At 9:30 we were back in the Convention centre for the mass sing. As usual, I had meant to learn the songs I didn't know and not got around to it, but luckily Inese had sheet music for some of them so we were able to cheat. At 10 am most people left and a hardy few stayed on for the Regional AGM. Inese and Di and I represented CKC. Sandy O'Neill introduced Kim Kraut as a visiting Sweet Adelines luminary. Kim described the Regional Management Team as the people who do the grunt work so the rest of us can play. She presented a gift to Linda Wareham who is retiring after 11 years as Education Coordinator (Lea
Baker is replacing her). Sandy thanked Linda beautifully for her 'sound commonsense, fairness and openness, practical business knowledge, basic friendliness and love of people, bubbly sense of humour and sense of fun'.
Then the AGM proper started. Sandy introduced the RMT and summarised the highlights of their reports (a very good way of doing it, I think). Interesting bits from her summary:
- Region 34 is the third largest region in SAI
- we have 54 members with more than 20 years in the organisation
- there were 137 first timers at this convention
- we have three choruses and one quartet who have scored over 600 points
- the Young Singers tour with Musical Island Boys was a great success with over 1400 students participating
- Region 34 has done well with the Real Women Real Fun Real Harmony campaign and Anita has been invited to talk at the RMT meeting in Seattle about what we've done
- The Regional subsidy to choruses competing at International is now $10,000 and the quartet subsidy is $4,000.
The AGM closed, and we saw Kim Hulbert and Lynne Smith conduct a Master Class with several quartets and choruses. This was great, and has been videotaped for the Regional library. With every group they coached (for only 20 minutes each) we could hear and see the difference.
HARMONY IN PARADISE singing "Put your arms around me ..."
KH: Third note in any bell chord is often late
KH: Does the chorus know what the tempo is? Kim asked the chorus to clap the tempo without the director, and they disagreed.
KH: Drop 'and' and take a breath instead
KH: 'Put' needs vowel to be open and lifted
KH: Listen for the pulse in 'huddle up and cuddle up' - the judging panel noticed the use of beat rather than pulse by several competitors
LS: Using your thighs will help you with sound and pulse
LS: Lyrics have to tell a story
KH: Common problem is for the sound to get sucked up when the dynamic is softer but it needs to be intenser
KH: Kim always hears wrong notes when judging
KH: The 'fa' of 'fascinating' can't be breathy or it loses pitch
LS: Look fascinated and that will help with sound. Use your legs and sit on it
KH: If you do 'woo' as an effect rather than singing it, you have to have everybody doing it or it just sounds out of tune
KH: Kim frequently said during the Master Class, 'be brave'.
KH: Good singing must underpin any special effect, you can't use special effects to cover up problems
LS: Current move on 'palpitate' with closed hands is closing down the sound - change it to open hands
KH: Kim had the chorus sing with closed eyes to feel the pulse of the music. The Director's job is to get you ready to perform without her - you do know how it's supposed to go, so don't lean on her (note to CKC; does this sound familiar?)
KH: Sliding from note to note is unclean singing
KISMET singing "where e'er you go you'll always know I love you 'til I die"
KH: Lead takes pitch on a good sound, and then the first sound she sings should be in the same place. Every time we try to protect our voice we suck it inside and we change the sound - then the other parts react. Be brave. Same for Bass: keep the same sound, be consistent over your whole range.
LS: Singing the pitch is also setting up the feeling and emotion of the song, so show it 100% of the time
KH: You get more points if you don't do dynamics at a breath: there's more artistry in changing dynamics during a phrase or a word
LS: And the dynamic plan should be based on the emotion of the song, not just on impressing the judges
KH: When another part (eg bass) has the melody the others should take notice
KH: the mechanical quartet arm has a life of its own
LS: you can do more with your lower body rather than your arms. You don't have to have the mechanical arm.
(Kim demonstrates singing with no arm movement )
LS: See how Kim uses facial animation (not just facial expression, because her face is changing) and head and torso and lower body movement
KH: when working out the interp of a song, don't start with breathing - put the breathing in last instead of first
KH: Region 34 has come a long way quickly and sometimes we can lose things on the way. Finesse and artistry don't have to wait until you get to B level you can become emotionally attached to your song at any level. Start this earlier
KH: Spend time listening to recordings and listen and learn from what others do
ADELAIDE CITY SOUND singng "Breezing along with a breeze@
KH: The bass melody should be heard
KH: The chorus is working hard and not getting much back - it feels careful
LS: You need more fun from the beginninig
KH: Move the intro along a bit (Kim demonstrates) - lots of intros are like tags, telling the audience what you're going to do
KH: Take the intro out of tempo from the first chord (shows Director)
KH: It's not as perfect but it's a lot more interesting
LS: We need to see fun on the pitch note too
KH: Just because it's soft, don't suck the sound inside - push it out
KH: In barbershop low notes are more important than high ones so bring out the low notes, ease up o the high notes
LS: See the power of fun to make a difference to how they sing
KH: Directors want to make sure it is right, but fun has to be built in from the beginning. And without fun, people won't stay.
KH: Re front row choreo - what if you didn't turn around and walk back to your positions? In a small chorus, you don't want to risk losing the sound, so instead, work your way back gradually
LS: The name of the category is showmanship, not choreography
LS: Move on breeze is jerky - feel the pulse and trust yourself
KH: If you don't know who gets the backbeat watch them walk as they're singing a backbeat song. You don't actually need the same front row all the time - for a back beat song put people who get the back beat in the front row.
KH: The job of the chorus director is not to appease all chorus members, it's to do what's best for the chorus (so don 't whine if you get moved).
(Lynne imitates a front row person refusing to give up her front row spot)
Kim and Lynne then do a parody of two chorus members doing emcee.
KH: Try rotating the chorus rows so everyone gets to learn how it feels in a different position. and give everyone a chance to shine in front row (audience hisses)
ANDIAMO singing Dixie Band
KH: Lead - the voice you think is ugly is right for this song
KH: Bass - on repeated notes you need to move forward
KH: Resonance is a great thing unless there's no focus, and then it's just woofy. When you first learn about resonance, you lift the back palate and it's woofy but you also need to learn to lift at the front
KH: Leads are predominant in a quartet because of the quality of their voice, not because of their volume. The bass is loudest. The lead needs to bring the sound forward and then she doesn't need the volume
LS: visualise a Dixie band and how exciting it is, we don't want to see what your plan is, we want to see the excitement
KH: Try mixing quartet positions to speed up learning
LS: It's well planned but there's not enough personality and unique style
LS: Such a smart Region, so willing and quick to learn
Andiamo sings Tree in the Meadow
KH: Bass keep it forward; Lead lighten up on the higher notes
LS: Paint a picture
KH: Do more duetting
LS: A lot of arm movements in the choruses- but if it doesn't speak to the story line, it's just choreo. Be sure any movements are based on the message and the character.
KH: CDs are available for sale at the end of the class
LS: Smartest way to learn is to listen
PERTH HARMONY singing "you know it's a shame"
KH: How do you get to A minus level?
KH: Don't scoop on first note - breathe in the space of the oooh
KH: Not everyone is coming in together
KH: Make the vowel on 'shame' higher and more open and do it instantly, not gradually
KH: If you hold a note you have to build it, high and wide
KH: On 'all know' keep the resonance on the slide
KH: Dynamic change - don't suck the sound out of it and don't change the sound, keep the color consistent and change the dynamic with support
KH: In A minus level every chord counts - every vowel, every chord, every time, the first time
KH: Slide on 'blame' can't go straight down, it lifts and then moves down (down the front stairs, Vicki would say)
LS: choreo moves are starting too high: let your legs take you as high as you can and then lift the hands
KH: 'all know' slide is like 'blame' slide
KH: it has to sound easy every time
LS: when you hit 'bailey' you're not cutting off in synch, so don't extend your arms so far wait until the Director cuts you off
KH: 'shame' - stay on target vowel
KH: at A minus level you don't need to bring the sound back in order to bring it forward
KH: maintain the integrity of the target vowel
KH: I don't like the sound when you point, so use an open hand instead
LS: we have to see the character appear immediately
LS: your posture has to be talll and wide all the time
KH: it sounds like a great contest song but it needs to be more than that
KH: don'tget breathy when yo get soft
LS: understand why the dynamic makes sense in the story (not just because you Director said to sing soft)
KH: attention to detail - every chord and every word for all four categories. You need tenacity, and you should expect to get frustrated before you get it right
LS: take risks, get out of your comfort zone, live in the"dome of discovery"
PS Kim Hulbert is getting married in November and Jessica from BlackJaQ is also engaged.
Still to come: BlackJaQ being coached (but we are off to have drinks on the balcony with Steph and Pippa)
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