It's finally here!!! Our big weekend!!! We are so excited and we know that we are going to have a great experience and create something beautiful!!
Thursday Nov 20th
- Dress rehearsal
- 6:30-9:00pm
- Location: Dalhousie Arts Centre, Room 121 (see Christina's Facebook post)
- Plan: Do a run of everything, especially the pieces we didn't get to on Sunday
- Recording Day 1
- 6:00pm-9:00pm
- Location: St Anselm's - 7037 -7 Highway, West Chezzetcook
- Please come with a bag supper you can eat in the car, or with lots of snacks for yourself
Saturday Nov 22nd
- Recording Day 2
- 9:30am-5:30pm
- Location: St Anselm's - 7037 -7 Highway, West Chezzetcook
- Lunch will be provided by the Xara organization
- Soprano 1s are on snack duty
Sunday Nov 23rd
- Recording Day 3
- 1:00pm-8:00 pm
- Location: St Anselm's - 7037 -7 Highway, West Chezzetcook
- Soprano 2s & Alto 1s will bring a potluck supper on Sunday
- Alto 2s are on snack duty
Recording Etiquette
As I said on Sunday, the recording process is different than anything else in the music world. Beginning on Friday night, even my "ears" are not in charge - that role gets turned over to our producer, Jeff Reilly. So, in order to ensure we maximize our time, these are the "rules" of recording etiquette. I'm going to have to be fierce about enforcing them since our ultimate success is very tied to staying on schedule and to only one person steering the session.
- Questions: No matter what you hear or what concerns you have about how the music goes with each take, there are to be no questions. At all. Trust that Jeff is listening to everything, catching everything, and has a plan to ensure he gets what he needs to edit our work into a cohesive, fabulous track. The only time questions are okay are if Jeff or I ask for your feedback on how something felt. I know this goes against our norm, but recording is just entirely different from the rest of the world of music-making.
- Wait Times: There will be countless moments of waiting while Jeff listens back to things or has me come listen to things. At that time, please stretch, drink water, release stress, etc. However, DO NOT leave the room. There will be sufficient bathroom breaks, etc scheduled. The moment Jeff or I says we're back "on" you need to be there and ready to go.
- Page Turns: Have the bottom corners of your pages folded over so you can turn pages as slowly and silently as possible.
- Physical Readiness: Wear layers, do everything in your power to be well-rested and healthy for each day, wear REALLY comfortable and supportive shoes.
- Strike a Balance: Recording can often make a choir become "stiff" as we are working hard for the perfect take. I am far less concerned with the perfect take (that's what editing is for) as I am with the "Xara feeling" living in each song. When we do full runs of a piece, we need to perform rather than just sing. So be ready to connect to the emotions, the ideas, and the passion for each piece. Any blips that happen will be dealt with by re-singing a few measures so they can be edited in.
Notes Re: Food
- We have been told that the water at the church is safe to drink but doesn't taste very good. In that case, we advise bringing lots of your own water and we will provide some large jugs of water as well.
- The kitchen is equipped with dishes, an oven, a microwave, and a fridge.
- Reminder that we only have an hour for each meal break so you should bring things for the potluck meal that will be relatively easy to assemble or heat up.
Other Details
- Please dress in layers as we don't know how warm the church will be each day, although we have asked to have the heat left on throughout the day on Friday so that it is warm.
- WREATH MONEY must be brought to Tenille not later than Sunday's session.
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