Oboe student adapts to online DMA recital

BY BRANDY TRUCKE

Editor’s Note: During the pandemic, our students continued to find innovative ways to stay creative and perform work. Brandy Trucke, who is pursuing a DMA in oboe performance in the

Glenn Korff School of Music, shares with us, in her own words, the story of the work she did putting together her first DMA recital online this spring.

Due to the restrictions placed upon wind players in accordance with Covid-19 protocols, such as using masks and bell covers when others are present in the space, being allowed only 30 minutes of playing time in a room when more than one individual is present, and leaving 30 minutes of buffer time before and after room use to allow for air clarification, my professor, Dr. William McMullen, and I arranged a recorded recital project for this semester that could be viewed online. Given the difficulty in rehearsing with a collaborative pianist, I decided to try something new by making my own accompaniments for several of the pieces on my program.

I accomplished this by manually inputting each note into a musical notation software and then importing the files into a digital audio workstation (DAW), where I could adjust the tempos. To create the videos for my program, I separately recorded audio and video then used a video editing software to synchronize the individual files. The difficulty of this was amplified with the piece Sich üben im Lieben,

BWV 202, which requires harpsichord, soprano and oboe. Although I am a D.M.A. oboe student, I have always had a strong secondary study of voice and created a video of myself performing both soprano and oboe parts side by side. This was a very challenging, yet rewarding, project for me this semester as most of the technology used was new to me. The note input for the accompaniments took about 10 hours, each video required at least one hour of editing, as well as countless hours learning the software functions, and of course—all the time spent in the practice room learning the music. The pandemic has greatly impacted the way I view the future in a music career. Many of my peers and I have been concerned and curious if in-person performances have become a thing of the past. Even as the pandemic comes to a close, many in our society have been accustomed to “going to concerts” from home and have enjoyed the convenience of hearing music from anywhere in the world right in their own living room. From a practical standpoint, I wanted to begin developing the skills to market myself in this environment. My passion for music, however, still lies with the beauty of live performance. I cannot wait until the day comes when I can perform without a mask, flash a smile for a crowded auditorium, and shake any and every hand that comes my way. I am grateful for the support of my professors in how I chose to adapt this semester and hope to see audiences again in the Fall of 2021.  ■

Brandy Trucke synchronized performing both the oboe and voice parts of Sich üben im Lieben, BWV 202, for her online DMA recital. Courtesy photo.