Dear Music Teachers: Please Stop Asking How To Create A Virtual Choir Video

Dear Music Teachers: Please Stop Asking How To Create A Virtual Choir Video
How music teachers can create a virtual choir video

Right now, I’m a member of a number of music teacher Facebook groups and everyone is scrambling to move their teaching to an online format.

At least 5 times per day – and often within the same Facebook group – I see the following question:

“Does anyone know how to create one of those Eric Whitacre-style virtual choir videos? I’d like to create one with my own choir/band/orchestra/flute ensemble”

Creating one of these videos is no easy task.

I say this to you all with love.  A LOT of love.

I want to save you the heartache of planning such a project, researching the method, announcing it to your students and then discovering it’s an exhausting project and it’s taking MANY hours of work.  

There is no magic app.

Your students will need to adhere to strict guidelines when they record and submit their videos to you.

You need some decent video editing skills to pull it off (or an experienced video editor friend).

And you need MANY HOURS of time.  Many.

It can’t be that difficult can it?

So here’s the deal…

There are a few ways you can go about this task, but the pro videos you see on Youtube (like Eric Whitacre’s beautiful Virtual Choir videos) follow a process along these lines:

  1. Create guide audio tracks and/or a silent conductor for every single instrumental part in your ensemble
  2. Send the guide tracks to performers 
  3. The performers rehearse with your guide track until they are ready to record
  4. Performers press record on their video recording device, press play on your guide audio track (and/or conductor video), ensure they have headphones on in order to hear said guide track and to prevent the sound of the guide track being re-recorded in with their own performance of their part and then play the entire piece through from start to finish in one take (fingers crossed there are no errors and it only requires them to do one take)
  5. Performers save their video, export it and send it to you
  6. A skilled video/audio editor trims the beginning and end off the video and cleans up the audio of every single performers’ video
  7. The same skilled video editor then imports all the videos into their professional-level video editing software and synchronises every single student video, so that it sound like a unified ensemble
  8. They also resize each separate video so that they all appear at the same time – Brady-Bunch style – on the screen
  9. Then they make it all look beautiful: add fade ins and outs, vary the videos showing on the screen at any one time, adjust the lighting effects and more
  10. Lastly, they export the final version and upload it to a video-sharing website

If you’d like a more detailed step-by-step list, Christopher Bill (well-known trombone-playing Youtuber) has shared an excellent document here.

Now – I’m not saying that this project is totally unachievable by a school.  I’m also not saying you shouldn’t ever consider it.  I think it could be a worthwhile project to pursue….in around 12-24 months’ time when we are (hopefully) not in the midst of a pandemic.

I just think there are more important things to focus on at this time.

Firstly, there are many alternative ways you can foster music-making in your students while they are learning from home:  

  • Keep them playing by asking them to continue their regular individual practice and have them submit an audio recording – or a simple video – of them playing alone.
  • Get them to take part in a silent Zoom rehearsal so that they have a chance to connect with one another and with you (they miss you!).
  • Give them some creative tasks – composition, listening, responding, rhythm practice, engaging ear-training games.  Or have them take part in a fun activity like a Music Olympics.

Secondly, I suspect that many of the music teachers who would like to tackle this project have never tried their hand at video editing before.

This means that they will be embarking on a VERY steep learning curve in order to learn the software, to figure out the workflow and then to put it all together.  

Did I mention that it takes MANY hours of work?

But what about the Acapella app? Doesn’t that do it all for you?

The Acapella app is fantastic and yes, it does help you create multitrack videos without the need for fancy or expensive video editing software.

You can use your phone, select a layout (the number of videos you see on the screen) and sing each part one by one.

You can even collaborate with others:

  • The first performer records a part in one of the video boxes and then sends it to another person
  • The second performer records their part and sends it on to another person
  • And so on. You can have up to 9 collaborators on a single project

BUT there are a few things to consider:

  • The terms and conditions state that it’s for students 13+ only and at least one teacher has reported that he is unable to sign up his daughter because the app is requiring a 16+ birthdate
  • It requires an email sign-in which is a barrier for some students
  • The app focuses on social sharing and links with multiple social media services
  • The free version has a time limit which can only be extended by signing up for their paid monthly or annual subscription
  • You can have a maximum of 9 videos in your project which won’t suit a larger ensemble

The Acapella app would be a great option for a personal project by a student, or even a collaborative project with a couple of students – provided their age fits within the terms and conditions of the app.

If you or your students do decide to have a go at using the Acapella App, here are a couple of tips:

  • Tip #1: you can upload a guide track – a pre-recorded video – into your grid which you can use to help you synchronise all the other videos you record.  You can then delete the original guide video (and replace it with another video part, or with an image).
  • Tip #2: when you set up a new project, select a grid with more video squares than you think you will need.  It is not possible to add additional video frames once you’ve started your project. You will need to start over.  If you have extra video frames left at the end because you didn’t need them, you can fill the empty boxes with images or a background.

Now – there is an Acapella App user – @jecissalynn – who has managed to create big multitrack a cappella videos using the Acapella app. Her method is to combine multitrack videos made with the Acapella app in the PicPlayPost video editing app (which is made by the same developer).  Her results are fantastic, but once again, it’s a fiddly process involving a lot of time.  

If you’d like to learn more about @jecissalynn’s method, open the Acapella app, tap Discover and type in the hashtag #howtomakeabigacapellavideo. You’ll see two how-to videos that she has created to describe the process she uses.

But I really want to do this. There MUST be an easier way!

If you really want to recreate a full ensemble sound with your students, I think there is one slightly more simple approach to this project.  It won’t be quite as impressive as the “pro” virtual choir option, but it could still work.

The basic steps would be:

  • Send your students guide tracks to play along with
  • Ask each student to record their part – audio only – while listening to the guide track (making sure headphones are on when they record)
  • Have the students send you the audio file they’ve recorded
  • You combine all of their audio recordings into a single project file in a digital audio workstation (the name given to multitrack recording software like GarageBand, Soundtrap, Bandlab, Mixcraft, Logic Pro and so on)
  • You then clean up the audio tracks, add some effects, adjust the levels and so on in the DAW

You could even consider having students contribute their recording directly into a collaborative project by using Soundtrap – an online, web-based DAW.

If you want to include the video aspect with this approach, you could have all of your students join you on a Zoom video conference call in gallery view and silently lip-sync their parts (or mime if they are instrumentalists) while they watch you conduct the piece and/or while they all listen simultaneously to the same guide track.

You will record the Zoom call and you’ll end up with a single video of your students all singing or playing simultaneously, Brady Bunch-style on the screen.  Note that Zoom’s gallery view is limited to a maximum of 49 people at one time.

Now this is something I COULD recommend that you consider, especially if you have had experience with a digital audio workstation (DAW) before. It will still take a number of hours to put together, but at least the fiddly video-editing aspect will be removed from the process!

No virtual choir? Here are some other engaging ideas

There are a number of alternative musical activities you can do with your students.  Here are a few options.

Students can:

  • Continue to practice their parts and send you recordings via Flipgrid, Smartmusic, Practicefirst or Soundtrap
  • Record a creative cover version of a song they know
  • Compose simple warm-up exercises in notation software and then share them with their classmates
  • Work out how to play a melody of a favourite TV or movie theme. Bonus points for notating it!
  • Open a digital audio workstation like Soundtrap or GarageBand and record a section of one of the pieces they are learning. They could then choose another part (one they don’t usually play) and record that one a second track
  • Create a funky backing using GarageBand, Soundtrap, Groove Pizza or similar and practice scales and drills over the backing
  • Research a composer and create a radio show episode about them. Students could create an audio recording of the show, make a video or create a presentation file
  • Record a composition using found sounds from around the house
  • Learn a clapping game like Boom Snap Clap and recreate the rhythm in Groove Pizza (a free online drum sequencer)
  • Ask students to watch and respond to a video that features an Unusual Musical Instrument. There’s a free lesson plan here for this activity plus some example videos you can use (or use one of your own choices!)
  • Use the free online spinner Wheel Decide to spice up scales and drills. Share a wheel with preset playing styles with students. They can spin the wheel and play their scale/drill in the suggested style that comes up on the wheel. Here’s an example
  • Go on a virtual tour to the birth place of a composer or performer
  • Musical Me project: students can tell you (and each other) about their musical “selves”. Using the list of prompts in this blog post, students can share interesting musical facts about themselves in a digital format (Wakelet, Padlet and Google Slides all work well) or in a written format
  • Create a rhythmic backing track and then write a rap to go over the top of the backing. Rap My Name is a free lesson plan that shows you how

You are all doing an amazing job under these circumstances. It’s been a difficult time and it has been heartwarming to see the support that teachers are offering one another.  

One of the easiest things you can do for your ensemble is to organise a video conference call to simply allow them chat to one another. They miss you and each other!

Above all, keep things simple, ask for help when you need it and look after yourselves, your loved ones and your students.

Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?

Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.

I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.

MMC Mockup new

I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.

If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.

Learn more and take a sneak peek inside

95 Comments

  1. Richard McCready March 24, 2020 at 12:01 am - Reply

    Thank you, Katie, this is all great advice.

    • Katie March 24, 2020 at 9:50 am - Reply

      Thank you 🙂 And thanks for the feedback prior to publishing!

      • Phil Eggtree February 9, 2021 at 10:44 pm - Reply

        Do you know how to create one of those virtual choir videos? I’d like to create one with my own choir.

  2. Laurie Jackson March 24, 2020 at 5:43 am - Reply

    I went to the PlayStore to look for acapella and saw all kinds of complaints from users that the synching does not work so the parts can be a half second apart. The users were very unhappy and gave one-star reviews.

    • Katie March 24, 2020 at 9:50 am - Reply

      Yes – if you’re using an Android device it won’t be a good experience. None of the options work at all well due to the way the hardware is built. Those issues are not there on the iOS app, but not everyone has an Apple device so it’s difficult!

      • Ray Chu April 3, 2020 at 5:23 pm - Reply

        Thanks for the suggestions.
        I tried on my Android but there is no Acappella app from that company, however, there are one called Acappella Maker… which is really not working.
        I also have non-sync problem on my iPad for Acappela app. I think I can ask members to record one track (with guide track) only via Acappella app then export to me, I will have to do all the sync video editing… hours of work of course.

        • Katie May 18, 2020 at 12:16 pm - Reply

          Yes that’s correct Ray. The makers of the iOS Acapella app stopped developing the Android version because they couldn’t get it to work well. You might be able to fix the sync issue on your iPad by making sure that your headphones are plugged in while you record each track. It’s been working well for me on my iPad

      • Patrick Collins April 18, 2020 at 12:45 am - Reply

        It isn’t a bad experience because of how the “hardware is built.” It is a bad experience because the app developer didn’t optimize for another operating system. Its not Android’s fault, its Accapella’s.

  3. Lisa Shacklock March 25, 2020 at 12:38 am - Reply

    You’re the best, Katie! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Stay safe! ?

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:16 pm - Reply

      Thanks Lisa – you too!

  4. Leigh March 25, 2020 at 2:26 am - Reply

    This is such important advice for all music teachers right now. We need to keep things in perspective and remember that we are all outside our comfort zones with being entirely online with everything we do. Kids need connection more than anything, not a formal performance. Also, thanks for all the great suggestions for meaningful lessons and activities to do with ensembles!

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:17 pm - Reply

      Thank you Leigh – agree absolutely with your comments and I’m glad you found the alternative suggestions useful too!

  5. Ira Kroll March 25, 2020 at 5:10 am - Reply

    I do a lot of audio editing. I take multiple audio tracks of people who have sung while listening to another track, even with them re-recording some parts, and then I put all the tracks together. It’s a lot of fiddling. The results are good, but the time involved can expand without limit. A good saying to keep in mind is “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:16 pm - Reply

      Thanks Ira – I say that one all the time too! Or – “Done is better than perfect”. I agree totally about time expanding without limit!

      • Jeff June 19, 2020 at 3:57 am - Reply

        I’ve used Acapella for a number of projects now, and I have to say it does do the job for those of us who are less technically sophisticated. However, I find the user interface, as well as the “flow”, in which you are passing collaboration links around to your collaborators via text or email, incredibly confusing. It’s one thing to learn by experience when not to press that button that accidentally deletes all your work, but it’s totally different to try to explain to your collaborators over the phone or by email what their steps should be.

        And, as Ira Kroll says, you can quickly become disillusioned with the audio quality of the result. Acapella provides a way (if you can figure how to regain editing control of you project) to extract all the audio as separate tracks that you can then post-process with Audacity or other audio software. I find that’s where I spend most of my time these days.

        • Katie June 29, 2020 at 2:01 pm - Reply

          Yes – great comments and tips Jeff. I agree that the app can be confusing at times. It takes a bit of trial and error!

  6. Bjørn Olav Nicolaisen March 26, 2020 at 5:42 am - Reply

    Thanks for interesting and inspiring advice! I suspected/knew there was quite more to making a virtual choir video than setting up a Zoom meeting. But it has not been easy to find information on this subject. 🙂

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:12 pm - Reply

      You’re welcome and I’m really happy it helped 🙂

  7. Jussi March 26, 2020 at 5:47 am - Reply

    Thanks, Katie! I got several requests from my choir members (older adults) to do a virtual choir. However, I may do a similar project minus the video– seems more manageable. Your suggested alternatives are a better bang for the buck!

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:08 pm - Reply

      Yes – great idea!

  8. Josh March 26, 2020 at 8:40 am - Reply

    great advise thanks! – this must be a stupid question – is there a way to practice as a choir together – – doesn’t have to be amazing results – not going anywhere – just so we can all sing together and hear each other simultaneously?

    • Katie March 26, 2020 at 3:11 pm - Reply

      Not a stupid question at all and I may actually do a post on that next! It’s not possible to do a live, synchronous rehearsal via video conferencing. There’s too much lag/latency (one issue is the varying speed of all the participant’s internet which you have no control over). The general consensus is to have a “silent” rehearsal where you conduct or play a backing track (unmuted) and the students all sing/play along with you while they are muted. You won’t hear them and they won’t hear each other, but they will still gain some benefits from rehearsing that way. Students can send you individual recordings of themselves singing/playing their parts for you to check in on how they’re going.

  9. Andy March 26, 2020 at 10:19 pm - Reply

    Hi Kate, Is there a way for our casual choir to “just rehearse” together, while listening to a backing track.
    One question is how do we all hear a “synced” track ? Ideally I would be able to hear them all singing and make comments.

    Thanks, Andy

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:19 pm - Reply

      Hi Andy – the general consensus is that the only decent option is to run a silent rehearsal via a video conferencing tool like Zoom. The conductor is unmuted and plays a backing track or sings and the choir members sing along with what they hear, but the conductor can’t hear the members and they can’t hear each other. It’s not ideal (and there’s more to it than that…) but there are still benefits from running a rehearsal this way.

  10. Pinkzebra March 27, 2020 at 7:45 am - Reply

    I just released this free GarageBand template to hopefully make it easier to create a virtual choir audio track. https://pinkzebramusic.com/free-virtual-choir-template/

    • Katie March 27, 2020 at 9:31 am - Reply

      I saw that shared in one of the FB groups – great work! This is definitely the best approach for most teachers who want to tackle this type of project. Thanks for posting it here. I’ll share it around too.

      • Pinkzebra March 28, 2020 at 9:23 am - Reply

        Thanks! I hope it is useful for many 🙂

    • Lindsey March 31, 2020 at 12:17 pm - Reply

      Hello,

      Do you have a version that can be downloaded by another computer, other than a Mac? Or do you have a recommendation?

      Thanks so much!

  11. Jae March 27, 2020 at 9:29 am - Reply

    Thank you for the resources!

    • Katie March 27, 2020 at 9:30 am - Reply

      You’re welcome 🙂

  12. Tim Nikolsky March 27, 2020 at 11:51 am - Reply

    Hi Katie
    Great work as always! Any thoughts on https://www.jamkazam.com/
    Thanks

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:17 pm - Reply

      Hi Tim! I haven’t had a play with that (you’re the second person to ask me about it). Let me know if you do – I’d be interested to hear what it’s like.

  13. Michelle Joanne March 27, 2020 at 12:04 pm - Reply

    Thank you for this update,so helpful!

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:16 pm - Reply

      You’re welcome!

  14. Julie Mills March 27, 2020 at 1:14 pm - Reply

    Just wanted to chime in that in addition to the exhaustive and helpful information on the topic, this might be my favorite post heading… hilarious!

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:16 pm - Reply

      Haha – I did feel a little nervous about using it. It’s not like me to be “sassy”! But it summed up how I was feeling after seeing the question pop up every few hours in my Facebook feed (quite literally every few hours!)

      • Lizzie Marie April 1, 2020 at 7:30 am - Reply

        The title is “sassy” and I completely understand how redundant these questions are getting to the very few people in the know of music technology, but I am here because as a ms/hs chorus teacher, a virtual choir popped into my head as a first thought as well. I don’t think anyone thinks it is a simple process, we honestly just want to try! It made me feel foolish to read the title and realize I was one of the masses who have been searching for the “how” and probably would post on a FB page if I knew the right people to ask. There are lots of examples of how, but they tend to gloss over the technical part of “putting the videos together”.

        Recommending this be a project for down the line when we are not in the middle of a pandemic was disheartening also to read. The reason we are on this page now is because in the real world, when we are teaching 5-6 full choral ensembles of 40-80 kids a day, this kind of project will never happen. We don’t have time. NOW we do have the time to fiddle. I am not stressing out to start the process this minute, but in the next month or so? After not performing for a long time and nothing in sight? This may be a project I am willing to try.

        You information in the article is great and much appreciated, so thank you. I have bookmarked several sites to come back to as I research. This article as a whole has been helpful! Many of the ideas towards the bottom are things I have thought of and I have started a few as we begin this new phase of music education that has never happened before.

        I suspect the title of the article made feel bad and rubbed me the wrong way because everyone’s emotions are high in these difficult and unknown times. Musicians are a sensitive bunch so that reaction is on me :). Everyone is doing their best and trying to keep our performing ensembles who are used to working closely together daily connected in a time when music is such an important outlet. We are all doing our best!

        Thanks again for the information!

        • Katie April 1, 2020 at 10:15 am - Reply

          Thanks so much for your comments Lizzie. I really appreciate them and understand where you’re coming from. I hope you DO give this project a go – whenever the timing is right for you. There’s no right or wrong. I’d love to see what you create if you get a chance to do it sometime.

  15. Dave March 27, 2020 at 1:19 pm - Reply

    Thanks Katie! Do you mind if I link to this article in a FB thread where we’ve been discussing this?

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:15 pm - Reply

      Yes – sure. Please do!

  16. Simon Chate March 28, 2020 at 11:16 am - Reply

    Thanks Katie,
    These are trying times, that’s for sure. Some great ideas here.

    At our school we’ve been told that everything has to be completely equitable … that we’re not allowed to upload tasks like some of these mentioned in your article because some kids might not have access to recording facilities or computers, etc. I find this very frustrating as I’ve been thinking about getting lots of those sorts of tasks online. Any suggestions in that situation?
    Cheers,

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:14 pm - Reply

      Hi Simon – coming up with a collection of offline activities is probably the best option. Many teachers are having success with “choice boards” where there are a number of shorter activities laid out for students and they can pick what works for them. You could also set the same task in a few different ways to cater for those that have varying resources at their disposal. I hope to do a blog post with more information on this very soon!

  17. Heather Appel-Bailey March 28, 2020 at 3:49 pm - Reply

    Girl! I cannot THANK you enough for this. I’m very tech savvy and this was actually the first thing I’d considered doing (virtual choir), because I’ve always wanted to! Regardless of whether or not I can pull it off in the next six weeks, all of the other resources are gold and I will be sharing them with my colleagues! Love and health to you!

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:12 pm - Reply

      Aww – thank you SO much Heather! You’re lovely 🙂

  18. Chris March 29, 2020 at 7:59 am - Reply

    Thanks very much for this timely advice Katie, you have saved me hours of research and frustration. I knew recording my pupils together would be a difficult task as we are on slow rural broadband but you have just convinced me not to waste my time. I’ll be using some of your other brill Tech ideas next term instead. Thanks.

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:11 pm - Reply

      Thanks Chris – hope it goes well 🙂

  19. VocalKate March 29, 2020 at 11:05 am - Reply

    Thanks for setting everything out so clearly.
    We’re all desperate to do wonderful things with our singers – to make this time worthwhile – and most of us are on a steep learning curve when it comes to technology! It’s good to the facts before we get carried away with all these new ideas! The zoom choir….although a VERY different experience for all involved- is a fantastic way to connect with those we can no longer meet with and simply get them singing!

    • Katie March 29, 2020 at 10:11 pm - Reply

      Agreed!

  20. Suzanne Michelle March 31, 2020 at 4:34 am - Reply

    Thanks VERY MUCH for assembling this info, Katie! I’m glad I found you first, we’ll probably just stick to Zoom-y happenstance. OTOH … maybe someone will come along an make it all easier … it’s what we humans do. I hope you and yours are mostly well and safe! Keep your hands clean!

    • Katie April 1, 2020 at 10:18 am - Reply

      Thanks Suzanne!

  21. James Hawkins March 31, 2020 at 10:41 am - Reply

    Hi there, agreed that achieving this requires more skill than would seem nice! Having said that, maybe it would be helpful to share how we just did it.

    1) teach choir via zoom with prepared tracks to support that of each part. All mics muted (as you said, as yet nothing can get over latency issues or feedback etc) Weirdly they all still get a singing buzz even though it’s really a simulation choir!

    2) get choir to practice and then record themselves using special backing track a few days later. The track had a sine wave of a bar at the start followed by a 30 second pause before music starts playing. This acts as a time code stamp when mixing the tracks later on.

    3) the singer records using a video camera app and positioned facing top lip. Most devices generate mp4 or movi files whereas voice memos tend to be less standard. We are only interested in stripping out the audio for mixing later.

    4) the singer presses record on video camera and then plays the track through a 2nd device speaker until the sine wave beep has finished sounding. Then they put on headphones during the 30 sec pause to block the rest of the track from being recorded, and enabling them to sing along to the music in time. There’s also an end beep to tell them to stop recording.

    5) singers send me the files and I mix them into a track – 56 in all. In our next zoom we ‘premiered’ the song and recorded them all singing along to themselves. So it looks like they’re singing live, but they’re not.

    I’m actually pretty impressed with the result as it’s nice quality, upbeat and fun. You can find it on my website Projects page. Hope this is useful!

    • Katie April 1, 2020 at 10:18 am - Reply

      Thanks James!

  22. Blessing Akajiaku March 31, 2020 at 9:43 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much for these tips. Making music shouldn’t be such a big chore.

    • Katie April 1, 2020 at 10:16 am - Reply

      Thank you 🙂

  23. Knobby Clarke April 1, 2020 at 1:43 pm - Reply

    I am deply grateful for this comprehensive discussion of the problem. I have been thinking about this for the last week, trying to find a simpler solution. There is none.

    • Katie April 1, 2020 at 9:50 pm - Reply

      Thanks – it’s not easy. It’s possible but not easy.

  24. Heather Krane April 3, 2020 at 12:29 pm - Reply

    Thank you! This is super helpful! and comments are very helpful too!

    • Katie April 4, 2020 at 12:40 pm - Reply

      Thanks Heather!

  25. Amy April 4, 2020 at 9:10 am - Reply

    What do you use for a video conference call where they can talk to each other for middle school

    • Katie May 18, 2020 at 12:14 pm - Reply

      Most schools are using one of three main options (although there are others): Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. It’s up to the school/district/teacher whether the students are permitted to talk during the session. Some schools set it up so that only the teacher can speak.

  26. Sonia April 6, 2020 at 2:58 am - Reply

    Thanks for doing so much research on this topic and saving me hours of evaluating the available tools. I saw on comment with another new tool for you as well. Keep up the helpful work and thanks for being so willing to share!!!

    • Katie April 10, 2020 at 9:22 am - Reply

      Thank you Sonia!

  27. Andrew Merelis April 7, 2020 at 10:13 am - Reply

    I own and operate a videography company in NYC that specializes in making videos for performing arts in schools. We and companies like ours around the country currently have no events to record or live stream, so if you have a budget for a project like this, consider hiring us or similar performance-specialty videography companies that need work during this pandemic to stay afloat until performances resume in person. We have exactly the expertise in video editing and audio mixing needed to put together this type of project and it can do wonders for the sense of community for a school during social distancing. I agree that the challenge still remains, even if collaborating with a video specialist like us,, because the process still relies on solid buy-in from your performers who all need to carefully follow the guidelines and submit their individual recordings for editing. But it can be done, and we’re starting to get requests like this from our existing client base. You can find us at http://www.MerelisProductions.com for more information.

    • Katie April 9, 2020 at 9:20 am - Reply

      Fantastic! Thanks for commenting. I know some teachers are interested in hiring someone to take care of it for them.

  28. Uli April 14, 2020 at 7:15 pm - Reply

    Very helpful summary of the process and the steep learning curve. I have been asked the same question multiple times and never had the time to describe it in detail and at the same time in a motivating and friendly way 🙂 Now all I have to do is point to this article. Thank you!

    • Katie April 19, 2020 at 1:12 pm - Reply

      Thanks Uli!

  29. Yo April 20, 2020 at 1:40 am - Reply

    Great article. However, I think another article with the same content could be written with the title, “Principals – Please Stop Asking Your Music Teachers to Create Virtual Choir/Band/Orchestra Videos.”

    I’m in one of those Facebook groups, and it seems like quite a few of those requests for virtual ensemble help are prefaced with “my principal asked me to….”

    I’ve been spared from this kind of request so far, but now I have a nice article to share if that ever happens. 🙂

    • Katie April 20, 2020 at 9:34 am - Reply

      Yes – agree totally! Many teachers have told me they are using the article as “ammunition” with their admin!

  30. Sharon Mason May 4, 2020 at 2:16 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much for this discussion! It answers so many questions I have had. I will continue to look and decide what is the best solution for my challenges.

    • Katie May 14, 2020 at 1:47 pm - Reply

      Thanks Sharon 🙂

  31. Tony Rogers May 6, 2020 at 3:36 pm - Reply

    I’m doing it right now for hire for people.
    check out COVID CELLO PROJECT.

    Let me know if you’d like a quote on how I can help your organization

  32. Casey May 8, 2020 at 10:12 am - Reply

    Thanks so much for this. Do you know of a way to get rid of the little “mute” icon on zoom? That way you could record the video on zoom and viewers wouldn’t be able to see that everyone is muted.

    • Katie May 14, 2020 at 1:44 pm - Reply

      Hmmm…I don’t think it’s possible to hide it in Zoom (although I haven’t looked, so maybe someone else know how to do that). It wouldn’t be too hard to hide it in the video editing software afterwards though. You can just create a little shape to put over it, or use a blur function to blur it out.

  33. Jenn May 14, 2020 at 11:22 am - Reply

    I attempted to combine just two parts with audacity. When singers take even small liberties with their parts, it makes it so the two parts are no longer together for that phrase. Each individual phrase needs to be lined up – and this over all singers that are added to the mix. This could be the longest task ever! I am comfortable with the video editing part, but I never considered how crazy the audio part was. Thank you for this great article. Definitely gives me a lot to work with for this project. Everyone who has attempted this – my hat off to you!!

    • Katie May 14, 2020 at 1:27 pm - Reply

      Yes! And well done to you for giving it a shot. Hard work but hopefully worth it 🙂

  34. Tim Webster May 15, 2020 at 2:15 pm - Reply

    If anyone wants it done for them, I’m happy to provide my services:

    edit4you.com.au

    Tim Webster

    • Katie May 18, 2020 at 12:04 pm - Reply

      Thanks Tim 🙂

  35. Richard Taylor May 21, 2020 at 9:31 pm - Reply

    I know more skill will be required to deal with the music, but for the video images I tried Keynote 9Powerpoint) by adding each film on one page and synching them to play together, or in the order I preferred. Then export it as a MPEG-4.

  36. Graham May 28, 2020 at 11:57 pm - Reply

    This has probably been said in the previous comments. I extract the sound files to my DAW (Logic Pro X) first. Mix then mix the audio. It then use this audio as the sound track for the video editor. This way, is is easier to get a good mix. I then disable the sound on the video clips and sync them to the “full” audio track

  37. Tim Harris June 11, 2020 at 9:09 pm - Reply

    Very good read. I do offer a video editing service for those without technical experience. Please contact me to discuss. 01384 211789. All the best

  38. Christian Obermaier June 25, 2020 at 8:50 am - Reply

    For everyone who wants to have their choir put together in a virtual video, I’m available. Look here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6vsoPup0Nk

    christianobermaier@yahoo.co.uk

  39. Scottie J. Haines July 2, 2020 at 2:30 pm - Reply

    Katie, your title for this article is spot on! Scottie here, creator of the first Virtual Choirs (Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir). I have been getting so many inquiries about ‘how to make these things’. Folks have no idea how much work goes into these projects. No idea! It’s pretty rough even for me. Thanks for the message you put out.

    • Katie July 3, 2020 at 2:57 pm - Reply

      Hi Scott – I’m honoured that you chose to comment – thank you! They are a HUGE amount of work and what you did with the first VC really set the bar high 🙂 Many people have been a bit miffed by the title of the article but I wrote it way back when everyone first start remote teaching and I really felt it wasn’t the priority at that time when so many were struggling even with more basic things like video conferencing and screencasting. Anyway – I know that many have tried it since that time and have discovered how time-consuming it is. Thanks again and congratulations (!) on playing a part in that trend 🙂

  40. Chris Godfrey July 3, 2020 at 10:55 am - Reply

    It is a LOT of work, but it’s also very rewarding. We just posted ours. I made it so that it could be used in the music ed classroom and give some history behind the piece. Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus”. https://youtu.be/ou6m39yGSJ8

    • Katie July 3, 2020 at 2:53 pm - Reply

      Well done! It looks and sounds great 🙂

  41. Gerald McMenamin November 3, 2020 at 6:01 pm - Reply

    Nonsense! The learning curve for joint musical videos is not steep. You can learn video editing online. To say this is too difficult to do in a reasonable amount of time is to underestimate the intelligence and creative ability of teachers.

    • Katie November 29, 2020 at 1:44 pm - Reply

      Hi Gerald – I’m happy to hear that it was a good experience for you, however, in my experience the learning curve IS steep if you are totally new to any kind of video or audio editing (which is true for the majority of teachers that I have spoken to). Many have had a go and reported back to me that they spent in the vicinity of 20-40 hours on a single 3-4 minute video. If you have the time to learn the skills and the interest in doing the project I think it’s an excellent one to tackle and like you said – there are many tutorials available online. I published this article in March – when almost all teachers were panicking and teaching remotely. Things have settled down now a little (for some at least!) so it’s probably a better time to give it a go if people are interested.

  42. Curt Olson November 3, 2020 at 11:40 pm - Reply

    I have been working on a project that can streamline virtual choir creation for many projects. You don’t get the same level of creativity and craft out of a fully automated system, but for people just starting out, or for those that don’t have time to invest in becoming an expert video/audio engineer:

    https://virtualchoir.flightgear.org/

    For many projects, you can just put all your raw tracks in a google drive folder. Then the online software can auto-align tracks, mix your audio, and draw out your gridded video. The result gets mailed back to you as soon as it is ready. There is a short demo on the web site that was generated automatically in 10 minutes from the raw tracks.

    Anyone is welcome to try it out.

  43. Steve Brown November 11, 2020 at 5:24 am - Reply

    My company is offering Virtual Choir Creation Services!

    https://www.sonorous-audio.com/virtual-choirs

    Please don’t hesitate to reach out. All the best.

  44. Dake Zheng December 21, 2020 at 10:50 am - Reply

    Thanks a lot for the excellent article, Katie. I wonder if you have tried https://EasyVirtualChoir.com? It’s free, and super easy to use! The software aligns audio/video tracks automatically and will save you lots of editing time. EVC recreates a live choir experience for singers because each singer follows the conducting/reference track and several other sound tracks when recording. We love the fact that we can choose our friends to sing along with. Choir master can evaluate/adjust individual recordings before exporting the final production video. The software has also been used for virtual rehearsals by which the choir director can quickly assess each singer and provide timely feedback. No need to send files around in the process, everything is done in the app. The entire process is so intuitive and simple for both choir director and singers, that some school choir teachers got a video created with 15-30 kids after just one class period. Here is an example: https://easyvirtualchoir.com/song/1786

  45. Ed Addis February 11, 2021 at 2:49 am - Reply

    Can’t endorse enough Katie’s warning about the hard work involved in this. We’ve now made five videos in over the period of the pandemic, three choral with total of 15 family members (we’re a musical family), and two instrumental (string quartet with wind quintet). We’ve made them all the professional way, with closely managed video contributions, followed by weeks of painstaking audio editing as described above, and video editing to make a good looking and innovative visual appearance. We’ve worked long hours – because we’re retired and we can – and have four entries now on YouTube. Do not embark on this unless you have acres of time to spare! Happy to offer tips if anyone’s interested.

    • Katie February 15, 2021 at 10:57 am - Reply

      Thanks Ed. Well done on making so many yourself!

  46. Ed Addis February 12, 2021 at 9:51 pm - Reply

    Where are all the 2021 comments?! I went to the trouble a few days ago of adding my own experience, but no sign of it now!

    • Katie February 15, 2021 at 10:59 am - Reply

      Hi Ed – all comments need to be read and approved individually (in order to avoid copious amounts of spam being published on the website!). I only have the capacity to check them once a week or so since there are quite a lot to get through. I think I just approved and replied to yours 🙂

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