INTRODUCTION

The Hymnal Vocal Recording (HVR) Project Team consists of virtual/in-person choirs that record hymns in our TJC Hymnal to be used for congregational singing during worship services and church gatherings where there may be a lack of sacred music workers or resources. These recordings will also be made available for anyone to listen to hymns at home, in transit, or in other personal settings so that they may be strengthened in their faith daily. By God’s grace these recordings can be used to preach the gospel as well.

SPIRITUAL PREMISE

Since the purpose of this holy work is for the edification and growth of His precious church, we are looking for singers who are willing to devote time and effort to praising God through the singing of hymns. We have a vision that through God’s grace, we, the choirs, become like armies of Christ; and deeply touched by His love, we grow together in the deeper understanding that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people and that we can proclaim the praise of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Therefore singers should not only put forth time and effort to record the hymns, but also be willing to cultivate themselves to become an example of setting our hearts on things above and waiting for Christ's appearing in glory with the living hope that we will also share in His eternal glory.

WORKER GUIDELINES

• Prospective choir members should:

  • Be baptized TJC members.

  • Be current or previous choir members in their local church.

  • Have the ability to learn parts with minimal instructions.

  • Have the availability to meet during planned rehearsals.

• Prospective editors should:

  • Be baptized TJC members.

  • Have some audio and video editing experience.

  • Be able to commit 15 or more hours of editing work per month.

  • Have the availability to meet with the editing team lead on a regular basis.

GUIDELINES FOR VIRTUAL CHOIRS (US)

• Recording Goal:

  • For each choir, record 10 hymns with every term of 4-5 months.

• Setup:

  • Music Ministry Committee to identify conductors (1-2 per choir).

  • Conductors to identify choir members (2-3 singers per voice part per choir).

  • DME to create project folder in Hymnal Library Project (HLP) Google Drive.

• Preparation:

  • Conductors to choose 1-2 hymns for each rehearsal and prepare notated music scores.

  • Editors to prepare the audio guide tracks according to respective conductors' guidance:

    • Add clapping mark.

    • Adjust timing and breathing spots in the piano recordings.

    • If necessary (minimize to reasonable extent), re-record piano recordings to address tempo, timing or style issues.

  • Conductors to record conducting videos according to the audio tracks.

  • Editors to put together conducting videos.

  • Conductors to share conducting videos, audio tracks, and notated music scores with singers.

  • Singers to record (audio only) based on the conducting videos and notated music scores, and upload audio recordings to HLP Google Drive within 1 week after rehearsal.

    • Recording steps and suggestions: doc, slides.

• Rehearsals:

  • Meet together every 3 weeks for about an hour to pray, rehearse, and share together.

  • Singers spend time individually recording their parts after rehearsals and send the recordings in for review, editing and compiling. Review to be done concurrently by conductor and editor.

  • To respect other choir members’ time and effort, as well as consideration for this holy work, we request that singers attend all of the rehearsals to the extent possible.

• Post-production:

  • After initial recordings are uploaded, conductors to review recordings and give feedback to individual singers. Conductors may decide to have a second round of the singing recordings if needed.

  • Editors to put together a rough draft of the mix for conductors/singers to listen to. Editors may also find problems in the recordings and give feedback to conductors/singers. Examples of problems: recording was too loud or too soft, background noise, wrong format, etc.

  • After issues are addressed, editors to finalize the mix in detail, and adjust/line up the singers' volume, breathing sound, entrances, cutoff, pitch, etc. to have a unified recording mix.

GUIDELINES FOR IN-PERSON CHOIRS (US)

• Recording Goal:

  • For each choir, record 4 to 6 hymns each quarter.

• Setup:

  • Music Ministry Committee to identify conductor(s).

  • Define registration method for prospective choir members to register and join (3-4 singers per voice part).

• Preparation:

  • Select church location(s) that is/are suitable for recording (noise level, tonal quality, etc.).

  • Conductors choose 4-6 hymns for each rehearsal and prepare notated music scores.

  • Choir members may receive the notated music scores and practice before the recording session.

  • 1-2 virtual meetings before the recording session with conductors and choir members to go through the hymns, schedule, and prayer.

• Rehearsals:

  • Identify rehearsal date and time based on church event schedule and create registration method for prospective choir members to register and join.

  • Meet together in-person for a 4-hour session quarterly to pray, rehearse, and sing/record. Recommended schedule: 1:00~5:00pm.

• Post-production:

  • Editors to put together a rough draft of the mix for conductors/singers to listen to and for the review team to review before publishing.