On ANZAC Day --

See your world with new eyes:
remember the past.

Let's not reinvent the wheel. How wasteful it is to chuck out old values and start over at the beginning. Let's learn from what our ancestors learned and build on that!

ANZAC Day, April 25th, 2010

This week I learned how to use Windows MovieMaker, my PC didn't perish at the thought of such a creative proceeding, and the result is a music video for your enjoyment! I feel like having a party! I hope you like the video, and here's hoping there are more to come.

Waiting for Spring

The promised concert review didn't make it to cyberlaunch because 3 performances during 1 week in the middle of winter were pushing my boundaries too far and I've been very ill ever since. I've been depending on the arrival of spring warmth and new energy, but they're proving elusive. Bring on summer! but in the meantime I've had to clear my schedule through to January and won't be taking new bookings until I'm well and truly on my feet again.

After my winter galivanting came to a halt, it was two months before I had any voice to sing again. I'm still a bit croaky. Looks like bits of my blogs are croaking also...is Photobucket trying to make Songuine kick the bucket? CPR applied...

I had a quadruple neck adjustment today and as a result have been able to enjoy a lilting cyberjam with Hayley tonight. I'm also relieved that the the clamp on my voice has not been caused by a lack of practice.

What do you do when you encounter an empty outdoor stage and auditorium?

Give me a road, a park, a beach, a hill, an amphitheatre...to me it's an invitation to sing.

Tahunanui Beach's outdoor amphitheatre issued such an invitation last week. I started out with "Only Hope" (Switchfoot/Mandy Moore)...

There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again.
I'm awake in the infinite cold;
But You sing to me over and over again...
And I lift my hands and pray to be only Yours...
I know now You're my only hope.
When it feels like my dreams are so far,
Sing to me of the plans that You have for me over again...
I give You my destiny. I'm giving You all of me.
I want Your symphony singing in all that I am...
I know now You're my only hope.

A Princess Moment

I do have the video footage from July. It's not great - my unprepared accompanist provided some serious cringe moments on the organ - so my plan is to edit the footage into something less painful to discerning ears. As the state of my blogs show, I'm doing minimal computer work, so I doubt it will happen in an instant. The text is ready to go, with the title "A Princess Moment". Here's hoping you get to enjoy that moment with me.

YouPerform Contest results

Yes, Elaine and I won the April edition of the Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us. You can read the Musicnotes winners' interview here, and view the winning song on YouTube here.

If you missed the first part of the story, you can find out more about the creation of our Wedding Special here: Apple Blossom Wedding.

Apple Blossom Wedding

Voting is now open for the April edition of the YouPerform Contest at Musicnotes.com. Who should win the prize worth US$100? Have your say by clicking here.

Voting closes May 15th (Central Standard Time).

The butterfly link has been disabled so you can view this poster in a larger format. Follow the text link above to vote.

More details on the creation of our Apple Blossom Wedding Special will be posted on BoutiqueNarelle on Friday, 8th May.

Who's the winner?!? -- updated

29 April, 2009

Thank you so much to all those who voted for Elaine and I in the March edition of Musicnotes' YouPerform contest. There was such an enthusiastic response to the competition that the organizers have sponsored 2nd and 3rd place prizes for that and all future competitions provided there is a minimum of 10 entries. Clicking the above image will now take you to where you can view comments from the 3 winners and listen to their music.

I learned a lot from the experience and am very happy for the ladies who won those lovely music vouchers. I want one for myself, so Elaine and I have been working hard on our next feature, "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time". We hope to have that recorded in time for the contest opening on May 1st.

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2 April, 2009

Can we do it?

On the first of the month, Musicnotes.com provide a free download of their chosen arrangement for the month. The rules allow for competitors to choose from 1000+ arrangements by Musicnotes staff, but most people go for the free one. Competitors have one month to prepare and film their performance and upload it to their YouTube account. Public voting begins on the first of the following month, closing on the 15th. The prize is awarded at the end of that month.

Narelle loves Musicnotes.com because it revolutionized finding and purchasing sheetmusic. The Musicnotes website offers a pile of other music-related features, one of which is the YouPerform monthly contest, for which this video was created. Elaine and Narelle enjoyed making it, and hope you enjoy listening.

You'll probably recognize the melody made famous by Cat Stevens in the early 1970s, "Morning Has Broken", which was based on a song by Scottish composer Mary MacDonald (1789 - 1872). The original lyrics for her hymn entitled "Leanabh an Aigh" were in Gaelic. When the hymn was translated into English by Lachlan Macbean, the song was renamed "Bunessan" after a Scottish village close to Mary MacDonalds hometown of Ardtun. Musicnotes didn't supply any of these lyric versions in their "Bunessan" arrangement, so we decided to go with the vocalise style.

New Zealand Folk Song website promo

John Archer with the aid of other volunteers has put together this massive New Zealand folk song resource, featuring audio clips and free downloadable song lyrics and sheet music. The song lists are alphabetized, and there is also a search feature. Entries include modern, vintage, and historic songs, Maori waiata, ANZAC songs, tramping songs, train songs, Christmas songs, a list of the most recorded folk songs, and all are wonderfully researched and documented.

When preparing music for community programs, I find www.FolkSong.org.nz supremely helpful. It plays a song for me while I follow along with the lyrics and melody line. I can print the lyrics for me and the music for my accompanist. In short order, we have a new song added to our repertoire.

Here’s a big hand for the FolkSong band!
Thanks for all the work you've put into it, John!
It's a fantastic resource!

Ah-choo! Singin' with da 'Flu?

New Zealand Folk Song has a Q&A feature.

What happens when a singer is booked to perform while in the grip of a nasty cold?

On this page
the saga is told
of Micheal's cold
and Tony's tonsil tips
for coping with
da dose an da throat ond a really off day.

Provides a check list for how to know if you can perform, and survival techniques for both cancelling or proceeding as planned.