St. Matthews Anglican Church Winnipeg, MB Music and Sound Feb 2022

Hello St. Matthews Anglican Church Winnipeg Community! Things certainly have been full of upheaval and change this year. Once again, from the perspective of an in-person music and sound worker, it has not been full of the familiar ways that people have often used music for.   I am using this image [image of blanket from the McCorrister family] of the star blanket that once hung behind the piano in the sanctuary, whose ownership has involuntarily been changed (it was stolen). I hope that you will remember having positive feelings about it and that it will contribute to positive memories of music and St. Matthews.   Music This is the second report from the Music Director at St. Matthews Anglican Church of Winnipeg during the scourge of a respiratory virus. Last year I wrote that I hoped you had safely managed to sing and to sing along this year. This year we managed to sing indoors together a small number of times with masks on, and quietly. St. Matthews began the year conducting services online, over zoom. The Music Director used their own computer and digital audio setup, augmented with some equipment that had been purchased with a grant in 2020 with the purpose of recoding sound St. Matthews for use in streaming the service. This year when St. Matthews met outdoors, Music was provided occasionally via simple recordings made on my phone. Other music was performed live over zoo, or live in person, and singing was done with masks. Some recordings were integrated into sessions that were recorded for posting onto St. Matt’s facebook page. The quality of these recordings improved when the audio was integrated with the video.   Sound It would seem that there is little to report on this category. There have been only a handful of services indoors in 2021. 1. There has not been an opportunity to get up to the speakers and route/create/find a power on/off switch to them, partly because St. Matthews apparently no longer knows where its ladder is, and it would be a good concurrent project with changing the light bulbs over the front area of the church. 2. There have been a few break-ins to St. Matthews, and after the last one, some sound equipment was stolen. It is the recommendation that all sound equipment be stored in a secure place at least until in-person services resume. 3. A microphone and a stand were purchased for the sanctuary, so that each speaker could have their own mic: the priest, the deacon, the musician, and a gospel reader or an Intercessor. Thanks, St. Matt’s, for the work!

    — J. A. S, Music Director, Sound Director