Video conferencing via FaceTime, Zoom, and numerous other applications is wonderful when you want to have a real-time conversation with co-workers, family, or friends. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust many people into the technological world of video conferencing apps. In the process, we have pushed the limits of what video conferencing can do. One such limitation is related to live group performances, and it is the focus of this post.
Live group performances require that performers synchronize their performances—whether it be playing instruments, singing a song, or executing dance moves. When done in person, performers can see and hear each other in real time. However, when done via video conference, there is a slight delay between the time that an event occurs and the time that other participants see and hear the event. The lag time may only be a fraction of a second, but it is enough to throw a piano duet or a group of kids singing “Happy Birthday” into dyssynchrony. So while video conferencing works well for conversations because the lag time is barely perceptible, things that require precise timing like music and dance don’t work as well because video conferencing is not exactly achieved in real time but rather in near-real time.
What is the concept of “real time” anyway? I would argue that if you consider the physical laws of the universe, it is difficult to synchronize any 2 events to occur at the exact same time because even when done in person, the speeds of sound and light have finite limits, so there is a slight delay between the event occurring and an observer in the same room perceiving the event to occur. However, from a practical perspective, the delays experienced in person are imperceptible and do not alter one’s sense of whether things are happening in real time, whereas internet-related delays may be perceived depending on the context. So I’d argue that the definition of “real time” is relative to the ability of an observer to detect a difference that has practical impact.
But I digress. Since we’ve established that music and dance performances are challenging to coordinate among multiple performers via video conferencing apps, I do have a couple of recommendations to share. For starters, let’s just acknowledge that video conferencing happens in near-real time. If all participants have the expectation that timing may be a little bit off, then we can accept the imperfect results for what they are. This may be perfectly fine for many informal gatherings, even if people plan to record and share their video conferences.
However, for situations where you need to sync performances for a higher quality video recording, there are some steps that you can take if you can do some preparation beforehand and have the means to do some video editing afterward. First you need to make sure that everyone is able to individually record their own performance and can perform at the exact same tempo. For groups singing a song and/or playing instruments, this might mean that everyone listens to the same song or the beat of a metronome via a headset and does their performance so that the video recording only picks up the performer’s audio. After everyone records and shares their individual performances, the clips can be imported into most movie editors, synchronized, and exported in a way that it looks like things were happening in real time.
While the video editing step is out of scope for this blog post, I’ll just say that video post-production work is correlated with the number of performances need to be synchronized into a single video. In all cases, I highly recommend writing out clear instructions that non-technical people can follow, and if getting things right is important, I also recommend rehearsals ahead of time to allow performers to get used to the technology that they will be using.
So in summary, while it is possible to sync performances in video post-production, consider all the prep work and video editing that must be done and whether you have the resources to do all the work. If you have school-aged children, you may have encountered these scenarios already. What additional tips might you have for people who want to record videos of group performances via video conference?
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