Archived AMCA Talk



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The Cement That Binds
Monday, 13-Nov-00 00:41:01
65.25.167.195 writes:

Reference: INTERACTIVE with the Executive Sectretary...The Cement That Binds
I totally agree with Bill that everyone is entitled to a copy of each Chorister. I believe most people agree. It seems to me that the real issue is the method of distribution. In an ideal situation, if everyone was computer literate and had access to the internet, there is no question that "electronic distribution" would be the way to go. Until we get to that point, however, paper seems to be the most sensible way to reach everyone.

What if, each Chorus assigned a computer person to print a copy of the Chorister from the AMCA Web Site. It would then be his responsibility to make enough copies for each member of his Chorus by whatever means he chooses. That is, if he has access to a high speed laser printer, he may choose to print them off the Web Site...or he may take it to a local "copy shop" for the necessary quantity. In our area (Milwaukee) you can get things copied for from 3 to 6 cents per page. For arguments sake lets say an average Chorister is 5 pages and it costs 5 cents a page to copy. (5 X .05 = .25 per Chorister) It would cost a Chorus of 30 men $7.50 to give each man his own copy. The question now is...is it cheaper to print and distribute locally or is it more economical to print and distribute from a central location as is being done today? And are there issues other than pure economics that should be considered?

Steven E. Butz


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For Tenors & Conductors
Saturday, 30-Sep-00 12:36:05
216.168.96.219 writes:

Tenors - how many times over the years have you been instructed to "keep an open throat" when singing in the upper part of your register? But has it ever been explained to you how you accomplish an "open throat"?
There is an excellent article serialized on Morton Music's web site in the Choral Snippets section written by New York pedagogue, David Jones titled - "How to Vocalise a Choir and Keep Vocal Health". While it is written primarily for chorus conductors, I highly recommend it as reading for all tenors. You will learn methods and exercises that will aid in singing in the upper register with a lower larynx position, ie. an open throat. This article is serialized and next week they plan to deal with "Special Problems of (Altos and) Basses". Well, couldn't we all write a BOOK on that subject?!!

Bill Bates


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AMCA Expansion
Friday, 29-Sep-00 15:27:56
165.110.219.8 writes:

An idea for expansion of AMCA.
I too have often wondered why AMCA does not take in more of North America I. E. -- British Columbia, California, Alberta, Florida, Saskatchewan, Texas.
A modest suggestion---
Through the net and any other means-why not give each district in AMCA the challenge of finding one male choral group in a specific state/province not currently represented in AMCA. The goal is to introduce that one chorus to AMCA. AMCA would also learn all about that one chorus and share our common thread of the joy of male choral singing. Off Course the final goal is membership in AMCA.
Another tack could be to have that one chorus be part of or participate in the I.B.S. in Lansing.
If we have ten districts this could be ten new choruses from ten entirely new locations coming into AMCA.

Dick Keffer


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Benefits of Membership
Tuesday, 14-Mar-2000 13:45:01
216.168.97.172 writes:

Why do you belong to the AMCA? Is there anything that you think the AMCA should be doing for you that it presently is not?When I joined I automatically became a member because the chorus I joined belonged. However, I found many reasons that were important to me personally and as time went on, and I became an enthusiastic booster of membership in the Association. I am interested in hearing from YOU as to what you think AMCA's performance rating would be - a 'Report Card' if you wish!

Bill Bates


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Where Are Scholarship (past) Winners?
Friday, 10-Mar-2000 08:39:44
206.11.1.235 writes:

I have an interest (perked by Bob Russell in Milwaukee) in finding out "what has happened" in the life of any or all of the former scholarship winners. I think it would be interesting to see if some musical goals have been accomplished but just to know something about "where they are now"!

Any personal information or contact information on previous scholarship winners would be appreciated. You can leave information here as a reply to this message, contact me through the AMCA Scholarship web page, or just send me an email.

Thanks Bob for the push on this one!

David Thomas


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Music Exchange
Wednesday, 08-Mar-2000 09:28:00
216.177.158.218 writes:

Do you have more music than you know what to do with? Has most of your library not been performed since gas was 32 cents a gallon? What are your thoughts of starting a music beg, borrow or barter system for excess music in your library. This could be a good way to get copies of some music that you would like that are out of print that some other chorus has in their library collecting dust. You could sell the music, loan it out, trade for something from another chorus library, or similar things. Let me hear your ideas and maybe a music exchange site could be established for this purpose.

Bill Lundholm


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AMCA Meeting Location
Tuesday, 08-Feb-2000 14:27:58

Message:
216.168.96.25 writes:

A proposal has been made to alternate our twice yearly meetings between Milwaukee, WI and Kalamazoo (or Lansing) MI. This will be debated at the next AMCA business meeting in Milwaukee on June 3/00. The rationale given was to attempt to make travel distance and costs more equal for attending members. What is your opinion?

Bill Bates

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Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Tuesday, 15-Feb-2000 12:24:53

12.75.129.213 writes:

Bill,
I think it might be ok to try to "even out" travel time and costs, but we will need to also increase reimbursements for added expense of an additional night of lodging for those of us west of Milwaukee.

Bob Esko

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Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Friday, 18-Feb-2000 15:05:15

216.168.96.25 writes:

Bob: Thanks for responding. The additional overnight for those coming from the west is an expense that the' easterners are presently faced with and might experience some relief from if the meetings were alternated. It is one of the reasons, I believe, that the issue was raised. I have started to examine the travel distances for our core of regular attendees and will share that info with those concerned when it is complete.

Bill

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Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Sunday, 20-Feb-2000 08:44:58

154.5.72.6 writes:

I very much agree with this proposal. At the present time there are six members of the Exec./ Officers from Ontario who are expected to attend all meetings. Added to that are the District delegates (3) from Ontario. Recently we have little or no representation from NY/Penn and from Lake Erie Districts. If delegate costs are one of the main reasons then a closer location once a year may assist those Districts to have better representation. Tom Rayner

Tom Rayner

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Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Sunday, 20-Feb-2000 14:03:52

38.27.187.116 writes:

Based on the discussions at the most recent meeting in Milwaukee and acting on a directive from that meeting I have taken action to procur site, costs and additional activities for an alternate meeting location in Kalamazoo, MI, USA.

I ,personally, feel that we have overlooked our attendees East of Lake Michigan in our planning. These persons have continually traveled 2 days each way and this usually includes an additional overnight stay(often in Kalamazoo) to make the meeting timeframe. In all fairness is it fair to expect these loyal attendees to continue this pattern of extended travel when their participation is equal if not more important to the meeting? I would find it hard to believe that those West of the lake would be put out to rotate the meeting location! I have, in my short tenure, noticed a decline from those eastern and Canadian attendees and this strenghtens my concern about "shared locations" to accomadate all attending. It would be my position "to continue this process and I will also continue to acquire pricing data."

Norm Goodling

Norm Goodling

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Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Sunday, 20-Feb-2000 23:56:58

216.154.1.62 writes:

Our organization started out on the east coast around New York City. We expanded west, and gradually have lost some of the eastern choruses. could we get some of them back , or rekindle the interest from N.Y.-Penn district and the Erie district. Somewhere we're missing the reasons for the lack of interest. If one of those reasons is costs and time to attend a meeting then let's try ! Joe Love. President.

Joe Love

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Re: Re: AMCA Meeting Location
Tuesday, 22-Feb-2000 23:49:12

152.163.204.17 writes:

Having to travel from upper michigan down to milwaukee twice a year i would welcome a new drive. As it is a out of my pocketmoney to travel. And i would like to see some of the people that use to come to the meetings back again.

Dave Glass
wum gov.

dave glass

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AMCA Saturday, 26-Feb-2000 16:57:01

Message:
209.183.128.44 writes:

Thank you for the suggestion of an alternate meeting place. I would happily support this venture and hope that the folks from the east would also find the opportunity to do so.

Bill Labron

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Alternate Meeting Places
Tuesday, 29-Feb-2000 23:27:32

Message:
152.163.201.59 writes:

I certainly support moving the semi-annual meetings to other locations. It should provide members in the east districts more of an opportunity to attend. In fact, why not schedule all meetings at a more central location or, move the meeting from district to district to better even out the travel time and expence.

Bob Hummell
Lake Erie District

Soprano Solos w/TTBB
Monday, 03-Jan-2000 18:56:00

206.11.2.222 writes:

I'm the conductor of the male chorus the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City. I am looking for two male choral numbers from 4 - 6 minutes, one that would feature a lyric soprano (a Lucia-type voice), and the other, which would feature a heavier (Tosca-type) voice. The pieces could be any style, although obviously, there's more flexibility when you have a lyric soprano.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help.

Gene Wisoff
genewisoff@aol.com

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Soprano Solos w/TTBB
Monday, 03-Jan-2000 17:39:55

Message:
206.10.105.240 writes:

In answer to Gene Wisoff's questions, the following pieces were in the Music For Male Chorus Data Base. It's been a long time since I looked at them, so they come without recommendation:

1. O Triumph, All Ye Ransom'd; Beethoven/Davison; E.C. Schirmer 87
2. The Little Sandman; Brahms/Goldman; Lawson-Gould 51683
3. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child; /Smith; Kjos 1113
4. La Vergine Degli Angeli; Verdi; Arista AE491
5. Lamento Della Ninfa; Monteverdi/Vree; Walton W7021
6. Dies Irae; Sallinen; Novello 07 0458 10
7. Inflammatus Et Accensus; Rossini/Platt; Plymouth PCS-300
8. Vocalize; Chenoweth; Lawson-Gould 51041
9. La Danza; Rossini/Goldman; Lawson-Gould 51453
10. Still, Still, Still; /Grotenhuis; Jenson 436019021

Good Luck,

Stan


Developing "the sound" of your chorus
Monday, 10-Jan-2000 15:02:03

Message:
38.31.45.248 writes:

I would love to see a discussion about developing a healthy male chorus sound. I would like to hear about how other directors approach vocal technique within the rehearsal and about what kind of sound they strive for, the "mask", open throat, etc...

Lori French

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Re: developing "the sound" of your chorus
Tuesday, 11-Jan-2000 10:59:28

209.105.13.39 writes:

Thanks for starting this discussion, Lori. I think one of the best starting places is the publication GROUP VOCAL TECHNIQUE by Frauke Haasemann and James Jordan, Published by Hinshaw. There is a book, a video tape and a set of cards so you can take one or two ideas to rehearsal with you easily.

Two of the biggest problems I find is the locked jaw and getting through the first register break. After working with High School students most of my career I found it was very difficult to get older singers to change.

I spend quite of bit of time on using air starting with making noise like a ch sound or blowing out a candle and then tranfering to siren type sounds and then to similar singing sounds.

I try to negotiate the first break by bringing the sound forward as singers slide from Do up to Sol changing from an AH to an O and then move up changing the vowells to O and OO and then from O to E. Another way of demonstrating it would be:

d ... s f m r d
ah .. O ..

I start in Bb and then move up

o ... oo
oo .. e

There is a great concept that I learned from Christopher c--- about using the hour glass graphic in regard to a voice, using ah at top and bottom and moving to o, oo and e as you move through the passagio. That's what is in my head as I do the above slides.

Stan

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Re: developing "the sound" of your chorus
Tuesday, 11-Jan-2000 12:34:58

208.155.5.173 writes:

Since the "Sound" of our chorus is generated primarily by amateur volunteers, who are more interested in singing than becoming trained voices, I employ a couple of simple technics to create a cohesive ensemble sound.

The first is voice blending, which determines who stands next to who.

I simply ask 3 men to stand next to each other and sing a simple song (Like "Row,Row,Row Your Boat") in unison, then have them change positions and sing the same thing again. The difference in intonation and quality of sound is remarkable. I repeat this procedure, section by section, through the entire chorus until the desired ensemble blend is achieved. The greatest influence on most amateur musicians is not the conductor (much to the chagrin of our egos) but the person next to them.

The other technique that helps our "sound" is to have different sections of the chorus face each other and sing their parts, standing either opposite each other or in a circle. This allows each section to hear how their part relates harmonically with the others. Perception is a question of perspective.

Lastly, since our chorus is asked to perform in wide variety of musical venues, I try to incorporate different approaches to sound production,i.e. open voice,sometimes with vibrato for sacred and secular classical music, or softer,airy sound with no vibrato for jazzy and pop music.

Please respond and tell me if you think any of this works or if it's all rather infantile.

Jim St. Charles
Nicolet Male Chorus
Rhinelander,Wi


My Favorite Male Chorus Piece is......
Tuesday, 11-Jan-2000 13:24:40

Message:
206.11.1.212 writes:

Consider this as a great way of sharing the music that interests you whether you are a Chorus singer, accompanist, director or listener. As a director, I know it is nice to hear from chorus members about the music that we sing and from audience listeners concerning what "piece" of music "really gets to 'em". What pieces are "fun" to sing or to hear..... What pieces "have a great deal of meaning" to you as a singer, director, listener, etc.

It would be helpful if you would enter the title, composer, publisher, and publishers number when you enter your selection (more than one selection is certainly acceptible too)!

If you live in the Midwest, we had fun with a piece called:
Roll Mighty River
Martin/Williams
Hal Leonard
08602154

The most challenging and effective Christmas Piece we ever performed was:
Choral Fantasy
Mark Reise
ECS Publishing, Boston
No. 4060

Dave Thomas

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Re: My Favorite Male Chorus Piece is......
Wednesday, 12-Jan-2000 14:37:18

205.188.199.169 writes:

My favorite piece is "The water is wide". Thos piece has beautiful rhythms and harmonies that flow and exhibit wonderful music.

Rick Shumaker

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Re: My Favorite Male Chorus Piece is......
Wednesday, 26-Jan-2000 11:55:03

216.168.96.25 writes:

Our guys have just learned a new selection that could be called a rock/spiritual. Its a hard driving TTB piece with interesting solo lines for each part and includes a short solo for either a baritone, bass or a few voices. The range can easily be handled and the chording is straightforward but interesting with a wonderful grand finale. Its versatile and can be used in a church service or general concert AND both the men and audience will love it. Oh, and it has a great piano accompaniment too. Give it a try!

Title: Glory, Glory, c1999
Voicing: TTB, accompanied
Publisher: Shawnee Press (C 0302)
Words & Music by: Dave and Jean Perry

Bill Bates

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