The Choir

Music making during closure of the Cathedral for musicians

The "Virtual" Choirs

During this period of closure of the Cathedral and its halls, during which the Cathedral and Junior Choirs cannot meet, both choirs are providing weekly "virtual choir" music to be added to the weekly on-line service. The Junior choir provides their own piece, and the Adult Choir provide the backing to the hymns, an introit, an anthem and the Choral Amen.

Contrary to some thoughts, these are not old recordings from previous services, but are created fresh and new every week, from a total of around 25+ singers in both choirs, including a singer from the Borders and one ex-chorister from 12,000 miles away in New Zealand! Whilst in the past, the live service was recorded each week to be provided on CD if requested (please click HERE if you would be interested in that) the choir was recorded only by a single microphone on the lectern used for the Bible readings. Needless to say this was far from ideal for the introit, nor did it give a balanced sound to the choir for the hymns or anthems, making such recordings unacceptable for use in on-line services. As such, it was decided to experiment with the concept of creating a "virtual choir"from singers in and friends of the Cathedral Choir who may be interested and have the technology experience and kit to do it.

How is it made?

The law and Church of Scotland rules are such that the choir members cannot physically meet, so every piece of music is actually created from multiple single recordings of each singer singing only their part. Kevin, our Director of Music, records an accompaniment - which may or may not be used in the final service. (The unaccompanied - or a capella - singing you hear has actually been recorded against a backing track, which is then removed at the end.) This results in 25+ individual recording files for each musical item - around 120 music files per week - with 2 days to edit it for the service.

The singers listen to the accompaniment on their headphones, and simultaneously record only their voice which they then provide for the service to the virtual choir administrator - there is one for the Adult choir and one for the Junior choir.

The virtual choir administrator collates all the voices into the appropriate voice part - soprano, alto, tenor and bass (and one for the Junior Choir) - and aligns the voices with the accompaniment, and each other. Background noise is eliminated as much as possible at this stage. The voices are then "blended" to try and balance the different recordings sent in - some record louder than others, and some sing louder or have a sharper focus on their voices. Then the virtual choir is built, and again blended to provide a good, balanced mix. At this stage some technical tricks are applied - the voices are given a stereo location so spatially it sounds like a real choir standing in front of you (try listening on headphones to clearly get the effect). Finally, as every voice was recorded in their own house and room, and not in the Cathedral, we provide a echo - reverberance - to the choir which has the effect of making is sound like it is in the Cathedral.

The purpose of the Virtual Choirs is not to get a concert-perfect version of the pieces - even live singing has flaws - but to enable the Cathedral choir to make realistic, live-sounding, quality music to the glory of God and which is fitting within the on-line service - which is heard across the globe. We hope you find pleasure and enjoyment in hearing our offerings in the virtual services which can be heard HERE.

How can I find out more?

Should you wish to know more about the choir - virtual or when we get back together - please contact Kevin by clicking HERE. If you wish to discuss the technical aspects of a virtual choir in more detail, please click HERE to talk to the Cathedral's IT Administrator.

The Cathedral Choir

Great church buildings have always been associated with great music, and choral music in particular. At Dunblane Cathedral we strive to match our inspirational architecture with inspirational music.

We have a choir of trebles (children) and adults, one of the finest pipe organs in the country and thriving handbell groups. 

Dunblane Cathedral Choir is a busy, lively group consisting of a wide cross section of the congregation and also covering a wide age range. Its main function is to lead the praise at a Sunday morning service, singing an introit, an anthem and sometimes also an offertory. We often sing at weddings if requested, and occasionally give concerts of both sacred and secular music.

The choir goes on a major tour every three years or so. Previous tours have been to Germany, Ireland, and, in England, Wells, Chichester, and Ripon Cathedrals and York Minister. Members of the adult choir had a trip to Ireland, Italy, Latvia and latterly Denmark in 2019.

The choir has been asked to take part in several BBC broadcasts over the years, including a Christmas Watchnight Service from Rosslyn Chapel, and Songs of Praise from Dunblane Cathedral.

The choir is also often asked to sing at special concerts in the Cathedral and elsewhere. For example, the Treble Choir sang in a performance of Bach's St Matthew's Passion, with the Rosenethe Singers and the Scottish Bach Players.

There is a treble choir and an adult choir. The treble choir has both boys and girls aged 7 to 14. They rehearse in the Cathedral Halls each Thursday from 6.30pm until 8.15pm. The adult choir joins them on Thursdays and rehearses in the Cathedral Halls from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

The Treble Choir joins with Cathedral Kids on Sunday mornings, leaving to join them after the anthem is sung, and returning during the offering to join with the Adult choir in the final hymn and sung Amen.

We would love to have you join us and sing with the choir - you and/or your family members if interested. We do have vacancies in some areas, particularly tenors and basses. If you wish to have a meeting with our Director of Music, Kevin, please click here and fill in the form to arrange a chat.

For more information about the Choir, or to communicate with the Director of Music, click here to contact the Music, Organist and Choirmaster.