Choir members forced to sing solo at home came together thanks to technology and made some beautiful music.
Members of the Alberta High School of Fine Arts vocal ensemble and the Okotoks Junior High School chamber sang solo parts of Ola Gjeilo's Tundra and recorded them on their phones to create a video chorale. (See video below).
"I am so happy that we were able to figure out a way to sing together through all this craziness that is going on in the world right now," said Grade 12 student Karah Schmidtler. "I thought it was a fun opportunity and Mr. Ellis did an amazing job of it."
The students’ recordings were pieced together by the fine arts school's music instructor Matt Ellis.
The jigsaw puzzle like recording was done due to students taking classes at home since March 16 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It meant some out-of-the-box thinking by music instructors.
"This was my first time doing the virtual choir," Ellis said. "What we did was (music instructor) Sam Shumka at OJ accompanied on piano and we sent the students a video of his piano and me conducting to it. The kids would listen to the music and watch my conducting and they would record a video of their singing on their phone and send it to me."
It was tough for the self-admitted technology-challenged Ashlyn Smith.
"Just figuring out the logistics of watching him while trying to figure out the recording at the same time," Smith said. "I'm trying to hear myself sing, while hearing the piano at the same time and trying to record. Once I got past that technology barrier it was smooth sailing."
Singing by herself was difficult for Grade 12 student Chloe Parker.
"I normally practice with other people singing at the same time," Parker said. "(When I was recording) I couldn't hear anyone else around me, it was just my part. I was singing alone -- you don't have the confidence of singing with people around you.”
Emily Newman had to rearrange things to get the right angle.
"I ended up piling a bunch of blankets on my bed to get the camera where I could do the recording," Newman said.
It was up to Ellis to take the separate pieces from the students and put it together – kind of like George Martin putting together Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
“What I did when I got each video from the girls I separated the audio from the video and I had to put all the audio into an editing program called Logic,” he said. “Then I made sure it all lined up and I pulled out any weird frequencies like humming.
“I then took all the videos and lined them up. It took a while.”
He was working with more than 20 videos from the students at OJHS and the fine arts school.
Schmidtler was delighted with the finished product.
“I remember seeing it for the first time and I cried it was so beautiful,” Schmidtler said. “Mr. Ellis gave it to the girls a day early before it got released – I had to wait a day before I could show my family.
From the first note, it was so beautiful.”
There was one other person that was impressed – Tundra’s creator of Ola Gjeilo. Ellis sent Gjeilo, who lives in Manhattan, a copy.
The composer replied: “Awesome...Love it (with a happy face emoji)."
The video has taken some of the sting out of not performing together due to COVID-19. Both OJHS and the Fine Arts ensemble missed the Highwood Lions Music Festival in High River.
They also would have been competing at provincial championships in Edmonton.
However, the most difficult part has been not being together in the classrooms.
"It's been strange -- it's very hard to teach a performing arts class online," said Ellis, a 2006 Alberta High School of Fine Arts alumnus. "We become teachers because we like working with kids -- I like creating music with kids and doing it together. It's hard to build those relationships sitting at home through emails and Zoom calls."
The separation due to COVID-19 has also been hard on the students.
“It’s been very difficult sometimes to find the motivation because I am not getting the chance to fully sing with them,” Parker said. “These girls are my best friends. It’s been difficult to learn with Zoom because I don’t get to see these people every day.”
Emma Doney agreed.
"I struggled with it a lot at first" Doney said. "Seeing them every day and singing with them was a big comfort for me. We are hoping to do another video for graduation
"We all know we are working hard on our songs."
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