The Jakarta Association of Indonesian Visually Impaired Christians and the Ecclesiastical Choir Party Organisation has created virtual choirs.
The choir combines 35 voices recorded at different places to form a single choir. The plan for this virtual choir video will be broadcasted on the official website of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.
“The song sung is Ring The Christmas Bell which is translated into Indonesian as the Christmas Bell Has Been Rung,” said Chairman of the four Indonesian Christian Blind Association, Mahreta Maha.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made this year’s celebration and choir recording different from previous years. All services for the Blind Christian Association took place virtually, including the making of this choir video.
The audio-video editor of the 2020 Christmas choir, Aris Yohanes said that one of the challenges was to unify the voices and adjust the tone according to the proportions of each visually impaired person.
This adjustment of voice and tone was challenging because they had to record their own voice and sing without the direction of the conductor. “They are not used to using music sheets, so sometimes someone needs to stop to take a breath and their voice is cut off,” said Aris.
Another challenge is that the types of cell phones used for recording have different technological specifications. As a result, the resulting sound product is different.
Aris added that sound adjustments were needed in the editing process, including when outside sounds or recorded noise had to be muted or removed.
The treasurer at the Regional Executive Board of the Indonesian Visually Impaired Christian Association and Chair V of Research and Development for the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Christian Blind Association used the program Gold Wave for editing.
This sound editing application, according to him, is the most accessible and easy to use for blind people. Apart from Aris, Cinthia Montolalu, Chair I of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Visually Impaired Christian Association, also got the task of making the 2020 Christmas choir video.
Cinthia, who is also visually impaired, made a video. “I was in charge of editing the videos that have been collected and later put together with the audio that has been edited by Aris,” said Cinthia.
Visually impaired Christians still have fun celebrating Christmas virtually from home. They are still enthusiastic and creative in working as a form of worship to God.