It has almost been a year since the pandemic caused the College of Lake County and several other businesses and institutions to close. 

Along with many locations closing, several arts and entertainment events have been canceled due to not being able to have in-person encounters, with the music department being no exception. 

Due to the pandemic, Michael Flack, the music department’s department chair has said that all music events will be canceled for the semester due to the pandemic. 

Perhaps some may not understand the reasoning why. Still, considering how Zoom has a latent sound delay as it travels throughout the person’s computer and with the constant risk of connection issues, there is a risk to play music as a group when the conductor or the concertmaster gets disconnected. 

Also, with CLC’s maximum capacity for people in one room and making it mandatory to wear a mask at all times, this creates another obstacle for the woodwind and brass musicians. They must use their mouths to create notes and sounds with their instruments, meaning they would need to remove the mask to play eventually. 

An alternative solution for this problem is to record their music and send their progress to the professors to guide their students on where they made their mistakes. And besides regular recordings, they can also possibly incorporate other software such as Musescore or other music software, though this is more speculation.

For trumpet professor Alex Bender, one of the programs he uses is Flipgrid: a program that uses sound waves for their audio recordings.

One of the features that Flipgrid contains with these sound recordings is that with the sound waves that are produced.

With the incorporation, Bender can see the sound waves and pinpoint precisely where the student has made a mistake by comparing where the waves are stronger or weaker, making him able to work on specific points by referring to particular sections of the song.

“It helps us take the most advantage of the 1-hour sessions we have online,” Bender comments.

Like how several of our arts departments are continually improving and adapting to new challenges, the music department has been no exception. 

Every teacher and student have worked together to continue learning and teaching. 

One of the things that Bender took away from this experience was diversifying technology into their classes. With the ability to explain music in a manner that can be more easily applicable in the moment, Flipgrid has immensely helped him carry out his classes.

The concept of arts and entertainment is always part of our lives, even if we do not think about it immediately. The industries and the schools have evolved to accommodate the obstacles we face now is an example of how art continues to grow.