Two Great New Choral Tools

The RAMA Vocal Center (part of the Danish Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg) has become a world leader in contemporary music training. Recently, two of the staff leaders have released innovative new apps.

Vocal Painting, developed by Jim Daus Hjernøe, teaches 75 interactive hand signs that enable an ensemble to create incredibly sophisticated vocal improvisations and connections, in the context of his Intelligent Choir concepts.

The Conductor’s Toolbox, developed by Jesper Holm, is an app that teaches effective new approaches to conducting that focuses less on metric patterns and more on shaping and affecting interpretation in real time.

Here’s Perpetuum Jazzile using one of the gestures Holm developed, the arm parameter:

The more I learn about RAMA and its methods, the more I think it’s at the absolute forefront of creating a new way of thinking about non-classical choir leading. Dig into these great apps!