Chances are if you have spent just a semester at this university, you have gotten some type of Facebook invitation or seen some advertisement about an a cappella show. The truth of the matter is that a cappella music is a rare art, and in the past few decades, it has burst onto the college scene. But even with the diverse a cappella groups at this university, it is still misunderstood by many.
Since joining an a cappella group, I have been able to experience what this art really has to offer. At this university alone, there are the mixed-gender groups, Faux Paz, PandemoniUM, Kol Sasson, Anokha, Rak Shalom, DaCadence; the all-male group, The Generics; and the all-female group, The Treblemakers. That’s eight groups, not even counting the ones I probably forgot, singing anything from cultural songs to today’s latest hits. But why is this important?
For one, many of these groups perform at charity events, such as Relay For Life, which benefits the American Cancer Society. One of the reasons why groups practice so hard is for the opportunity to sing in front of peers because we like to showcase what we love to do: make music. A cappella is sort of a service to entertain and give people something they can’t experience in any other music genre.
This brings me to my next point: A cappella is something that can’t be mimicked or duplicated. If you haven’t figured it out by now, most of the music you listen to on the radio is Auto-Tuned and enhanced in every way possible. If this is news to you, you probably have been living under a rock and still believe Santa Claus is real. These enhancements allow artists such as Katy Perry and Ke$ha to actually sound good, which is quite different from how they sound live.
A cappella is raw, exposing the human voice without the mask of any musical instrument. Each person in the group must form a cohesive ensemble and perfect the different parts to perform a song without the use of instruments. Is it challenging to take a top-20 song and change it around to fit just voices? Yes. But is it worth it? You’re damn right it is.
A cappella is much more than just the usual songs that are often overdone, such as “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Hide and Seek.” There is a whole world to explore in a cappella music if you just give it a chance and see what the different groups at this university do best.
My main point here is that you should come out to an a cappella show to experience how incredible this art can be when done right. A cappella is huge at this university, and there is no reason to miss experiencing it. In fact, the university is so well known for a cappella that the Beelzebubs from Tufts University will be joining my group, Faux Paz, and several other groups to put on a concert Friday at 8 p.m. The Beelzebubs are nationally recognized for finishing in second on NBC’s The Sing Off, as well as arranging and singing some songs for Fox’s smash hit Glee.
Even if you can’t make this upcoming show, I encourage you to go see any of the groups here because regardless of what they sing or who they are, they bring something special to this university, and it deserves to be seen by everyone.
Josh Birch is a junior communication and history major. He can be reached at birch at umdbk dot com.
