Tag: Stay at Home Choir

No. 17 • 2020-09-09

Subscribe to Newsletter

Back to School

The 2020 B.PHL Innovation Festival is next week, Sept. 15-17.  Given the pandemic, this second year of B.PHL is entirely online and registration is free(!).  The program celebrates innovation in all its forms (technology, arts & entertainment, education, social justice, healthcare, and more) and features local leaders as well as global celebrities, like Pitbull, Nick Offerman, and Issa Rae.

Several events feature Drexel presenters:

  • A Night at the Museum(s), featuring Scott Cooper, CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences with Clay Catongo, Penn Museum.
  • By Law, By Love – features Angel Hogan, department manager in the LeBow College of Business and current Drexel MFA student, presenting her short documentary about a boy’s quest to find his family after growing up in foster care (part of the B. PHL Film Fest).
  • Put Down Your Pencils: The 2020 Class(zoom), a conversation with Drexel President John Fry and U. Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett.

I am co-hosting an event with Jessica Zweig, Program Director of Play On Philly, to kick off our new panel mini-series, Creative Conversations for a Changing World. These discussions will focus on how arts and education organizations are innovating through the pandemic with organizational leaders from some of Philadelphia’s premier institutions. We’ll hear from those who are thinking in and out of the box about new ways of performing, learning, and sharing in the era of social distancing. Our kickoff event features an All-Star panel:

Our panel is Tuesday. September 15, 4pm (B.PHL festival registration is required, but it’s free!)  Of course, anyone can tune in… you don’t have to be in Philly. Please share the event info with anyone who’s interested, and also be sure to check out the rest of the B.PHL program for other great sessions. I hope to “see” you Tuesday at 4pm!

Also, pre-register below for our future series events below.  Mark your calendars!

(Socially) Distant Creations

  • The Global Armed Man [Stay at Home Choir] 5000 singers from 74 countries contributed to this musical celebration of the 20th anniversary of the premiere Sir Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. The virtual mashup combines live concert footage from 2018 with at home recordings of thousands of singers.
  • Virtual POP [Play On Philly] Registration is open for the incredible local youth music instruction program’s 10th Anniversary year. Instruction begins virtually on Oct. 5.
  • Online Art History Classes [Barnes Foundation] An impressive collection of topics, each consisting of 4 weekly sessions this Fall.
  • Virtual Gallery [Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show] Featuring works from 101 artists from the US and Canada (Sept. 10-13).
  • Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2020 [Fringe Arts] Another reminder of the amazing all-virtual Fringe lineup this year (Sept. 10-Oct. 4).
  • Time Flies [Apple] The company’s next round of products will be announced in a virtual event (Sept. 15 at 1pm ET). Expect a new Apple Watch and new iPads.

What I’m creating

Virtual Chorister, my iOS app to help musicians participate in virtual collaboration projects has surpassed 2000 downloads! And don’t let the name fool you… it’s for instrumentalists, too! The latest update lets you also load guide videos from cloud services (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, etc.) and adds support for Bluetooth headphones. An update coming soon will add other requested features.

Another frequent request is for an Android version. Unfortunately, that’s an entirely different development process that I don’t have experience with (essentially writing an entirely new app), but I’m thinking about it…

No. 15 • 2020-08-26

Subscribe to Newsletter

Virtual Chorister

Followers of this newsletter know of my fondness for virtual choir projects. Since the start of the pandemic, choirs and vocal ensembles, in particular, haven’t been able to sing together. As a singer, I really miss it. Unfortunately, it’s likely we won’t be able to gather safely for some time, and some organizations and schools have cancelled the entire year/season of rehearsals and performances.

Virtual choirs aren’t a substitute for live singing in ensemble, but they offer a different way to collaborate and contribute to something musical. As I’ve written previously, the format opens up new possibilities that can’t be realized in person. Sing in ensemble with a famous professional group. Collaborate with musicians on the other side of the globe. A choir of more than 17000 singers. Or, in the case of schools and youth choirs, just continue to sing and learn.

To be clear: virtual choir projects are not accomplished via Zoom or videoconferencing. Those systems have too much delay to make musical collaboration possible, and there are many hilarious examples to prove that. Instead, each singer records their own part separately, and these videos are then mixed together (by someone with some video editing experience and a lot of patience) into the final “performance” shared via YouTube, Instagram, etc. Earlier this summer, I presented an online workshop introducing the full virtual chorus process for music educators, as part of the Apple Distinguished Educators Festival of Learning. It’s not for the faint of heart.

The technology makes it possible, but it doesn’t make it easy, even just to participate as a chorister. It takes a bit of technical know-how to contribute to a project (certainly more than just showing up to rehearsal).

The process generally requires 2 devices: one to view a reference/conductor video (so that you sing in sync with everyone else) and another (usually your phone) to record your own performance. The need for 2 devices (and skill to use both in tandem) poses a barrier to participation for some.

Today, I’m releasing a new iOS app, Virtual Chorister, which attempts to make it easier by combining everything on a single device (an iPhone or iPad). The app enables you to watch & follow a reference video while you record your own singing. You don’t need to juggle the tech across multiple devices. The video is saved to your Photo Library, which you then share/upload in whatever way is designated by the project.

In particular, I’m hopeful this will help schools and youth choirs continue to sing and create this Fall. So, it is a free app. If you do use it for a project, I’d appreciate a shout out and an email to let me know about your project (and maybe get highlighted in this newsletter!). If you wish to contribute something to help continue development, there is an option to do so within the app.

And if you’re looking for a way to participate, here are a few virtual choir projects:

It’s not a substitute for actually singing together… nothing is. But maybe, such projects can keep us going until we can gather together and sing to our hearts’ content. I hope this app enables others to begin (or continue) creating at a distance.

Happy singing!

Download Virtual Chorister (for iPhone and iPad) via the App Store.

(Socially) Distant Creations

  • Words [London Youth Chamber Choir] Collaborative music video of an a cappella classic (originally performed by The Real Group). Nice video production (not Zoom rectangles)!
  • How a hidden Center City block became a pop-up concert hall [WHYY News] You just can’t stop the music!
  • Ubi Caritas [Kings Return, composed by Ola Gjeilo] This went viral a few weeks ago, but definitely worth another listen even if you’ve seen it. Just four guys who sing in stairwells… beautifully.
  • An Artful Pivot [The Indicator from Planet Money, NPR] A radio profile of how the Wilma Theater transitioned Is God Is from the stage to a radio play in response to the pandemic (special appearance by friend of ExCITe, Sunil Iyengar of the NEA).
  • Digital Festival O [Opera Philadelphia] It’s your last chance to stream 3 groundbreaking Philadelphia operatic premieres (ends Aug. 31)

What I’m creating

What, a brand new app isn’t enough for you?

OK, here’s a website I made, all about battling with remote-controlled LEGO robots. In truth, I published the site a year ago, but my son and I are still having fun with our LEGO robot battles!

We were inspired by one of our favorite TV shows, BattleBots. Season 5 was postponed due to COVID, but it’s coming back this Fall!

No. 14 • 2020-08-12

Subscribe to Newsletter

Civil Dialog

During the pandemic, we have become even more reliant upon (addicted to?) social media for, well… socializing. It’s nice to still connect with friends & family and stories of interest, but we know it’s also a source of tremendous angst, frustration, and rage-induced thumb sprains. Let’s face it, the notion of a civil conversation online has become somewhat of an oxymoron. 

Twitter is sometimes called a “public square”, but what if your tweets were actually writ large, projected into the physical Public Square?  Might that facilitate more productive conversations about social issues and challenges, regional and national concerns, and current events? That’s the premise behind the new project, Civil Dialog, created by my friend and colleague Dr. Frank Lee, Director of the Entrepreneurial Game Studio at the ExCITe Center, which premieres this evening through the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

You may be familiar with Prof. Lee’s previous work in putting classic games Pong and Tetris on Philadelphia’s Cira Centre skyscraper, creating the world’s largest video game display. A follow-up effort, Skyscraper Games, partnered with local schoolteachers to teach coding to middle schoolers, premiering their new game creations on the Cira Centre. His work integrating creativity, technology, education, and civic engagement embodies everything we aspire to at ExCITe.

Civil Dialog will display tweets on select topics in an animated, large-scale projection for 4 consecutive nights (9-10:30pm) on the western side of Nesbitt Hall at 33th and Market Streets on Drexel’s campus. Dr. Lee’s team of students and technologists developed a custom system and visual presentation to highlight visibility and active discussion for nearby viewers and those watching online. The intention is to start a conversation where local residents and remote participants can develop empathetic views and become co-creators of public spaces both virtual and physical on Drexel’s campus.

Topics have been curated by students from our Pennoni Honors College, whose recent panel events have been facilitating community discussions on challenging issues facing our nation: sexism in politics, criminal justice reform, environmental justice, gentrification and systemic racism. The project team will present discussion prompts and surveys and moderate the ongoing Twitter thread.

Though it was conceived before the pandemic, I believe the project is another great example of Creating at a Distance. All are welcome to participate: Follow the @Civil_Dialog Twitter account and reply to prompts starting this evening (Wed 8/12 through Sat 8/15). If you can’t view the building projection directly, you can watch a video stream via Twitch and Periscope (by following on Twitter). I look forward to conversing with you (at a distance)!

Next week is my monthly break to focus on other projects, but look out for our ExCITe Center monthly mailing. Creating at a Distance will return in two weeks, August 26.

(Socially) Distant Creations

  • A Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical [Music: Jason Howland, Lyrics: Nathan Tysen] A new digital musical experiment for the isolation era with a stellar cast of Broadway veterans. All 9 short episodes to be released this month ($12.99 for the full season).
  • Hamilton Mask-Up Parody Medley [The Holderness Family] I am not throwing away this… mask! Right up my alley, as I am passionate about Hamilton and mask wearing.
  • Christopher Jackson: Live From the West Side [Kimmel Center] Hamilton nod #2… An online benefit performance by the original George Washington (Sat. 8/15 at 8pm, donation required). Proceeds will benefit the Kimmel Cultural Campus Road to Reopening Relief Fund.
  • And So It Goes [Stay At Home Choir with The King’s Singers] Beautiful rendition of a Billy Joel classic. I signed up to join the next Stay at Home Choir project.
  • Parallax Podcast [featured in Issue No. 1 of this newsletter] has been killing it with recent guests James Johnson-Piett, Omar Woodard, Keira Smalls, and Shannon Morales. Worth checking out, if you’re not already a subscriber!

What I’m creating

I can’t really take credit for this one, but one of my former PhD students, David Rosen, recently had his dissertation research on creativity and music improvisation highlighted in this fantastic video produced by the National Science Foundation. Also check out the startup he’s founded, Secret Chord Laboratories, which includes some familiar faces from our research lab!