Thank you so much for all your vocal submissions - our Look at the World virtual choir project has been a huge success! With over 69 vocal submissions from 29 different choral organizations, the project sounds incredible! Special thanks to ManChoi Chow for the use of his exceptional photography, to Caden Nikkel for the fantastic video, to Valleyview Male Chorus for partnering with us and to Metropolitan United Church Choir School for their angelic voices. Please enjoy listening to our project and sharing it with others.
Welcome to Cantorion's Virtual Choir Project
My goal for this project is to bring together singers from London and beyond to share the joy of music. I hope that you will join us! While we are apart physically, we are here together in song.
Below are directions for how to do a virtual recording and on the right are the recording tracks for the song Look at the World by John Rutter. If you need music please contact me directly at silverpennies@sandmail.net. You will notice that there are many recording tracks! There are separate tracks for each voice part (S, A, T and B) which will have piano and a singer singing your part. There are also multiple tracks for each voice. The sopranos for example, have one track for the opening to measure 75, one for measure 75 to - measure 140 and one for measure 140 to the end. I have broken the recording of this song into three parts to make it easier to get a good take. Each singer will need to record and send me three recordings (silverpennies@sandmail.net)
The ending is a little tricky to line up the timing with. I have counted out the beats to help. While you will hear me counting in the recording track of measure 140 to the end, it will not be present on the final product. It is meant as a guide.
When you send in your tracks, please be sure to label them (they should say alto part, opening to measure 75 for example). Please also include the church choir or community choir that you are involved in as we will be including a list at the end of the video.
Finally, a huge thank you to Ron McRae from Valleyview Male Chorus for singing the lead tenor and bass tracks for these recordings. And a huge thanks to Gregg Redner from Metropolitan United Church for recording the piano tracks. Your musicianship and generosity are gifts that have made this project possible.
I am look forward to coming together in song.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Nikkel
HOW TO MAKE A VIRTUAL CHOIR RECORDING
MATERIALS NEEDED
-headphones
-your sheet music
-2 devices (for example a tablet and a phone, or a desktop and laptop). It doesn’t matter what devices you use, but one needs to have a headphones jack and the other needs to have a voice recorder/voice memos app (almost all phones come with a voice recorder/voice memos app)
METHOD
1. Find a quiet room where you can record. Make sure that there are no loud fans etc nearby.
2. Plug your headphones into your device with the headphones jack. On this device load up the recording of Look at the World.
3. On a second device, open up your voice recorder/voice memos app.
4. Place your recording device on a ledge or table within 3 feet of your voice. Make sure that the mic is not obstructed by anything.
5. Press record on your voice recording/voice memos app and then play on your device that has your headphones.
6. You will hear piano and Ron or my voice in your headphones. You will record only your voice. It can be challenging to get a good take. You may have to make several recordings - plan on spending an hour getting a recording you are happy with. I spent an hour and did 14 takes. When I had three I was pretty happy with, I picked from those.
8. No recording will be perfect and that is OK. We are singing in a choir, not as soloists. When you have a recording that you are happy with, email the recording to me: silverpennies@sandmail.net
NOTES
You may wish to have your headphones on only one ear so that you can hear yourself better. If so, make sure that the other ear will not bleed sound into the recording.
Be sure to hold still at the beginning and ending of your recording.
Careful turning the pages of your music.