Smogon Virtual Choir: A Project

[Euphonos]

An excerpt of "A Parting Gift", composed by yours truly


If I were to give you sheet music like this, will you be able to sing any of the four parts?
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A. PROLOGUE

There was this one time where I took on a trip down memory lane and revisited some of the old choral works I've done over the past few years. And then, I eventually bolt to three Smogon sub-community Discords to ask this one question: "Anyone here who can sing and can read notes?" Apparently, less than 1% of those online responded, and majority of those said they can't sing, but that's perfectly understandable. However, there lies an opportunity from the situation caused by the pandemic, and I eventually thought of putting up a virtual choir, something like this.​

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B. ABOUT MYSELF

It is actually my first time to post a thread specifically in this subforum, but allow me introduce myself first. I am Euphonos, community member of Smogon in 2010, and a Filipino choral musician since 2007. I've been into five Philippine choirs in the entirety of my choral journey, though three of those are the closest to me: I am an alumnus of Boscorale, an all-male high school choir I've been part of, a (singing) alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club, the Philippines' oldest university choir, and I am currently a member of Aleron, an all-male community choir. I am aspiring to become a music student one day thanks to my natural curiosity towards musical phenomena - which means I'll be taking (choral) conducting as my music degree; if circumstances permit me to pursue this path, I'll take it.​

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C. ABOUT THE PROJECT

As ambitious as this project is, I'm going to make this project as a one-off project unless an overwhelming amount of people would like to participate in this endeavor and interest will be extremely high and sustainable in the long-term. What to do in this virtual choir project, for those interested, is to record yourself (audio and video) with any of the four given parts, and then a video editor will be responsible to mix and edit respective videos to make the final product presentable and consequently be uploaded on YouTube.​

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So, in this stage, I would like to ask your thoughts and questions regarding this ambitious project of mine regarding its feasibility before we start proceeding what needs to proceed. With that, I am looking forward to your constructive criticisms and/or favorable responses. I thank you in advance!​

(I'm looking for you, San Tomas and ShionShadows!)

 

[Berks]

Hit me tf up

 

[GlassGlaceon]

Definitely excited about this. If you could send any extra info to me, I would love to be a part of it. I'm a tenor/baritenor, fyi! :)

 

[Euphonos]

Hello, everyone! I'd like to give updates for this undertaking.

So far, six of us have expressed interest in pushing through with this endeavor -- everyone being men. If, in a few weeks, I don't see women expressing their interest in this undertaking, that's perfectly fine; it's just that it's all on me to choose a few pieces for the very first project depending on the situation. However, regardless of whatever configuration we're going to have, I really want to push through with this piece as part of the virtual choir's canon.

Now, to spark some discussions going, there are two things that you can do with this thread.

Option 1: Ask questions!

- What questions do you have in mind regarding this virtual choir project I'm putting up?

Option 2: Sign up!

Sign up with the following info here:

Forum Name: Euphonos
Discord (if any): Euphonos#9726
Choral Experiences (if any): Choral musician since 2007, being part of three award-winning choirs in the Philippines
Degree of Music Theory Proficiency: Advanced (chord analysis)
Had vocal training?: Yes
Voice Sections (you're comfortable with): Alto, Baritone
Religion: Roman Catholic
Timezone (Country/State): GMT +8 (Philippines)

Let's say, I'll set a deadline to Sunday, October 11, 11:59 PM GMT -4. I hope I can answer to your queries as soon as possible, and I hope more people would be interested in this endeavor. Thank you so much!

 

[ShionShadows]

Forum Name: ShionShadows
Discord: Staraptor, Bird of Sinnoh#1679
Choral Experiences: The most I've done is 2 years in a HS choir class.
Degree of Music Theory Proficiency: Intermediate, but thats probably a bit much.
Had vocal training: Nothing professional, so I'll say no.
Voice Sections: Tenor, Baritone, maybe Bass
Religion: I will not divulge this information as I find it irrelevant but please feel free to explain why this is relevant to this choir.
Timezone(Country/State) GMT -8/-9. AK. This is confusing because i swear I'm GMT-9 but everything keeps saying I'm 8 hours behind so I'll manage within that range

 

[Euphonos]

Religion: I will not divulge this information as I find it irrelevant but please feel free to explain why this is relevant to this choir.

It's perfectly fine to not divulge; this is because if we garner more interest after our one-off project, we may end up singing some pieces that would be sacred in nature. Of course, the repertoire selected may not always represent your own faith; we just wanted to be as inclusive as possible. Thanks for the inquiry, ShionShadows!