Recording Guidelines:

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These recording guidelines are aimed at DIY participants who are located a considerable distance away from Elm's headquarters in South Yunderup, W.A.. Participants located more locally, may take opportunities to attend recording session facilitated by Elm.

How you go about practicing will be influenced by your level of competency and whether you:
  • sing/play by ear and improvise, 
  • sing/play by sight and follow a music score, or
  • learn by rote and sing/play by memory.
For example, experienced 'perform by ear' improvising singers and instrumentalists may need very little practice using audio and lyric resources and may well choose to be recorded while virtually jamming with Eric's band using the video for improvising by ear.

Less experienced 'perform by sight' singers and instrumentalists may need to follow the set arrangement and practice for some time using the 'Practice by sight' music score and audio resources before attempting to record a rendition. Resist the urge to just do it. PRACTICE FIRST! When ready, they would then use one of the two videos to 'Record by sight' video resources, namely; Video for 'by sight' instrumentalists or the video for 'by sight' singers.

Before Recording:

  1. Register your participation (so that we can communicate important information to you and help you with the sending of your recording to us..
  2. DIY participants should set up of your recording environment:
    Ensure you have sufficient and appropriate lighting where you'll be recording (lighting your 3/4 front profile is ideal). 
    Set your position so that your head(s) and upper torso(s) are well framed (at your discretion, you may also wish to tidy up the background seen by your camera and dress as you see fit).
    Record in a place and at a time when background noise is likely to be low.
  3. Set the microphone sensitivity in your computer's 'webcam' recording software (or equivalent), such that it does not overload because it is set too high (distorts audio) or requires an excessive increase of volume control on playback because it is set too low (amplifies noise).
  4. If you are performing acoustically and recording by microphone, wear head or ear phones to listen to the practice music when recording (we only want your voice or instrument to be recorded, not the practice music to which you will be listening. Singers may wish to use only one earpiece to assist your 'pitching' and may be more aesthetically to your liking!.
  5. Webcam singers should configure their audio cables according to how many will be performing (maximum of 4 singers please).
    -   One singer: use one ear piece of a single set of earphones.
    -   Two singers: share the ear pieces of a single set of earphones.
    -   Three singers: share the ear pieces of two sets of earphones (joined using a splitter & cable).
    -   Four singers: As for three.
  6. For example: Rather than record a solo performance, you may wish to team up with as many as three others to perform together:
                                               ----Singer 1
                                         ===
                                               ----Singer 2
    Computer == splitter   
                                               ----Singer 3  
                                          === 
                                               ----Singer 4 
    CAUTION: If you do team-up to sing, you may need to do more practice and record more 'takes' to ensure your performance does not have too many errors. The chance of an error being made when a group of people sing is greater than when singing solo. If we edit out an error by one singer in a group the good work of the others will be lost as well!
  7. When all is ready, start the recording session using the appropriate video provided for 'by ear' and 'by sight' participants.
    TIP: Use of the video files provided for recording allows you to follow the music, lyrics and audio without having to avert you eyes. Position the video on your screen as close to the webcam as possible, your viewers can enjoy your smile! 

During Recording;

  1. Initially, leave your head or earphone cable unplugged from the video player, but be poised to insert it.
  2. AFTER you've started your webcam recorder, play the video until you hear the first 'click' of the click track (13 seconds from the start), at which time you must insert the head or earphone into the video player... and be ready to perform. (we need you to record this first click, so that we have a sound signature with which to synchronise your video with the master)
  3. Try to perform accurately throughout in terms of the timing, pitch and diction set by Eric and his Band.
  4. At the conclusion of the song STAY STILL and smile until the master video ends BEFORE turning off the recording.

After Recording;

  1. Save your video recording in a medium resolution (no more than 1280 x 720, no less than 640 x 360) and in a common video format, preferably the H-256 standard of mp4. Note: Depending on what software application you are running, you may need to set these parameters before you record, rather than after.
  2. If you are not happy with your first attempt, then try, try, try again! Note: like all of us, you may find the quality of performance of your best effort to be less acceptable to yourself than you would prefer. DON'T worry! once we blend your performance with everybody else's it will blend in. Believe me, there IS safety in numbers. 
  3. When you are happy with a 'take', send the video file(s) to us in whatever way you prefer (e.g. DropBox, YouTube, Vimeo, Drive). Be sure to send an email to mgtcpilot@gmail.com advising us of where to find your submission.
    NOTE 2: This does not necessarily apply to locals who have the option of physically delivering their video file(s) on USB memory stick, CD/ROM or DVD/ROM.
  4. Sit back and take a well earned rest. We'll do all the hard work from here on!