{"id":386,"date":"2020-10-13T01:04:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T01:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/machine-learning.webcloning.com\/2020\/10\/13\/turn-your-radio-on-nvidia-engineer-creates-covid-safe-choirs-in-cars\/"},"modified":"2020-10-13T01:04:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T01:04:41","slug":"turn-your-radio-on-nvidia-engineer-creates-covid-safe-choirs-in-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/2020\/10\/13\/turn-your-radio-on-nvidia-engineer-creates-covid-safe-choirs-in-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Your Radio On: NVIDIA Engineer Creates COVID-Safe Choirs in Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Music and engineering were completely separate parts of Bryce Denney\u2019s life until the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n

By day, the Massachusetts-based NVIDIA engineer helped test processors. On nights and weekends, he played piano chamber music and accompanied theater troupes that his wife, Kathryn, sang in or led.<\/p>\n

It was a good balance for someone who graduated with a dual major in physics and piano performance.<\/p>\n

Once COVID-19 arrived, \u201cwe had to take the calendar off the wall \u2014 it was too depressing to look at everything that was canceled,\u201d Bryce said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this aimless sense of not feeling sure who I was anymore,\u201d said Kathryn, a former public school teacher who plays French horn and conducts high school and community theater groups. \u201cThis time last year I was working in five shows and a choir that was preparing for a tour of Spain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Bryce got an idea for some musical engineering.<\/p>\n

Getting Wired for Sound<\/b><\/h2>\n

He wanted to help musicians in separate spaces hear each other without nagging delays. As a proof of concept, he ran cables for mics and headphones from a downstairs piano to an upstairs bedroom where Kathryn played her horn.<\/p>\n

The duet\u2019s success led to convening a quartet from Kathryn\u2019s choir in the driveway, singing safely distanced in separate cars with wired headsets linked to a small mixer. The Driveway Choir was born.<\/p>\n

\"Driveway<\/a>
Driveway choir singers harmonize over an FM radio connection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe could hear each other breathe and we joked back and forth,\u201d said Kathryn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like an actual rehearsal again and so much more rewarding\u201d than Zoom events or virtual choirs where members recorded one part at a time and mixed them together, said Bryce.<\/p>\n

But it would take a rat\u2019s nest of wires to link a full choir of 20 singers, so Bryce boned up on wireless audio engineering.<\/p>\n

Physics to the Rescue<\/b><\/h2>\n

He reached out to people like David Newman, a voice teacher at James Madison University, who was also experimenting with choirs in cars. And he got tips about wireless mics that are inexpensive and easy to clean.<\/p>\n

Newman and others coached him on broadcasting over FM frequencies, and how to choose bands to avoid interference from local TV stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an excuse to get into physics again,\u201d said Bryce.<\/p>\n

Within a few weeks he assembled a system and created a site for his driveway choir<\/a>, where he posted videos of events, a spreadsheet of options for configuring a system, and packing lists for how to take it on the road. A basic setup for 16 singers costs $1,500 and can scale up to accommodate 24 voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to make this accessible to other groups, so we choose less-expensive equipment and write out a step-by-step process,\u201d said Kathryn, who has helped organize 15 events using the gear.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Jan Helbers, a neighbor with wireless expertise, chipped in by designing an antenna distribution system that can sit on top of a car on rainy days.<\/p>\n

Bryce posted instructions on how to build it for about $300 complete with a bill of materials and pictures of the best RF connectors to use. A commercial antenna distribution system of this size would cost thousands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was excited about that because here in Marlborough it will be snowy soon and we want to keep singing,\u201d said Bryce.<\/p>\n

From Alaska to the Times<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Denneys helped the choir at St. Anne\u2019s Episcopal church in nearby Lincoln, Mass., have its first live rehearsal in four months and record a track used in a Sunday service. Now the choir is putting together its own system.<\/p>\n

The church is one of at least 10 groups that have contacted the Denneys about creating driveway choirs of their own, including one in Alaska. They expect more calls after a New York Times<\/i> reporter joined one of their recent events and wrote a story<\/a> about his experience.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of ideas for what\u2019s next. Driveway choirs for nursing homes, singalongs in big mall parking lots or drive-in theaters, Christmas caroling for neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we did a Messiah sing,\u201d said Kathryn, who has been using some of her shelter-in-place time to start writing a musical called Connected<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about that song, \u2018How Can I Keep from Singing,\u2019 that\u2019s the story of our lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Driveway<\/a>
Basic gear for a driveway choir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At top: Kathryn conducts and Bryce plays piano at a Driveway Choir event with 24 singers in Concord, MA.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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