Virtual Choir Best Practices

jedscottChoral Music, Conducting, Corona

I wrote a post describing the details of my virtual choir strategies early in the quarantine phase of the 2019-2020 school year. Having now completed eight of those projects, I want to share some things learned and best practices. This is what I would add to my earlier suggestions.

Advice For Singers

  1. Pick a neutral background. It’s amazing how many singers don’t give a second’s thought to what’s behind them in the video shot.
  2. Dress nice. Comb your hair. You don’t need to wear concert attire (though that can be a nice choice, if available. But don’t drape yourself in your coziest blanket and record your video with bed head.
  3. Warm up. You’re used to singing every day in choir; don’t forget to get your voice ready to sing.
  4. Wait 5 seconds. Don’t turn off the video the second you cut off – give five seconds of silence with a smile so the videographer can fade out.
  5. Double check the audio. I can tell you that sometimes your microphone is so crackly that your singing doesn’t make the final video. That’s sad.
  6. Again, don’t listen back when you’re done. Do your best, and send it in.

Advice For Conductors

  1. Make an intro video. A 90-second to 2-minute video will be far more effective at communicating your video requirements than a typed-out explanation. You can talk about specific musical things, demonstrate bad lighting, bad framing, wrong orientation, etc. (You can watch this video for ideas.)
  2. Have a hard deadline and plan on extending it. Be available for rapid-response tech support, too.
  3. Make a conducting video. Following along with a conducting track helps put at-home singers at ease.
  4. Actually, make four. Release four versions, with part predominant guide tracks that match your conducting. Sung guide tracks are much more effective than MIDI guide tracks, if you can figure out how to make them. (Record yourself and autotune!)
  5. Don’t include yourself conducting. It’s clear that this is not the same thing as a live performance. The video of you conducting is not needed in the final video.

Here’s hoping none of us need to make more virtual choir videos again soon. But if we do, let’s keep building best practices to make them as seamless, as musical, and as educational as we can.