hen97

hen97

they/she: You can use either. I slightly prefer they, but also like she.

Basic info
I really want to go to grad school in Japan for computer science, sometime in 2024 (after I get my romantic relationship and ADHD medication more or less squared away and some more money saved up). I’m super interested in researching spatial audio! The frameworks and tools I plan to explore before applying are JUCE, pyo, and Max.

Choir tool
I was also a classical choral singer for 11 years until the pandemic threw a wrench in things. Choirs around the world went through enormously difficult times trying to keep up their love for music but being unable to do so safely.

I have a desire that’s hung around for a while to create a platform to help directors with virtual choirs, a pain point that many went through during the pandemic. Think about TikTok duets, where you can create a recording in sync with someone else’s pre-existing recording. The director/leader would set up an initial track/s (i.e., their own voice, a rehearsal piano) and the singers’ voices would get added one by one as each singer finds time in their week to record. First a few brave souls, early homework completers, then some more, and finally the entire choir. With how easy the mixing would be in a system designed for it, this process could be repeated week after week instead of just for the final product.

There would have to be easy-to-use mixing features such as setting a delay for individual recordings to sync them up, and adjusting amplitude and noise reduction. (Maybe also some fancy elements such as spatial audio and reverb if I’m feeling super ambitious - directors are accustomed to hearing each voice part come from a specific part of the room, and prefer to hear voices in the final performance hall as much as possible). The director can choose to assign only part of the piece per week instead of the whole thing, depending on how much the choir has learned so far. When all voices have been received and mixed, the rehearsal piano can be muted and optional performance instruments added in. Every week, a new recording is added, allowing anyone who’s interested to listen to the progress their choir has made over the weeks.

This can be a homework assignment for in-person choirs to help the in-person time become more productive. Or it can be the end goal of an entirely online choir, so that their final product will be a recording made in a similar program (but can be exported to be professionally mixed & mastered). There are some platforms around that do this kind of thing for bands generally, but none that focus on choral music or weekly structures.

My background