Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Oakland-based band Thao & The Get Down Stay Down had a problem. Their plan to shoot a music video for their single “Phenom” was abruptly canceled as shelter-in-place orders rolled in. The band, crew, and dancers could no longer meet up in person, and they were faced with a decision: put everything on hold or figure out a way to make the music video remotely. “At first we didn’t know if we would even release the song because it’s about people unifying,” Thao tells The Verge. “So it was never an option for me to shoot the video solo.” But then her manager had an idea. What if they shot the music video entirely within Zoom?

That’s exactly what they did, and the resulting one-take music video was filmed without any of the collaborators ever being in the same space together. Directed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Erin Murray (who also provided choreography), produced by Victoria Fayad, and featuring Thao alongside eight dancers, the “Phenom” video went from concept to completion within a week. There was one pre-production meeting, one five-hour rehearsal, and one shoot day, all of which took place on Zoom. “If we were going to do such a thing and commit to it,” says Thao, “we had to do it really quickly because it is so of the moment.”

Thao says no one involved in the making of the video was a Zoom power user prior to this, least of all her. As a musician, she says she never really had a need for it. But as things clamped down, she found that it became a part of her life in ways she hadn’t expected. Her partner recently organized a birthday party for Thao on Zoom, and last week, she used it to take a yoga class. “I was late to the class,” she laughs. “It was weird.”

The screen-recorded music video starts with Thao opening Zoom and joining a meeting. As the song starts, dancers join in and pop up on-screen one by one, making a nine-panel grid with Thao in the center. It feels comforting and timely apropos of people’s obsession with using Zoom to connect during social distancing. One dancer is on their phone, another is in the middle of eating a banana. Then, the mood changes as everyone snaps into choreographed moves, which become more complicated and awe-inspiring as the video progresses.

At one point, the dancers grab their screens to turn them on their sides for an effect where they “fall” in one connected motion through the panes. Then, Thao is the head for a Frankensteined body where each panel contributes a body part. Later on, Thao “passes” glasses of water to panels on either side, which are then “poured” on dancers below. In between all of this, panels flicker, go dark, and are moved around. There’s an incredible amount of coordination, and the synchronicity is addicting to watch.

Making it look so easy required a lot of work. Co-director Schaulin-Rioux gave himself a crash course on the software and acted as mission control while recording. Meanwhile, Murray kept watch on the choreography and called out cues for different segments. Everyone had a copy of the song and a list of their respective instructions, laid out by count for the dancers and by lyrics for Thao. There was a click track before the actual song started, “So we all would clap on the fourth beat to make sure everyone was synced up,” says Thao. And the team made sure that everyone involved had a really strong Wi-Fi connection.

Aside from all of this, there were a lot of difficulties to iron out with the choreography and framing that couldn’t be figured out until everyone was in the same digital space. “Certain dance moves had to be adjusted to look good in Zoom’s gallery view,” explains Thao, “and didn’t translate if they were too chaotic. We found that the moves had to be really clean and clear and simple. I had to be the focal point and if too much was happening you wouldn’t know exactly where to look.”

Thao is happy that they decided to plow through and make the video, and she recognizes that this isn’t an option many musicians have. “I do not agree with the notion that this is a great time for making art,” she says. “That puts the onus on an already under appreciated and under compensated field. We didn’t set out to make a video with Zoom. This is the tool that we had to use in order to make a video during this mania.”

Watch the video for “Phenom” on YouTube. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down’s fifth studio album, Temple, is due May 15th on Ribbon Music.

Popular DJ and music production software company Serato has released an update to its Serato Studio DAW, and it comes with a big change: there’s now a free edition. This free edition is feature-limited, but it does let you make, save, and export tracks.

Serato Studio is a digital audio workstation like Ableton or Logic, but it has features that are geared toward DJs and beat-makers. It integrates with Serato’s DJ software so you can quickly make edits or mashups of tracks you already have. It also includes DJ-style channel mixing strips and works with Serato DJ-compatible controllers, so DJs can use them to make music with Serato Studio.

The free edition of Serato Studio has most of the functionality of the full edition, but with restricted use. The amount of audio sources you can work on at one time is limited, you can only export tracks as a single MP3 file, and automation is disabled.

The free edition probably isn’t a good solution for someone who wants to make robust tracks that use a lot of audio sources. But it could be useful for beginners and DJs who want to alter songs for use in live performances. “We wanted to offer the best tool for people to start making beats and DJ edits,” Nick Maclaren, chief strategy officer at Serato, said in a statement. “Just load up an acapella or full track to chop up, make a mashup, or create a quick intro edit so it’s ready for your DJ sets.”

Serato Studio is also getting other updates today. A new auto chord mode lets you play chords in the key of your project by pressing any note, and a “Feel” parameter will adjust the timing and velocity of the chord’s individual notes to make it sound more natural. There are also a handful of minor improvements around quantizing and layout.

Any time is a good time for freebies, but they’re especially welcome now as much of the world is stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of other companies have issued temporary free offers as of late, but this one is nice since it’s a permanent move.

Serato Studio’s free edition can be downloaded now. If you want to upgrade, the full edition of Serato Studio has a 14-day trial and is available as a $10-per-month subscription or a one-time cost of $199.

Grimes recently released a new music video for “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around,” and it came with a surprise: a content dump containing assets from her new album Miss Anthropocene and an invitation for anyone to remix the song or video.

The music video features Grimes in front of a green screen and was originally shot so her team could create visuals for the album. Now, it’s an opportunity for collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Because we’re all in lockdown,” she wrote on Instagram, “we thought if people are bored and wanna learn new things, we could release the raw components of one of these for anyone who wants to try making stuff using our footage.”

The file, called “Grimes Art Kit,” contains instructions for downloading all the different assets for “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around.” It contains the lyrics, artwork, fonts, Native Instruments tools, video footage in 1080p and 4K, and all of the song’s stems — separated pieces of audio — including guitar, effects, the synths, and three layers of vocals. She says her team is working on securing free short-term access to the visual tools they use for those who don’t own pro editing software.

You’re free to tinker with the song and video however you like, but if you post it online, there are some rules. It can’t be monetized, so YouTube and SoundCloud are the only approved platforms. And any remix of the song that’s posted belongs to the label, not you. Also, make sure your YouTube upload has “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” in the title and includes #GrimesArtKit in the description. Grimes’ team says this will ensure that all uploads using the song’s assets will get approved.

Having this sort of carte blanche access to remix a major artist’s content is a unique opportunity. Rights around a song’s ownership can be complicated and messy, and frustrations with platform algorithms taking down legitimate content is a longstanding gripe for many creators.

Grimes will be sharing some of her favorites, so if you’d like a chance at having your work reposted, tag her when you share on Twitter or Instagram and use the #GrimesArtKit hashtag.

Download the “Grimes Art Kit” instructions here to toy around and make your very own Grimes remix.