Hi all. My local college has gone online only due to COVID-19. I’m trying to help the chair of the music department figure out how to hold choir rehearsals remotely. I mentioned that some records have been produced completely remotely with GarageBand and DropBox, with the different musicians on their own tracks. Would this be possible for large groups? (20-50 people) Is there an online tutorial I could point her to?
PS. I’m thinking GarageBand would be a could choice simply because the iPhone is so common, a lot of students will have access. But anything online that is user friendly might work. Thanks!
It would require some research but another option is a free online Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) built for cloud. BandLab, Soundation, Audiotool, and Amped Studio are some better-known options. Most are free and some have the option to pay a small amount to unlock extra features.
GarageBand and Logic can work but sharing the same files with dozens of people could get dicey if individuals were to all be expected to edit upload and share their files.
Also, consider googling GarageBand educator
And this is a great blog for music educators, and for detailed advice the owner could probably be contacted:
Right now she just needs to hold rehearsals and/or help people practice. If the college is closed long enough I guess a recording might come in down the road, but that is not the immediate need.
If it’s just for rehearsal purposes, then I would record multiple recordings and export them as mp3 for distribution. It would be three tracks per part, (just accompaniment, then their part amplified, then their part gone.) or whatever they decide.
This could be recorded in Garage band (one track is just the accompaniment) and then record each other track separately and then adjusted for each export. Then they can be uploaded and distributed via a public Dropbox link.
If she’s looking for real time collaboration, then I have not found anything that works great, especially at that size.