A market town band has described its online performance as “bittersweet” as it prepares to take to the (virtual) world stage.
The Fakenham town band has entered a virtual competition hosted by the world’s number one ranked brass band as a substitute for the national finals of the brass band championships.
The event, which has been organised by Welsh band, The Cory Band, has people from all over the world sending in their pre-recorded programme using the ‘distancing banding’ format.
Fakenham has chosen three pieces, a march, a solo and a popular piece, They will be aired on September 25 at 5:45 pm on Cory Band’s YouTube channel.
The band members recorded their parts to a backing track at home, or in Fakenham when the band held a day in the town to record individual parts with strict Covid risk mitigation in place.
The 30 member band cannot meet altogether for rehearsal but have hosted weekly catch-ups on Zoom when they would normally rehearse.
Booking secretary for the band, Catherine Moore described the virtual recording as bittersweet. She said: “We wanted to give players something to focus on and give them a reason to play something.
“It was great to pick up an instrument, put on your uniform and produce something.
“It’s not the same as being in the room together and creating music as a group though, so this made it bittersweet”
The competition is split into the five national grading sections, from championship to the fourth section.
The Fakenham band has entered the fourth section as it is not a registered band and does not normally enter competitions.
After everyone’s parts were recorded, some of the members, including Mrs Moore pieced it all together ready for the show.
“The audio took a long time to put together, as 10 minutes is a lot of material and with up to 30 different contributions per piece to include, getting the right sound from it was both a challenge and massively rewarding,” she said.
“We are really proud of what we have produced and so pleased to be entering this competition.
“There are bands from across the world taking part and we are hopefully helping put Fakenham and Norfolk on the map.”
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