Trying Times

We seem to be going through an "interesting" time in our chorus. For the first time in my experience, we don't have enough guys singing lead. Normally, there is no problem finding singers to take the lead part, as that's usually the melody. Because we sing largely old songs, most guys have at least heard them before and know how the melody goes. Easier than learning the harmony parts.

We used to have a good collection of leads, but one moved away, one took a new job and got really busy, one developed heavier family responsibilities, etc. Pretty soon, we only have two guys singing lead, plus one more who doesn't make it to rehearsal very often and is late when he does get there.

That's not to say that the lead singers we now have are bad - not at all. One guy is not a natural lead, but he does work pretty hard to getting it right and he shows up every week. The other guy also shows up consistently, and has a really good voice. Unfortunately, he doesn't open his mouth very much and doesn't produce much volume most of the time, though he can sing right out sometimes. The third guy, who only shows up sometimes, has a good voice, but can't produce much volume at all, so it doesn't make a lot of difference if he's singing or not.

This is all pretty frustrating. Basses like to be able to hear the lead so we can stay in proper harmony with them and can keep the rhythm of the music where it should be. When you can't hear then it's a lot harder to keep the chords ringing.

... And Another Thing

Then there are the videos I have been shooting. I decided to start shooting video of our rehearsals so we'd have a chance to see how we're doing and hear what kind of sound we make. I thought it would be good for me whether anyone else watches them or not.

After I get home from rehearsal on Wednesday evening, I copy the video from my camcorder to my PC. Then on Thursday I spend from six to ten hours editing. By late Thursday evening I start uploading the edited videos to YouTube. These are private - actually "Unlisted" according to YouTube - so that no one can see them unless they have a link, which I email to the chorus members.

I knew going in that it would take a while for the guys to start watching the videos, but it's still a little discouraging to put in so much work and find that only a couple of people are running them. Still, the fact that anyone is watching them is a good thing, and should help out the chorus. After all, if we're going to compete, and we are, then we need to have that more objective view of what we're doing.