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Subject: Choosing a name for our choirsome suggestions

OK friends, this is a really long one. Well, it's summer, and we badly needyour input!

1. Bringing you up to speed...

1.1. Our GroupWe are a youth group committed to the worship of God through music. We respect traditionwhile we bring a fresh approach to continuously inspire others with our songs. In everythingwe do, we feel we belong to a family where there is trust, support, responsibility, and asincere understanding of our diversity. We make a difference one song, one step at a time.

Our vision/mission statement says it all -- that we are a group coming from

diverse backgrounds, and yet we're united as a family as we glorify God and

touch other people's lives through our music.

1.2 Our music

For the past few Sundays, we have been studying new songs in order to

expand our repertoire. We have looked at different themes that we could

incorporate for different parts of the liturgical year. We learned to ask

ourselves, "What is the Lenten season all about? What are the messages

and emotions that the song is trying to impart to us?" The Eucharistic

celebration is then transformed from what my professor calls a "cultural

heritage" into that real act of faith. Because of that, we no longer limited

ourselves to songs that the congregation recommends. It's a good initiative

as we broadened not only our minds but that of our fellow parishioners--aparadigm shift.

2. On to business matters...

We're a spiffy group, yet we have no identity; thus the need for this e-mail.

Tito Rodel pitched in some ideas. Let's define some terms first. It might

spare you the nosebleed.

2.1. Definition of Terms (taken and compiled from various internet

resources)

Tessitura(It.for texture): refers to both the range and the arrangement ofpitches; the internal organization and/or complexity of the music

Sonore/Sonorous(Latin): a full or loud sound; imposing or impressive in

effect or style

Coro(It. for choir): an organized company of singers; a division of angels

(hahaha aye!); a group organized for ensemble speaking

Timbre (Fr.): the quality of a tone/sound distinctive of a particular singing

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voice or musical instrument (for example, the sound produced by a piano is

different from the sound produced by a violin even though they're playing

the same notes)

Tone: sound/music of a specific quality and pitch

Rhythm: basically something that guides the music as it moves forward

Harmony: sound produced by simultaneously playing several music notes in

a chord (If we sing a song properly in two or three voices, that's harmony)

Colour: a phenomenon capable of evoking particular emotions

Hue: elements of a colour that allows us to classify it as such

Still alive there? Barely alive is good enough for me. Now that we've

established some terms, let's relate the following suggestions to ourselves

and our music. As a guide, Tito suggested criteria to evaluate the names

(but he initially "forgot" to elaborate so now some of what is written is a bit

of fluff): a) beauty of tone, b) beauty of shape, c) force and variety ofrhythm. d) significance of emotional expression, and e) force, significance,

and beauty of accompanying harmonies and moving parts and colours.

2.2. Suggested Names (finally, after that long build-up)

2.2.1. SonoreLoud sound. Looking at current performance now, singing louder is

something that we could definitely work on. Nonetheless, it is through our

sounds that we can best communicate with others.

Let's go beyond that. Our music is loud in the sense that it is something out

of the ordinary. The simplicity in the melody partnered with picturesque

lyrics are able to evoke very strong emotions and imagination. The nuances

of the song play a very big part in doing so. If executed well, then the

message of the song is successfully conveyed. I hope you listened as Tito

Rodel painted us a picture of "Via Dolorosa." It starts with a narration of the

events that are unfolding to the passion of our Lord wherein the narrator

makes us feel that same pain. He ends his story with that feeling of hope

and gratitude. It was very beautiful one, and I'm sure it helped us sing thesong meaningfully. It's a simple song, yes, but now we know that it's not so

easy to render. It's very difficult as we study the process of singing as one

and to create a sound, but we would want to realize where the dividing line is

to be drawn between the purely inventive (or inspirational) and the technical.

The effect of singing it beautifully? A loud sound. As we sang the song, we

made Christ's pain seem so real, so close to us. So we are talking the

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thickness, thinness, brightness, darkness, playfulness, etc of all those gospel

music that we've done. We are learning, and we would want to come close

to its meaning if perfection is impossible or hard to achieve.

A loud sound, imposing or impressive in effect and style-- not in the sense

that it's just radical, cool-sounding, or what-have-you, but rather that our

music and our group is able to make a big impact on our relationship with

God and with others.

2.2.2. Coro TessituraNow, tessitura (texture) is a difficult one to understand for me, but it is

equally meaningful. Texture in music, as i vaguely mentioned earlier refers

to the range where most of the melody lies. In statistics, it is the "mean."

The "outliers," meaning the extra high or extra low pitches aren't asimportant as that common ground that "mean."

With that in mind, I think it is appropriate for our choir. We said in our

vision/mission statement that we are people from different walks of life that

share a common ground, which is to worship the Lord through music. We go

on further to say that we don't just share a common ground, but rather we

treat each other as members of the family. When we make music, when we

sing together, all those differences and comfort zones are put aside in order

to produce what the composition asks of us.

This element, texture, is more than just defining the range. It also talks

about the arrangement how the music changes, how were supposed to

react to these changes in order to create beautiful music. Like those

American Idol judges always say, You make the song your own, the music

we take on is not merely a task or a hurdle to overcome; rather, it also has

something to do with our individual abilities. Timbre. We ask, What can

else we contribute to the music? Thus, texture is not just about finding that

commonality but recognizing differences that make the music great.

It might be appropriate to relate texture in music to color and hues since

were talking about changes and differences. Each note and each key could

be juxtaposed with a particular color. Each color is able to generate a

particular mood. Lets go back to Via Dolorosa. When we describe the

Passion, an appropriate color would be red because in that part of the story,

we try to illustrate through music the intensity of Christs love. This entire

event stands out to us as Christians because it is the celebration of our own

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salvation like red. Thats what were learning to do now. Were trying to

make these colors so vivid to the audience through our combined efforts. In

this same way, I think its reflective of how we take this responsibility very

seriously. It speaks a lot about our group.

Both these names open ourselves to the opportunity wherein we can choose

whatever song we would want to do, from sad music to joyful one, from pop

to classical themed composition, from a traditional song to a contemporary

one -- All of which we try our best to treat them with the desired tonal

quality, timbre, hue, colour.

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3. Sources

3.1. Internet References used (not formatted):

Encyclopedia Britannica

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

http://webmail.nicolet.k12.wi.us/~jamin_hoffman/FOV2-000165DE/FOV2-00017D65/Seven

%20Elements%20full.pdf?FCItemID=S007330B1

http://www.soundpiper.com/mln/elements.htm

http://cnx.org/content/m11059/latest/

my brain (I still remember some of these music stuff! Wow!

http://www.webrarian.co.uk/music/music_and_colour.html

http://www.templatenetwork.org/topaz/12/en/16.html

3.2. Tito Rodel Notes:

a) beauty of tone. b) beauty of shape. c) force and variety of rhythm.d)

significance of emotional expression. e) force, significance, and beauty ofaccompanying harmonies and moving parts and colours.

try to associate texture with timbre and colours

Both these names open ourselves to the opportunity wherein we can choose

whatever song we would want to do, from sad music to joyful one, from pop

to classical themed composition, from a traditional song to a contemporay

one. All of which we try our best to treat them with the desired tonal quality,

timbre, hue, colour.

so we are talking the thickness, thinness, brightness, darkness, playfulness,

etc of all those gospel music that we've done...and I'm certain that we were

able to do quite well, and we are learning....and we would want to come

close to its meaning, if perfection is impossible or hard to achieve...

regarding the comparison to our character...we may differ in outlook in life,

etc....but when we make music and try to learn it we give it our all to adjust to what

is wanted in the composition....

so we try to learn to meet on a certain level where we can communicate through

sounds...

through a given example...etc....so we think as one....

so, we try to learn----always learn---to do the required treatment on a thematic

idea...

http://webmail.nicolet.k12.wi.us/~jamin_hoffman/FOV2-000165DE/FOV2-00017D65/Seven%20Elements%20full.pdf?FCItemID=S007330B1http://webmail.nicolet.k12.wi.us/~jamin_hoffman/FOV2-000165DE/FOV2-00017D65/Seven%20Elements%20full.pdf?FCItemID=S007330B1http://www.soundpiper.com/mln/elements.htmhttp://cnx.org/content/m11059/latest/http://www.webrarian.co.uk/music/music_and_colour.htmlhttp://www.templatenetwork.org/topaz/12/en/16.htmlhttp://webmail.nicolet.k12.wi.us/~jamin_hoffman/FOV2-000165DE/FOV2-00017D65/Seven%20Elements%20full.pdf?FCItemID=S007330B1http://webmail.nicolet.k12.wi.us/~jamin_hoffman/FOV2-000165DE/FOV2-00017D65/Seven%20Elements%20full.pdf?FCItemID=S007330B1http://www.soundpiper.com/mln/elements.htmhttp://cnx.org/content/m11059/latest/http://www.webrarian.co.uk/music/music_and_colour.htmlhttp://www.templatenetwork.org/topaz/12/en/16.html

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it's very difficult, as one or as we study the process of singing as one and to create

a sound, but wde would want to realize where the dividing line is to be drawn

between the purely inventive (or inspirational) and the technical....

when you talk of colour in music...the music you're are doing will always pertain to a

certain color....the composition might be projecting red or blue or green...so textureagain is present here----this time, you're dealing with hue...

so tint is very impotant here----again there's the presence of texture....see...that

term is a fitting name to us and for us...

Coro Tessitura et Sonore