Recording Guidelines:

There are many alternative ways of recording video of yourself when singing your Each Moment part(s). As it is impractical for us to cover each and every type of device our singers are likely to use, these guidelines are limited to general process tips and the two most dominant personal computer systems, namely Windows and Apple.

General Process

  • The quieter the place of recording the better.

Tips

Constant noise we can filter out of your recordings. Try to avoid noise like people talking, clinking dishes, barking dogs etc.
  • You MUST wear head or earphones.
Try using one head/earphone. Your open ear will help you pitch your notes more accurately.
  • You may wish to set-up lighting and a backdrop that flatters you.
A desk lamp illuminating your front 3/4 profile is more flattering than a ceiling light located behind you. Consider what your webcam will see behind you. Adjust your camera's location/direction to suit or set up a temporary backdrop (e.g. sheet). A darker background is good, as it will allow your profile to stand out more clearly in videos.
  • Dress as you like.
No comment other than to remind you of the head/earphone accessory you'll be wearing.
  • Learn the music first and warm up before you attempt the video recoding you hope to submit to us.
Go to 'Music, Current Event, Sheet Music' to print off sheet music provided for your part(s). Pencil in your preferred stagger breathing breath points etc.
  • Watch/listen to a conductor video and record video of yourself at the same time.
Try setting up two windows on you computer's desktop, one to play a conductor's video, the other to control and monitor your webcam. Locating the control window of your webcam just above that of the conductor's video will be more forgiving of eye deflections as you 'watch the conductor'. You will appear to be looking over the conductor's head to the 'audience' beyond.
  • Before you record, adjust the settings of your webcam (see Technical Process below), otherwise the size of the file generated may be too big or the quality of the video too poor.
From testing, we found a resolution of 640 x 480 to be an ideal compromise between file size and video quality (but no greater please). If your webcam cannot record at this resolution, no matter - send us the best it can give you.
  • Also, make sure the conductor video will play right through without 'hiccup'.
Your computer needs time to download the video to your video player. If you start playing it too soon, the player may catch up to the download and stall.
  • When recording, start the recorder first followed by the conductor video. When you finish the song stay composed for at least four seconds before moving to turn of the recorder. Don't forget to clap in bar 3!
We recommend you close all unnecessary windows and minimise those remaining, except for the two windows required for recording, namely; the conductor's video and the webcam recording window.
  • At the conclusion of a recording, review the quality of recording by playing it. If it doesn't satisfy your standard, record another 'take' until you're happy (enough) with it.
Don't worry about minor imperfections or awkward breaks for breath... that's to be expected. Once all singer videos are combined, a magical blending, experienced in that of a live choir performance, will happen.
  • Finally, send your video, or videos if you performed more than one part, to us for processing.
We have a preferred way of sending these rather large video files (i.e. typically about 45Mb). It is to have you save them to a shared and secured folder on an Internet based file server operated by 'Dropbox'. We will be sending each of you an invitation to share an individual, quarantined Dropbox folder we have set up especially for you. We encourage you to agree to do so. It is a most effective way of sharing large files... it's secure and robust... and it's a free service. Dropbox does require you to load their software onto your computer, so as to make the sharing of files easy. We believe Dropbox to be a well respected and responsible service provider but.. if you choose not to use Dropbox... you can burn the video(s) to a CD-ROM and send it it to us by post (if so, send us an email requesting our postal address).

Technical Process

There are a wide range of webcam hardware and software products used on Window based computers. A webcam is a camera built-in or connected to a computer, with which to run applications such as Skype. Application software provided with such a camera can also record and play video files. Just what you need for this event! With Apple, it's a little less problematic, as their own software product QuickTime is bundled free with their computers. Apple iMac computers running the Lion operating system have QuickTime version 10.2 installed, which has video recording capabilities via their built-in camera and microphone. Although this version of QuickTime is not available for Windows, a similar PRO version is available, albeit at a price. 

Because QuickTime can be supported on both Windows and Apple computers, it is our preferred product and the guideline below is based on QuickTime 10.2. However, the functionality is generically similar to other webcam applications so, you should find similar functions that apply to the webcam application on your computer. We urge you to join the Music Forum so you can compare notes on recording techniques and technologies with one another. Those with relevant technical experience and assist those who may be struggling.

Function

  • Click on 'Start, All Programs' (Windows) or 'Launch Pad' (Apple) to find and start the QuickTime application (if there's not a 'shortcut' icon already on your 'desktop').

Tips

If your computer has a camera built in or added, find you webcam software application. Refer to your manual if you have one. . If your computer doesn't have a webcam, then you may consider buying one and installing it or using someone else's computer that is equipped with one.
  • Click on 'File, New Movie Recording'.
  • Click on the down arrow, on the right side of the control panel, and select the video quality 'High'.  Adjust other settings as appropriate.
If you wish to use and external high quality microphone  rather than the in-built mic., change the setting here also. Important: adjust your microphone's sensitivity so that it is neither too loud nor too soft!

Some webcams allow you to adjust settings like brightness, contrast, hue etc. to your liking.
  • Click on the red button, smile and sing like there's no tomorrow! Click it again when you're done recording.
See 'General Process' above for singing guidelines and 'Conductor Videos' for artistic instructions.
  • Click on 'File, Export'. Here, you can specify what folder to store the recorded movie (or create a new folder),  'the Format' as 'Movie' of 480p resolution (i.e. 640 x 480). Then click on the 'Export' button.
Make sure you include in the file name, your first and last name and the part you sang and the version number (in case you submit more than one video for the same part). For example:

      Fred Bloggs B1 V1.mov

This means the singer is 'Fred Bloggs' who sang the 'Bass 1' part and the recording is 'Version 1'.