Day 2 of my composing adventure sees the completion of the first verse (and, you're right, that piano needs an urgent tune and those fingers are a bit out of practice! )

365 Days Of Adventure ~ Compose A Song For A Choir Day 2

Day 3 of my composing adventure sees me writing the lyrics for the first verse and testing the SI (Singability Index) of my piece. The basis melody remains in tact - there are slight modifications to make it easier for the human voice :P

Verse 1 Of My 365 Days Of Adventure Composition

This is WIP for my 365 Days Of Adventure choral composition. Now I'm taking the melody and adding a bass line ... and just for fun, I borrowed someone's (very old) Yamaha keyboard and played it on the church organ setting!

The Call ~ Melody and Bass Line

This is a WIP for my 365 Days Of Adventure choral composition. I am singing the main melody and playing the bassline on my borrowed 80's Yamaha. This is the file that my transcriber, Gareth, will use to write the bassline down!

The Call ~ Voice And Bass Line

So... I'm falling in love with my borrowed Yamaha and it seems to be helping me out of a tight corner! Today I added in a third harmony line ... you'll hear it easily because it's louder than the other harmony lines (so that Gareth, my transcriber, can hear it!)

I can't wait to hear human voices singing this together!

The Call ~ Adding In The Third Harmony!

So yesterday I completed the 3rd harmony line for my 365 Days Of Adventure choral piece .. and today I'm trying out those harmonies with a human voice! All the lines are sung by me (and yes, you are right, absolutely no vocal warm-ups were carried out beforehand :P and no this is not in the original D minor ... I was sounding like a Bagpus Mouse in D minor.. so this is a little lower! ). It was a bit of a technological feat involving my phone and my laptop (a bit tricky to get all the lines balanced volume-wise and I'm sure there is probably an easier way) but I'm glad I did it. Now I know how singable it is AND I can hear where I might like to make a few tweaks. (I'm enjoying this adventure, by the way!)

The Call ~ With Me Singing All The Parts!

This is a short excerpt from The Terrible Tale of Fillan McQuillan, one of the stories from my collection of dark faerie tales for adults, The Faerie Thorn & Other Stories. [Published by Blackstaff Press, 2015] www.janetalbotwriter.com 

The Terrible Tale of Fillan McQuillan [Excerpt]

On 8 March 2016, 130 women writers took part in Women Aloud NI 2016, an initiative to raise the profile of the women's writing scene in Northern Ireland. 15 events took place across NI, and 2 outside NI. This is a recording of a mass reading at our event in No Alibis bookstore, Belfast. 27 women writers took part in this event. www.womenaloudni.com

Women Aloud NI 2016 ~ Mass Reading in No Alibis, Belfast

Sung by some of the artists in residence and a hostel volunteer [Iona Hostel] : Vappu Kannas [writer], Kari Gale [illustrator and writer], Vicki Coots [visual artist], Caroline Arrowsmith [traveller, hostel volunteer and banjolele player], Jane Talbot [writer and storyteller]. Recorded live in Saint Odhran's chapel, Reilig Odhrain, Iona, Scotland. 19 November 2016

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Saint Odhran's Chapel, Iona

Amazing Grace, Saint Odhran's Chapel, Iona, Scotland

IntrepidJane