The Hollywood Film Chorale Sound Effects Choir, also popularly known as the Honda Choir, is an ensemble that can physically produce human sound effects without electronic means. They are well known for two performances in an advertisement for

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, and at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. It is conducted by

Steve Sidwell Steven James Sidwell (born 14 December 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Sidwell was a product of the Arsenal academy, and after winning two FA Youth Cups, he had constructive loan spells at Bren ...

, who is also the composer of their repertoire. The advert for Honda followed the advert from April 2003, “ Cog”, which showcased the Honda Accord.

Production of Effects

Sound effects are produced primarily by means of using the mouth; the arms, fingers, and hands are also sometimes used. For example, the performers would tap their fingernails against their teeth, to simulate rain falling on a car's windshield. To simulate wind, one would quickly blow air. To imitate the sound of tires squealing, a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

would make a high pitched screeching sound.

Performances

The ensemble was featured in a

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for a

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Acc ...

in January 2006, called ''Choir'', which gained immense popularity. The advertisement was made by the company ''Wieden and Kennedy'', and shown mainly at countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

such as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. This performance consisted of sixty vocalists, and was filmed in a car park in the end of November 2005. In February 2007, the Choir also appeared as performers in the

79th Academy Awards The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

, producing sound effects to a collection of different film clips in a piece called ''Elements and Motion''. A video of these movie clips was shown behind the forty person choir, as they performed in

Kodak Theatre The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

. Although much praise was given to this particular performance, it has received some criticism of not reaching the high expectations set in any Academy Award festival.

Awards

The television advertisement for the Honda Civic, that the Sound Effects Choir was featured in, won the Gold Lion Award in the

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

in September 2006, generally regarded as the most prestigious international advertising festival. The advertisement was a contender for the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

during this event.

References

External links

Choir
- performance during a