Creating a Play-Along Video with Scrolling Music and a Live Video Recording

This is my first play-along video where the music is scrolling across the screen and the boomwhackers on the bottom of the screen play along with the music. This is also my first play-along using a video of a live recording (the credentials and the link to the original video are below). I enjoyed creating this, but I am not perfect and there are times when the downbeat rushes.

Tools Used

I used Flat.io, YouTube, Scratch, Loom, and Final Cut Pro (FCP) to create this video. The idea stemmed from one of Midnight Music Community’s (MMC) members who asked about videos where the play-along aspect was coordinated with a live video of an orchestra performance. Since this week was spring break for me, I chose to challenge myself (after my girls and I spent a few days at the Great Wolf Lodge) and create one.

It was not easy.

Process

First, I chose the song, which was Ravel’s Bolero. I chose this song because it was recently Ravel’s birthday and my students loved the video of Gustavo Dudamel and the Wiener Philharmoniker performing Bolero. I adapted the recording as it was 17 minutes long. I looked over the original score and found the ostinato bass line to highlight as the first motif and the harp line to highlight as a second motif.

Second, I used Flat.io to create the notation with boomwhacker colors. This is intuitive to do in Flat as you click on the instrument tool, click on “Manage Instruments”, click on “Layout and styles”, scroll down to “Note heads”, click on “Boomwhackers” to change the colors of the note heads and “Note names” to add the note names into the note heads”, click “Save”, and then click “Done”. You can also access the Layout tools by clicking the “Layout settings” button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. The video below shows you how to do this:

Third, I used Loom (any screen recording tool will work) to record Flat playing the motif using the scrolling view. I also used Loom to record myself playing the virtual boomwhackers that I created in Scratch with the Flat playback of the motif. Therefore the two videos would be in time with each other, which will assist me in synching the videos in the video editing program.

Synching the Videos

Synching the videos took some time and effort. Once I adapted the recording to make it a shorter performance, I had to synch the videos so that they played in time with each other. This is where the challenge lies because when you are working with a live recording, the steady beat will fluctuate (one of the reasons I love live recordings). Therefore, I was using the customize tool in FCP to change the speeds of the motif video to match the video of the performance.

Layering

Whether you use FCP, WeVideo, or even iMovie, most video editing programs allow you to layer at least two videos on top of each other. Once I could synch the videos, I layered them to move together across the screen. Once finished, I uploaded it to my YouTube channel.

How to Use This Play-Along

This boomwhacker can be used to practice, reinforce, or used as a tool for multiple modalities with the following musical concepts:

• Dynamics (pp, p, mp, mf, and f)

• Performing at a slow tempo

• Performing a triple meter

• Performing rhythms of quarter and eighth notes, and quarter rests

• Reading music

• Watching the boomwhackers to know when to perform

• Watching an amazing orchestra and following a wonderful conductor

• Study of instruments in the orchestra (and discovering some untraditional orchestral instruments for this specific piece of music)

• Study of Ravel

• Study of an adapted melody (due to the original being 17 minutes in length)

• Form

Resources

Please enjoy and be patient when the downbeat is rushed at times.

Need Virtual BoomWhackers? Click https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/456944831/ or you can use playxylo.com

Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9PiL5icwic

Wiener Philharmoniker Maurice Ravel - Bolero Regente Gustavo Dudamel

At the closing concert of the Lucerne Festival 2010, the Wiener Philharmoniker performed Maurice Ravel's probably most famous piece of music under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel: Boléro. The concert was broadcast live in more than 50 cinemas in Europe on 18 September 2010.

Recording Date: 18 September 2010

Composers: Maurice Ravel

Orchestras: Wiener Philharmoniker

Conductors: Gustavo Dudamel

Director: Michael Beyer