...listening to my junkmail

this is the time of the year when lots of effort is paying off...

BLT has spent hours writing up "elements sheets" for our service music...
as well as drawing up a potential L&C program...
in all cases, paying very close attention to liturgical correctness...
and aligning musical texts with scriptural readings...
as well as considering the qualities of the music involved...

then he passes the sheets & lists to me, for my musical suggestions...



when I taught jr high band & orchestra [for 17 years...]
I got tons of stuff like this in the mail...
starting with LP's, then cassettes & finally CDs...
as technology progressed from the early 80's into the new century...

I would always spend time, listening to my junk mail...
as a result, I always seemed to be able to choose music with "kid appeal"...

since I've become a choral director the last couple of years...
I've discovered that if I look long enough & listen to lots of stuff...
I'll be able to find a few things that our choir really seems to enjoy singing...



I don't get much audio "junk mail" these days...
but technology has allowed online sheet music "stores"...
to offer audio samples of many selections...
so I've spent hours... listening to samples,"online"...



it sure beats the heck out of listening to piles of these...



or thumbing through bins of music...
getting multiple paper cuts...
and still not being sure what it would sound like...
so when BLT asks for my thoughts...
I'm ready because I've been "listening" online for hours...



here's a sample page from my favorite online "store"...
notice that there are over 9000 selections in this "search"...
believe me, it takes HOURS to work your way through all the possibilities...
you can scan thousands & find 3 or 4 possibilities...
or you can find 4 or 5 good ones on one page of 50...



I download audio samples from their website...
and save them in a folder on my desktop...



I play them with ITunes...
generally several times...
if I find myself humming parts after only 1 or 2 playings...
I find that the choir will generally enjoy singing it...



this an example of a selection that eventually "made the cut"...



it not only offers a chance to view a sample page or 2...
[some selections will show all pages, others, none...]



you can listen to an audio sample...
[some play the entire selection, some only part...others, nothing...]
if I "click here", I get the audio file as a separate page...
that I can save to my desktop...



this one was BLT's suggestion, but the only audio sample was on YouTube...
after ordering copies, I was surprised to find that it was in a book we have...
we needed to buy copies anyway... but at least we get to look at it...
it's a bit unnerving to choose a piece based only on listening to YouTube...



as we were considering several options...
I "remembered" this gem that Dearest Dragonfly had just recently touted to me...
[and we've "had copies of" for 2 years, but I'd forgotten about...]
we listened to it on YouTube & were sold...



I had suggested this one to her...
the choir is going to love singing it...



it's a lovely alternative to "Ave Maria"...
& it has, "our sound"...



so after going through the "stacks", as well as the online store...



& after digging through the service music boxes...



we've cobbled together a Lessons & Carols service...
that while not quite finished [a few details remain...]
has the anthem choices, "pretty much decided"...
& we think that it will be a very special experience...
for all who sing & all who attend...
[Mark your calendars, Dec.20, 2009, 6 PM, PST]