Submission

It's been a 24hr whirlwind, so let me backtrack.....

March 6, 2012 - UIL Choir Contest

Krimmel Advanced Treble Choir performed and received Sweepstakes - first divisions in each category. One of the concert judges suggested that I submit for TMEA. Contest was much earlier this year, I wasn't sure if a good recording was even possible. Those girls defied the odds and sang the art of each piece of music. It was magic.

Spring Break 2012 - I met with Sally Schott for lunch to discuss a variety of subjects and to give her my UIL recordings of the group from 2011 & 2012. She listened, provided feedback of each piece, then made suggestions for the order of the recordings. Plus, the recording levels from year to year was vastly different - that would need to be adjusted. During this time, I had lunch with Don & Sandi Parks - 2 of my mentors - I gave them a CD of the original recordings to listen and gain feedback.

Late March 2012 - Stan Lee got the recordings. He adjusted volumes and equalized them, plus reordered and did some simple editing. Per Sally's suggestion, he took out starting pitches on a cappella pieces, cut long piano intros with a 2 measure fade in to the choir, and eliminated applause at the end of tracks.

April 2, 2012 - Sally listened to edited recordings. Hmmmmm.....too much treble EQ in the 2012 pieces, some hissing sounds. Take the hiss out and switch the order of a couple of pieces.

April 6, 2012 - Stan & I go back to the original recordings and go piece by piece together. It takes a couple of hours. With his audio engineer skills and my ears, we find the right balance. The volume level of 2011 pieces was really good. The volume level of 2012 pieces was very low. We adjusted them to equal volume and the 2012 pieces came out with a hiss in the 12.5k and 16k channels. Stan lowered those channels and we found a sound that was within the range of "normal" and "natural". He made 3 CDs for me.

April 10, 2012 - I farmed the CD out to finely tuned ears - Jan Juneau - for feedback. Her question - Do you have the group next year to do this job? The answer - there is work to be done, but yes, the singers are there. Immediately, I began forming a plan to tackle those issues.

Lots of positive feedback was received. Then I sat on the CD for a couple of weeks.....just to detach from the process for a bit. Take my emotion out of the game. Just submit for the sake of submission. I have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

Last week of April 2012 - I mailed the CD and set my mind on Pop Show.