I, too, make rehearsal CD's for my 2 adult community groups (one auditioned & one not). When they don’t have time to sit down & study their music, they often 

have time to listen to their CD’s or mp3’s because they can do it in their car or during a break at work.  Unfortunately, making the recordings can be, as you are aware, quite a time consuming affair, so you definitely want them to be useful when they are finished.  For me it has been totally worth it, however, because there is a noticeable difference in the end product since we started using recordings way back in the days of cassettes.  Thanks goodness for CD’s, mp3’s, and GarageBand!  No more tape dubbing!

I have tried giving my singers recordings of their parts played only as instrumental lines, but I found they didn’t use them very much. They found them frustrating because if they lost their place, they had to go all the way back to the beginning.  What helps them the most is if I sing, too.  This keeps them on track and demonstrates some phrasing, breathing, and pronunciation. It also helps them memorize the stuff we do without music - which, for us, is just about everything. Even our good readers use the files to help get things committed to memory.

Even when I sing the bass part an octave up, or the tenor part with a few “growls” on the  lowest notes (I’m a soprano), my singers still benefit from hearing the lyrics along with the melody.  For the longest time I used a piano sound to play their parts, but I’ve switched to a sustained sound like a flute or recorder. I think it really makes a difference to the phrasing.  

I do most of my recording in GarageBand on my computer (Mac) by first importing a midi file I make with my notation program, and then adding some voice tracks. I like being able to easily fix any mistakes I make!  It’s also nice to be able to mix as many or as few parts as you like into the final mp3’s, and this part of the process is very quick to do. I usually let the sopranos hear all the parts, but I give my tenors very little of the other parts because I have a couple of guys who might be led astray.  The final product goes right into iTunes. 

I also make use of my mp3 recorder, and I must say it is one of the best investments I’ve ever made.  It allows me to record trouble spots or complete performances right at rehearsal.  I can post these files on our “members only” website or email them the next day. 

The other tool we have found very helpful for note learning on our particularly difficult or really syncopated tunes are Scorch files created with the notation program, Sibelius. Perhaps you are familiar with these.  Although the words are not audible, they are (if you type them in!) printed below the notes.  The beauty of these files is that you can just click on wherever you want to start, stop and do something over immediately, or change the tempo.  The only drawback is that you must be at your computer to use them - and, again, they can be time consuming to make.  

Because our choir members like all of these tools so much, and have come to rely on them for the preparation of their music, we now have set aside some funds to pay someone else to make the recordings I don’t have time to do.  I rather enjoy the process when I do have time, and it also really ensures that I know the music myself!

Best of luck!

Paula Roberts