The widget features an entire SATB choral phrase in four aligned lanes of voice part where you can practice singing through them all. Simply tap/click on things within the interface or use your computer keyboard if you want to get around quickly. It’s intended that you’ll be able to shape harmonic spacing; pick out individual chords and listen as each of the other part duck around your chosen part.
Overall controls on the top control panel governs all aspects of your rehearsal. From the dropdown menu, select the key of the concert piece to transpose the whole phrase while keeping the diatonic spellings. Select the voice spacing. You can choose from a contrasting cadence, where the melody descends while the bass rises, to a vaulted chapel feel with more space above and a closer hymn texture. Then in the rehearsal focus menu, select the voice you want to highlight: bass, tenor, alto, or soprano.
How to Use the Choir Widget
To change the speed use the tempo selector from slow breathing pace right up to a smooth rehearsed tempo. The master volume slider controls the volume of the entire choir room. Two sliders towards the top allow you to adjust the balance between the full ensemble and the spotlit part.
The four voice lanes sits across the score display in the eight beats of the two-bar phrase. The notes in each of these lanes are playable with a mouse-click, sounding the note indicated and moving the rehearsal focus to the selected voice. At the top of the score are the beat markers so you can look at the full vertical harmony for this point in time. Clicking a note or beat updates the inspector below the score with all the details; the chord name, the bass note, the pitches from bottom to top and whether they’re all within their usual vocal ranges. Moving the playhead along the score indicates what beat you are at as it jumps from beat to beat while highlighting the current focus lane (the one leading the music).
The voice board sits below the score and provides individual control over each singer. Isolate a voice to hold back all other voices. Fold a voice away to take it out of the active choir. There’s a level slider on each voice card so you can increase/decrease the volume of that single voice. It is handy if you want to bring up a quiet tenor line or hold back a loud soprano. The buttons visually change state to indicate which voices is currently in focus, soloed or muted.
Controls are available on the bottom transport bar which includes rehearsal functions as well as playback options. There is the option of playing just the selected focus voice forward with the rest of the ensemble ducked (spotlight pass). You can also play the ensemble through once, followed by a pause. This lets you sing your focus voice with the conductor ticking while the rest of the parts hold the frame (call and response). Finally, there are buttons to step up or down to the previous or next sonority, to extend the hold on a chord, to mute everything, or to return everything to the default C major close hymn setting.
For an even more seamless work flow, you’ll notice that you can operate the entire widget using only your keyboard. Keys one through eight will play a single sound at any time for quick inspection. Forward/backward buttons let you step up/down through beats via the bracket keys. Press the G key to activate Spotlight pass. Press C to start the call and response exercise. To silence the room, hit X. When a particular note has been highlighted, you can jump to surrounding beats in either direction or change highlight location across the soprano, alto, tenor and bass lines with the arrow keys. Enter/Spacebar makes the selected control active.
Listen through the phrase and experiment with the spotlight balance slider. This allows you to hear just how much the focused part rises above the ensemble texture. Select some of the other presets for voice spacing and note what effect these have on the colour of the harmonies in the chord.
The inspector also includes a range check, which alerts you if you are transposing to another key and one of the voices has been forced out of its comfortable playing range. It means you won’t be stuck with an uncomfortable transposition as you’re working on the music. To help you work on your pitch accuracy you can mute single lines and listen to the way the harmony supports itself without the inner lines. Try the call and response function to test your pitch and memory. When the phrase is called by the choir, listen out and once there’s a gap, breathe and sing the focus voice. The tick of the conductor will help keep you on time while singing the silent response part.
Adjust the speed to match what feels comfortable, slow down tricky sections, or pick up speed if you are running smoothly. The inspector and score stay visually focused on where you are in the harmony. This is a useful tool when studying choral textures and learning about the application of voice leading in a four-part context.
The ability to hear precisely what is being written, down to the timing and pitches of each element makes this widget a worthwhile addition to your toolbox. You do not need a complicated set up or a real-life choir. Simply choose your key and spacing option and work through the beats. Experiment with the other controls and listen to their impact on the sound. When you’re happy, experiment more with the call response and spotlight options. These will help you connect more with the music.