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 Visual Thesaurus hires singers for pronunciation work
Date: September 3, 2010
We're extremely proud to announce that the Visual Thesaurus now offers accurate, high-quality audio pronunciations for every single word in our database — all 150,000 of them! This was a mammoth undertaking, and the results are unequaled by any online resource, both in terms of quality and quantity.
Visual Thesaurus enlisted the help of some vocally talented freelancers to make recordings for the 150,000 words and phrases in VT's lexical database (in turn drawn from WordNet). To my knowledge, no phonetic recording project of this scope has ever been attempted for an English-language online reference. As I mention in the announcement, we're talking about 55 hours of recorded speech, all done in tiny chunks averaging about 1.3 seconds. It turned out that the ideal candidates for this sort of freelance project were performers with a background in opera — for their vocal stamina, attention to the details of enunciation, and most of all, knowledge of IPA. As it happens, just about every opera singer and coach needs to be familiarized with IPA in order to sing in non-native languages, using phonetically rendered libretti.
 Who needs a choir?
Date: September 2, 2010
Who needs a choir anymore? RequiemLight sounds just like one:
Requiem Light is based on a variety of new recording- and sampling techniques some which have never before been integrated in choral sample libraries. The library can literally sound like a real choir and includes both full choir (SATB), divisi groups (males/females) and two solo singers (soprano and tenor) - all recorded in 24 bit / 44.1khz with 1 microphone position (pre-mixed from Requiem Pro (5.1) mics. The library contains true (polyphonic) legato intervals from piano to forte, sustains from piano to forte, staccato with repetitions, ultra forte marcato, BPM (host-synced) legato based latin chants recorded at different speeds across entire interval of choir, tons of choral effects including whispers, shouts, clusters, demonic chants, sweeps, consonants without tone, claps, snaps and over +50 different types of effects.
Climbing the Greasy Pole
Date: September 1, 2010
The leading of practices is like pushing a man up a greasy pole. He goes up with a bit of effort, but slides down naturally when you leave him alone. I like this metaphor not just because it is vivid and surprising – and therefore expressive and memorable – but because it is rich enough to tell us things beyond the immediate message it is presented to convey.
The primary point is to cast the rehearsal process as a constant battle against entropy. Musical achievements are not stable things that you can put down somewhere and expect to find them just as you left them without further attention. This may be obvious, but it’s useful to keep the obvious in mind at times. When you turn up to rehearsal and the things you nailed last week are sounding wobbly again, for instance, is a good time to recall this image. Instead of getting frustrated that the gains have slipped back, it helps you think, ‘Oh yes, human beings, they forget things – we need to go over this again.’
Advice for Those Seeking a Place in Leadership
Date: August 31, 2010
 As you seek to find your way as a new teacher, a young choral conductor entering the field, or an emerging leader in your school/organization/profession, let me offer some tips. I encourage ChoralNet readers to add the "secrets of your success" by replying below with your own advice to young teachers and conductors that would like to be you some day.
1. To Lead is to Learn-Grab opportunities to make a training presentation for any new or ongoing initiative, EVEN IF YOU DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE THE EXPERTISE. The point is, GET A PIECE OF IT, and offer to make a presentation on what you know (or will learn).
2. Offer to be recording secretary-No one likes taking minutes, so grab the opportunity to "be at the table." Take the best minutes ever taken, edit them carefully, and distribute them quickly. Further, in all your work, always use spell check, proof read TWICE, and introduce 3 and 4 syllable words into your writing and conversations.
3. Do not be the idea killer-But rather, embrace ideas and seek to improve them with any needed practicality. Treat other idea killers as a positive, and be the one to do more homework to show why the idea could work.
4. Talk in terms of the other person's interests-Hard to do in our profession, but give up on being your only cheerleader. Be their cheerleader. People do not want the arrogant ones at the top-everyone knows they will just use it for their own entitlements.
5. Collect and learn from your mistakes-Mistakes can be one of your silent mentors, IF, you take away the lesson and emerge on the positive side of the lesson learned.
6. Do not go over budget-While your intentions may be noble, going over budget negates all of your good ideas and intentions, and you are viewed as a loose canon.
7. Look sharp and be sharp (sorry for the pun)-Put on your game face, game clothes, and be ready to represent the best the organization has to offer.
8. Stay out of office politics, unless it is the official political structure-Emphasize the "why" of everything, not the human source, positive or negative.
9. Learn the difference between what can be changed, and what cannot-This includes decisions of the past, as well as decisions about future direction.
10. Make this your ongoing vocabulary-"Please", "Thank you", "Good job", "I appreciate you", "I hear great things about your work", "I am glad to be working with you", "I need your help", "You deserve this", "Congrats."
Operation Telstar
Date: August 30, 2010
ChoralNet member Steve Szalaj shares this with the choral community:
Recently, the N ew York Times ran an article about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir being a part of the first live international satellite broadcast called Operation Telstar on July 23, 1962. The article relates personal stories and the significant cultural/political/social importance of this event against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the space race and the societal changes soon to begin.
With the article, there is a video of a portion of this performance, as well as two other performances and an audio file. It also touches on how technology has always been a significant part of MTC's history.
It was an effort intended to shout to the world "America Can Do It!" and song - choral music - was its heart and voice. With the article are video and audio links of performances by the MTC, including a clip of this first satellite broadcast. As one who lived during this time, this brought back a flood of memories and emotions that probably have a stronger impact on my life today than I am aware of (or perhaps willing to admit...).
Releasing it yourselves: Seraphic Fire, WMU, and Monteverdi
Date: August 29, 2010
 All of the record labels turned them down, so they released it themselves. And now, the recording is tops on iTunes.
A new compact disc by the Western Michigan University Chorale in collaboration with the professional singing ensemble Seraphic Fire has climbed to the top of the iTunes classical recordings charts, displacing new releases by the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and the London Symphony Orchestra.
The recording of Claudio Monteverdi's 1610 masterpiece, "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin," also known as the "1610 Vespers," was released on iTunes last week, immediately landing in the Top 10 classical recordings and prompting National Public Radio to feature the CD and the story behind its creation on the program "All Things Considered."
"It's really an amazing story," says Dr. James Bass, who just left WMU after serving as director of choral studies. "I'm so proud of the students at Western."
It's back!
Date: August 28, 2010
The A Cappella Condom Song is back! In August 2008, when www.condomcondom.org was launched by the BBC World Service Trust as part of its Condom Normalization mass media campaign, it was primarily to showcase the campaign and enable people to download the ‘Condom a Cappella’ ringtone. Within the first six weeks, the website got over 3.5 million hits. The site needed a revamp to widen its scope and bring it up to date. And that’s where Ideaz Inc came in. They redesigned the site completely and it was relaunched with new content.
Pronounce any word: Forvo is amazing
Date: August 27, 2010
Forvo describes themselves as the "largest pronunciation guide in the world."
From their website:
Ever wondered how a word is pronounced? Ask for that word or name, and another user will pronounce it for you. You can also help others by recording your pronunciations in your own language.
Forvo is an online service that claims to have 741,998 words, 659,314 pronunciations, and 258 languages represented.
Mindset for today's freshmen
Date: August 26, 2010
Covey tells us we must "seek to understand" before we can be understood as teachers. With that in mind, I share this list that I found referenced on Jeff Carter's blog - the mindset for this year's freshmen student:
1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
and . . .
10. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren't afraid of immigration...unless it involves "real" aliens from another planet.
11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis. 12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.
13. Parents and teachers feared that Beavis and Butt-head might be the voice of a lost generation.
More ChoralBlog...
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The San Clemente Choral Society has appointed composer and conductor Stephen Sturk as its new artistic director.
After 45 years, Choral Arts’ Founder and Artistic Director, Norman Scribner, has announced his retirement which will take effect on August 31, 2012. The organization will now embark on the search for a new artistic director who will take the helm of one of the nations preeminent symphonic choruses for the 2012-2013 Season.
