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View Full Version : Tech to the rescue!



Tradd
10-1-23, 7:43pm
I’m in the choir at my Orthodox parish. Entire service is sung or chanted. Text is set, but there are many different melodies. Our music binders are big , fat things. They’re tabbed A-z, and each setting is numbered within each section. Director does a guide sheet each week, indicating A5 for the first section, for example. Several older women have had extreme difficulty navigating the binders, but there is also some not wanting to even try. I have been able to fully concentrate for a good while as I’d get asked for almost every bit, which one we should be on.

Director always has her music for a specific Sunday in a PDF she did, on her personal iPad (she’s a music professor at a local college so she’s used to doing this for work). I love my iPad and asked if she would send me the PDF. I did and it’s worked beautifully. Director’s teenaged daughter saw me with my iPad and has begun bringing hers. Director got a cheap Android tablet for $40 from Amazon for the ladies who can’t navigate the binder. It’s been very successful. One of the ladies brought her Android tablet to church today, but we had no time to get the PDF file on it for today’s service. Several choir members contributed to the cost of the $40 tablet, as they could see this was a real need.

More than half of the choir is now bringing their own iPads or Android tablets on Sundays to sing form. Having all the music in one PDF is much less distracting than having to deal with the big binders, although I’m very used to it.

iris lilies
10-1-23, 7:49pm
That is a good use of technology, agreed.

gmiller
10-2-23, 4:15am
This is indeed a great use of modern technology! For those choir members who do not own an iPad or Android tablet, an e-book reader like the Amazon Kindle may be a good option. I prefer to use my Kindle for reading over my iPad because it has better battery life and less strain on my eyes.

Tradd
10-2-23, 6:57am
A Kindle likely isn’t going to be able to display the pdf file of the music big enough to be seen. Someone brought in their Kindle Paperwhite to practice a couple of weeks ago. The pdf couldn’t be shown well enough to be seen. Screen was just too small. Music stands are shared so one person bringing their tablet means it’s shared with at least one other person.

Tybee
10-2-23, 8:56am
Could you also highlight your part in a different color? (I am an alto.)

Tradd
10-2-23, 9:06am
Could you also highlight your part in a different color? (I am an alto.)

The music is not that complicated to require it. And it would cause confusion if you’re sharing the stand with another person who doesn’t sing your same part. If you didn’t share your stand, you could.