Questions and Answers
What runs on the host PC?
Download the host app, unzip it and double-click Install Choir & Chorus (the one file with the Choir & Chorus icon; everything else is in the Choir & Chorus folder beside it). It installs Python if the PC doesn't have it, opens the firewall so phones can connect, and puts Choir & Chorus on the Desktop and Start menu. The app serves the director's console on your PC and a page for singers on the same Wi-Fi. All songs, recordings, programs and bookmarks are stored on that PC — in folders you choose.
What do singers need?
Nothing to install and no account. They open the address shown on the console (or scan its QR code), tap Singer / Accompanist, pick a part and put in an earbud. The director's Play starts every phone within a few milliseconds, and their part sounds above the others.
Where does the music come from?
The director's console points the director's PC to https://hymns.lds.org/ to retrieve the hymns. They are not offered, sold, or stored on the Choir & Chorus website. A director can upload other MIDI files and even curate customized songs.
What does this site store?
Only your email and whether your host subscription is current. Your choir, its songs and recordings never leave your computer, and rehearsals run with no internet at all.
Can a phone or tablet be the host instead of a PC?
An Android phone can, through Termux. The instructions are on the account page. An iPhone or iPad cannot be the host, because iOS does not allow an app to run a server that other phones connect to. An iPhone or iPad works fine as a singer's device or as the director's remote console, with the host running on a Windows PC or an Android phone nearby.
How do I sign the host app in?
On the I'm the director page, with your account's email and password — or with the licence code from your account page, handy on a shared chapel PC. The PC remembers it. The only time it talks to this site is to renew.
What does it cost?
There are four plans, all in the same app. Singer is free and needs no account: one person reads their own sheet music into voice parts and practises on their own PC (no director, choir or program, and no downloads of sheet music or MIDI files). Individual — one director, one choir, one program — is $20 a year or $12 for 6 months. Professional — one director, up to 10 choirs, unlimited programs — is $100 a year or $60 for 6 months. Institutional — up to 20 directors, unlimited choirs and programs — is $1,000 a year or $600 for 6 months. New accounts start with a 10-day free trial of Individual. Singers joining a director's choir from their phones are always free. Cancel any time from the account page. The host PC needs to reach the internet at least once every 10 days to confirm its subscription. Between those check-ins, rehearsals run with no internet at all.
I changed Wi-Fi and phones can't connect.
Restart Choir & Chorus. The PC may have a new local address. If Windows asks about the firewall, allow it (or run allow-firewall.bat once). On a hotspot, the phone providing it usually cannot join as a singer itself.
Something else?
Questions or comments are welcome at [email protected]. We read every message and reply by email.