Where does the time go?  So much for posting more often.  Oh well.  Here’s a little ditty written by Mister Tim that I recorded this afternoon in honor of my Canadian friends.  Mostly, I was bored and nobody else was home for me to annoy.

Enjoy.

 

 Standard Podcast [0:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This past Saturday I had the privilage of judging 9th grade OPUS Honor Choir auditions.  For those that are unfamiliar, OPUS is basically Iowa’s version of All-State Choir for students in grades 5-9.  There are 4 choirs: 5th and 6th grade mixed, 7th and 8th grade boys, 7th and 8th grade girls, and 9th grade mixed.  I listened to over 200 basses but could only chose 45 (and 7 alternates).  There were a few decisions that were easy, but many more that were very difficult.  In the end I think we selected a choir that the state of Iowa can be extremely proud of and one that is sure to delight its audience.   I’d gladly put any and all of the young men that sang for me in my choir.  I wish I could have selected them all.

This week we recorded auditions for OPUS honor choir.  I’m very picky about submitting the audition exactly as it is recorded.  However, now that the recordings have been burned to disk and submitted I can have a little fun.  I took a soprano 1, alto 1, and an alto 2 recording and mixed them together.  Then I added a little reverb.  I was amazed at how well these three ladies blended considering they recorded at seperate times.  As these recordings were made using a human accompanist, they get out of sync part way through, but I kind of like the effect.  Let me know what you think.

TK

 

 Ave Maria [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There is a certain satisfaction that comes from writing and arranging music for your own choirs.  Saving money is always nice, but even better is the feeling you get when students exclaim how cool a song is or how awesome your version of the song is to sing.  It’s almost the encouragement I need to send something to a publisher.

Almost.

Next week we have show choir auditions.  I love the excitement that builds around these auditions.  Too soon we will get into rehearsals and the nitty-gritty of getting things ready for our performances, but for now there is something magical as the tension builds.  Some will end up disappointed, some will end up ecstatic.  But for now, everyone is excited.