Virtual Choir

jedscottUncategorized

I’ve been working on a couple of different potential Virtual Choir projects, and while each one has different parameters and processes, I wanted to share the basic procedure I’ve been working through. Here is my to-do list before and after recording. Lots of people are considering trying a virtual choir with their choirs in the wake of Corona Cancellations; I hope my plan can be of use.

Before You Record

  1. Select the piece you want to record.
  2. Create a very clear conducting video – not necessarily drum major clear, but that’s the general idea.
  3. Create guide keyboard tracks that follow the conducting video and make a final video with the two put together. (You could do multiple versions with part-predominant recordings if you thought that would help.) Add 10-15 seconds of silence before the conducting starts and include a sharp, loud sound. This will help you sync up video and audio later.
  4. Post the video where it will be available to your singers. (Perhaps as an unlisted YouTube video)
  5. Create a virtual dropbox on a cloud server so that singers can upload their videos. (I’m using Google Drive with a simple Google Form uploader)
  6. Send instructions to your singers. (Singer Guidelines below)

After You Record

  1. You’re going to need good video software or a good tv studio pro – or both. I’ve been consulting with the teacher of our award-winning Rockford High School TV Studio, Beyond the Rock.
  2. Separate the audio from the video and import them to a DAW (I’ll be using ProTools).
  3. Use your video editing software to overlay all the videos you’ve collected. Forget any of the fancy animations in Eric Whitacre’s projects. Use placed videos. If it still proves too time consuming, you can consider cross-fading between videos instead of playing them all at once OR taking screenshots from the videos and using a static image over the audio.
  4. Drop in the final mixed audio and finalize the video. You did it!

SINGER VIRTUAL CHOIR GUIDELINES

Before You Record

  1. You are going to need two devices:
    • A device to show the conducting video and playback the guide tracks into your headphones
    • A device to record your video and audio (your phone, ideally with a microphone attachment)
  2. Setup your phone to record the video on a tripod or balanced so it frames you and has a pleasing background and DOESN’T MOVE while you record. You should have yourself in landscape orientation, and have your phone close enough that your face fills at least 3/4 of the frame vertically. Don’t cut off the top of your head!
  3. Give yourself as much light as you can – the video will be much better quality with bright light!
  4. Do a test recording or two, to make sure the audio you’re recording has a strong level but doesn’t overload at your loudest singing.

When You Record

  1. When you start videoing, hold up a white piece of paper in front of your face. This will allow us to “white-balance” the videos later.
  2. Begin taping and playback with your headphones UNPLUGGED. There will be a loud tone played that needs to be recorded so we can easily sync up the videos.
  3. After the tone plays, you will have about 8-10 second to plug in your headphones. Don’t worry – this video won’t appear in the final video. You will then hear your pitch and see the conductor lead you in.
  4. Sing a COMPLETE take, beginning to end, to the best of your ability. There’s no penalty for doing it more than once until you’re happy!
  5. Submit the video at FULL resolution by using this form.