The Virtual World of Singing

It is impossible to perform live in choirs during virtual meetings, as there will always be a lag present between singers, and thus they would not be able to sing at the same time with everyone. Other factors like poor Wi-Fi and audio also contribute to the struggles of creating a live choir performance. With virtual choirs, though, there is no need to worry about lag or any other issues. Simply gather videos of the students singing their part to a song, put them all in one video, align them, and the virtual choir is all set! Cool effects and scenes can also be added to the video, like echoes, colors, and animations; there is no limit to editing! Then, once the finishing touches are applied, share it with people through different platforms, whether it is the school’s website, YouTube, or other social media sites. In fact, here at HHS, the school’s choirs have made a couple of virtual choir videos this year. Thanks to Ms. Pomeroy, these videos have then been shared with everyone in the school.

So, how do virtual choirs work, exactly? First, each choir student submits a video or audio recording of them singing along to a video or an audio track of the piece. The students should have two devices: one playing the music to sing along to, and the other recording their voice. Next, share the recording with the editor, whether it is the choir director or a professional, who will then align all the videos so that everyone is singing the exact phrases simultaneously. They can individually adjust each video, and can also add effects like echoes or color changes to the videos. The final product can then be shared either with people or organizations related to the choir, like a school, or posted publicly on YouTube or other platforms. The beauty of a virtual choir is that students can redo their recordings as many times as they want. With live performances, if someone messed up, they messed up. They can not go back and change that mistake, and then they are standing there regretting their performance. On the other hand, with a virtual choir, the students can even take hundreds of videos and still not worry about ruining anything because they will just pick the best one they took and submit it. Another merit would be that the editor can experiment and be unique with the video! Instead of the traditional (slightly boring) choir formation, they can add a whole bunch of pizazz to make the footage eye-catching and fun!

Although nothing can really beat a live choir’s atmosphere and feeling, a virtual one is the best alternative there is. Even if choir students can not physically be together, they still push to sing together because it is what they love. To them, each member is not just a colleague or an acquaintance but rather a part of a vast, supportive family. No matter how far apart, music connects people. As the pandemic continues its reign of terror, choir students do not allow it to claim their best and continue having a stable, strong bond unique to them.