associated with playing and publishing other people's music, I picked up Band in a Box (BIAB), a piece of software to support my efforts in writing and publishing songs on YouTube and so to help avoid the copyright issue. BIAB allows you to write a piece of music, set the style and tempo, and choose your virtual sidemen and instrumentation. Having generated the song, you can then transpose it into the right key for a singer or other instrumentalist. The software incorporates actual sound samples that can be used to make the virtual band sound like a live group, and the musicians never complain. Here's an example of a couple of real musicians playing with BIAB bandmates - https://youtu.be/coYfhVzacFQ. Can you tell who is real?
Once the song was generated, I would select about one in twenty songs to work on. I still had to go through a song and amend much of it to produce a final product that anyone would care to listen to. Over the years I've found that BIAB is a great learning tool, and I thought that some day I would produce a collection of my favourite songs for people to listen to. Over the last ten years, I have played many of them in restaurants, bars, and retirement homes with my band, and I have produced custom music for my friends. For instance, if you are going to a vacation spot such as the Barbados, I will send you some traveling music backed by a band with steel drums. My musical friends have been kind with their feedback, which has helped to stimulate the learning process.
Fast forward to this March. My wife Sue and I were in Spain for a March vacation break and having a good time. We were vaguely aware of a flu-like outbreak in Italy that was making the news. In our second week there, we got a phone call from our daughter Emma (a travel agent) telling us to drop everything, get to the nearest plane, and get home while we could - ASAP. It all seems like a bad dream now, but we literally caught the "last plane from Spain", which I might use as a song title some day. Once at home, we immediately went into isolation but, thanks to our son and daughter, we were supplied with food and provisions for that period. The new normal had just dawned on both of us.
I can't really pinpoint the exact moment whenI started my COVID project to distribute music via email. However, in April we in the Ottawa music community were shocked to hear that Howard Tweddle, a well-known local bass player and friend to many, had contracted COVID-19 and was fighting for his life at the Civic Hospital. David and Violet Miller became the liaison between the music community and Howard's wife Eveline to manage ongoing communications with his music friends. A support group for both of them quickly sprang up out of this effort. I had prepared music for Howard before to welcome him back to the Arrow and Loon after his kidney transplant. Late last year, I prepared a second song for Howard after his bypass surgery. I planned to present this song to him at the Pints and Quarts Pub. Destiny prevailed and I sent it instead to Eveline, who tried to have it played to Howard before he died. I like to think that somehow he heard it. We all loved Howard and there were many heartfelt tributes other than my own. Howard's passing made me realize that this pandemic had the potential to change the way we live and to touch everyone in one way or another. For example, at that time we could no longer play inside for groups of people.
I felt that there was a need to support each other - both friends and family. To do this, I knew that music could be used as a touchstone to bring people together and, as the song goes, to "soothe the soul”. I started by distributing some music to my family and our new support group to provide emotional comfort that people could collectively embrace. It was a bonding experience as well as an antidote to the stress we all are experiencing in dealing with this virus. As I started spending more time on this project, I soon realized that I would have to plan and manage it before it got out of control.
To be continued ...
Richard Moxley
[email protected]
P.S. If you would like to receive Rick Moxley's COVID Project emails, please let him know.
Looking back, my COVID music project actually started over ten years ago when Bill Jupp's band stopped operating. We all had to move on, and I decided that it was time for me to do more soloing and to switch horns from the Eb alto sax to the Bb tenor sax. I felt that, with its variety and depth of sound possibilities, the tenor was perhaps better suited to smaller groups than the alto, although of course there are many notable exceptions (Paul Desmond, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, just to name a few).
After looking into the copyright requirements associated with playing and publishing other people's music, I picked up Band in a Box (BIAB), a piece of software to support my efforts in writing and publishing songs on YouTube and so to help avoid the copyright issue. BIAB allows you to write a piece of music, set the style and tempo, and choose your virtual sidemen and instrumentation. Having generated the song, you can then transpose it into the right key for a singer or other instrumentalist. The software incorporates actual sound samples that can be used to make the virtual band sound like a live group, and the musicians never complain. Here's an example of a couple of real musicians playing with BIAB bandmates - https://youtu.be/coYfhVzacFQ. Can you tell who is real?
Once the song was generated, I would select about one in twenty songs to work on. I still had to go through a song and amend much of it to produce a final product that anyone would care to listen to. Over the years I've found that BIAB is a great learning tool, and I thought that some day I would produce a collection of my favourite songs for people to listen to. Over the last ten years, I have played many of them in restaurants, bars, and retirement homes with my band, and I have produced custom music for my friends. For instance, if you are going to a vacation spot such as the Barbados, I will send you some traveling music backed by a band with steel drums. My musical friends have been kind with their feedback, which has helped to stimulate the learning process.
Fast forward to this March. My wife Sue and I were in Spain for a March vacation break and having a good time. We were vaguely aware of a flu-like outbreak in Italy that was making the news. In our second week there, we got a phone call from our daughter Emma (a travel agent) telling us to drop everything, get to the nearest plane, and get home while we could - ASAP. It all seems like a bad dream now, but we literally caught the "last plane from Spain", which I might use as a song title some day. Once at home, we immediately went into isolation but, thanks to our son and daughter, we were supplied with food and provisions for that period. The new normal had just dawned on both of us.
I can't really pinpoint the exact moment whenI started my COVID project to distribute music via email. However, in April we in the Ottawa music community were shocked to hear that Howard Tweddle, a well-known local bass player and friend to many, had contracted COVID-19 and was fighting for his life at the Civic Hospital. David and Violet Miller became the liaison between the music community and Howard's wife Eveline to manage ongoing communications with his music friends. A support group for both of them quickly sprang up out of this effort. I had prepared music for Howard before to welcome him back to the Arrow and Loon after his kidney transplant. Late last year, I prepared a second song for Howard after his bypass surgery. I planned to present this song to him at the Pints and Quarts Pub. Destiny prevailed and I sent it instead to Eveline, who tried to have it played to Howard before he died. I like to think that somehow he heard it. We all loved Howard and there were many heartfelt tributes other than my own. Howard's passing made me realize that this pandemic had the potential to change the way we live and to touch everyone in one way or another. For example, at that time we could no longer play inside for groups of people.
I felt that there was a need to support each other - both friends and family. To do this, I knew that music could be used as a touchstone to bring people together and, as the song goes, to "soothe the soul”. I started by distributing some music to my family and our new support group to provide emotional comfort that people could collectively embrace. It was a bonding experience as well as an antidote to the stress we all are experiencing in dealing with this virus. As I started spending more time on this project, I soon realized that I would have to plan and manage it before it got out of control.
To be continued ...
Richard Moxley
[email protected]
P.S. If you would like to receive Rick Moxley's COVID Project emails, please let him know.