Virtual Choir Practice

During the Lockdown it’s important to keep up to speed with the songs. Most of them are on our

Music Store page for you to listen to. This is the place where you can engage more fully with the process and help to create some virtual performances. Each individual recording that you submit will be added to a mix of all voices so don’t be worried if you don’t like singing alone. The finished result will sound good; I promise.

First of all, watch the video clips and practice singing along with your part.

All the songs are presented in the same format:

• A full demo to help you learn the song’s structure and hear your part in context.
• Individual voice files so you can practice your own part and make a voice recording.

When you’re ready to record, there are a number of ways to do this:

1. If you have a webcam (most laptops and tablets have these built in) you can play back the recording (audio or video) on your web browser or media player and sing along (in time and in tune) with it using earphones. The microphone on your webcam should only record your voice.

2. On a computer or laptop, if you have a microphone connected (or built in), you can use the Voice Recorder app while playing back the recording (audio or video) on your web browser or media player. This is the same as method 1; just using a microphone instead of a webcam.

3. If you have a smartphone (or tablet), get a voice recorder (from Google Play or iTunes if you don’t already have one). Start the recorder and press record; then play back the clip you need to sing along with (using earphones). The recorder will carry on working in the background while you play your clip and the microphone should only record your voice.

4. Audacity is a great multi-track recording tool. It’s free to download on computers and great for power users.

You can upload the finished recordings to Dropbox or you can email them to Cliff or send them to him via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Do check your recordings and make sure you’re happy with them before despatching them. If things aren’t turning out like you expect them to, you may need to change some settings on your app or device. The obvious one is to make sure that only the microphone is selected for recording. Also, make sure you know where the files are being saved so you can share them with me. You might need to adjust the microphone recording level if it’s too loud or too quiet for example. You can Google search solutions to your problems and you can ask me for help.

Here are some Video Tutorials if you need help getting started.

Virtual Practice Index to all songs

The below songs are available for you to practice at home.