This is a nearly completely off-topic note, but... I wonder what percentage
of quartets' baritones are either the techy of the foursome, or more
specifically the Mac-user of the foursome? How interesting!

Back on-topic, I agree with what both you and Rob have said... and not just
because Rob and I are in the same quartet. Virtual coaching is incredibly
useful, and I think that if someone published detailed, easy to understand
setup instructions, that many quartets and even the whole society could
benefit. What a great opportunity for so many singers to have quality
coaching that could be convenient for them, and what a great opportunity for
coaches to meet with more singers on a schedule that is convenient for them!

Jamie


On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Denis Laflamme <laflamme.denis@...>wrote:

> Hey gang,
>
> we've had the fortunate pleasure of Tom Metzger's coaching in person
> AND through the internet.
>
> of course a live coaching session is better. I agree and support
> everything Rob says below.
>
> For a little perspective. We currently sing in the low/mid 70-s and
> are aspiring to qualify at Prelims next Spring. We will be using this
> process again, with Tom, to "keep us honest". Some will argue, why not
> just send a DVD or post a performance on Youtube. Well... they also
> work. what they don't do is give you live feedback that you can apply
> right away and it's simply faster.
>
> Once you've found your communication convention (one person talks at a
> time, and be aware when to stop when the coach wants to say
> something...Tom wrote STOP on his hand....funny...) it is a process
> that can benefit a LOT of quartets. A simple cost/benefit breakdown
> should convince you if you've paid for a few flights... ;-)
>
> I'm not sure we would do more than one hour at a time, but that it
> completely subjective to the qtet's situation. One GREAT benefit is
> that we can book the session during our normal quartet night (usually
> after the warm up) and then can continue working on things immediately
> after. My wife really likes that benefit.. since we're a 2 bbshop
> night family. ;-)
>
> You DO need a HIGH Speed internet connection and a Computer that can
> handle a Webcam. We didn't even use external speakers... We had Tom on
> a Mac Laptop (baritone's of course...) on a table 8' away, and he was
> on full screen mode. We were using the audio from the laptop and it
> was fine. the connection was made through Skype (free) but there are
> others...
>
> Bottom line is.... try it. I personally think it's a GREAT tool
> enabling high level coaches to reach many different levels of quartets
> in the comfort of their home.
>
> Denis
> Common Interest
> ONT - 2007 District Champs
>
> Re: [bbshoptech] Virtual coaching? Has anyone tried it?
>
> Posted by: "Rob Sequeira"
rob.sequeira@...<rob.sequeira%40gmail.com>rsequeira
>
> Thu Nov 20, 2008 2:43 pm (PST)
>
> G'day!
>
> I sing baritone in a relatively new quartet in the San Francisco Bay
> Area. We're called Brewhouse <http://www.brewhousequartet.com/> .
>
> We recently did a coaching session with Tom Metzger from OwningTheStage
> <http://owningthestage.com/> . We were physically in San Jose,
> California and Tom was somewhere in Canada.
>
> This essentially involved two computers (each with a webcam, microphone
> and speakers), internet connections (local connections were WiFi, remote
> were broadband), a quartet, a coach and 5 open minds. From a software
> perspective, both computers were runing Mac OS X and we used Skype for
> the audio and video.
>
> We could hear and see Tom very well. The audio and video sync'd up fine
> and there were really no issues there. We recorded the session.
>
> From Tom's side, he could hear and see the quartet quite well (the
> bandwidth remained high enough for 85% or more of the session). To give
> you an idea of how rich the experience was, we talked about a wide
> spectrum of elements including message of the song, overtones, voice
> matching, posture, breathing, synchronisation, intent and effect of the
> song on the audience.
>
> It was relatively easy to setup. We had a "sound/video check" prior to
> the session to make sure it was going to work and then we met up later
> for the real deal. It was bonza!
>
> All in all, as long as you have relatively good up-to-date computers
> with a broadband connection between the two, I think you could get quite
> a lot out of these types of sessions.
>
> Cheers,
> Rob
>
>


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