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Virtual choir AI simulator
(@Virtual choir_simulator)
Hub AI
Virtual choir AI simulator
(@Virtual choir_simulator)
Virtual choir
A virtual choir, online choir or home choir is a choir whose members do not meet physically but who work together online from separate places. Some choirs just sing for the joy of the shared experience, while others record their parts alone and send their digital recordings, sometimes including video, to be collated into a choral performance. There may be a series of rehearsals which singers can watch online, and their performance recordings may be made while watching a video of the conductor, and in some cases listening to a backing track, to ensure unanimity of timing. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 inspired a large growth in the number of virtual choirs, although the idea was not new.
Online choirs can make singing accessible to would-be choristers who are unable to joining 'in-person' or 'face-to-face' choirs due to issues such as disability, caring responsibilities, geographical restrictions, lack of local opportunities, cost, or a lack of confidence to perform or audition in front of others. For example those who use hearing aids may find it difficult to take part in a 'same-room' choir due to interference from multiple sources of sound, but could benefit from the more direct digital sound of an online choir rehearsal and/or the text-based chat offered by some online choirs.
American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre has led six iterations of his Virtual Choir, starting in 2009. He was inspired by a young singer Britlin Losee who contacted him after posting a YouTube recording of herself singing the soprano part of his work Sleep. In his first version, 185 singers from 12 countries sang his Lux Aurumque, watching a video of him conducting. By 2020, over 20,000 singers from 124 countries had participated in the choir, and Whitacre launched his Virtual Choir 6 to sing a new work "Sing Gently". 17,572 people in 129 countries had contributed their recordings by the closing date in May 2020.
Many virtual choirs were set up during the "lockdown" caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when people could not meet to sing together.
ChoirCast was set up as Choirantine in April 2020 by Bristol-based singing teacher Eliza Fyfe, kick-starting with their debut "Bohemian Rhapsody" which featured Gareth Malone. ChoirCast have been producing monthly videos ever since, edited by Martin Elsbury, editor of Netflix documentary David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. They usually feature a band, with the sound mixed by music producers Daniel Edney, Kristian Bressington and Charles Grimsdale and popular song arrangements written by Eliza. This particular choir focuses on smaller numbers to enable singers to stand out more, even including soloists, yet still featuring people from all around the world.
The Collective Virtual Choir was set up in March 2020 by Simon Lubkowski, a Director of Music at a college in England. A prominent Barbershop singer and leader of several community based choirs in Leicestershire, Simon leads the choir from his garden shed studio along with his entirely voluntary Music Team who are based in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. The choir stages daily rehearsals with sessions timed to suit different time zones, since the choir has almost 4,000 registered participants from 66 countries, alongside providing technical support and social events and activities via the medium of Zoom. The Collective produced its first song, White Cliffs of Dover, on 17 April 2020. Since then it has produced 23 further songs and a 27-song Christmas Show (The Collective and Friends at Christmas). The Collective is free to join and participate in. It runs daily rehearsals and, in addition, offers full technical support to its singers as well as social events/activities all via the medium of Zoom. The Collective Virtual Choir plans a Harmony College weekend (Free for registered singers), a Double CD Album and a Collective Live event in 2022.
In Australia, Couch Choir evolved from the pre-existing face-to-face Pub Choir with an "ongoing mission to bring strangers together for a sing-song", according to The Canberra Times. Since inception in March 2020, Couch Choir has chalked up millions of views with over 10,000 singers lending their voices to songs by Stevie Wonder, The Carpenters and David Bowie. Their July 2020 video of The Killers "All These Things That I've Done" included 1,534 contributions from people in 40 countries., and was shared by The Killers across social media. Couch Choir's videos have been featured on BBC News, Australian Story and Today.[citation needed]
Gareth Malone launched The Great British Home Chorus on Monday 23 March 2020 on YouTube and conducted 50 half-hour rehearsals (Monday-Friday with a "half term" break) up to Friday 12 June, moving thereafter to weekly rehearsals. He worked from his garden studio, with technical assistance from Decca Record. The choir produced a CD including the voices of 11,000 singers, featuring the songs "You Are My Sunshine", Duran Duran's "Ordinary World", Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" and Elton John's "I'm Still Standing", accompanied by members of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Virtual choir
A virtual choir, online choir or home choir is a choir whose members do not meet physically but who work together online from separate places. Some choirs just sing for the joy of the shared experience, while others record their parts alone and send their digital recordings, sometimes including video, to be collated into a choral performance. There may be a series of rehearsals which singers can watch online, and their performance recordings may be made while watching a video of the conductor, and in some cases listening to a backing track, to ensure unanimity of timing. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 inspired a large growth in the number of virtual choirs, although the idea was not new.
Online choirs can make singing accessible to would-be choristers who are unable to joining 'in-person' or 'face-to-face' choirs due to issues such as disability, caring responsibilities, geographical restrictions, lack of local opportunities, cost, or a lack of confidence to perform or audition in front of others. For example those who use hearing aids may find it difficult to take part in a 'same-room' choir due to interference from multiple sources of sound, but could benefit from the more direct digital sound of an online choir rehearsal and/or the text-based chat offered by some online choirs.
American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre has led six iterations of his Virtual Choir, starting in 2009. He was inspired by a young singer Britlin Losee who contacted him after posting a YouTube recording of herself singing the soprano part of his work Sleep. In his first version, 185 singers from 12 countries sang his Lux Aurumque, watching a video of him conducting. By 2020, over 20,000 singers from 124 countries had participated in the choir, and Whitacre launched his Virtual Choir 6 to sing a new work "Sing Gently". 17,572 people in 129 countries had contributed their recordings by the closing date in May 2020.
Many virtual choirs were set up during the "lockdown" caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when people could not meet to sing together.
ChoirCast was set up as Choirantine in April 2020 by Bristol-based singing teacher Eliza Fyfe, kick-starting with their debut "Bohemian Rhapsody" which featured Gareth Malone. ChoirCast have been producing monthly videos ever since, edited by Martin Elsbury, editor of Netflix documentary David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. They usually feature a band, with the sound mixed by music producers Daniel Edney, Kristian Bressington and Charles Grimsdale and popular song arrangements written by Eliza. This particular choir focuses on smaller numbers to enable singers to stand out more, even including soloists, yet still featuring people from all around the world.
The Collective Virtual Choir was set up in March 2020 by Simon Lubkowski, a Director of Music at a college in England. A prominent Barbershop singer and leader of several community based choirs in Leicestershire, Simon leads the choir from his garden shed studio along with his entirely voluntary Music Team who are based in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. The choir stages daily rehearsals with sessions timed to suit different time zones, since the choir has almost 4,000 registered participants from 66 countries, alongside providing technical support and social events and activities via the medium of Zoom. The Collective produced its first song, White Cliffs of Dover, on 17 April 2020. Since then it has produced 23 further songs and a 27-song Christmas Show (The Collective and Friends at Christmas). The Collective is free to join and participate in. It runs daily rehearsals and, in addition, offers full technical support to its singers as well as social events/activities all via the medium of Zoom. The Collective Virtual Choir plans a Harmony College weekend (Free for registered singers), a Double CD Album and a Collective Live event in 2022.
In Australia, Couch Choir evolved from the pre-existing face-to-face Pub Choir with an "ongoing mission to bring strangers together for a sing-song", according to The Canberra Times. Since inception in March 2020, Couch Choir has chalked up millions of views with over 10,000 singers lending their voices to songs by Stevie Wonder, The Carpenters and David Bowie. Their July 2020 video of The Killers "All These Things That I've Done" included 1,534 contributions from people in 40 countries., and was shared by The Killers across social media. Couch Choir's videos have been featured on BBC News, Australian Story and Today.[citation needed]
Gareth Malone launched The Great British Home Chorus on Monday 23 March 2020 on YouTube and conducted 50 half-hour rehearsals (Monday-Friday with a "half term" break) up to Friday 12 June, moving thereafter to weekly rehearsals. He worked from his garden studio, with technical assistance from Decca Record. The choir produced a CD including the voices of 11,000 singers, featuring the songs "You Are My Sunshine", Duran Duran's "Ordinary World", Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" and Elton John's "I'm Still Standing", accompanied by members of the London Symphony Orchestra.