Watch my video of a one person quartet, “We Wish You a Klezmer Christmas” on YouTube:
Last month, before Turkey Break, each person in my orchestra class had an assingment to turn in a recording of themselves playing a Christmas song during the break. There were a few songs to chose from and all of us got into groups based on which song we liked the most.
I then came to a sudden realization that no one else in the class chose “We Wish You a Klezmer Christmas”.
As I sat there, I thought of a brilliant idea. What if I played the entire song by myself, a one person quartet? How cool would that be?
I spent the entire Turkey Break working on what I call the “Klezmer project”. There were many steps I had to do to complete the project. First, playing all the parts (Violin 1, violin 2, viola/violin 3, and cello. Well, since I don’t play cello, I played the cello part with a piano). Then arranging all of the parts together so that they were in sync, and lastly, drawing the cover art for the video.
Step 1: Recording
When recording, I came across a rather difficult problem. I would play each part at different tempos. The first violin would be too fast and the second would be too slow or the second violin and the third/viola wouldn’t match.
My solution to this problem was listening to certain parts while recording. For example, I recorded the cello part first. While recording the third violin/viola part, I listened to the cello part. Then, while recording the second violin, I listened to the third violin/viola part. After putting all of the synced parts together, I played the first violin part, while listening to all the other parts.
Step 2: Syncing the Audio
Putting the audio together was a challenge itself. Most of my audio tracks started at different times. This meant that I had to line them up and hope that the rest of the track matches.
It turned out that I had to go back and re-recorded the audio multiple times in hopes that I wouldn’t mess up and that it would match the other tracks.
Thankfully I was able to put all the tracks together and line them up correctly.
Step 3: Cover Art
The cover art for this video took a very long time. My first step was to sketch out someone playing the violin. Despite the fact that I know how to play the violin, I wasn’t sure how to draw someone playing it. My solution? References.
After drawing a messy sketch of what I wanted, I had to draw a firm outline (aka line art). Then I added the base color and shading. This step took me a couple days. Finally, I colored the background with the cherry tree and blossoms.
This is my very first time doing a project like this and I found it really fun! I know that the final product isn’t perfect and a lot can be done to make it better. I’m planning to make more videos like this one in the future! I hope you found it as amazing as I did!
Here is the website of the composer, Lauren Bernofsky.
Hi, Lizzy! You might recognize my name — I’m the composer of We Wish You a Klezmer Christmas. This is an absolutely delightful rendition of the piece, and how very cool that you played all the parts — you really sound great!
Wishing you happy holidays and beyond,
Lauren Bernofsky
Oh, WOW! I’m really surprised that the composer of the song would see this! Thank you so much! I’m really glad that you like it. I like the song very much! It is beautiful and very fun to play!