Mamas Gun didn’t let a global pandemic stop them from getting into their groove in their dashing online concert ‘The Tin Pan Sessions.’ The lockdown had forced all musicians to go into “hiding” in a sense; they couldn’t perform in concerts, they couldn’t shoot music videos, they couldn’t go to venues and give the people some live jams. But in crisis emerges resilience, as this British soul band partnered up with Tin Pan Studio to produce a live concert with each of the band members performing from their respective homes. 

This attempt of theirs could have ended up as a disparate, unpleasant, and chaotic trainwreck, but thanks to some genius sound designing and engineering, they succeed with flying colors. Their groovy sound manages to be as authentic and fresh as ever before, and the way in which they’re able to express collective energy despite performing remotely is frankly remarkable. The instrumentation is so solid and integrated that one would hardly be able to tell that the band members are situated in different places. Mamas Gun also needs to be praised for their immersive, rambunctious style that actively works to transport the listener out of the doom and gloom of the pandemic. 

The band worked with their sound engineer Doug Hunt to develop the groundbreaking technology that allowed the band to convey the complexity of their sound through purely digital platforms. Hunt created an ultra-low latency server-based monitoring for the musicians, which removed the disruptiveness of the delays in audio. This monitoring also provided for a way to mix the feeds, laying the groundwork for an adrenaline-fueled, cathartic rush throughout the entire performance. The whole concert was a success, with an exceptionally high number of viewers turning in to catch the performances. 

Four recordings in total were produced for this online concert, which is now being rendered as an EP of the same name. The album is the first-ever commercial release of performances from a band recorded remotely, in real-time. Given that Mamas Gun is an independent band, this achievement is quite the breakthrough for them. 

Hunt said about the concert, “I've worked with Mamas Gun for many years. They were the perfect test bed for the new software as they have extremely high standards & are musically excellent. I knew if we could capture their recordings in this manner at the sort of quality levels demanded by them, we will have cracked something really special.”

Author: Shaoni Das

Shaoni Das is a writer/editor currently based in Edmonton, Canada. She remains eager to inspect how the changing culture of music impacts upon the greater world.