'I look for repertoire on Spotify and YouTube'

Choirmaster Gareth Malone says the only thing you can't really replace is the singers, but he is sure that will soon change

Are you a gadget fiend or a technophobe?

Definitely a gadget fiend. I was a proper nerd as a kid. A spod. I programmed my Amstrad CPC 464 in Basic and built my own number games. My first paid music job was singing in the touring production of Evita, aged 10, and from the proceeds I bought a sampler. But because of the Amstrad’s memory limitations, you only had one second to play with, so you could only make stuff like the ‘Ta-ta-ta-take’ bit in Respectable by Mel & Kim.

Are you an Apple addict?
Yes. If you don’t move over to Macs, you just feel like a complete loser [laughs]. They run Pro Tools so well, that’s my excuse. I’m now a full-on Apple person and it makes feel a little bit ill, but music software runs so much better than on my dilapidated old Dell.

How has technology changed the work of a choirmaster?
Utterly transformed it. I look for repertoire on Spotify and YouTube. I download sheet music, arrange and compose on Sibelius, then email PDF scores to singers, usually via Dropbox. If you need to give people a note, you can get it off your iPhone, you don’t need a pitch pipe any more. The only thing you can’t really replace are the singers but I’m sure that will soon change [laughs]. Robo-singers. Bring them on.

Do you audition singers via FaceTime or Skype too?
Yeah, it’s so easy now. I put my Voices choir together like that, with 800 applicants emailing in files from all over the country. We auditioned for last year’s Proms like that and the soloists for the diamond jubilee song with Gary Barlow. I’m currently doing the Latitude festivalgoers’ choir entirely digitally.

You travel a lot for work. How has technology changed that experience?
I can have all my scores with me, in one space. I can stick headphones on, plug myself into the laptop and work wherever I am. I’ve arranged on planes, boats and trains.

What’s your favourite gadget at the moment?
My lint remover. I sit watching TV, quietly debobbling my jumpers. It’s insanely satisfying.

What’s the most expensive gadget you own?
Probably my laptop. It’s from 2009 but I’ve invested in it: replaced the hard drive with a solid state one, replaced the memory and CD-rom.

Do you have flash gadgetry at home?
Not really, I’m slightly anti-tech in the kitchen. A domestic Luddite. We don’t have a microwave. I’ve got an old filter coffee maker.  

What are your favourite apps?
I use a few music ones — Piano Notes, Guitar Tuna, Shazam, Spotify is central to my universe — plus the BBC weather app. But I think the great promise of apps failed to deliver. They haven’t changed the world.

What’s your all-time favourite computer game?
I’ve had obsessive gaming periods. The last was in 2005, when I was single and had a Nintendo GameCube. I got really into Star Wars: Rebel Strike and managed to complete it, then thought, “That’s enough. I need to get a girlfriend.” Haven’t played a game since.