Once you have spent at least one-half hour on our website, use the button above to request a makeup confirmation. Please use your 30 minute visit to review a variety of articles from our Programs section and/or information from our web site pages. As always, Rotarians should apply the 4-Way Test to the time they spend on the Rotary eClub One site for a make-up.
Do you have a program or an idea for a program? Please click here for submission details.
It’s You, You, You!
By Alicia Reade
Member of Doncaster Rotary, United Kingdom
Reprinted from Rotary in Britain and Ireland, April-May 2019
I love it when my skills and interests overlap into one project and I found myself I a unique situation last year.
As part of the conference team for District 1220, which covers clubs in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, my talents lie with public relations, so previously I had taken care of sorting the website and producing a promotional video.
The time came around to prepare for the 2019 conference which takes place in Scarborough this October. All was falling into place with the video, but I wondered if I could bring my musical skills into play.
My New Year’s resolution was to focus on my song-writing. I had written and recorded many songs around the Millennium, but had failed to do anything with them. With this in mind, I felt up for the challenge to write and record an original song for the 2019 District Conference whose theme is “The Difference is You.
Incoming District Governor, David Hood, definitely wanted a Scottish feel with the inclusion of bagpipes. I was excited by the challenge.
One of David’s great ideas is to get attendees to play an active part in the conference. So I asked clubs in the district to contribute short videos of themselves pointing and shouting “YOU YOU YOU” towards the camera, in order to include them in the video and soundtrack.
It was a last minute idea with the promotional video being broadcast at the 2018 conference, but many clubs surprised and delighted me with their fast and inventive responses.
I used my home recording equipment to play the tracks into a music program on my laptop via my digital piano.
This process is called multi-tracking. I record one part, in this case the baseline, using an electric bass guitar sound, then change the sound and layer the next instrumental track on top, such as the accordion track. It sounds like several people playing all at once.
After most of the music tracks were completed, I then recorded the vocals – first the main vocal and then the backing vocals, as I sang multiple times in harmonies on each different track. Added to this mix was the wonderful “YOU YOU YOU” recordings from the clubs.
Finally, a sound engineer mixed and mastered the tracks making it ready for broadcast and download.
I completed the promotional video usinag the club videos from around the district, plus much-welcomed contributions from David Hood and our speakers.
I hope that Rotarians will find the song and video inspirational and that it will encourage attendance at our exciting conference this October. I hope to see you.
Note: Alicia is donating 60% of the profit from downloads of “The Difference is You” to her Rotary district and other Rotary causes.
