"Not all people are as enthusiastic about a cappella as that audience member; many don’t even know what it means to perform without accompaniment," said Lauren Albers, a member of New Chords on the Block.
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Angelo Sylvester, a member of Ohio University’s Leading Tones, recalled one of the more interesting experiences he’s had performing with the all-male a cappella group.
“We were singing ‘1 + 1’ by Beyonce this year and the last line is ‘make love to me,’” he said. “And (then) from out in the audience, someone yells ‘OK, I will.’”
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Not all people are as enthusiastic about a cappella as that audience member. Many don’t even know what it means to perform without accompaniment, said Lauren Albers, a member of New Chords on the Block.
“It’s hard to explain that we sing music, but we don’t use any instruments,” said Albers, a senior studying communication studies. “My grandma, she had no idea what I did until “Pitch Perfect” came out. Then she knew. She was like ‘Oh my gosh! That is so cool.’”
But on OU’s campus, a cappella performances are plentiful. OU has the second most a cappella groups, after Miami University, when compared to public universities in Ohio, said Sylvester, a senior studying music education and tuba performance. There are six student a cappella groups on campus.
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While “Pitch Perfect” and shows such as “The Sing Off” introduced people to the world of a cappella, it is not necessarily representative of collegiate a cappella, said Joe Brenckle, a senior studying music education and a member of Section 8.
“I don’t think we’re as big of divas as they are on ‘Pitch Perfect,’ I guess,” he said. “We’re a lot more down to earth.”
DEFINING A CAPPELLA
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“A cappella,” an Italian phrase, means “without instrumental accompaniment,” but there’s more that goes into the style than singing without instrumentation.
“For the most part, you have people pretending to be instruments and (then) soloists on top,” Sylvester said.
While a cappella has many different styles, such as Christian and barbershop, the main focus on OU’s campus is contemporary a cappella.
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“It’s a collaboration of different parts,” said Maggie Fahey, a junior studying music education and a member of Title IX. “With a single part missing, there is a big difference in the sound.”
One of the core components to contemporary a cappella is a beat boxer, who simulates percussion, Sylvester said.
“If you imagine listening to a pop tune without a drum set in the background, you would say it was pretty empty,” he added.
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A cappella groups need the ability to mesh on a personal level because the group will not sound good if there is tension, said Lexie Pritchard, a freshman studying music production and the recording industry and a member and beat boxer of Tempo Tantrums.
“You have to be accepting of each person’s strength and weaknesses,” Fahey said. “If you’re just playing guitar yourself, it’s just one person making these sounds.”
THEN AND NOW
Section 8 and Title IX both derived from groups already present on campus and are associated with the School of Music.
Section 8 showcases its connection with SMO by donning the signature green blazers, Brenckle said. Since its founding, the group has grown and now includes 18 men.
Title IX took steps from initially singing chamber works and barbershop music to transitioning into a contemporary a cappella group, Fahey said.
Another group decided to take a different route and strived to create another dynamic on campus.
Aaron Comstock, the founder of Heart of Worship and OU alum, started a Christian, coed a cappella group in 2009 because he said he was looking for something different after being a part of other a cappella groups on campus.
The group focused on sharing a positive message through songs, whether it was a Michael Jackson medley or a Christian contemporary piece, Comstock said. But the group could not continue on into a third year.
As groups have formed and developed their voices, the a cappella community on campus has grown larger and more fitting for different personalities.
GROUP DYNAMICS
When each a cappella group sings contemporary music, the group dynamic and structure distinguishes one from another.
“Everyone in a group is talented enough to be in another group,” Albers said. “It’s just a matter of finding a group that fits your personality.”
There’s a blurred line between the identities of Section 8 and SMO, Brenckle said. The group is more of a vacation from a day filled with classical music, with the focus more on contemporary hits.
Leading Tones and Section 8, both with all-male members and looking at the same genre of music, have a few quirks that set them apart, like Leading Tones’ tendency to perform in bare feet.
“Leading Tones is open to anyone on campus and we don’t have that prerequisite (of being in SMO),” Sylvester said. “On paper, I think that’s the only thing that really makes us different (from Section 8). But I think we have very different personalities too and style of songs we tend to sing.”
There are certain challenges to being an all-male group, Sylvester said.
“We have some guys sing a lot higher than they might otherwise just because we don’t have the girl sound,” Sylvester said.
Likewise, all-female groups have singers doing parts a male voice might be slated usually do.
In Tempo Tantrums, Pritchard refers to the lower voices as “lady basses,” but say the real importance is choosing the right arrangement for the group or finding someone to arrange for the group’s strengths.
“We’re not going to pick songs that don’t fit us,” Pritchard said.
Tempo Tantrums is based on the foundation of female empowerment and strives to be the “sexy, sassy” group on campus, Pritchard said. It would be difficult for the group to take on a really jazzy piece or heavy rock piece, so the group does what fits best.
Title IX takes a different approach to selecting its music.
“In the past, Title IX has been considered the hipster a cappella group because we do folky type songs or just not entirely top 100 hits,” Fahey said. “But, I think we cover a lot of song choices.”
Albers said even with a co-ed group, such as New Chords on the Block, which has a greater range of voices, there are still people singing a part intended for a different gender.
“(We do that on) ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ — we sing it and we’ve never had a male soloist on the song ever,” Albers said. “We always say its funny because we have all of these guys to choose from.”
Despite being the newest group on campus, New Chords on the Block is also the first to compete, Albers said. The group is headed to Centerville this month to participate in the regional quarterfinals for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.
Having distinct personalities and multiple groups allows members of each group not only arrange for their group but also the other groups on campus.
“If we find something that just doesn’t work for all women, we’ll just give it to one of our friends,” Fahey said.
The collaborative nature of the style of music makes the groups grow individually but also strengthens the a cappella community on campus as a whole, Brenckle said.
“It’s growing into something bigger than it is now,” he added. “You don’t have to be a musical expert to be able to do it. If you can hear a pitch and you like to sing, you can do a cappella. It’s not an unattainable thing.”
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