Custom tracks?
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Cost is $40 per page with a $120 minimum per song.
Time frame is usually about three weeks.
Special Instructions: For uptunes, please indicate a metronome tempo so I know how fast you would like the tracks to go. For all songs, show where you want all breaths. Include dynamic markings and any interpretive info you want to include. If you don’t mark up the music, I’ll create an interp plan based on standard barbershop practices.
Receipt and Payment: I will send you a link with the MP3’s of nine tracks. All parts predominant, all parts missing, and full mix. I will also send you an invoice to pay online.
Wherever you order barbershop learning tracks, you should expect them to be in tune, on pitch, accurate, in sync, and sung with energy. They should demonstrate good singing technique and employ standard barbershop practices in all four parts. Fortunately, there are now many learning track creators that do a good job with all these elements and the quality of barbershop learning tracks overall has greatly improved in recent years.
As a result, I strongly recommend a shift in the way most groups USE learning tracks. In the past, the practice has been that you would learn notes and words from the learning tracks but then they would be quickly discarded, and then the group’s own recordings of their rehearsals would be the standard for at home listening and practice. Once one change is made such as moving a breath or changing a chord or interp, the tendency is for that change to render the learning tracks obsolete.
Please consider the fact that you are getting far more than a demonstration of correct notes and words from quality learning tracks. The voice produces what the ear has heard with repetition. Because of my Suzuki teacher training background, and decades of personal experiences and observations, I’m especially convinced that whatever our singers are hearing and singing along with on a repetitive basis determines how they will sing. Ultimately this means that until a group sings a song better than the learning tracks, the learning tracks should not be rendered obsolete. When a group sings the song with BETTER tuning, sync, energy, accuracy, and singing technique, THEN perhaps make changes. But it’s not worth losing all those elements just to make a minor interp change. Even after the notes and words are learned, a singer can learn so much more from a good singing example. Don’t miss out on that! Get quality learning tracks, and use them for a LONG time!
WHERE I CAN HELP is to create tracks for you that go right to the vision of the end product. Ballads have ballad interp and uptunes are contest stage ready. It is necessary to understand an arrangement from a music perspective (including chords and chord progressions) to create a plan with the end in mind. When only the melody and/or lyrics are considered, the interp is not as effective as it is when you analyze the arrangement from a music perspective. Many quartets and chorus directors do have the ability to analyze a barbershop arrangement to that level and will provide me with the exact interp they want. However, many do not. I can create an interp plan for you if the music analysis is difficult for you. While I don’t know your specific singers, I can create an easily achievable plan for every skill level.
The key takeaway: Get good learning tracks…and use them for a very long time.