There is now a veritable swathe of research on how moods and emotions can be positively influenced by group singing – we actually catch positive emotions off others in our immediate circles. In other words, community-based singing is really good for you, physically, emotionally and spiritually – it’s part of a holistic approach to wellbeing. In Australian culture, singing publicly is a foreign concept – we feel vulnerable and exposed when we put ourselves out of our comfort zone. But the only way to overcome that fear – and that’s what it is, fear – is to face it head on. Fortunately there are many community based singing groups that are springing up all over Melbourne. I recently heard about another group Melbourne Indie Voices who are doing a brilliant job of connecting a new generation with their musical heritage and seeing tremendous growth. In my day job, I’m a research scientist, which involves a lot of public presentations to varied audiences. If you ask most people their number one fear – it would have to be public speaking. Ever been in a workshop or a room of strangers and been asked to introduce yourself and tell the crowd something about yourself? We’ve all been there, the heart starts racing, the cold sweats start and the words just can’t seem to form in your mouth. In performance we call this ‘stage fright’. But every actor, musician and singer have to deal with this at some point and overcome that adrenaline rush. Personally I’ve found that stretching myself to perform publicly, whether that be leading a church congregation in singing, performing a solo at a concert or conducting Melbourne Contemporary Choir (MCCHOIR). Right from a young age I was trained in a youth choir to perform in front of crowds of strangers, so it doesn’t seem quite so daunting getting up in front of my colleagues to present a research finding as part of my job. I recently returned to study to do a Master of Teaching at Melbourne Uni and again I found that getting up in front of a group of students is another place I have to ‘perform’. I can’t tell you the difference it makes in public presentation to have this sort of experience behind you. It gets to the point where you can switch on the ‘performance’ button when you need it. Not that its contrived or disingenuous, conversely, having that ‘performance mentality’ means your audience are relaxed and have a level of trust in your confidence and authority. I often get tremendous feedback after a presentation and often people a quite surprised to hear me speak – I can thank my music and singing background for that confidence which comes quite unnaturally to me. At MCCHOIR we are developing our singers to build confidence through performance. Some have even taken the brave step of preparing and performing a solo with the choir. Most however, are enjoying ‘safety in numbers’ and creating music together which is enjoyable not only for themselves but for their audiences. Right at the moment we are busy preparing songs by artists like Adele, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Sam Smith and Phil Collins – all amazing arrangements which ignite a real joy and expressiveness that only comes through a shared musical experience like group singing. At our last sold-out concert the show really cemented our relationships as a group. The fact that we faced this challenge together meant that no one felt intimidated and our audience responded accordingly. We had exploding confetti cannons and giant balloons bouncing around the crowd during one song, which became a powerful moment for us as a choir to know that we had genuinely entertained our audience - young and old alike.
MCCHOIR is pretty unique in the North of Melbourne in that we have a current repertoire of popular songs that most people will know. Radio tunes and classic rock anthems that everyone loves to sing along with. In our upcoming Concert Event and EP launch “TIME TO SHINE” we have a few surprises up our sleeve to wow our audience. This is the perfect opportunity to check out this amazing group of performers for yourself, who knows, one day you might even be performing with us on stage. At MCCHOIR we have an ‘open door’ philosophy, all our rehearsals are open for new prospective members to engage with the group and check it out. Your first rehearsal is free and obligation free – so it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring a friend along and experience the ‘group singing vibe’ together. If you haven’t got your tickets to the #TIMETOSHINE concert you’ll want to get onto that pretty quickly as tickets are selling fast. With a live band backing us up and guest soloist Melody Crystal – a seasoned performer herself, you’ll not be disappointed. Just visit the Events & Tickets page on our website to secure your seats today. Jason Simmonds Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir
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MELODY CRYSTAL - AN Artists profile31/5/2016
I met up with Melody Crystal at 5Litr in North Melbourne last week over some really good coffee, lunch and a chat about her background and our upcoming concert event with Melbourne Contemporary Choir Jun 18 "Time To Shine". The Choir is really excited to be performing a couple of songs with Melody on the night which are going to blow audiences away. The choir met Melody at our rehearsal last Thursday night, needless to say, despite her petite size she made a big impact on our singers who were really impressed. Melody arrived just as the choir was rehearsing a song called "The Power of One" so we shoved a mic in her hand and she jumped in with, us pumping out a fantastic rendition of the Israel Houghton hit song. I was introduced to Melody through our musical director for the concert, Jared Haschek who has been collaborating with Melody on some projects recently. After lunch Melody gave me her "home work" a little question sheet I asked her to fill out beforehand, to let you in on a bit of her musical journey. Here's what she had to say...
Name and Occupation
Melody Crystal I'm a choir teacher (Primary School aged kids), Glee vocal coach and Teacher Aide. Twitter @melodycrystal Instagram @melodycrystal What was the first Song you sang? Let the Franklin Flow with the band 'Goanna' - (The Goanna Band was formed as an Australian folk rock group by singer-songwriter and guitarist Shane Howard). Top 3 favourite lyrics? Crystal Lewis: MORE "We are meant for more than this world could suppose We are more than we know" Charlie Chaplin: SMILE That's time you must keep on trying Smile, what's the use of crying You'll see that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile Stevie Wonder: EVIL Evil, why have you stolen so much love Leaving everyone's emotions lost and wandering free Ultimate stage outfit? Anything that can create the illusion of me being tall! Three things that make you feel confident/invincible 1. My four precious children 2. My faith and hope 3. Knowing how far I've come What are you working on right now? Writing music for myself and others. Writing my autobiography Making money to produce those things!
MELODY CRYSTALS BIO:
Born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia to Graham and Stephney Davidge, Melody Crystal's life was immersed in the music industry and culture from day one. Her father, a seasoned guitarist, has played with many successful bands including 'The Little River Band' and 'Goanna'. Given her surroundings, it wasn't too long before she developed a love for expressing herself through song. In her late teen years, she sang in small piano bars around Adelaide before shifting to Melbourne to be with her father and broaden her horizons. 1993 saw her joining a little known original Christian Funk/Rock/Fusion outfit called 'Mr Bus'. It was in that band that she met her husband, guitarist Gavin Chan. The band parted ways in 1997 when Melody took a break to recover from some issues she had been having with her voice. In 2003, Melody released a very successful solo EP titled 'Show Me Heaven'. The title track from that EP became the highest played Australian song in the Christian sector for that year. Now a single mother with four children, Melody is currently working on her autobiography aptly named, 'The Party's At My Place', as well as collaborating with songwriter musician Jared Haschek on music for other artist as well as her own upcoming album.
Melody is a pocket rocket with an amazing vocal and she will be performing two original songs at the Melbourne Contemporary Choir Concert and EP launch #TIMETOSHINE. The concert is Saturday night June 18, 7:30PM Planetshakers City Church (North East Campus) 356-360 Main Road Lower Plenty. You can get your tickets through Eventbrite by clicking the button below. Tickets are selling fast so don't miss out and get yours today. Tickets are $20 adult and $15 concession (plus booking fee). For your money you'll get a live 10 piece band with horn section, a 40+ member choir and hear the vocal stylings of our amazing guest artist/singer/songwriter & music educator - Melodoy Crystal.
Jason Simmonds
Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir TIME TO SHINE COUNTDOWN25/5/2016
The stage is set for an entertaining evening, all that's missing is you. Click here to get your tickets today. Group booking of 10 or more can enjoy concessional rates, so why not organise a group and enjoy this evening together.
The choir will also be launching our EP of two songs on the night. You'll hear both songs performed and have the opportunity to purchase the EP as a special discounted price. This offer is only valid on the night for concert guests only.
See you at the show. Jason Simmonds Founder & Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir A choir is the perfect outlet for exploring creativity and musicianship. Musical engagement leads to increased pro-social behaviours – that is, selfless actions that help other people. This would be supported by a shared emotional state, which relies on empathy of participants to spread. But music is also at the centre of where we first learn to be sociable – in the mother-infant bond. Listening to a mother sing is mesmerising to babies, having immediate and profound impacts on their arousal and attention, including physical responses. These innate, companionable musical communications are highly effective despite the lack of linguistic understanding by the infant. They are also universal; lullabies are recognisable as such in virtually every culture on Earth. There are strong indications that group singing, music making and social behaviours are strongly linked. Music therapy has been shown to reliably improve social behaviours in individuals on the autism spectrum. Studies with children indicate that music engagement increases both empathy and pro-social behaviours. Taken together, the evidence points to a strong link between co-creation of music and improved social bonding. This is verified in surveys of choir members, who consistently report that social interaction is a primary benefit of participation. Participating in a choir not only made them feel more connected to each other, but also more connected to their audience and more confident in their social interactions generally. It is well established that a positive mood state supports cognitive flexibility, while stress and anxiety act as inhibitors. Co-creating music may therefore support improved cognitive skills through both the emotional and social benefits of singing. Additionally music processing requires a complex interplay of many brain functions working in coordination, which assists more complex mental processing abilities. If these theories of music’s benefits are correct, it gives us cause to consider our own use of music. Traditionally, in order to be heard, music had to be made publically and it was most often made in groups. It could be that in professionalizing music (ie leaving it up to those who make a living out of music) we are both diminishing our own wellbeing as well as our community life. Australia is currently seeing a surge in community choirs, which may indicate a reclaiming of our social musicality. It’s time to lay aside the excuse of “I can’t sing” and participate in this health giving activity, which is almost universally accessible and is proving to have so many layers of benefits. MCCHOIR is launching our brand new EP on June 18 at our concert event "Time To Shine" held at Planet Shakers City Church, Lower Plenty from 7:30 PM. With a live band and pumping horn section to back up the choir and special guest artist Melody Crystal, you'll be blown away by how great a choir concert experience can be. Come and experience social musicality first hand and what it can be like to be part of this amazing group of "ordinary" people achieving something greater than themselves. You can get your tickets here for this exciting event: Jason Simmonds
Founder and Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir Singing: a shared emotional experience.11/5/2016 The central role of music in our individual lives and shared community experiences has been true for every culture, for as far back as we can trace our human ancestory. Music making appears to be a unique human endeavor as a creative activity. More than 40,000 years ago humans fashioned flutes from bone but it is estimated that singing extends as far back as 600,000 years. Why has singing played such a pivotal role in our human existence? For one it is an activity which elicits strong emotional reactions and provides deep satisfaction for participants. The value of singing has endured throughout time and across cultural boundaries. Have you ever noticed the innate musical abilities of an infant? Even newborn babies have the ability to decode and understand musical phrases beyond the capabilities of any other animal. These abilities require complex and advanced cognitive capabilities. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that music making has provided specific benefits for our ancestors and is true for us today. More specifically, three benefits have been proposed which demonstrate that music making and singing in a group provide specific and tangible benefits. They can be categorized as emotional, social and cognitive benefits. Music creates a shared emotional experience. Emotions provide a core component of our decision-making processes by signaling that something critical requires attention. Emotions prioritise the many options that we may have at any given time and reduce overload from the bombardment of senses that we experience. Group singing provides a rewarding, positive activity where emotional empathy can be developed.
We know that interacting with music today is, for almost everyone, both an emotional and overwhelmingly positive experience. Additionally music is used to reinforce positive moods and manage negative moods – something every teenager knows. Others put music to targeted purposes; for example, many athletes use music to put them in a mood state that supports peak performance. Research shows it to be an effective strategy, increasing both performance and enjoyment. Music’s ability to change or reinforce a mood relies on the principle of emotion contagion; we can catch moods from one another and we can also catch them from music. This week at Melbourne Contemporary Choir we are celebrating our 1 year anniversary. If you’d like to experience the joy of group singing we’d invite you to attend our FREE open rehearsal this Thursday. We rehearse at The Macleod Community Hall, 7 Birdwood Avenue, Macleod. Directly opposite Macleod Train Station from 7:30PM – why not bring a friend. In the next blogs I’m going to discuss the social and cognitive benefits of group singing. Jason Simmonds Founder and Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir Music The soundtrack of life!1/5/2016 “The inexpressible joy of song” were the words one of our members used in a recent facebook post, that’s what we experience each week at Melbourne Contemporary Choir rehearsals. Two of the children of one of our founding members were surprised, to say the least, to hear that the group sing songs from Adele and Beyonce and they had a great time with their family belting out their own rendition of “Halo” and “Hello” around the piano. These are just two of our members stories who have found a genuine group of people who love to sing and create music together. I’m not sure why I feel so energised after a night at MCCHOIR - but there’s something about many voices joining together to create something special that captures my imagination and does my soul good. A recent report linked music with life memories and made the profound statement that music is truly “the soundtrack of our lives”. Just this week Amy Grant and Tori Kelly teamed up to release a 25th Anniversary rendition of the #1 hit “Baby Baby” which first hit the airwaves in the early 90s. You can watch the lyric video here. The song earned Amy three Grammy nominations in 1992 and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Amy and Tori have kept true to the melody and essence of the song and for me it brought back so many memories of when the song first released in my early years of University. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed singing along to the entire original album “Heart in Motion” since. Some songs just capture our imagination and reignite memories of a time and place gone by and seem timeless to us because music is so personal. The song “Baby Baby” was originally inspired by Amy’s young daughter at the time, although it also does have romantic connotations. She recalls performing it at the Oscars in the 90s and having her daughter join her on stage late that night to share her inspiration for the song.
“Sing and make music in your heart” is my mantra for life really. It doesn’t matter who’s listening – it could be just you and the shower, but never give up on humming a tune or singing along to your favourite radio tune. Even if no one else hears, you’ll have done yourself some good. Jason Simmonds Creative Director & Founder Melbourne Contemporary Choir TIME TO SHINE EP LAUNCH8/4/2016 Melbourne Contemporary Choir (MCCHOIR) is very excited about the launch of our first EP entitled "Time To Shine" which will take the form of a concert event suitable for the whole family on June18. Here's the facebook event if you'd like to follow it. Our special guest artist for the evening is the very talented Melody Crystal, a Melbourne singer/songwriter with an exceptional gift. She will be performing her own original songs and covers as well as performing a powerful track with the backing of MCCHOIR. Melody Crystal - Melbourne based singer/songwriter The concert Musical Director is Jared Haschek a Melbourne-based composer, musician, orchestrator arranger and songwriter. Jared incidentally co-wrote and produced both of the tunes on the MCCHOIR EP and will head up a group of stellar musicians who will be backing the choir and our guest artist. As I write, I'm listening to a composition of Jared's that he's playing live on facebook and it sounds amazing!
The Concert Event will be held at Planetshakers City Church - North East Campus, 356-360 Main Rd, Lower Plenty VIC 3093 from 7:30PM and tickets will go on sale shortly through EVENTBRITE. The choir will feature arrangements of songs from artists like Adele, Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor, Phil Collins, P!NK and Sheppard as well as MCCHOIR's original songs of course. Melbourne Contemporary Choir has grown from 15 - 50 members in a short 10 months and is still adding new members to their number each week. MCC starts back next Thursday 14th April and we will be busy preparing for our live concert. We have several prospective new members who have registered over the Easter Break - so if you'd like to join them next week we'd love to see you at a FREE first rehearsal. Register here . Jason Simmonds Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir STUDIO EXPERIENCE23/3/2016 Last Thursday the Melbourne Contemporary Choir met at the "Last Match Recordings" Studio in Richmond to record two original tunes co-written by Jason Simmonds (MCCHOIR Founder & Creative Director) and a very talented Melbourne musician, Jared Hascheck. It was pretty tricky finding a studio space that could accommodate the choir which has grown to nearly 50 members this year - it's really been like a brand new choir with so many members joining recently. We love to see new faces added to the MCCHOIR family and they are sounding pretty hot! There was such a buzz of anticipation as members started arriving and getting plugged in with their headphones - for some this was the first time they had done anything like this and everyone did remarkably well. The room was pretty warm as we had to turn off the fans to reduce the noise but we managed to fit is some breaks for a cool drink and a bite to eat. One of our members wrote about the evening: "Last night we recorded an EP of original songs co-written by our conductor. It was a blast! But here-in lies the community-choir angle- during a short break, just after 9pm in a stifling hot recording studio, a few of us sat down, or rather, laid down. Another few took arty photos, still others went outside for fresh air and star gazing; There was much laughter, occasional grooving and we drank from plastic cups." A line from one of the songs we recorded says: "Find the gold within the heart next door, to bring out each other's best" There was much prospecting happening this night with "many voices exploring creativity and making music together" we truly did bring out the best in each other. A recent report on the abc's Catalyst program gave some remarkable insight into the power of music to link memories, emotions, a sense of community and human movement. Even people suffering from debilitating Alzheimer's disease were able to regain fluid movement and dance for the first time in many years when they heard a piece of music. Others with Dimentia were able to hold intelligent conversations after listening to their favourite music. I was reminded too that the human race is the only species which is able to hear the beat and pulse of a piece of music even when a strict beat is not evident in the music. It seems that music is the "soundtrack of life" and unlocks hidden memories in those who appear to hold no hope of cognitive function. For us at Melbourne Contemporary Choir - we love the buzz we get after a rehearsal together and the social interaction and sense of community that's fostered in the group. Scientific studies have demonstrated a direct link between the production of feel good hormones following group singing and you just have to spend some time at MCCHOIR to feel how great sharing an experience like singing together is. Some of our members have pretty hectic lives and I often hear from people after a long days work how energised and positive they feel after our weekly rehearsal. That small investment in time brings so much joy and has added benefits to overall wellbeing and wholeness that we are just starting to realise. I'd encourage you to check out MCCHOIR for yourself one Thursday night from 7.30PM at the Macleod Community Hall. Of course you're first rehearsal is complimentary and is a great way to suss out the choir behind the scenes and join in the fun. Register your interest here. Finally from our family to yours we want to wish you a safe and enjoyable Easter Break and hope to see you at one of our rehearsals real soon. Photography Anna Kemp Jason Simmonds Melbourne Contemporary Choir Creative Director TIME TO SHINE8/2/2016 At MCCHOIR we are so excited about the studio recording of our original tune "Time To Shine" soon to be released as a single. Creative Director Jason Simmonds and Producer Jared Haschek have been busy little beavers at The Base Recording Studios, Melbourne recording the music beds for this song and another tune called "Raining". The songs will be mixed and engineered by the very talented Mr Phil Threlfall. Thanks to some top notch musicians namely - Pat Tuariki (Drums), Glenn Cannon (Guitar), Matthew Bryant (Bass), Jared Haschek (Keys) and a pumping horn section: Tom Kenneth (Trumpet), Ken Marsh (Trombone), Cal Barry (Alto Saxophone) and Dean Cronkwright (Tenor Saxophone) - the music beds are sounding sweet as. From Left: Tom Kenneth, Cal Barry, Dean Cronkwright & Ken Marsh The choir will be hitting the studio on the 17th March to record the vocal tracks for both songs and we're super excited to hear the finished product when it's done. This last week at MCCHOIR we had our first look at one of the original songs written by Jason Simmonds and Jared Haschek called "Raining" and it's already sounding mint. The great thing about recording the music backing for our recording first is that we now have a great instrumental track to rehearse to with the choir that will be exactly like the final recording. Glenn Cannon & Matt Bryant Jared Haschek We had 16 new people attend last weeks rehearsal with the majority of those people joining up on the night. We welcome Emily, Annamaria, Joe, Bethany, Aida, Sarah, Rosa, Andy, Jeff, Rebecca, Jenny, Misa, Lynne, and Lois. It was an electric night catching up with all of our returning foundation members, together with all the new faces. I just love the way our members are so open to new people and welcoming. We had a team of MC'ers (MCCHOIR members) helping to integrate all of our new voices and handing out our welcome packs. Pat Tuariki Melbourne Contemporary Choir It's not too late to register your interest in joining the choir for first term 2016 and participate in the studio recording. All you need to do is click on the button here, fill in your details and you'll be able to have a listen to the demonstration track for "Time To Shine" which we will be learning next week. Your first rehearsal is absolutely FREE with no strings attached so you've got nothing to lose - reignite your creative side and register your interest today. We promise to get right back to you within two working days or sooner. Jason Simmonds
Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir Achieving great vocal resonance2/2/2016 Resonance in a choir setting is just as vital as for the solo singer – resonance improves sound quality. A choir with members with good resonance will naturally have a very pleasing sound.
So first of all what does improved and controlled resonance allow a choir or soloist to do? I can outline 5 things that resonance will do for your choir or vocal group:
Great resonance improves tonal quality and allows you to sing efficiently The vocal tract which is made up of the larynx, the pharynx and mouth resonate to produce improved tone and higher sound levels. They can also act as a bit of a filter to dampen some frequencies. Good resonance allows a singer to convert breath energy to sound. So what is Resonance exactly? Resonance is a sound enhancer – it colours and amplifies your voice. Sound is created when your breath passes over your vocal folds but resonance is created in the vocal tract which creates the colour and amplification of your voice. In the simplest form the vocal tract is made up of three parts:
These three components can be termed ‘resonating chambers’ Air vibrates through all of these chambers at the same time. The shape and size of the vocal tract dictates the sound quality produced. a. Oral and nasal pharynx The oral pharynx is a fancy name for the space in your throat above your voicebox and vocal cords. The nasal pharynx is the space above the soft part of the back of your throat (vellum) reaching up towards your nasal cavity. b. The nasal cavity The nasal cavity is the space behind your nose which includes the sinuses (cave like spaces in the bones of the scull. You’ll notice when you have a cold and your sinuses are blocked the sound of your voice changes. This is because the vibration in the sinuses is reduced due to congestion. For me I struggle with sinusitis year long and need to use nasal sprays and cortisol injections to control inflammation of this area due to allergies. c. The mouth Finally the mouth is a big contributor to the colour and amplification of your voice. This is because of the many shapes the mouth can take and also the soft pallet or vellum. When you yawn your vellum lifts and stretches back into the throat. Just by patiently saying some vowels sounds like Ah, Ay, Ee, Oh and oo you can feel all the different shapes the mouth makes to produce these sounds. Vibration is the sensation created when proper resonance is induced. Vibration occurs in the chest and in the sinuses. At certain frequencies you will feel vibration in the bones of your face and chest. Try singing ‘mm’ quite low in your register and place your hand on your chest and forehead. You’ll feel vibrations in the chest and a buzzing sensation around the ligs. Change the sound to a higher ‘oo’ sound and you will feel the vibration lift into the head and little or no vibration in the chest. Try it with your eyes closed and focus on where the vibrations are sitting. In the next blog I will give you some practical exercises to help you achieve resonance and experience vibrations for yourself – so keep an eye out for that one. Jason Simmonds Creative Director Melbourne Contemporary Choir AuthorJason or (Jase) as he likes to be called is Founder & Creative Director of Melbourne Contemporary Choir (MCCHOIR) and is a passionate musician who wants to bring his love for music to a broader audience. Archives
March 2019
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