New Youtube Channel for Coptic Hymns

joeg

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCopticdeacon

I've just started a Youtube channel with the intent of recording and sharing Coptic hymns. I'm doing it to try to encourage everyone, our youth in particular, to learn and appreciate the beauty of our Church's hymns for themselves.

Please let me know what you think of this is an idea, and if you have any suggestions or criticisms! (that includes telling me to scrap the channel completely as well  :D).

markmarcos

its really nice God bless. hopefully you can let different people also in your videos. oh and MAKE MORE  :D VERY NICE

joeg

Thank you very much for your kind words and feedback  :)

joeg

Just bumping my own thread (which is a capital crime, I know :) ) to get people's opinions. I would really appreciate if you let me know what you think of these kind of hymn videos so that I can decide if I should spent any more time and effort making more of them. If they are of no use to anyone, then I will stop making them and do something better with my time  :)

egyboy

You learned from HICS. Good choice :)
I have a few questions.
what is your aim for these videos? Is it suppose to be an online hymns class? or is it just for recreational listening?

Who is your audience? is it newly ordained deacons? deacons in general?

off topic - your hair must grow really quickly because it grew about 2 inches between the Semoti video and the Tenouosht video posted on the same day hahaha.

joeg

[quote author=caji link=topic=13457.msg157252#msg157252 date=1341115155]
You learned from HICS. Good choice :)

For the majority of hymns, yes  :)

I have a few questions.
what is your aim for these videos? Is it suppose to be an online hymns class? or is it just for recreational listening

Who is your audience? is it newly ordained deacons? deacons in general?

I come from a small church without a cantor/mlm or older deacon who is the authority on hymns. As such, I have learnt the majority of the hymns I know on my own through recordings. I imagine that there must be many youth in my situation around the world.

More than anything, I want this channel to act as a stimulus to get people learning the hymns. I suppose my audience is youth more in particular - not to sound ageist, but Youtube as a platform is more widely used by my generation than those preceding it (and in turn, is used more widely by forthcoming generations than mine).

If people want to listen and learn from them, then that is fine (although I have not included hazzat which I know some people prefer). If people simply listen to them and think - "that is a nice hymn I would love to learn and pray at church" and then go back to the original recordings of HICS or Cantor Farag or whoever it might be, then that is even better in my opinion. Once a person becomes motivated and appreciates the spirituality of the hymns, they become self-driven to go back to the sources and learn themselves, and in turn will one day teach these treasures to the next generations.

If this channel causes a single person to actively go and learn the Coptic hymns, then it will be a great blessing.

off topic - your hair must grow really quickly because it grew about 2 inches between the Semoti video and the Tenouosht video posted on the same day hahaha.

It's all those hormones I take  :P

Nah, the Hymn of Blessing was an old recording - I just added the Coptic/English subtitles and uploaded it  :)

mark.naguib7

It is very nice especially for recreational listening. (You do not sing from your nose like other people ;) ) Keep up the good work.

joeg

Thanks for your kind words  :)

egyboy

Well, I hope it works! May God bless your service.

[quote author=JG link=topic=13457.msg157253#msg157253 date=1341129649]

off topic - your hair must grow really quickly because it grew about 2 inches between the Semoti video and the Tenouosht video posted on the same day hahaha.

It's all those hormones I take  :P

Nah, the Hymn of Blessing was an old recording - I just added the Coptic/English subtitles and uploaded it  :)


LOL

peter_saad

Very nice. I like how these are a little more educational because I can actually hear each hazza. I find a little easier to learn. Awesome job, keep them coming!

joeg

Thank you all for your kind words, remember me in your prayers.

joeg

After taking a hiatus for a week or so, a few more hymns have been added  :)

mabsoota

what, exactly, is a hazza?

joeg

[quote author=mabsoota link=topic=13457.msg158069#msg158069 date=1343230554]
what, exactly, is a hazza?


Hey mabsoota!

A hazza is a bit like a melisma - a small section of a syllable that is sung during a hymn. When learning a hymn, one learns one hazza after another; there are also some common sections/groups of "hazzat" that occur in several hymns which can make things easier (or more confusing).

Some people notate the hazzat in a hymn as they find it easier to learn and follow the hymn - take a look at http://www.hazzat.com/ for some examples.

copticuser20

Your videos are very nice. I'm actually going to learn the long evol hiten from this! Thanks

joeg

[quote author=copticuser20 link=topic=13457.msg158077#msg158077 date=1343238645]
Your videos are very nice. I'm actually going to learn the long evol hiten from this! Thanks


Thank you very much! But I would advise you to learn from Fr. Mettias Nasr who I learnt it from - the link is in the video description  :)

mabsoota

thanks for the education!
i know see that hazza is like an extra foreign language.
so that's 3 foreign languages u need for the coptic church...
no, 4, i forgot greek!
nice to see u finding something useful to do in the summer break.

these look like they are the hymns i haven't learnt coz of too many melisma.
maybe i will learn some now!
could u do more tasbeha? too few people know it well so i feel like i should make an effort to join in when i go (which is not often)

joeg

[quote author=mabsoota link=topic=13457.msg158083#msg158083 date=1343247357]
thanks for the education!
i know see that hazza is like an extra foreign language.
so that's 3 foreign languages u need for the coptic church...
no, 4, i forgot greek!
nice to see u finding something useful to do in the summer break.


Haha! There isn't any one standard way of writing hazzat though - people will frequently write them for themselves, and it becomes unintelligible to anyone else.

these look like they are the hymns i haven't learnt coz of too many melisma.
maybe i will learn some now!
could u do more tasbeha? too few people know it well so i feel like i should make an effort to join in when i go (which is not often)

I will do! I'm trying to focus on hymns in the Divine Liturgy and tasbeha at the moment as they are the ones most commonly said  :)

Hezekiel

Dear  Joe,

Thank you for your efforts. No one does such things, unless they have the love of God in their hearts. May God give you the strength to continue spreading the words of His praises. I shall be grateful if you could add Latin script for people who cant read the Coptic scripts.For example, the Copt from the Aztec may find it helpful:-). Once again, Keep it up, Yusuf (sounds cool)! 

mabsoota

hezekiel, i chose the same picture of baba shenouda for my computer wallpaper!
it's a lovely natural photo of our dear patriarch.

edit: sorry didn't make it to the church i hope to, joe.

Hezekiel

Dear Mabsoosta, I took the pic from the BBC website on the day of his Holiness repose .I rarely agree with their biased news, but that was one time where i wholeheartedly agreed with and liked the Pic they posted. I am not sure if HH ever felt great wearing his 'royal'(papal) garments, but in this pic, he looks so relaxed and simple and the qalansuwa looks so graceful on him.

markmarcos

Hey jg i was just sharing your channel on facebook and noticed the cool iconostasis background on your channel! Where did you get it! I want to put it as my desktop background can you please send it to me !!!

thanks

joeg

Just to let you guys know, I'm re-recording and replacing the hymns already uploaded with a new microphone to improve the general quality of the videos, and will be including Coptic written in English letters in the subtitles. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and feedback, and thanks for watching  :)