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| Welcome to this edition of the Your Accompanist newsletter! It's been a busy quarter for us: we've added more than 250 tracks to the catalogue since Christmas, as well as producing more than 50 customised recordings, we've added an RSS feed of our latest additions, we've been the Operagasm website of the week and we've been growing our Facebook fan base... but most importantly of all, we've celebrated our 3rd Birthday! The time has absolutely flown by and we'd like to say a really big thank you to those of you who've been helping us to improve our website through your custom, feedback and track suggestions over the years. If you'd like to form part of the focus group about some forthcoming changes to the site, we'd love to hear from you! In this issue... This issue is jam-packed as usual: we've a round up of the latest additions to the catalogue, we profile a singing group from sundrenched Martinique, we announce the arrival of our Latest Additions RSS feed, and we take inspiration from a sublime performance by the tender Rolando Villazon. You can also get to know the man behind the all the accompaniments on our site, bring you some the singing-related web activity, and offer some suggestions for keeping the kids occupied on a rainy afternoon.
PS: If this is the first time you've received a newsletter from us, you might like to take a look at the Newsletter Archive. All our back issues available to view online. You can view them in the original format, or browse the article archive.
We've been so busy adding to the catalogue since our Spring newsletter, there are simply too many tracks to list here. Here are some highlights, and the full list is on our website. View the full list of latest additions for this issue Rolling updated list of most recent additions: www.youraccompanist.com/latest Latest additions RSS: www.youraccompanist.com/additionsrss Collections: www.youraccompanist.com/collections
We've had the pleasure and privilege of providing them with rehearsal tracks since we met their leader, Caroline Bruch via the site almost two years ago now and have been delighted by the challenging and entertaining requests we've had from this most energetic and adventurous group of singers and instrumentalists. We asked them for a little information on their background - so, Mesdames et Messieurs, meet Madin'Voices – the Voices of Martinique...
Created in 2005, Madin'Voices is a singing group that brings together amateur singers of all vocal types. Intent on working to the highest standards, they give concerts with a bias towards classical song and operetta, but do not shy away from participating in other types of singing... Read the full interview (also in French) Catch up with Madin Voices online: Facebook --- Would you like to be our featured singer? Contact us for more information. We're in the process of revamping and expanding the YourAccompanist.com links section. If you look after or know about a singing related website please let us know. We'd love to hear about your own websites as soloists, choirs, societies, teaching studio or agency. Or, perhaps there's a website that you regularly visit for singing-related information...? All suggestions are welcomed! Drop us a line via our Contact form. Let's make beautiful music together
Then, drop us a line to let us know it's there, and we'll add you to the playlist. If you don't have a YouTube account, we'll upload it for you. Whatever kind of singing you enjoy, alone or with others, you'll
find your favourite public domain songs in our catalogue. We cover
a wide range of singing styles: classical to traditional; lullabies
to lieder; operetta to art song; nursery rhymes to shanties and sea
songs; oratorio to music hall. We've got over 1300 titles to choose
from. So, get rehearsing and recording, and get in touch! http://www.youtube.com/YourAccompanist Here are a few hints for getting great results from your video: Tips on making a YouTube Video |
Issue 11 In this issue: Tell a friend!Do you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter? You can pass it on by simply forwarding the email you got from us to their inbox, or copying the address of this page and pasting it into an instant messaging software, or social network site. Behind the scenes: Meet Michael
In a quiet part of rural England you’ll find a small collaboration of passionate people who’ve set out to democratize access to good piano accompaniments through the World Wide Web. The team at YourAccompanist.com has a long-held desire to develop a resource where the singers of the world could at last find real piano playing. “It blows my mind sometimes to think that right now I might be accompanying someone thousands of miles away!” says Your Accompanist himself, Michael Baron, a British pianist and organist, the man behind every single track. “We get really great feedback from all over the world, and it gives us enormous satisfaction when we hear from people, especially if one of our accompaniments has helped solve a problem for someone” he says.
“It started in response to singers I knew not being able to find the songs they wanted to sing on the web… we knew we had the skills to make piano accompaniments which would deliver a rich experience, be easy to listen to, and be something that could be worked with seriously...” --- Michael loves to hear from the people using the Your Accompanist products, and offers a service providing customised rehearsal tracks tailored your specific needs, so don't hesitate to get in touch! Singing with kids: if rain should stop play
To help, we've recently added lots of traditional and action songs to the catalogue including favourites like There's a Hole In My Bucket - great fun as a duet and traditional 'action' favourites like Here We Go Gathering Nuts In May, 'The Farmer's In His Den and Old MacDonald's Farm. For the tinies, there are lots of Nursery Rhymes (we like Goosey Goosey Gander) and for the 'old hands' some campfire stand-byes like She'll be coming round the Mountain, Little Brown Jug and D'ye Ken John Peel. Why not go for the full multi-media experience and get out the coloured pens or paintboxes too. You'll be amazed at how many pictures of the stories and characters in the songs they can produce for you to decorate the fridge when they've all gone back to school. And if all else fails to pacify, you can always try singing them 'Hush Little Baby'... This edition's pick of the most interesting singing related sites and web events: YouTube Clips of Gerald Moore
Here he offers a highly entertaining masterclass on the Art of the Accompanist. If you've enjoyed this you might also like his autobiography - Am I too loud? Memoirs of an accompanist. Operagasm Earlier this year we were honoured to be the website of the week on the all-new opera blog Operagasm. We thought we'd return the favour by introducing you to the website, and the passionate singers behind the project. The site aims to offer a substantive, cutting edge perspective on current events, news, reviews, interviews, fashion and editorial contributions regarding opera and classical music. The Operagasm blog was established by a collaboration of three singers: Mezzo-sopranos Christie Connolley and Erika Papillon Posey, and Soprano Melissa Wimbish. It's an entertaining finger on the pulse of the US Opera scene with a very broad spectrum of contributions and topics.
NEW FEATURE! Latest additions RSS Get all the Your Accompanist latest additions direct to your inbox or RSS reader. The feed address is We're also pulling the feed into our Facebook News tab. Enjoy! --- If you're new to RSS and need more information, take a look at the BBC news feeds page for great info on getting started. Inspiration: Je crois entendre encore We can't get enough of this sublime rendition by Rolando Villazon of Je Crois Entendre Encore from the Pearl Fishers by Bizet. We just had to share it with you!
I still believe I hear --- (Fancy singing this yourself? The accompaniment can be found here on our website) Feedback please If you've enjoyed this issue of the newsletter, if there's something
you'd like us to talk about in the future, if you've got a question
you think we could answer or a singing tip you'd like to share with
others, please let us know. Use our online contact form: --- Like what we do? Want to help us improve our services? Register your interest in joining our focus group. How are you using our tracks? We'd love to hear about what you're doing with them, and we'd be happy to publicise your charitable work in our newsletter and online networks. Tell us what you've been doing with our accompaniments Have it your way: try our custom recording service Your Accompanist welcomes requests for additions to our standard catalogue, but we also offer a bespoke recording service. Use the custom recording service if you need the recording by a certain date, in a particular key or with specially tailored dynamics. To talk to us any time about your requirements, simply contact us and one of the team will be in touch. Do you have a singing-related website that you'd like to share with more people? Drop us a line and we'll include you on our links page. It could be your personal singing portfolio, a blog about singing, your voice studio, choir or association website of some kind. We don't mind where you are in the world, all we ask is that it's singing-related and you link back to us. |
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We make real piano rehearsal tracks for singers. All tracks are recorded by a real pianist on a real piano in a single take. You download them directly to your PC in MP3 format. They can then be transferred directly to any portable MP3 player (such as an iPod or, Sony MP3 walkman, Archos box or iRiver), or burned to CD. They are ideal for soloists, ensembles, choirs and classrooms, for those who sing professionally, recreationally or secretly. The quality of the musicianship and sensitivity of the performances means that the accompaniments make great listening, even for those who don't sing along. Our catalogue covers a large part of the standard repertoire and is growing all the time. We bring you a wide variety of genres and composers, and aim to cater for all vocal ranges and levels of proficiency. Each track can be sampled on the site so you can be sure you've got the piece you want. We believe very strongly in the importance of music in education, and have a great deal of experience in the field. We hope to support music teachers, promote singing in the classroom and provide an effective low cost solution for singing teaching situations where good quality live accompaniment is not readily available. All of our tracks are available for instant download, so if we've already got the piece you want, there's no need to wait for a CD via post. If you'd like something we don't already have, or you need it in a different key, let us know. If it's in the public domain and we can get hold of the music, we could have it online for you quite quickly. Read more in our User Guide: www.youraccompanist.com/userguide. |
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The beautiful French Caribbean island of Martinique is home to this edition's featured singers 'Madin'Voices'.
Sumer Is Icumen In... and it's always hard to know what to do to keep the kids happy during those long school holidays - especially if the weather turns rainy.
Why not ring the changes with a little singing this year?
A marvellous pair of YouTube videos containing the 
Latest Additions RSS Feed
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