Introduction:
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us in creating this ambitious and deeply rewarding blessing for Mark & Susan’s 40th Anniversary celebration! I am thrilled by your participation, and I fully believe that thanks to your contributions this will come together in a truly moving and masterful way. I’ve done my best to provide you with everything you need to familiarize yourself with the music and record your own track; however, if at any point in the process you have questions or need clarification or support of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Let’s make some magic happen! Below are some (rambling on my part…sorry!) explainer videos to help get you started with the project.
A couple important details as we’re setting out:
All submissions for the virtual choir will be AUDIO ONLY. We don’t have the bandwidth to mix video for the number of people we want to have involved in this. So breathe easy! You don’t have to sing on camera. This time. ;)
All you need to participate is your smartphone as a recording device and another separate device that can play the lead audio track so you can listen/sing along to it THROUGH HEADPHONES.
Your Materials and How To Use Them:
First up is the SHEET MUSIC for Rene Clausen’s “Set Me As a Seal” in the original key, D major. Please be mindful that when you ultimately record your track, you will be singing it up a half step in Eb major.
Next is your MASTER TRACK. This is the guide track we will all be listening to and singing along to (or “singing into” as I like to imagine it) as we record our individual tracks. This is a gorgeous rendition of the piece in full choral performance from the Emory & Henry Concert Choir’s Homecoming Concert in the year 2000, conducted, of course, by Mark Davis. Grab your favorite headphones or crank up your best set of speakers and LISTEN TO IT. Immerse yourself in the tone, energy, cadence, and spontaneity of it. The trickiest thing we’re doing together for this project is singing without a conductor, and yet in the full expressive style of Sound in Motion, unto the “soul’s own speech.” The best way I can imagine accomplishing this together is by using a concert choir performance as a guide. This is our artistic challenge, to recreate the energy of this piece while standing alone in a room singing along into our smartphones. (!!!) And I absolutely believe we can do it.
Here is our current ROSTER with your PART ASSIGNMENTS. Please find your name below and note your assignment within your voice part so you can study the right line from the beginning. (I’ve been as mindful as possible in assigning these parts, but I don’t know everyone’s range and comfort zone. If you are not comfortable with your part, please let me know and we can easily adjust it!)
The following are PIANO GUIDE TRACKS for each voice part. Note the lines split into two and three parts in places, and we didn’t do multiple guide tracks for each split individually. So you’ll need to listen for your part within the splits when they occur. Instead of a generic rendering of the piece from sheet music with metronome markings, these tracks were derived specifically from our master track, giving you a good sense of the ultimate timing and cadence of the piece as you learn it. I find this kind of guide track so helpful when I am familiarizing myself with my line within a piece. And I hope you will, too! Please remember these tracks are meant to assist you in confidently LEARNING your part. They will NOT be the tracks you listen to while you record your submission. The hope is that through studying them, you’ll feel so solid on your line that you will be able to hold to it while singing along to the master track.
Fun fact: these tracks were generously created for and donated to this project by a director of mine here in San Francisco, who also happens to be the principal organist for the SF Symphony! How cool is that? Many thanks to Jonathan Dimmock.
The final resource I have for you is far and away my favorite. Although we will not be watching a conductor as we sing for this choir, we do very much have someone involved performing that role for us. For those who don’t know him, Trevor Smith is an alumnus of the Emory & Henry Concert Choir who went on from Emory to earn his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in choral conducting, and who is now carrying forth the choral legacy he encountered through Dad in his own music ministries. I asked him if he would be willing to give us all a pep talk of sorts: a how-to video when it comes to readying ourselves for this endeavor and approaching the challenge of it from a shared sense of spirit and technical musicianship. He came up with this, and I think you’ll agree it contains invaluable reminders for us all. Thank you, Trevor!
TWO QUICK CLARIFICATIONS: He mentions video, and we’re submitting audio instead. And please remember to sing your final recording to the MASTER TRACK and not the GUIDE TRACK for your voice part.
I start this off by saying I’ll keep it short. Spoiler alert: I totally break that promise!
How to Create and Submit Your Track
I saved this for last because it’s far and away the easiest part (even though I managed to turn it into the longest of the explainer videos). Here are the simple, simple steps to record your track:
Pair your headphones to a device that isn’t your phone (computer, tablet, second phone, etc.) and queue up the MASTER TRACK.
Place your headphones in/over only one ear so that you can also be aware of the sound of your voice in the room. Crank up the volume so that your own voice doesn’t drown out your hearing (and feeling) of the choir.
Make sure you’re recording in the quietest and most acoustically “dead” space you have access to.
Open the Voice Memo or Voice Recorder app on your smartphone. This will be what you use to record yourself.
Hold or better yet place your phone about 8 inches (give or take a little) in front of your face between mouth and eye level.
Hit “record” on your Voice Memo app
Hit “play” on your listening device.
Sing with Rich Vibrant Tone and the fullness of your being into the shared experience we’re creating together! (along to the Master Track you’re hearing in your headphone)
When you’ve sung through the final (looooooooooong) fermata (feel free to sip breath when needed, it will stagger naturally) and the piece has ended, stop the recording on your phone.
Email me your best take directly from the app by NOON EASTERN STANDARD TIME ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th at heatheruth@gmail.com !!!
Take a selfie somewhere along the process! Show Mom and Dad who the voices belong to and what it took to put this whole thing together! You can send that to me along with your audio track or in a separate email, whatever’s easiest. I will be using these somewhere in the video as the music is played. If for any reason you’re not comfortable with this part, please at least consider sending a recent photo to represent you.
…and that’s it!!
Thank you again for your involvement in this dream coming true. I belong to a ragtag group of people out here in San Francisco who live by the words “Finish Your Stupid Ideas.” It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you throw caution to the wind, lead with passion and great resolve, and do whatever it takes to actualize your vision. But this? Oh, this I could not begin to do alone. And I thank each and every one of you for blessing my family in this way. I can’t wait to share the final piece with you all! Remember when you hit that record button: minds of ice, hearts on fire.
Love Forever,
~Heather