Big Pandemic Spark for Big Bandemic
One could argue that not many good things came from the COVID pandemic that hit the world in 2020. However, the subsequent lockdown did become the spark for creating Big Bandemic, one of London’s up-and-coming big band sensations, and long-time Westmount resident and trombone player, John Thompson, was at the centre of it. Big Bandemic is a 17-piece energetic ensemble that plays traditional 1940s music from the Swing Era. Think Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Frank Sinatra, among others. The 2024 Forest City London Music Award winners (Jazz Instrumental Solo/Group) play regularly at the Aeolian Hall, Jazz Festival, and Port Stanley Theatre, and they often perform with vocalists such as Denise Pelley and The Crooners. Because the pandemic made gathering in large groups a health risk, musicians like John could no longer meet with their bands to rehearse, and all live performances were cancelled. “We had no place to play together as a group, and we really missed it,” says John. John, together with long-time friend and bandmate Karl Hermann, decided to create a system where they and fellow musicians could rehearse together online. John and Karl started by scanning music from various sources into PDFs that could be distributed online. Then they found an open-source software program called Jamulus that could link two or more musicians playing remotely.
Using Jamulus, along with wired microphones and earphones connected to their PCs, each musician could play their part at home. The Jamulus program collected each audio stream into a server, mixed it, and then sent it back to the musicians. “Each person could play their part but also hear everyone else playing their parts along with them,” explains John. “We used an online video service to see each other while playing.” John and Karl launched their makeshift online rehearsal hall in November 2020 with musicians from their pre-COVID band the Moonlighters and others they knew who were keen to try this new way of rehearsing. The group found distinct advantages to rehearsing online. Playing from home meant they didn’t have to haul their instruments to the physical rehearsal space, set up, and then tear down
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