Music fills the room as a crowd claps and cheers. Colorful lights swirl around the room. People crowd together jumping and singing along. The crowd can be as large as 100,000 people or as small as five people. They enjoy and share the music together in the same room just the same.
Before the coronavirus, people were able to gather to enjoy and share music with each other. Since people can no longer do that, many musicians struggle to find jobs to get by. Music has always been a part of culture, and it still is, just in a different way.
Music means a lot to musicians, whether it’s in a big or a small way. For Daniel Kapulkin, who performs music as a hobby in Austin, it’s been a part of his life since he was a child.
“Music allows people to communicate in a unique way,” Kapulkin said. “There is just something about it you can’t explain. When you hear that band you really really like, or you go to see a band and you’re having the same feeling with a bunch of other people...there isn’t anything quite the same as music.”
Tom Gimbel, the general manager of the PBS television show for Austin City Limits agrees. Music is an important part of the community.
“It is a universal language that brings people together in community and I think it has been around for as long as there are been human beings gathering together,” Gimbel said.
Leigh Wallenhaupt is a teacher at Suzuki Strings of Austin and a freelance performer. She values music in a different sense.
“I see music as a vehicle to teach children life skills, including responsibility, perseverance, dedication, and ambition,” Wallenhaupt said. “The idea that a child can do a little bit of something (in this case playing the violin) every day and over a period of time develop a very complex skill is a lesson they can apply to many aspects of their futures!”
Coronavirus has affected a lot of lives, including the lives of musicians. Many musicians are struggling at this time to find jobs.
“I used to go to shows once or twice a week, maybe play a show once or twice a week and now that has gone down to zero, all my band practices have gone down to zero and that’s been weird,” Kapulkin said. “ I’m lucky enough to have a full-time job that’s not music. A bunch of my friends who are full-time musicians and that’s their main source of income, it has been very difficult for them. They have no way to get work and they have to get creative or pick up other sorts of jobs. It’s been incredibly disruptive to their way of life.”
It’s not just the performers that are affected though. This is a difficult time for people everywhere.
Before the coronavirus, people were able to gather to enjoy and share music with each other. Since people can no longer do that, many musicians struggle to find jobs to get by. Music has always been a part of culture, and it still is, just in a different way.
Music means a lot to musicians, whether it’s in a big or a small way. For Daniel Kapulkin, who performs music as a hobby in Austin, it’s been a part of his life since he was a child.
“Music allows people to communicate in a unique way,” Kapulkin said. “There is just something about it you can’t explain. When you hear that band you really really like, or you go to see a band and you’re having the same feeling with a bunch of other people...there isn’t anything quite the same as music.”
Tom Gimbel, the general manager of the PBS television show for Austin City Limits agrees. Music is an important part of the community.
“It is a universal language that brings people together in community and I think it has been around for as long as there are been human beings gathering together,” Gimbel said.
Leigh Wallenhaupt is a teacher at Suzuki Strings of Austin and a freelance performer. She values music in a different sense.
“I see music as a vehicle to teach children life skills, including responsibility, perseverance, dedication, and ambition,” Wallenhaupt said. “The idea that a child can do a little bit of something (in this case playing the violin) every day and over a period of time develop a very complex skill is a lesson they can apply to many aspects of their futures!”
Coronavirus has affected a lot of lives, including the lives of musicians. Many musicians are struggling at this time to find jobs.
“I used to go to shows once or twice a week, maybe play a show once or twice a week and now that has gone down to zero, all my band practices have gone down to zero and that’s been weird,” Kapulkin said. “ I’m lucky enough to have a full-time job that’s not music. A bunch of my friends who are full-time musicians and that’s their main source of income, it has been very difficult for them. They have no way to get work and they have to get creative or pick up other sorts of jobs. It’s been incredibly disruptive to their way of life.”
It’s not just the performers that are affected though. This is a difficult time for people everywhere.
“People are limited in being able to be close to one another in these public gatherings and music as a centerpiece for them gathering obviously has been affected. So, the musicians and artists who perform, the venue owners, the crew the sound people, all the different folks that make their living around a live music event are struggling right now, so it has a big effect.”
- Tom Gimbel
- Tom Gimbel
Leigh has stopped performing, but has grown in other ways.
“I work as a freelance performer and also a teacher, so my work life was split in two when the pandemic hit! I no longer am performing, but my teaching studio has grown, and my program (me plus 3 other teachers) has really flourished since everyone has been staying at home.” -Suzuki Strings of Austin
The work aspect isn’t the only thing that has been affected. A lot of things socially have also changed.
“I can’t see any of my bandmates. I still have my Facebook group chats and every once in a while we’ll get together and just have a chat over video and that’s fine and it’s nice but I can’t play any music with them. We can’t be together in the same room,” said Daniel. “One of the best things about playing in a band is when you’re with other people and you’re playing music, you’re making it together at the same time, and that’s pretty special when it’s going well. So that’s basically completely gone if we have song ideas we email them to each other or whatever but it’s absolutely not the same.”
Not being able to socially interact in the same way impacts the musicians. They are no longer able to have an audience.
“I’m responsible for the Austin City Limits television show and when we tape the music show as we have for the past 45 years... we have taped the show in front of a live studio audience. That studio audience gives energy to the musicians with their presence, with their applause, with their dancing, with their singing, so it affects the performance of the artists, it affects the energy of the room.” Tom said.
“I work as a freelance performer and also a teacher, so my work life was split in two when the pandemic hit! I no longer am performing, but my teaching studio has grown, and my program (me plus 3 other teachers) has really flourished since everyone has been staying at home.” -Suzuki Strings of Austin
The work aspect isn’t the only thing that has been affected. A lot of things socially have also changed.
“I can’t see any of my bandmates. I still have my Facebook group chats and every once in a while we’ll get together and just have a chat over video and that’s fine and it’s nice but I can’t play any music with them. We can’t be together in the same room,” said Daniel. “One of the best things about playing in a band is when you’re with other people and you’re playing music, you’re making it together at the same time, and that’s pretty special when it’s going well. So that’s basically completely gone if we have song ideas we email them to each other or whatever but it’s absolutely not the same.”
Not being able to socially interact in the same way impacts the musicians. They are no longer able to have an audience.
“I’m responsible for the Austin City Limits television show and when we tape the music show as we have for the past 45 years... we have taped the show in front of a live studio audience. That studio audience gives energy to the musicians with their presence, with their applause, with their dancing, with their singing, so it affects the performance of the artists, it affects the energy of the room.” Tom said.
The work aspect isn’t the only thing that has been affected. A lot of things socially have also changed.
“I can’t see any of my bandmates. I still have my Facebook group chats and every once in a while we’ll get together and just have a chat over video and that’s fine and it’s nice but I can’t play any music with them. We can’t be together in the same room,” Kapulkin said. “One of the best things about playing in a band is when you’re with other people and you’re playing music, you’re making it together at the same time, and that’s pretty special when it’s going well. So that’s basically completely gone if we have song ideas we email them to each other or whatever but it’s absolutely not the same.”
Not being able to socially interact in the same way impacts the musicians. They are no longer able to have an audience.
“I’m responsible for the Austin City Limits television show and when we tape the music show as we have for the past 45 years... we have taped the show in front of a live studio audience.” Gimbel said. “That studio audience gives energy to the musicians with their presence, with their applause, with their dancing, with their singing, so it affects the performance of the artists, it affects the energy of the room.”
The challenges of not being able to meet in person have opened doors to technology. Teachers and performers have been discovering new ways to use technology. Katie Nott, a viola and violin teacher at Austin strings, likes teaching online.
“Using newer technologies is like a novelty for them, they absolutely love using their Ipads and their parents’ laptops and then just seeing another person on the other end,” Nott said.
People are now using technologies that have already been around to new extents. The coronavirus has allowed people to rethink the way we use technology and enhance the entertainment industry.
“If you are a club that has a 300 person capacity, or an arena that has a 15,000 person capacity, or a festival that has a 75,000 person capacity, at some level you are going to sell and people are going to be not able to attend,” Gimbel said. “So for those people who were not able to get tickets, a live streaming event could be a good substitute, and that could bring entertainment to more people, it can produce more revenue for the artists, and I think it can be a win-win for the fans and for the industry.”
Technology still isn’t perfect for some people though. Leigh thinks that it is just not the same as being in person.
“My teaching style, and the overall teaching style of our collective studio, is very hands-on. We play a lot of games in lessons and do a lot of exercises kinesthetically, so not having that ability to physically assist the students is both different and challenging,” Wallenhaupt said.
Coronavirus has also shown us how important human interaction is.
“I think we recognize that being together in social events, whether it’s music or sports, or theater, whatever it might be, I think we have all learned that that is very healthy for us,” Gimbel said. “I hope what we’ve learned and what will change when going forward is that people will be more attentive to being together in community because that’s healthy for us as human beings,”
Despite not being able to be together because of the coronavirus, music is still important. The world might never return to “normal” but musicians still hope.
Kapulkin said, “I don’t think everything is going to go back to ‘normal,’ the way it was. It’ll probably be a long time before I’m seeing my favorite metal bands and moshing around with a thousand other people, maybe one day, hopefully. I think for a lot of us we can’t wait to play a show or go to a show.”
“I can’t see any of my bandmates. I still have my Facebook group chats and every once in a while we’ll get together and just have a chat over video and that’s fine and it’s nice but I can’t play any music with them. We can’t be together in the same room,” Kapulkin said. “One of the best things about playing in a band is when you’re with other people and you’re playing music, you’re making it together at the same time, and that’s pretty special when it’s going well. So that’s basically completely gone if we have song ideas we email them to each other or whatever but it’s absolutely not the same.”
Not being able to socially interact in the same way impacts the musicians. They are no longer able to have an audience.
“I’m responsible for the Austin City Limits television show and when we tape the music show as we have for the past 45 years... we have taped the show in front of a live studio audience.” Gimbel said. “That studio audience gives energy to the musicians with their presence, with their applause, with their dancing, with their singing, so it affects the performance of the artists, it affects the energy of the room.”
The challenges of not being able to meet in person have opened doors to technology. Teachers and performers have been discovering new ways to use technology. Katie Nott, a viola and violin teacher at Austin strings, likes teaching online.
“Using newer technologies is like a novelty for them, they absolutely love using their Ipads and their parents’ laptops and then just seeing another person on the other end,” Nott said.
People are now using technologies that have already been around to new extents. The coronavirus has allowed people to rethink the way we use technology and enhance the entertainment industry.
“If you are a club that has a 300 person capacity, or an arena that has a 15,000 person capacity, or a festival that has a 75,000 person capacity, at some level you are going to sell and people are going to be not able to attend,” Gimbel said. “So for those people who were not able to get tickets, a live streaming event could be a good substitute, and that could bring entertainment to more people, it can produce more revenue for the artists, and I think it can be a win-win for the fans and for the industry.”
Technology still isn’t perfect for some people though. Leigh thinks that it is just not the same as being in person.
“My teaching style, and the overall teaching style of our collective studio, is very hands-on. We play a lot of games in lessons and do a lot of exercises kinesthetically, so not having that ability to physically assist the students is both different and challenging,” Wallenhaupt said.
Coronavirus has also shown us how important human interaction is.
“I think we recognize that being together in social events, whether it’s music or sports, or theater, whatever it might be, I think we have all learned that that is very healthy for us,” Gimbel said. “I hope what we’ve learned and what will change when going forward is that people will be more attentive to being together in community because that’s healthy for us as human beings,”
Despite not being able to be together because of the coronavirus, music is still important. The world might never return to “normal” but musicians still hope.
Kapulkin said, “I don’t think everything is going to go back to ‘normal,’ the way it was. It’ll probably be a long time before I’m seeing my favorite metal bands and moshing around with a thousand other people, maybe one day, hopefully. I think for a lot of us we can’t wait to play a show or go to a show.”