Supported by the Organisation Transformation Grant for the Arts
During the pandemic, when group practice in shared spaces was stopped, many musicians found that practising well at home was almost impossible.
Therefore, compact and safe booths for individuals or small groups to practise and record well in are an increasing need. But safety restrictions vary with time, so these need to remain flexibly useful even in non-pandemic times.
Produced in 2022, in collaboration with the following:
Many people are not aware that wind musicians were hit hard during COVID-19.
Nationally, practice and performances had to stop.
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
Doors neatly tuck behind the booths when not in use, keeping the corridor unobstructed
Booths form semi-circle resting nooks when doors are left open, available for the community to use for non-music activities
Booths are fitted with proper air processing and has integrated soft lighting that makes videos look great
1 | MULTI-USE SOUNDPROOF BOOTHS
2 | POP-UP PERFORMANCE TENTS
In the pandemic, many musicians were forced to stop performing. Temporary tent-like enclosures to resume some performances were just not good enough.
Instead, musicians needed more breathable, professional, and portable enclosures, that can be readily deployed in response to a pandemic, to safely perform in front of a live audience again.
Battery-powered air processors provide positive pressure air intake to keep the tent supplied with fresh air while locking any pathogens in
Air from inside the tent is pushed out only through N95 filter panels, that also let sound out
Tents are foldable for commuting and storage
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
3 | HUMAN-SCALE PERFORMANCE SCREENS
Virtual concerts were one of the only ways for musicians to reach their audience during the pandemic. Over time, many musicians realised that their audiences grew distant and jaded with the influx of video after video.
Consequently, musicians wanted to reconnect with their audiences in an immersive way, alike a live performance, that still kept everyone safe — and this could surprisingly be achieved just by tweaking the recording and viewing formats.
Audio is played back in dedicated tracks for each screen for an immersive experience — going closer to one screen lets you hear that performer a bit louder, just like in a live performance
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
4 | TIMESTAMPED FEEDBACK PLATFORM
In the pandemic, music training is often done by exchanging recordings. Many instructors find it frustratingly inconvenient to tag feedback to specific, pinpointed moments in a trainee’s recording.
Therefore, a new kind of interface, that makes it quick and easy to exchange time-tagged comments on recordings, could emerge a popular tool for musicians whenever in-person interactions are restricted.
Quickly add a pin to mark a position without having to pause the recording
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
Revisit added pins , refine their position , and choose to tag it with a written or recorded feedback
The same pin-to-feedback function works in the same way for submitted video recordings
Music group members get to see a list of feedback from the music conductor, in various audio , text and video formats
5 | CREATORS OF THE COMMUNITY SOUNDSCAPE
Many musicians lost opportunities to perform and showcase their music in front of a live crowd during the pandemic.
A surprisingly simple way exists to provide musicians with more exposure, even without concerts. Invite musicians to create custom chimes and jingles for their community, like train arrival alert sounds, or the recess bell. This showcases their work and connects musicians to their community.
Small groups of choir students coming up with and recording a new school bell for recess
Community music groups creating MRT train arrival and departure tunes and announcements
Small groups within the community choir creating jingles for the neighbourhood HDB lifts
6 | NEW PARADIGM OF MUSIC FESTIVALS AND COMPETITIONS
With major performances cancelled in the pandemic, many musicians lost the opportunity to make music and overcome challenges together as a group. This impacted some sense of togetherness and drive to hone their craft.
Large-scale music festivals and competitions do not need to be the only way to unite and motivate a music group. Instead, another way is smaller music events that can be held more frequently, and that focus on building foundational music skills. This welcomes musicians of all skill levels to make music together even while being physically apart.
“Longest breath sustained” competition to train depth of breath
“Longest harmony sustained that remains in tune” competition to train group dynamics, breath control, and accuracy of pitch
7 | MUSICIAN MINGLE PLATFORM
The pandemic accelerated a shift towards online interactions, but many musicians still found it difficult to seek out fellow music enthusiasts and performers on current platforms.
Therefore, a new social platform dedicated to music would make it much easier for like-minded musicians to seek out their counterparts, share tips to improve, and build a music community more connected than ever before.
Easily find fellow musicians when searching by instruments , and discover their music profiles
Interact with each musician’s profile: watch videos , explore their posts , and chat with other enthusiasts
Make the ideas your own
The above ideas illustrate just some ways in which one can contribute to building up the music community. The format is not set in stone. Consider adopting these ideas at a different scale or across different platforms depending on the group and the role you serve there.
We are excited for you to creatively apply these ideas in your own way to bring some sense of normalcy in your own band and choir rehearsals and performances.
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These 7 concepts help musicians cope now, and better prepare for future waves of global pandemics.
Share this research with a musician or an entrepreneur who would find these solutions useful.
Bands and choirs needed to urgently transform.
They were backsliding in their skills, unable to sustain community, and lost team achievement milestones.
Therefore, with support from the National Arts Council, a research project was conducted to restore normalcy for musicians in new ways.
This project was led by the Band Directors' Association (Singapore) with the Choral Directors' Association (Singapore), in collaboration with STUCK Design.
Dedicated music practice corners in school
Working with school leadership to dedicate specific quiet corners of the school for individual/small group music practice at allocated times of the week
If you are a music educator ...
E A S Y
T O D O
If you are a community leader ...
Retrofit with off-the-shelf pods in community centres
Working with council members to procure work pods with proper acoustic and sound dampening fittings, and situate them in suitable spaces within community centres
M O D E R A T E
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
E F F O R T
If you are a music educator ...
Chamber group contingency
Catering for smaller sub-groups of the full ensemble, so that the music group can continue practice and performance even if the pandemic situation calls for group size restrictions
If you are a community leader ...
M O D E R A T E
Augment off-the-shelf transparent tents
Working with council members to procure large transparent tents and air processor units separately, for use together if the pandemic situation heightens
E F F O R T
If you are a music educator ...
Student features on existing screens in schools
Working with school leadership and admin to put up solo/group performance videos of music CCA students onto existing TV screens in common school areas
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
If you are a community leader ...
Crowdsourced community videos feature
Inviting the community’s musicians to submit their own performance videos, to be put up on existing screens in community centres or in HDB lifts and void decks
Special features during school events
Working with school leadership and admin to outfit common school areas with mobile projectors to showcase human-scale performance videos temporarily for a school-wide event
T O D O
M I N I M U M
E F F O R T
E A S Y
Maintaining visual transparency on concert stages
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
Shared online platform for the CCA
Setting up a common online space for all CCA music students to share their recordings for peers and conductor to leave feedback
Some examples of common platforms:
If you are a music educator ...
- Discord has an organised and easy-to-use channel management system to keep conversations and recording exchanges in one place
- Telegram has no file size restrictions, and has bot features to help with organisation and prompts
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
If you are a music educator ...
School event jingles
Guiding music CCA students to choose and perform jingles for school festivals, sports events, announcements, or even classroom tech/online lessons startup sounds
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
If you are a community leader ...
Roster of pre-recorded jingles at venues
Inviting community music groups to create and record jingles to be played on roster at public venues like community centres, MRT stations, and void deck activity areas
New school bells competition
Holding an annual school competition for all music CCA students to come up with a new set of school bells for different times of day
T O D O
M I N I M U M
E F F O R T
E A S Y
School song variations
Coaching different music CCA groups to create their own versions of school songs as a year-long project in between competition years
Neighbourhood composition competition
Holding a national competition for different neighbourhoods to compose tunes to be played in their local coffeeshops
M O D E R A T E
E F F O R T
M O D E R A T E
E F F O R T
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
If you are a music educator ...
Scout badges-inspired milestone awards
Keeping younger musicians motivated to learn with mini awards and achievements in the form of badges they can collect as they pass milestones in their music journey, which can also be achieved as a group
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
If you are a community leader ...
Gamify musicians’ musical growth
Planning for mini achievements to collect, and celebrating milestones together as a music group, in order to focus on the musical growth both as individuals and as a team
M O D E R A T E
E F F O R T
Find your next mini competition to organise from this list of examples
For bands
- Longest chord sustained together between instruments
- Most controlled double tonguing
- Widest range of warm to bright tones within the group
- Most steady group rhythm on a single note
For choirs
- Most accurate group vocal recreation of familiar sounds
- Best choral team to keep in rhythm when passing a note
- Best choral team to sing a story on the same note without going sharp or flat
Easier ideas you can try tomorrow :
If you are a music educator ...
Weekly record-and-upload after each CCA session
Getting students used to recording and uploading short snippets of their practice performance, to be shared in a group chat with all the CCA members
E F F O R T
M I N I M U M
If you are a community leader ...
Inter-group network building
Reaching out to counterparts in other community groups to come together on social platforms (e.g. Telegram, Facebook), to organise exchanges
Start video challenges on existing platforms
Leveraging students’ existing social platforms (e.g. TikTok) to kickstart a video creation domino effect, where students, regardless of school, get to build on one another’s videos
T O D O
E A S Y
T O D O
E A S Y
Sample badges that can be earned and collected by musicians who take part in the events
Booths are fitted with acoustic panels to ensure optimal sound quality for practice and recordings
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