Text by David Beers
Photo by Liz Allyn

Three or more weeknights every week, two to four singers get together in the Battell Chapel for fellowship and a chance to do what they love to do–sing. The chapel windows are open and the singers are properly distanced from one another. They all sing facing the same direction for extra precaution. One night is for the four sopranos, another for the two altos, another for the four tenors and another for the three basses. 

Liz Allyn, the church choir director, pre-records the piano accompaniment for each anthem. The singers listen to the piano accompaniment on headphones while Allyn conducts and records them. With each successive recording, the singers have the chance to hear the choir members who have sung before them. It is as close as they get to singing together.

Using the software program Audacity, Allyn is able to combine their individual recordings into a full choir piece that she then plays at Sunday services. Allyn enjoys using the software to properly combine each voice with the result that everyone is in synch. She is also able to experiment with various audio elements like the volume, pitch and blend. She can even cut out any glaring mistakes, which does not happen very often. These audio elements show up on her computer as a ‘wave file’ that looks somewhat like a recording from a seismometer. 

Since the pandemic, the church has only had to buy a computer cart and four headphones to make this new method work. Allyn and the entire choir are very happy to be able to keep their friendships and singing alive during this difficult time. Allyn summed it up by saying, “The most important goals were to be able to share our music with the congregation and to preserve our choir community.”