Thank you for your interest in being a part of the Foothills Christmas Choir 2020 performance of “Silent Night”. 

The recording of this performance will be played as part of our Christmas Eve service on December 24.  We will also upload it to YouTube so that we can share it with our friends outside of church.  

If you are comfortable singing the alto, tenor or bass part, that would be great!  Please choose the part that is most comfortable for your voice.  If you would prefer to just sing the melody, that’s great too!  We need all kinds of singers.

This page has links to recording instructions and sheet music.

This is a learning experience for all of us.  Do your best with your video, but don’t worry if everything isn’t perfect.  Most tiny imperfections will magically vanish when your individual voices are blended into the virtual choir.  

Please share this information with anyone you think might enjoy participating.

Instructions for Recording Your Part

To keep us together, sing the same notes and rhythms as the sheet music and reference recording. We have both video and audio reference recordings.  Information about finding the reference recordings is at the end of this page.

If it works with your setup, we recommend using the video version.  The visual cues in the video version will help keep us together.

You will need a device to play back the reference recording and a device to record yourself singing.  This can be the same device, or you can use two devices.  For example, you might use your computer to play the reference recording and your phone to record a video of yourself singing. 

Before you begin recording, take a moment to watch Mike’s video tips.

When you are ready, here’s how to record your part:

1)  Set yourself up so you can listen to the reference recording over headphones or ear buds.  The accompaniment should not be audible in the video that you make; all we want to hear is your voice.  Given the many variations in phones, computers and software, we can’t give you step-by-step instructions here.

2) Eliminate or minimize any background noise.  Make sure your T.V., radio, and computer aren’t playing any audio that could be picked up in your recording.  If you have a bird, dog, or other animal that likes to sing along with you, try to record in a different room from them.  

3)  Find a well-lighted place to record your video.  Your face should be well lit: turn the lights on, face a window, etc. DON’T record yourself with your back to a window or a bright light.

Optional instructions for Silent Night: it would be great if we can give people the sense of singing in a church after dark.  To achieve this effect, be in a somewhat dark room lit gently from the front (no actual candles are needed).  You don’t need to do this if it is a lot of trouble, but it would be a nice effect if you can do it without too much work.

4)  If you can, position your music so it’s parallel with your camera, not below it.  You want to be looking at the camera, not down at your music.

5)  Start your video recording app.  Please do not use Zoom to record your part, since Zoom often introduces audio problems.

6)  Don’t be so close to the camera that you’re near the edges of the video frame.  Leave some background to your left, right, and above you.  Don’t worry about getting the framing exactly right – we’ll probably trim some off of the edges of your video when we do the final layout.  It is better to have too much space around you than too little.  

7)  Start your audio playback

8)  Sing along with the reference recording at a comfortable volume.  If you have a loud voice, you might need to be further from your recording device to avoid overwhelming your microphone.  

9)  When done, stop your recording app.

10)  Return your recording(s) to https://www.dropbox.com/request/D2kQaxfo4d5h9LuZdTbN by 9:00pm on Saturday night, December 19.

Send me an email if you have questions or need help.

Michael Patrick Ellard

mikeellard@itinerant-preacher.com

Reference Recordings

You can get reference recordings via DropBox, YouTube, or email.

YouTube

Several Reference videos are available on YouTube. 

All Parts, no metronome

All parts with metronome

Alto practice part

Tenor practice part

Bass practice part

Dropbox

All of the reference recordings are available for download from the following link:  

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sbtg22e4r09ul4o/AAALBRqZ80eFQfAM84Yba64La?dl=0

Email

I would be glad to email you audio or video practice files.  The files are quite large, so I will only send them to people who ask for them.  Send me an email at mikeellard@itinerant-preacher.com if you need something via email.