Choirs@Home

Here are a couple of pieces that we recorded using an online recording studio while we could not be together during the pandemic.

November 2020

We are now tuning rehearsals with hand chimes. The choir will continue in this manner for the next while. As well, we can do online recordings with members of the choir too.

September 2020

The Choirs@Home page was created at the beginning of the pandemic to experiment with some ways to continue to make music while we had to be away. It seems an appropriate place for updating how things are going. Here is our current situation:

  • St. Andrew’s United Church, where our rehearsals take place, has decided to remain closed for September to see how things go with school starting up.

  • As a result both the Youth and Children’s choirs are on hold for now.

  • The church will have a look and see if an October startup is a possibility, so I can update the choirs at that time.

    If we are allowed to rehearse at St. Andrew’s we will have the opportunity to learn how to play hand chimes during if it is still not recommended by the province to sing.

  • Below is a link to some handbell and hand chime videos so you can see what they are like. (Check out the 5th video down and the kids at the bottom of the page!)

met-handbells/cool-links

If there are choir members who are interested in trying some online activities while we are still away, please let me know and I will work with those interested.

Email Rob re. Online Choir Activities

Below are some of the activities we worked on from April to June.

*******

April 2020

I've been experimenting with various ways to work with choirs online. I have done one experiment with our church choir, and a different online experiment with the youth choir. I would also like to try doing something with the children's choir! Below are the details.

Children’s Choir

If you would like to participate in this project, you will need two devices. One device please the background track for the kids to sing with, and the second device is to record them. It is probably best to play the track on a computer, and then record the kids on a phone. On an iPhone the app is called “Voice Memos”, and on an android phone there is an app called “Voice Recorder”.

  • The singer(s) should be reasonably close to the phone when they record, 1 to 2 feet away.

  • We can have multiple singers on the same recording.

  • Ideally the singers should be reasonably louder than the accompaniment background. So, try to have whatever you are using to play the accompaniment a bit further away, and not directly in line with the phone’s microphone.

  • If some of the younger kids who have not yet joined the choir would like to participate with us, they are welcome to do so.

  • When you have a recording he would like to send then you can either email it to me or text it to me.

    • styc.stcc@gmail.com

    • 519-670-0525

  • I have links to two YouTube songs, the first has all of the vocals so the kids can practice. The second one is just the background, and that is the one I would like to use for the recordings.

  • I'd like to try and complete these recordings this week, so that I can put it together and sent it out to you next Tuesday. If this works we can do other songs as well! Why don't we aim for having any recordings in by Saturday, and I can try and put it together on Sunday and/or Monday.

  • The completed version will only be audio, so no kids will be seen on the final product.

Stcc “Choirs@Home” Project 1 - “Do Re Mi” The Sound of Music

You can also see what is happening with the youth choir by looking at the material below.

Youth Choir

For the Youth Choir we are using an online recording program called Soundtrap. Below is a link to a video which explains with this program is all about.

Here is the link for the youth choir members to request access to this program.

Currently we have two projects on the go:

  • Le Temps de Vivre

  • Tuuti, Tuuti, Tummaistani (You can listen to the current version below, but we are still working on it and adding more people to the mix.)