VGO/MEA 2024
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What We Are Planning
VGO Heritage
VGO Heritage – Exploration of music by indigenous people
The VGO Team is excited to expand on the VGO Live concept by engaging with multiple communities where guitar learning is celebrated through the lens of wonderful art and connecting them to the rich musical heritage of Native American people.
Our plan involves selecting pieces rooted in indigenous cultures, dedicating a week to teaching and exploring the song’s significance with our students. During this time, we will record groups of guitar students through audio and video.
We are aiming to produce a captivating music performance video, accompanied by two behind-the-scenes films. The first film will delve into the song’s meaning and its cultural significance, while the second will spotlight the experiences of the students and teachers who have been part of this enriching project.
Guitar Ensemble Videos
1. We will be working with KMEA to produce a beautiful virtual guitar orchestra video featuring over 60 students from across the state performing Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears.
2. We are collaborating with the wonderful San Francisco Conservatory of Music Youth Guitar Orchestra, performing Pacific Coast Highway by Andrew York.
3. We will feature a virtual orchestra video of NJGO/NJMEA Combined Guitar Orchestra presenting a new piece by Matthew Halper, Autumnal.
4. Our final project will be a mixed virtual ensemble (Hawai’i Honor Guitar Ensemble, Connecticut All-State Virtual Guitar Orchestra, Internal Creations, SCMEA All-State Guitar Ensemble) performing the first movement of Ronald Pearl’s composition Celestial Navigation.
VGO Connect
Talking to educators from across the country, we noticed there is a need for the students to engage with successful professional musicians. Over the years of working with guitarists worldwide, we have established connections and friendships with many successful guitarists, and we want to help connect the dots.
From setting up the logistics to scheduling and tech support for virtual visits, we want to help students have an exciting year of learning, and finish their year realizing how beautifully big the music world is.
This initial collaboration will include 15 guitar programs in schools across the US.
Update: We’re sorry, all the spots have been reserved for 2024. Please get in touch with us for a possibility to include your school in 2025.
Collaboration with Lead Guitar
We are teaming up with Lead Guitar to produce two epic videos with over 200 students from across the country.
The first project has just been published – Lead Guitar students are joined by the legendary guitarist Curt Chambers for an epic performance of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.
Our Focus
Pristine Audio Quality
We strive for perfection when it comes to audio. This is why we spend upwards of 150 hours editing every single submitted track in each project. We also use automatization of volume to bring musical ideas forward and advanced mixing techniques such as macro and micro tuning, noise manipulation, multi-band compression etc. We finish each mix with a high-end reverb.
Visually Striking Transitions
We are always creating new custom animated grids, transitions and sequences so the viewers stay focused throughout the videos.
Story Driven Videos
Our approach is story first and we are always aiming to adapt our visual language to the theme of the composition.
Educational Value
Throughout the season, we are organizing project-specific Zoom meetings with educators and students, advising them how to go about recording their submissions. Recording is a craft that takes time to master, but we want to give all participants a head start.
We also created fun, animated checklists as well as short video tutorials for the students. Check an example here.