Story: Phillip Tutor | Photos: Submitted
12-song compilation includes studio tracks and live recordings
With artwork loosely based on one of rock music鈥檚 iconic images and a track listing of studio and live recordings, the聽baby直播 Choral Union鈥檚聽recently released album may exemplify one trait more than all others: perseverance.聽聽
On that, UWA lecturer Mark Turner, who produced the album, has no doubt.
鈥淚t was both fun and exhilarating — and very stressful — all the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a constant combination of extreme emotions throughout the entire project.鈥�
鈥淪tronger Together,鈥� released this month, is a 12-song collection performed by UWA students. Seven songs are studio recordings. Five others were culled from the choir鈥檚 archive of live performances. But what still takes Turner鈥檚 breath away — besides the students鈥� performances — is that the album was conceived during a pandemic, recorded amid Covid-19 health restrictions, and produced in a campus studio that two years ago did not exist.
The album, with a digital-only distribution, this month. Its Spotify release is expected soon.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l ever do another one like this ever again,鈥� said Turner, the assistant choral director at UWA. 鈥淭his one is a one-off in a lot of ways, because we had to do a lot of things in ways that are completely backwards from how you would want to do it.鈥�
And yet, it worked.
Quirky as it is, the album鈥檚 genesis formed when the university鈥檚 music faculty returned to campus following the pandemic-caused lockdown. That鈥檚 when reality set in, Turner explained. Face masks were required on campus. In-person concerts were forbidden. Nothing, he recalls, was normal. 鈥淪o we just had a year to twiddle our thumbs, or to do something,鈥� he said.
Thumb-twiddling offered scant appeal, and a faculty-meeting suggestion came Turner鈥檚 way: in lieu of live shows, could he and the choir record an album?
鈥淵eah, we can do it,鈥� Turner answered. 鈥淚t is going to be difficult, but it鈥檚 doable.鈥�
But where? UWA鈥檚 music department didn鈥檛 own a recording studio, and without one the notion of embarking on a full-length studio album project was foolish. Undeterred if not a bit stubborn, Turner enlisted the help of , an instructor of digital communications at UWA whose professional background includes producing, editing and engineering. 鈥淗e鈥檚 got some of the best ears (for music and sound) I鈥檝e ever encountered,鈥� Turner said.
Their confabs revealed advice on how to turn the Pruitt Hall choir room into a workable, professional-level recording space, or at least to come close to that. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a terrible room sound-wise, but it鈥檚 not great,鈥� said Turner, who welcomed Walker鈥檚 suggestions for improving the space鈥檚 acoustics.
Carpets and blankets, some requisitioned from home, were nailed to walls and strewn across floors to soften the harsh reverb. Because of campus social-distancing requirements, microphones couldn鈥檛 be placed close together so that singers — who were masked, per university rules — could hear each other easily. Trial and error became the norm. Yet, 鈥渨e ended up creating a pretty usable acoustic environment,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淭he problem is, you鈥檇 never record a choir this way — ever.鈥�
For equipment, Turner used the studio board the university鈥檚 theater department gave its music-department colleagues a few years ago. Because it hadn鈥檛 been used on such a grand project, a month elapsed before Turner tweaked it to his liking. Choir singers need studio headphones so they can hear musical cues and keep microphones free from audio clutter, but for the early sessions Turner didn鈥檛 have enough for everyone.
Two songs required recording horn sections, so聽Michael Tignor, UWA鈥檚 assistant director of bands, played trombone. Turner recorded two guitarists who offered differing styles. Two members of UWA鈥檚 faculty, Dr.聽Paul Lee聽and Dr.聽Manley Blackwell, played piano and keyboards. Turner also recorded a flutist, a saxophonist, an oboist, and handled many of the drum parts himself. Absent a string section, Turner programed those portions electronically.聽聽
鈥淚f (listeners) think my strings are real,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the best compliment that anyone can give me for this project.鈥�
鈥淲e did this for the university. The vibe became what we didn’t know at the beginning, that the university was hurting and we were all just down and the year was fraught with difficulties and challenges.”
–Mark Turner
Sonically, 鈥淪tronger Together鈥� is less a collection of songs around a singular theme and more of a feel-good vibe designed to uplift the listener and its performers, Turner said. When selecting songs, the overarching goal was to consider the moment — recorded over a 16-month period, during a pandemic — and create joy, whatever it took. Turner and Dr. Christopher Shelt, UWA鈥檚 choral director, selected the material.
鈥淭his is just unprecedented in the history of any of our lives,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淓verybody was coming back for the first time, (the students) were all worn out and apprehensive, and restrictions just made life totally weird. Whether you liked it or not, it was just strange. Everything was different.鈥�
By and large, songs were selected because of Turner鈥檚 desire to 鈥減ick material that our students are going to have a great time working on.鈥� Unlike live recordings, studio albums are marathons of repetition in which songs are deconstructed into singular parts, each performed ad nauseum in search of perfection, or a facsimile of it. Turner used a few 鈥渋ndustry trade secrets鈥� to supersize the sound, including triple-tracking vocals.
Even the album鈥檚 artwork features a pandemic theme — a UWA baseball cap paired with a UWA face mask, an ode to signs seen across campus when students returned. Instead of a group photograph of the choir, Turner wanted something 鈥渟imple but iconic鈥� that looked like the cover of 鈥溾�� the 1973 Pink Floyd album instantly recognized for its prism-and-rainbow imagery.
鈥淚 think the end result of the album cover is a really great image for the project,鈥� Turner said.
Though 鈥淪tronger Together鈥� is a digital-only project, its artwork will be featured on card-sized handouts that will include the album cover on one side. The flip side will include the track listing, performer credits and QR codes for the YouTube and Spotify links.
鈥淲e did this for the university,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淭he vibe became what we didn’t know at the beginning, that the university was hurting and we were all just down and the year was fraught with difficulties and challenges. If you listen to this album, it encompasses what we all needed to hear and feel at that time. It鈥檚 got something for everybody.鈥�
