-From Jesse Hill
This Advent season will be pretty different than it has been in years past. But, we still have much to celebrate in the birth of Jesus, and in the hope that he will come again!
Part of our celebration will be that we will (hopefully) make two virtual choir videos this year: one for the beginning of advent, and another for Christmas Eve. (click here to see our previous videos for “Is He Worthy” and “King of Kings”)
For now, we’re going to work on a song for early December, “Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground).”
Here you will find five different files:
a guide track (for you to listen to as you sing along or play your instrument),
a vocal sheet (for those who can read music and want to sing parts),
a chord chart (for musicians and singers who don’t need the sheet music),
a piano and lead sheet (for musicians who prefer to read parts)
a strings pack (for instruments like violin and cello).
Note: I have purchased the rights to use a limited number of these files, so please do not distribute them beyond our own congregation.
Here are the steps for recording your video (see below for special instructions for kids!)
Instructions for adult singers and musicians (video submission deadline is November 29)
Begin by learning the song. Listen to the guide track and play/sing along a few times.
When you are ready, you will need headphones, something to record your video (e.g. your phone, computer, camera) and something to play the guide track (probably another device).
Set your up your camera (or phone, etc.) in a place that is relatively quiet, ideally with bright lighting (facing a window is usually good). Try to put your camera at eye level if you can. If you want, you can have someone hold the camera, but this doesn’t always work out so well.
Plug in your headphones, and sing along to the guide track (the track should be in your headphones only, so that the camera is only picking up your voice). There will be a brief instruction at the beginning asking you to count out loud with the track, this is so that I can sync all of the videos to play in time together. Remember to sing loud and smile! Pro tip: Some people find it easier to sing with only one earphone.
If you want, you can watch your video to see how it sounds and looks. Keep in mind, your video will not sound very good, because you are only one voice. But, once your video is combined with everyone else, it should sound pretty cool (see our previous virtual choir videos if you’re not sure!)
When you have a video you like, you can send it to me. My email address is jesse.d.hill@gmail.com. Google drive, WeTransfer, Dropbox, and OneDrive all work well. Or, you can upload the video to your own YouTube account and send me the link (you can make your video “unlisted” if you don’t want to share it with the whole internet). If you have trouble with this step, let me know! I don’t mind talking you through the process of sending the video over the phone.
If you’re singing, you’re all done! But, if you’re a musician playing an instrument that is recorded direct (e.g. bass, electronic instruments) don’t forget to send me a WAV or mp3 file of your direct recording, too.
Special instructions for kids (video submission deadline is November 29):
Kids can follow the same steps as above with two exceptions.
First, it might be that some kids are not comfortable using headphones. In this case, you can play the guide track without headphones, on a speaker. If you do this, try to put the speaker/device all the way to the right or left (this will allow me to mute the right or left channel in the video). Don’t worry if you can hear the guide track.
Second, it might be that some kids do not want to sing the whole song (e.g. maybe they only want to sing the chorus). This is just fine! Try to send me a video of the whole song, and just let me know if they only sang on one part. I can edit the video after. If you wind up recording lots of little video clips, that’s fine, too. I’ll take what I can get. :)
Thanks everyone, I’m looking forward to seeing your videos!
-Jesse