Watching musicians perform live allows an audience to feel personally connected with the music and the personality of the artist they are watching, and catching a live set can also introduce audience members to new artists who they may never have sought out before. However, not all artists have access to live performance, and not all listeners have access to seeing shows.
Well-produced video concerts, like those on NPR’s Tiny Desk, the BBC’s Live Lounge and Mahogany Sessions have given audiences and artists both big and small access to each other across the world. Recording live music performances, with high quality audio and video production, brings the joyful experience of live music onto the small screen and into people’s homes and phones.
Vassar Tiny Desk, inspired by NPR’s beloved series, gives that opportunity to musicians and listeners from around Vassar’s campus. Artists Margot Gordinier ’24, Vassar Night Owls and 30 Minutes Late all joined Vassar College TV (VCTV), Student Music (StuMu), ViCE and The Miscellany News in an adapted library in the Alumnae House on the Friday before Thanksgiving break to film three Tiny Desk videos. I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on much of the setup and filming for two of the three shoots, watching the real-time adjustments made so that every shot was perfect.
The professionalism and collaboration on the set was impressive—a sentiment echoed by Alexa Gwyn ’25 of 30 Minutes Late when she shared her observations on the filming and production of the videos. “Everything was so down to the nail,” Gwyn stated. To achieve this professional atmosphere, VCTV brought two camera angles and well-adjusted lighting, and StuMu calibrated the audio recording with several microphones so that the sound from every voice and instrument would be picked up.
All four organizations collaborated to create an engaging and functional set in such a small space. Sam Hurwitz ’25 of StuMu said in an email, “There were some fun small details like using Step Aerobics platforms as risers for The Night Owls, taping makeshift curtains to the windows for lighting purposes, and sneaking in Easter eggs for our orgs in the shots.” These touches, among other details like the specific placement of band members or the attention to energy level in the room, showed the commitment that everybody had to creating a truly awesome product.
I had the chance to sit as an audience member for both Gordinier and 30 Minutes Late’s Tiny Desk sets. The audience was small but enthusiastic, filling the intimate space with support for the musicians playing. Gordinier is a singer-songwriter (whose music can be found on Spotify and Apple Music) who played an acoustic set of five songs. The guitar and vocals blended beautifully in the space, and Gordinier’s playful energy between songs was charming. Sitting on a stool with two guitars and microphones, Gordinier brought a calm, personal, acoustic vibe to the library with songs like “Tether,” a single released last year.
30 Minutes Late is a band that performs pretty much any genre of music they find compelling, according to founding members Aza Wolfwood ’25 and Gwyn. The group brought eight musicians to perform, including drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, saxophone and a horn section. They played a few covers, including Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” as well as an untitled original. I sat down with Wolfwood and Gwyn after the shoot to ask a few questions about the founding of their band and their experience with Vassar Tiny Desk. Wolfwood and Gwyn mentioned that their band came together after a birthday party show for a friend on the field hockey team, and has been continually growing since then. After finding out about Vassar Tiny Desk through an email, the band was thrilled to bring their musical talent to Alumnae House. The intimate recording setting also allowed for 30 Minutes Late to explore a new sound. Wolfwood said, “We are pretty loud as a band, and this really made us become more intimate, more quiet and really fine tune.”
These two sets, and the a cappella set between them, were each amazing and significantly different in style, a choice made by the organizers that helps highlight the diversity of student musicians on Vassar’s campus. The first Vassar Tiny Desk video is anticipated to premiere next week, and the next ones will come soon after. Keep an eye out for the video releases as they are uploaded onto The Misc’s YouTube Channel—the music and production are sure to delight any lover of live music.
